Category: Creativity
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Blind Faith Heroic by Richard MacDonald
Richard MacDonald(American, b. 1946) SculptureBlind Faith Heroic, 2007.Limited Edition of 8 The cube is your life and we are balanced on the tip of life,So we can fall in any direction.We are poised in a pose that we can only hold for a split-second…So it is about being in that instant, in the moment.We are…
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“Art changes people and people change the world”
A great reminder, attributed to John Butler. I saw this on a brick wall in Tokyo; I’m glad that they posted it. As I previously wrote: “We can choose a responsibility, every day, to collect the best of what came before us, to embody it, and to preserve it by sharing its charms with other…
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On quitting, failing, and, “I find a lot of people who should quit don’t”
I recently posted my friend Vin’s blog post at Hacker News, where it sparked a lot of discussion. In particular, one comment by rcme stood out to me: I find a lot of people who should quit don’t. Their taste becomes compromised and they fall in love with their own work. I have high school…
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Contentions: If you really want to make an impact, tell a story
You may never own a pair of J’s, though there’s a chance you’ll know Michael Jordan’s story. You may not have heard one of Amanda Palmer songs, though you may know of her stories with crowdfunding. You may not watch Oprah, and you might still know her as a billionaire who started with nothing. Same…
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In praise of the obvious
When you’re playing a word game like Scrabble, it helps to move your letters around. Just a simple shuffle of the same letters will show you combinations that your brain couldn’t see before. There’s a similar case to be made for writing about something that seems obvious. Even if the idea or story is the…
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I wrote every day for 365 days. Here are my results and 5 insights
In February 2022, I started #the100dayproject with the goal of writing a new blog post every day. (Here’s post #1.) Day 100 came, and I didn’t stop. I was having way too much fun. I’ve since written 110,126 words, enough to fill two nonfiction books. Over 88,106 people have visited my website. I’ve often been…
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Contentions: Writing to understand
Writing can be a tool for marketing, creating media, and building an audience. But it’s definitely not the most valuable use of it. Many people and teams are constantly patterning themselves after what they see and believe to be successful. That’s because if they didn’t mimic the best practices, they don’t know what they would…
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Shuffle mode
Sometimes, an insight reveals itself from a simple shuffle. An example includes rearranging letters in a game of Scrabble or Letter Tycoon; it’ll prompt your brain to see new words or recognize new possibilities. This applies to all sorts of creative work; sometimes, it’s worth rolling the dice. Let the magic of controlled sloppiness happen.
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Thin layers
To elaborate on yesterday’s post: what looks like a simple, thin, layer can still be powerful (and take a lot of work!). See also improve the interface.
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Unsticking
If a work gets stuck, and you need to unstick it, the best way to do it is almost always to make it smaller and simpler. What’s keeping it from launching now, this instant? What’s essential that you need to add? (vs. What is just a smart way of saying, “I’m scared”? What can you…