Quiet the King & Listen to Your Inner Fool
Sometimes I’m a fool with nothing on my mind. I took a walk in the woods this morning to see what was on my mind and returned home with nothing. Nothing on my mind. So I picked up the latest…
Save a Life, Do Great Work, & Buy a Book: Tracking Wonder Interviews Michael Bungay Stanier
I have big dreams and desires for being part of a cause that reaches far, far beyond the needs of myself, my loved ones, and even of the people with whom I work. But I still wonder how and when…
The Question of Questions for Creatives
I’m forever curious about how to shape the flow of time to be more creative, productive, intentional – and just to flat-out have a more meaningful life. So, every morning for several months on my Facebook page and Twitter feed…
Break From Blogging W/O Breaking Your Biz
Motivation by fear is an age-old tactic. Its adages begin with “Don’t” and twist with “or.” “Don’t steal from your neighbor, or you’ll get your hands cut off.” “Don’t turn in your paper late, or you’ll fail.” “Don’t leave work…
Where Creatives Find Know-How, Community, & Affirmation
This morning in a courtyard in Taos, New Mexico, I guided fifteen writers through a meditative yoga flow. When I asked them to check in with questions such as, “What am I here for?” and “What am I writing for?”…
In Praise of Pleasurable Inconvenience: An Essai
A couple of years ago, I said something to two music-craving, iPod-obsessed friends that to them made no sense whatsoever (and for the record I say a lot of such things). iTunes and Youtube had just come onto my radar,…
2 Ways to Rally Wonder Into Your Creative Life
It’s really not as difficult as it sounds. But it’s crucial, this wonder-tracking, if we creatives and solo-preneurs want to sustain our creative projects and keep our momentum. Scenario 1: A client called me yesterday in crisis. Three years ago,…
Wonder Gestures in User Experience – KLM Surprise & More
At the heart of much art is surprise. And in the art of your work might be surprising people who matter – namely, your tribes, audiences, readers, patrons, customers, clients. My designer told me Friday on the phone, “I saw…
What’s Happened to Booze as Muse?
Booze as Muse for Yesterday’s Literary Stars A young and mostly unknown Ernest Hemingway met the newly celebrated F. Scott Fitzgerald allegedly in Paris’s Dingo Bar, a common hang out for ex-pat writers. That year, 1925, Scribner’s Sons had published…
The Risks of Faulty Risk Perception
There’s a lot of talk among solo-preneurs, aspiring creatives, and writers about risk. Founder of HomePortfolio, Inc. Tom Ashbrook equates entrepreneurship with risk: “Entrepreneurship means risk.” It’s an equation I hear and read often. And my clients pose questions of…
