Words to inspire the belief that we have all we need to be the change we wish to see.
Author Jim Collins said, “If you have more than three priorities in your life you have none.”
That really hit me this morning. Three seems like a low number. When I think about that list for me it would be my kids, growing my mind and walking daily. But we also have to balance projects, pay bills, care for family or friends in need, do chores, cook meals and interact in society. The list can be endless. How can we only have three priorities? Continue reading
In Anne Lamott’s book Bird by Bird, she reminds us how to get through writing and life when she says, “Thirty years ago my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report on birds written that he’d had three months to write, which was due the next day. We were out at our family cabin in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books on birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him, put his arm around my brother’s shoulder, and said, ‘Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.'” Continue reading
I read this story in the book Real Artists Don’t Starve by Jeff Goins and it made my heart flutter.
The year was 1598. Two brothers, Richard and Cuthbert Burbage, had inherited a theatre from their father when he passed away. The problem was, for a number of years they were not able to perform any shows in it as the landlord wouldn’t let them out of the contract and the rent was too steep.
Then they realized something. The landlord owned the land but not the building. Continue reading
I just read this story in the book Real Artists Don’t Starve by Jeff Goins. In 1971, Led Zeppelin was one of the most popular bands in the world. Some critics accused them of being all hype and no substance. So they decided to take a massive chance. They released their fourth album anonymously. Without the band’s name or any of the singers or musicians listed on the cover. Continue reading
After hearing author David Epstein speak on a radio show, I have added his book to my reading list. Epstein wrote Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World. It piqued my interest because I’ve always seen value in spending your time in multiple lanes as that way you don’t know which rules you’re not allowed to break. Creativity comes from connecting dots from far flung places and it’s hard to see those dots when you’re specializing in just one area. This, along with the fact that our young people will be working one day in jobs that don’t even exist yet. So how can you prepare? You can be a creative, critical thinker. Epstein talks about embracing trial and error in life in order to triangulate (almost like finding a given cell phone by comparing the pings off a number of towers) and figure out which signal suits you most. You find out where you belong by finding out where you don’t belong. Continue reading
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