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You don’t have to invent it, you just have to redefine it
Einstein didn’t invent relativity, but he did create a new way of seeing information that was already available to everybody else. Darwin didn’t invent natural selection, but he did build a conceptual framework in which natural selection made sense. Newton didn’t invent gravity, but he did give a name to something that was already there, and that label helped people understand it. Gates didn’t invent the computer, but he…
The nature of the identification with self and other
A magazine editor once gave me brilliant writing advice. She said to be careful not to overuse the second person point of view in the work. It creates a separation between author and reader, and can appear preachy or bossy. Instead, try to write in terms of we and us. It unifies the reader and writer, becoming a journey that we’re on together, rather than an expedition that only…
Collect enough material to recreate the stars
Katamarithe most hilarious, bizarre and interesting puzzle action video game of all time. The plot concerns a magical, highly adhesive ball called a katamari, which rolls around various locations. It collects increasingly larger objects, everything from thumbtacks to human beings to monuments to baseball stadiums, until the ball has eventually grown massive enough to become a star. Who thinks this stuff up? Playing the game, however, is surprisingly satisfying….
Berating ourselves for not winning the game of life
Growth is not when we stop making mistakes, it’s when we stop beating the shit out of ourselves for making them. Once we learn to eliminate that hostile tendency, we become unstoppable. Not even our own inner critic can keep us down. Buddhists have a phrase for this response called the second arrow. The teachings tell us that the first arrow is what is. It’s something comes with the territory of…
Then you beat yourself up and forget all about gentleness
Making music in a professional recording studio setting can bring up a host of unexpected concerns, problems and anxieties. Having recorded ten records of my own in a variety of different facilities around the country, I can attest that laying down tracks is no easy task. Because the pressure is really on. Studio time is not only expensive, but finite. The meter is always running. Artists only have so…
Blending into the woodwork of the room
The goal of a good photographer is to be invisible. To document what is taking place, accurately capture the mood and the emotion of the moment, and most importantly, to not change what is taking place. Souza, the legendary presidential photographer who took millions of pictures of two different commanders in chief, calls this approach leaving a small footprint. Meaning, he always used the quietist and most unobtrusive equipment,…
Error is not the obstacle, it is the path itself
Chambers once preached that the reason people fail is because they are ignorant of the way they are made. Which is certainly true, but it’s not the only reason. People also fail because they are insistent on being the way they are, even when it doesn’t work. They may say that they want to change. And they may even take small measures to do so. But it’s mostly a performance. It’s…
Honest about coming to terms with the cost of change
Everybody is annoying. We all have certain habits and traits that cause friction in our lives. We all have facets of our character that frustrate some people and charm others. And we all have a workable set of excuses to defend and protect those very behaviors. Take it from a guy with a black belt in the ancient art of stubborn persistence. This is when we decide that our…
You are not going to coerce me into hating you
Every time we want to resent the success of another, there’s always somebody to remind us not to hate the player, hate the game. But in reality, when was the last time hating something accomplished anything? This empty, frivolous meme is not a sustainable career strategy and it’s not meaningful advice. It’s just a license for cruelty. Towards self and others. Look, we live in an unfair world where…
May your body glow in red and yellow hues
A few years ago, a team of biomedical engineers conducted a study that mapped out human emotions on people’s bodies using different colors on something called somatotopic maps. Scientists concluded that this experience of what they called embodiment, that is, unraveling subjective bodily sensations, could play a critical role in people’s emotional processing. For example, anger and anxiety presented as fiery orange, located in the head and chest; whereas depression and…
