Category: life

• The growth corkscrew

  We don’t grow straight up. We branch and twist and turn back on ourselves, always reaching toward the light. Complement with look to the liminal, simple and difficult, and why most successful people have no idea what made them successful. Get new posts delivered straight to your inbox: This blog exists thanks to the generous…

• Eva Hagberg Fisher on Lifesaving Friendships and the Art of Memoir

  I interviewed Eva Hagberg Fisher for the Chicago Review of Books about writing, life, and her brilliant debut memoir, How To Be Loved: https://chireviewofbooks.com/2019/03/15/eva-hagberg-fisher-on-lifesaving-friendships-and-the-art-of-memoir/ “I had to find the heart of the story, which was really my transformation from someone who was loved but couldn’t feel it, into someone who could feel it. And once…

• Simple and difficult

  Listening, doing your best work, cultivating an open mind and heart, seeking inner truth, being there for your loved ones—the important things in life are simple and difficult. Complement with how to create meaning instead of trying to find it, this radio interview about creativity, and do what matters. Get new posts delivered straight to your…

• Special Event: The Art of Fiction and Memoir

  Bay Area people, mark your calendars! Eva Hagberg Fisher and I are hosting a very special joint book launch party and it’s going to be, ahem, AWESOME. We will be interviewing each other about our respective books (How To Be Loved and Borderless) and the art of writing fiction and memoir. Eva’s flying out all…

• Look to the liminal

  Barely plausible niche ideas. The outskirts and underpasses of a megalopolis. Burgeoning self awareness. The cultural fringe. Technologies that appear to be nothing more than toys. The fractal outline of a fern frond. Marginal returns. Emotions that are just barely ineffable. Border towns. The moment just before you lean in for a first kiss. Coastal…

• The creative process is a mirror that reflects our evolving selves

  Song Exploder deconstructs every element of individual songs to the most granular level of detail. Chef’s Table takes viewers into the kitchen to observe world renowned chefs at work. A cottage industry serves tourists who visit the abandoned Tunisian movie sets where George Lucas filmed the Tatooine scenes of the first Star Wars movie in 1976. Bearing witness…

• True maturity requires treating adults like children

  When a toddler throws a tantrum, we assume they must be hungry, tired, bored, or need to poop. We don’t immediately conclude that they are selfish jerks, megalomaniacs, or fundamentally evil. Instead, we offer them comfort, snacks, and naps, and it almost always works. When an adult upsets us with a snarky comment, a thoughtless…

• Most successful people have no idea what made them successful

  We all want to do work that makes an impact. We want the teacher to give us an A. We want our book to be a #1 New York Times bestseller. We want our company to IPO. We want our nonprofit to save lives. We want our efforts to matter. So, naturally, we look for shortcuts.…

• To get perspective, cultivate connection

  In my latest column for Harvard Business Review, I explore how isolation can blind us to the bigger picture and what a Renaissance master can teach us about the psychological perils of leadership: https://hbr.org/2018/09/why-seclusion-is-the-enemy-of-creativity Complement with storytelling for startups, do what matters, and why business leaders need to read more science fiction. Get new posts…

• Education, career, and the “search” for meaning

  Don’t expect higher education to give your life meaning. Instead, make meaning for yourself and use college, grad school, apprenticeships, jobs, books, YouTube, direct experimentation, or whatever works for you to learn, explore, and level up your skills and thinking. Likewise, don’t expect your job to give your life meaning. I’m not on a career…