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The reward of the journey is not arriving at the destination, it’s transforming yourself to such a state of joy and worthiness and fulfillment, that you don’t feel any different when you get there.  Because you’ve already done the work. You’ve already supported yourself in becoming the person you most needed to be. The destination was just a bonus. The cherry on top.  Job seekers, for example, assume that…

What if grandparents babysat in parking lots?  What if doing house chores was a competitive sport?  What if ping pong had ball boys?  What if we monetized road rage?  What if parents could shop in big box retailers without stress? In this episode of Steal Scott’s Ideas, Andy, Phil and Sherril gather in Tampa for some execution in public. # # # Execution Lesson 102: Air as dense as a poor man’s…

Saturday morning, a man receives a knock at this door.  He answers and sees a jehovah’s witness smiling and holding a bible.  “Hello, sir, do you mind if I come inside to talk for a bit?”  To his surprise, the homeowner says yes and invites him in. A few minutes later, the man comes into the living room with some coffee and a bagel, sits down on the couch…

Belonging is the opposite of thinking that wherever you are, you would be better off somewhere else.  And if you’re lucky enough to experience it, it’s one of the most joyous and liberating feeling in the repertoire of human emotion.  Take it from somebody who struggled with belonging his whole life.  Somebody who always felt like an alien staring into the window of the party. Somebody who wondered if…

Cameron’s school of thought, which has been fundamental in my own development as an artist, promotes the idea that writing writes things.  She says that as we move our hands across the canvas of our lives, we paint more vividly the brush strokes of our experience. Our transitions become more consciously wrought. And writing becomes transformative, alchemical, empowering and enlightening.  Writing writes things.  Through this mantra, I discovered creating to…

Parkinson’s law, which states that work expands to fill the time available for its completion, creates an interesting predicament for artists.  Because most of us work alone. And so, if we have a problem, we have all of the time in the world to obsess over it. There simply aren’t enough structures and constraints to keep our minds occupied.  Whereas people working a more traditional career path, complete with…

In the field of ocular physiology, there’s a concept called adaptation, which is the ability of the eye to adjust to various levels of darkness and light.  It’s a complicated process that involves body parts like pupils and rods and cones and photopigments.  Let’s focus on one particular element of the vision process.  The fact that our eyes adapt to bright light over a period of five minutes, but total…

I heard a fascinating interview between a comedian and his manager.  Both agreed that although every artist wants his name in the title of the show, having top billing was a dangerous move.  Because it means you’re the single point of success and failure for the project. After all, you’re the star of the show, which means you have to carry the plot like an albatross from scene to…

Wikipedia editors experience something called a solution looking for a problem.  According to various contributors, this phenomenon occurs when an inexperienced writer submits a proposal that doesn’t address any issue in particular. Even if that person’s writingisstylistically accurate, it’s only proposed for the sake of change and doesn’t offer any practical advantages.  And so, that article gets deleted. Nothing personal, it’s just business.  It’s an efficient, practical and democratic system…

What if we delivered holy water to orphans?  What if we could create spontaneous dance parties?  What if magicians entertained customers while waiting in line?  What if we offered pancakes to homeless people who did jumping jacks? In this episode of Steal Scott’s Ideas, Natalie, Katie and Brittany gather in Brooklyn for some execution in public. # # # Execution Lesson 101:A sign that letting go may be in order…