“Easy choices, hard life. Hard choices, easy life.” -Jerzy Gregorek Most of us loathe deadlines. But when they’re put upon us by someone else (i.e. work or school), we suck it up and make our deadlines. Because we don’t really have a choice. Arbitrary deadlines are so much harder. Because we can choose. They’re arbitrary.Continue reading “Arbitrary Deadlines”
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Vision and passion get you in the starting blocks. Discipline, generosity of spirit, trusted collaborators, consistency of action, having a strong “why“, love of process, good habits, and systems thinking over goals thinking, get you through the long slog and to the finish line.
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I’ve uttered this phrase a lot in 2020. Not sure the derivation. Not sure the why. I just say it. Out loud. And it’s strangely comforting. My guess is that its related to what the Stoics termed “The Art of Acquiescence.” Letting go. Acknowledging that while things are not what we want them to be,Continue reading ““It Is What It Is””
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“Nobody knows anything.” -William Goldman We don’t get to decide how or if our art will be remembered. If it’ll have staying power. If we’ll have any kind of legacy. It’s not up to us. Thus, we should spend zero time calculating. Zero time trying to please. Zero time trying to reach a certain demographic.Continue reading “Don’t Calculate”
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The surgeon and writer, Atul Gawande, recently did an excellent “Armchair Expert” podcast episode. He discussed, among many interesting topics, the power and results from having a simple checklist prior to operations. One amazing stat: the number of surgery-related deaths was reduced by nearly 50% in hospitals that employed a checklist. 50%! The checklist containsContinue reading “Checklist”
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“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart.” -Colossians 3:23 Sonya: “Well. Uncle! Now. What shall we do?” Vanya: “Work.” Sonya: “Yes!” -Excerpt from the play Uncle Vanya, by Anton Chekov The Vietnamese Thien Buddhist monk and pease activist, Thich Nhat Hanh, once wrote, “There is no way to happiness, happiness is theContinue reading “Meaningful Work”
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“Sometimes a person has to go a very long distance out of his way in order to come back a short distance correctly.” -Edward Albee, The Zoo Story How long can you stay in the chair and write badly? How long can you be on the stage and act badly? How long can you standContinue reading “Badly”
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I’m backstage, about to go on as “Austin”, mid-run of a dream production of TRUE WEST. I have a moment. Everything slows down. I look around and take everything in. I see my fellow actors prepping. I hear the hustle and bustle of the audience. I feel the energy pulsing all around me. I’m overcomeContinue reading “It’s A Miracle”
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Information is a commodity. It didn’t use to be the case. But thanks to the internet, it is now. What’s not a commodity and never will be? The application of that information. Synthesis. Understanding and communicating the information. Deciding to take action. Even if you don’t have all the information. Even if things might notContinue reading “Not A Commodity”
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What art would you make if you based your choice entirely on process, on having a meaningful experience, as opposed to the end result and judgment of others?
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