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Hyde’s formative research on creativity reminds us that the gift must stay in motion.  As artists, he says, giving the first creation away makes the second one possible. Our bestowal creates that energy place into which new energy may flow. And as long as the gift is not withheld, our creative spirit will remain a stranger to the economics of scarcity.  Music is perfect example. Because a song is not completed…

All this exaggerating our weaknesses to feel less inferior, all these emotional closures to protect us against hurt, all these guarded moments of public heart cloaking, all this speaking negatively about our own value, these expressions of inadequacy are longer useful for us.  Not anymore. Because now we are proven. The world has acknowledged our value on multiple occasions. And unlike before, now we actually trust our resources. Now…

Abramović, the legendary performance artist, explains how anything that is revolutionary is in front of our noses and it is never complicated, but we don’t see it until we have a safe mind.  It’s how we think. If a strategy is not complicated, then it can’t be serious enough to use or even acknowledge.  People have literally said to this to my face: It seemed too simple, so we didn’t do…

Most of us don’t actually have an inferiority complex, we just cultivate it as part of our charm.  It’s a role. We play the part of someone who is insecure and meek and awshucksy. Someone who lucked out and doesn’t know what they did to deserve to end up here, but hey, reluctantly accepts their position anyway.  This performance of inferiority is quite endearing. Especially when we’re young the…

As hyper agreeable people pleasers, we have become naturally adept at suppressing our emotions and putting on a happy face for the rest of the world.  To the point that meeting everyone else’s priorities at the expense of our own has become second nature.  This is a useful survival strategy in the short term. It can help us avoid conflict and make progress without offending, upsetting and disappointing people;…

It’s amazing how much we physically have to do to feel normal.  It’s like a second job.  From exercise to meditation to journaling to positive affirmation, all of this staying grounded, feeling okay and practicing mindfulness is surprisingly labor intensive.  Who knew that living in peace required us to exert almost as much effort as to govern the world? Who knew that we would actually need time to recover from…

Some people respond to small, irrelevant changes with all grace and agility, while others have trouble accommodating on short notice.  Camus famously wrote that there are people who suffer flexibly and others who suffer stiffly. The former are acrobats; the latter are virtuosos of sorrow.  Think of someone you know from each category. Next, pretend your plans with that person have slightly changed in the eleventh hour.  One friend…

Our problem is, we have zero sense of proportion.  When it comes to major life decisions like preserving our health and doing our work and falling in love, we say yes or no to things without even thinking them through.  Meanwhile, when it comes to inconsequential matters like a typo in an email sent right before going to bed, we fall down the rabbit hole of useless rumination until…

When it comes to public creative expressions like singing, dancing and playing music, my motivation is not to delight, but to disappear.  The goal is not entertainment, it’s abandonment.  And this isn’t about looking cool and impressing others, this is about going to another place and pouring myself out.  It’s just the way my expressive function works. Completely process oriented and internally focused. My art is a temple of…

Anger is not a primary emotion.  It’s a defensive feeling that protects another feeling, like fear or loss or a combination thereof.  And yet, it’s gift. Anger asks us to take action on our own behalf. It’s the emotional stairway that takes us down to more interesting and vulnerable places. ‘ Deida, in his provocative book about unquenchable love, reminds us that anger can provide us with the sharp thunder necessary…