blueprints

To me, challenging doesn’t look like the person who just grinds through a project to get it done, sacrificing sleep, family, or any semblance of balance. While brute force may be effective short -term, I’m convinced it doesn’t lend itself to sustainable creativity, joy, or meaning (and sustainability is everything – from a biological and mathematic... See more

“What is originality? Undetected plagiarism.”  — William Ralph Inge

There are two ways to make the world more mesmerizing: to seek out new and increasingly intense experiences, or to loosen the filters that make ordinary experience “ordinary”. You can go skydiving, or you can meditate for long enough that walking feels like skydiving. Either way, I think what we’re seeking is an escape back into what we used to be,... See more

But busyness has a way of stealing creativity from you. Generative work, like art and writing, requires long periods of nothingness: it’s only in that wide empty space that ideas emerge. Long runs, hot showers, commutes that don’t involve harried Slack messages and listening to podcasts at 2x speed. Sitting at the edge of a dock, listening to the o... See more

If you’ve never read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, it’ll change you https://t.co/28kz05eEAU

via Albert Einstein: “It is the same with people as it is with riding a bike. Only when moving can one comfortably maintain one’s balance.”

The thing that no one ever tells you about your calling is that it’s boring. Oh, everything is interesting if you’re interested… shut up. Yes, it will be exhilarating and fun and fluid and and natural and meaningful. It will also be tedious. It will hurt. You will encounter obstacle after obstacle until you feel like you’re in a video game with alg... See more