what is art

In fact, if I sense that an artist is creating, saying or doing things just to win public approval, or to yield to the demands of the market, well, that’s when I tend to turn away.

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... See more

1. “We tell stories because we have a hollow place in our heart. You don’t fill that with success. You fill it by finding yourself in the stories you tell.”

–Guillermo Del Toro

One of my favorite understandings is that we teach from the radiance of our own discovery. When I can open to the silence and stillness that is here, then words and ideas arise that express that discovery....We teach what is alive for us, and that aliveness is the transmission.

The vicious circle: the less often I engage in any creative pursuits, the harder it is for me to start. Creative work makes us feel better, but like everything that requires practice, it becomes harder when we stop, partially because we lose the benefits it gives us.