Things Residual


You probably have a dream or a passion you’d like to pursue, if you had the time. You might find yourself saying, “If I could clear my plate for a (month, week, half-hour, whatever) I’d do this thing.” But that plate never clears, emails keep coming in and kids keep waking up from their naps.

Lately I’ve been inspired by the magic that can happen in the margins. In one of her Magic Lessons podcasts, Elizabeth Gilbert shares this great quote:

“See over there
A created splendour
Made by one individual
From things residual”

– Patrick Cavanagh

Many of the great artists and entrepreneurs that we look up to had to learn the discipline of working on their dream project in the margins. Basecamp was built while juggling client work. Many a book was written during the author’s bus commute. Nobody has enough time, so the trick is to find or create those spare moments to work on that thing.

Don’t wait for your schedule to clear to work on that idea you have. Learn to make something amazing from “things residual”.