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There are no cover bands in the rock and roll hall of fame.  This is a fact of life, but also my philosophy. One that has fueled my work as a professional artist for more than twenty years.  Because in my humble opinion, whatever it is we create in the world, it doesn’t have to be good, it doesn’t have to be accurate, it doesn’t have to make sense,…

Hitting bottom is an enlightened moment.  It’s one of those rare experiences that leads to holding a new type of conversation with ourselves. One that we couldn’t have had when were still punch drunk on our tasty cocktail of foolhardiness and hope.  And so, instead of our usual clinging to our vain hopes in the face of overwhelming contrary evidence, let us try feeling grateful for the hopelessness that…

The failure is, we are over impressed by the success of others.  We mythologize, idealize, elevate and freeze individuals on this pedestal.  Forgetting, that most successful people are the same mixed bag of strengths and weaknesses we are. Forgetting, that success and failure are not giant isolated events. Forgetting, that comparing somebody’s studio polished sixty second highlight reel with our indie crowdfunded documentary isn’t helpful or healthy.  And forgetting,…

Camus makes the following recommendation in his critical essay:  One must keep a freshness and a source of joy intact within, loving the daylight that injustice leaves unscathed, and returning to the fray with this light as a trophy.  This joy is the love we can never lose. The secret heaven inside that nobody can touch or take away from us. And if we don’t honor our need for it,…

Apathy is one of my most least favorite emotions.  Anytime something in life gets a great big whatever from me, anytime my temporarily cynical attitude slams the door on the face of the world with heartless indifference, it just feels so gross and childish. It makes me into something alien to myself. Blech.  But as the great pioneer of cognitive change says, feelings, no matter how strong, do not prove…

Devore’s fabulous essay about how the big city doesn’t love you could easily be modified to address the business world.  Because companies aren’t that different from cities. Ask any employee who has been the victim of corporate layoffs. Or, as the executive management team likes to call them, cutting costs through staff realignment.  And the bitch of it is, that big company is too busy being a big company to care…

Harvey’s course on shadow work lovingly reminds us that we must prepare for the end of hope. We must stand in the truth of the self and allow for the incineration of all the illusions, including the most beautiful one of all, the illusion of hope, to come into the reality of the extremity of the situation.  Quite the counterintuitive thought.  After all, we have always been taught that nothing is…

Success doesn’t have a line.  It’s not about fairness, it’s not about merit and it’s not about talent.  It’s about timing. It isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.  And so, it’s no surprise that we feel a little twinge of envy when somebody’s dream gets more attention than ours. We infuriatingly wonder to ourselves, wow, has anyone gotten so far on so little?  This is a perfectly normal reaction….

Schwartz’s fascinating study on virtue found that in life, there is no such thing as an unmitigated good. There is no value or behavior that’s universally positive.  Take the overhyped word authenticity. It’s become the defining virtue to which we are all urged all aspire.  But there are some key questions worth asking.  What good is authenticity if everybody in you know thinks you’re a dick?  How noble is being in…

Jung named the shadow as the unconscious aspect of personality.  The emotion that the conscious ego does not identify in itself. In short, it’s our dark side.  What’s tricky is, while shadows are largely negative, there are times when positive aspects can actually harm us. Jung says they can act as a constantly thickening veil of illusion between the ego and the real world.  Hope, as an example, can be…