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“Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.” -Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. “The transformative power of love is not fully embraced in our society because we often wrongly believe that torment and anguish are our ‘natural’ condition.” -bell hooks In all that you do, in all your relationships, beContinue reading “Be Transformational”

When the band came outThey stood behind youCymbals crashedThe lights went blue You stood aloneIn the halo’s hazeShiny guitar hung onGold laméAnd youYou were the lonely oneYou wereThe lonely one When you performIt’s so intenseWhen the critics panI write in your defense -Wilco, song “The Lonely 1” It’s a lonely endeavor… To be passionate aboutContinue reading “A Lonely Endeavor”

I love the below words of wisdom from writer-activist Lydia Wylie-Kellermann (hat tip to Richard Rohr and his daily CAC meditations). I’ll just let it speak for itself… Dear friends,ask the hard questions.Give thanks for uncertainty.Trust yourself.Lean into the wisdom of community.Don’t take yourself too seriously.Know that the arc is long.Lean on the ancestors.Ask theContinue reading ““How Lucky We Are To Be Alive!””

Therefore the Masteracts without doing anythingand teaches without saying anything.Things arise and she lets them come;things disappear and she lets them go.She has but doesn’t possess,acts but doesn’t expect.When her work is done, she forgets it.That is why it lasts forever. –Tao Te Ching by Lao-Tzu (Stephen Mitchell translation) Everything that’s important to you, everythingContinue reading “Stewardship”

“The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.” Michelangelo Speaking of The Nudge, this anecdote from Economics professor Tyler Cowen… Yesterday I had lunch with a former Ph.D student of mine, who is nowContinue reading “Raise Their Expectations”

“Great art is the outward expression of an inner life in the artist, and this inner life will result in [their] personal vision of the world.” -Edward Hopper Another phenomenal poem from Albert Huffstickler (aka “Huff) who also wrote “I Dreamed I Lived In Austin” which I put in the blog a little while back.Continue reading ““The Way Of Art””

This story about Mozart courtesy of Sahil Bloom’s Curiosity Chronicle… A young man asked Mozart how to write a symphony. Mozart replied, “You’re far too young to write a symphony.” The young man then said, “What? You were writing symphonies when you were 10, and I’m 21.” Mozart smiled and replied, “Yes, but I didn’tContinue reading “Take Mozart’s Advice”

“Never underestimate the power of inertia…People have a strong tendency to go along with the status quo or default option…Loss aversion helps produce inertia, meaning a strong desire to stick with your current holdings.” -Richard H. Thaler, book Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness “He already knew he could coach. All you hadContinue reading “The Nudge”

We’d all loved to be recruited, courted, affirmed, wined and dined, told we’re amazing. Get a Godfather offer. One, it validates us. Who we are and the work we’ve done. Two, it lets us off the hook from having to choose or decide on a path. Instead, we get chosen. You can sit around waitingContinue reading “An Offer They Can’t Refuse”

“A man that hath friends must show himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.” (Proverbs 18:12 and the epigraph from Tarell Alvin McCraney’s powerhouse of a play, The Brothers Size) “I’m always trying to make the intimate epic, meaning finding a way to grab my personal impulses or theContinue reading “Your Why Becomes Their Why”