Love and Competition and Cooperation

“Compete like hell.” -Michael Jordan “I have a competition in me.”- Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood The best athletewants his opponent at his best.The best generalenters the mind of his enemy.The best businessmanserves the communal good.The best leaderfollows the will of the people. All of them embodythe virtue of non-competition.Not that they don’tContinue reading “Love and Competition and Cooperation”

Always In Style

Strive only for love and excellence and generosity. Release the need for institutional validation or commercial success. (Most often, it’s not correlated with talent or skill anyway.) If you do this, then you can rest assured in the knowledge that regardless of “industry trends” or “technological changes” or any other kind of shifts, your artContinue reading “Always In Style”

Floating Down The River

Speaking of good and bad thoughts and the power to choose our actions… The Trappist Monk Thomas Keating teaches this beautiful contemplative practice: Imagine yourself sitting on the bank of a river. Observe each of your thoughts coming along as if they’re saying, “Think me, think me.” Watch your feelings come by saying, “Feel me,Continue reading “Floating Down The River”

The “Takeaway Practice”

Speaking of takeaways… Consider starting a regular “takeaway practice.” For any art you consume, immediately afterwards, without reading any external reviews, write down at least three takeaways from it. These can be good or bad as you didn’t necessarily have to like the art. (It might be good to keep a notebook or “art journal”,Continue reading “The “Takeaway Practice””