-
Lessons I learn, over and over again
Reading something that you like is a reason to get inspired. It’s not a good reason to feel bad about your work. Work with what you’ve got. If you’re going to skip a day of writing, you’ll need to work twice as hard at writing the next day. Don’t be surprised if it feels frustrating.…
-
Get your customer’s name right, or don’t ask at all
In 2012, Starbucks baristas started writing down their customers’ names on their cups. This convention spread around to other businesses. Since then, I’ve been asked my name a lot. Here is what I often seen on labels in response: Harper Harbor Harvard Trevor Herburger While most customers probably won’t mind, as long as the product’s…
-
A birthday is a reminder
My wife and I adopted our cat three years ago. She was very vocal and energetic. She loved jumping around. She ate a lot of food. Her relative youthfulness made it very easy to forget her age. She recently turned 14, the cat equivalent to a 72-year-old person. She sleeps a little more now, jumps…
-
Eight ways to write more
Read more books. Lower your expectations. Work at a desk with pen and paper. Write everything, even if you think it’s bad. Talk it out. Write out somebody else’s words. Make peace with the work. When in doubt, publish.
-
An advantage and disadvantage to publishing at a blog
If you publish your work at a blog, very few people are going to read it. There is an advantage to this: your source of feedback is more introspective. Posting your work at a blog trains you to focus on your own responses to your work. You learn to focus on the process, not the…
-
Philip Glass’s composing practice
Philip Glass’s memoir, Words Without Music, has been very energizing to read. One of the more interesting passages describes how he developed more rigorous work habits to accommodate his learning at Juilliard. In order to better focus on composing music, Philip set a goal to sit at a piano at home for three hours. He…
-
Meditations, with art
When you spend time with a piece of art, you’ll feel much calmer after. This is a great way to practice meditating. The National Gallery posts meditations with art. These videos are brief, usually no more than five minutes. The New York Times also posts 10 minute challenges with art, once a month. You can…
-
Live and dead options
An option is live if it’s a real possibility. This could be a practical choice you can make. It also appeals to you; it energizes you, like electricity running through a live wire. An option is dead if it is impossible. This could feel like an impractical choice, or so infeasible that it feels unacceptable.…