Natalie Audelo

“What our hope must do, is go to work. Our hope has to be active, not merely by existing, but by fueling our diverse and unique approaches and dedication to change.”

Joycelyn Longdon

Author, Natural Connection

Jonas Salk, inventor of the polio vaccine, said the main motivation of his life was, “To be a good ancestor.”

Let go of self-delusion, which is maybe the hardest thing of all to let go of. Shape the thing you’re making into a pure expression of the thing you’re making: “Cut away, strip away the unnecessary, and strip away what people expect.”

The Passion Job Burnout Machine is different than the burnout machines of, say, Big Law, or investment banking. With those jobs, you know who’s burning you out and why. It’s a very transparent trial by fire: a means to see if you can hack it with a very time-greedy job (that rewards you with very high pay). Passion jobs let you do the dirty work... See more

In practice, consistency is about being adaptable. Don't have much time? Scale it down. Don't have much energy? Do the easy version. Find different ways to show up depending on the circumstances. Let your habits change shape to meet the demands of the day.

Adaptability is the way of consistency.

I don’t have any answers because I don’t think there are any. But I’m fond of Margaret Wheatley’s framing of creating “islands of sanity,” which a kind reader reminded me of in the lovely comments of my last post. These islands are crucially not places of retreat, but rather of contribution — hyperlocal, small in scale, yet deeply meaningful. To... See more

Why would rational and intelligent people want to contort their lives like a hyper-kinetic yoga instructor jacked up on an all-day energy drink?

Surely, it has something to do with our obsession with doing, over just being, and the endless pursuit of excitement, which we mistake for happiness. Add to this our collective fear that we will run out of... See more

In Greek, charisma translates as a “gift.” Rather than keep that gift to exploit for themselves, some charismatic people disperse it. They hand it out at social events, such as the holiday parties at this time of year, and use it to guide the energy of a shared occasion. I call these people vibe popes. Consider it a nondenominational title for... See more