Kanchan Balani

We love to talk in terms of forward and backward, productivity and progress. But whether we’re discussing grief, growth, or gross profit, the path is not straight. A lot of life moves in circles and cycles. And sometimes — hell, maybe all the time — onward is the best we have.

Finishing any creative project is like simultaneously defying Zeno’s Paradox and the myth of Sisyphus—the idea that you cross a distance halfway and then halfway again, and again, and you never actually reach the other side, except that at some point you just round up, and the project gets pushed over the finish line.

soloist—someone who works for herself, generally alone, moving from project to project selling her services.