Thought provoking

We shouldn’t just work less because it makes us better workers. We should work less because it makes us better people.

Cynicism is a lack of faith in people; skepticism is a lack of faith in our assumptions. Cynics imagine humanity is awful; skeptics gather information about who they can trust. They hold on to beliefs lightly and learn quickly.

Joy is not a function of a life free of friction and frustration, but a function of focus – an inner elevation by the fulcrum of choice.

“we are all more than just workers. We’re parents and friends and citizens and artists and travellers and neighbours. Much like an investor benefits from diversifying the sources of stocks in their portfolio, we, too, benefit from diversifying the sources of meaning and identity in our lives.”

Life is hard enough without a handful of filthy-rich assholes sticking their nose into matters that affect our much-less-rich lives. And yet, here they are, on our screens, in our news and in our governments, like a stain on the planet.

Feel the sorrow, take the action, but keep pressing the weight of joy against it all, until it becomes mindless, automated, like gravity pulling the stream down its course; until it becomes an inner law of nature.

Rachel Carson: “Those who contemplate the beauty of the Earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.”

There has never been a better time in history to be a creative person. More people than ever before have the tools to create, share and earn an income from their art.

And yet, creators are facing more obstacles than ever. Volatile platforms, unpredictable income, difficulty reaching followers... the list goes on and on.

We have become archivists of the self, I thought, curators of a life half-lived. Each countless photograph of a wonder, of dinner, of a view, of our children, of the utter banality of our everyday lives, was not a memento, a way of remembering the things we did, but instead evidence of the poverty of our engagement with the present moment. We frame... See more