There’s a strongly held cultural belief that people who engage in creative work are poor, deserve to be poor, and, in many cases, need to be poor in order to continue to do creative work. This is all bullshit. Well, except that many are poor. We scoff at degrees in the arts. We tell people … Read more
There are so many creative, often silly, sometimes ridiculous photos and videos that get passed around nowadays, and the response to many of them, from many people, is: “Someone has too much free time!” But you know what? If someone wants to use their time to create something that gives them joy to create and … Read more
There’s a short podcast series (four episodes) called UnErased, talking about the history of gay conversion therapy in the US. It’s captivating. You’ll experience at least most of the span of human emotions listening to it—or at least, I did. In the last episode, they spend time with John Smid, a man among the leadership … Read more
…I’ve wanted to love it. It just sucked. My mom’s love language must be gifts (based on things more than just Christmas). There were always piles of stuff for my brother, sister, and I to open, each in a different color paper. My earliest Christmas memory, I was 7 or 8. We had ripped through … Read more
As per yesterday’s post, in order to get great at something, we need to do the work. It’s not innate. But just doing work doesn’t necessarily make us better. The old saying was “practice makes perfect.” I still hear people say it from time to time. I disagree. I’ve heard more accurately, “practice makes permanent.” … Read more
My career has been in teaching music. Every job I’ve had has included teaching elementary band—teaching kids who don’t know which end is up how to play a band instrument. (I’ve also taught middle school band, elementary and middle school orchestra, kinder through third grade general music, third grade recorders, middle school music theory, middle … Read more
Yesterday, I published a post that ended with a question asking about your experience. I’ve asked a similar question a few times. This is the thing: I’m really curious about the answer. I’d love to take every single reader out for coffee for a few hours and pick your brain about random things like yesterday’s … Read more
I am a recovering perfectionist. For a long time, everything had to be just right. Edit, erase, start over. Make sure there’s always a straight-edge handy. No streaks, no cracks, no chips. I realize this is fear-based. I’m better about it. I don’t spend an hour carefully curating which font I’m going to use on … Read more
Tis the season for the creeping crud. I mentioned the other day that it was creeping around here. Thus, my wintertime best friend made its seasonal debut: the Neti pot. It’s a fairly common device, so there’s a decent chance that even if you have never used one, you’re familiar with it. Basically, it’s a … Read more
There’s a new-to-my-awareness probably-MLM line of products being hawked in my Facebook feed. “Total makeover. Only takes 10 minutes!” But you know what? I like my face. Some days, I have bags under my eyes, because I’m tired. Some days, I’m exhausted and have full-blown suitcases. I’m at the point where I have creases in … Read more