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To Be An Artist
In Pastures of Heaven, Steinbeck describes one particular farm as “a poem by the inarticulate man.” My grandpa’s tractors, his attention to detail, his tireless work, these might have been his poems. This zine is a tribute to him and his life. “To be an artist, you don’t have to compose music or paint or…
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Perfectionism
“Perfectionism will ruin your writing, blocking inventiveness and playfulness and life force (these are the words we are allowed to use in California). Perfectionism means that you try desperately not to leave so much mess to clean up. But clutter and mess show us that life is being lived. Clutter is wonderfully fertile ground –…
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Speaking in Your Underpants
If you’ve ever asked for advice on how to overcome pre-speech nerves, no doubt you’ve heard the sage advice: “Just imagine your audience is wearing nothing but underwear.” Helpful advice? Maybe for some. What’s interesting to me though, is how this advice masks what’s really going on when you step on the stage. When you…
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Don’t Aim at Success – Viktor Frankl
“Don’t aim at success—the more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side-effect of one’s dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of…
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To Build a Cathedral
We all want to build a cathedral, something great, lasting and awe-inspiring. The thing that’s too easy to forget – amidst our cleaning up messes, taking care of details and our inbox, going back to the drawing board, checking items off our checklists – is that every cathedral was built by a million small bricks,…
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Loving People
We don’t love people so much for the good they have done us, as for the good we have done them. Leo Tolstoy
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Treasures
Happy (Canadian) Thanksgiving! Hope you enjoy your family and your many treasures.
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Liked
An unseemly number of my biggest errors can be traced back to an indiscriminate, undignified urge to be liked. – Alain de Botton
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Just a Drop
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Everything You Do is Marketing
I was listening to a marketing class where they interviewed Ken Clement, a McDonald’s franchisee in Arizona. Say what you want about their food, and experiences may vary, but I’ve often been surprised at the friendliness (and family-friendliness) of McDonald’s restaurants. Clement talked about the importance of treating his customers well and giving them a…