Writing from a place of joy, interest and curiosity will always take you somewhere interesting and unexpected; in a world where every writer is told there are no jobs and there is no money to be made, I want to tell you a different story.

“The intelligent one is the one who holds himself accountable and works for what comes after death.” — Prophet Muḥammad

mām Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah (رحمه الله) said:

“An action that is done without sincerity and uprightness is like a traveler who fills his bags with sand on the road — carrying a heavy load that brings him no benefit, only burden.”

The happiest people I know create— they write, take beautiful photos, work with wood, make music.

The unhappiest consume— endlessly scrolling through others’ highlight reels, sensationalized news stories, content designed to hijack their nervous system.

Creativity fills the soul.

Consumption drains it.

maybe tonight hurts. maybe the absence feels sharper than usual. maybe you’re wondering if you were just the scaffolding for someone else’s forever. and maybe you were. but you were also the breath they steadied themselves on. the calm before their clarity. the first time they felt safe.

“I tell my students, 'When you get these jobs that you have been so brilliantly trained for, just remember that your real job is that if you are free, you need to free somebody else. If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else. This is not just a grab-bag candy game.”

Toni Morrison

My favorite question to ask anytime I'm talking to a customer, a new company, or an expert in an area I'm trying to learn about:

"What should I be asking you that I'm not?"

It is surprising how often there is entirely different topic or line of questioning that I didn't know enough to ask about.

Because people who write things like that have no idea what it’s like to live on a tightrope. They don’t understand that when you’re already saying “no” to yourself and to your children a hundred times a week, that one small coffee isn’t a luxury. It’s a lifeline.

It’s ten minutes of sitting in a warm place that isn’t your own house, with its pile o... See more

anti-intellectualism will have you believe that spending all day reading and going down rabbit holes is a waste of time when you can just “google it” or “ask ChatGPT”

More enjoyment comes from knowing how something is made than just enjoying the product.