Daily Writing
shower thoughts
You may remember the story of Archimedes discovering displacement and buoyancy, promptly running down the street, wet from his bath tub, shouting 'eureka' in joy.
This event kicked off the torrent of "shower ideas" people have had for millennia.
We all have ideas constantly. Our brains fuse different neural pathways together to create a surge effect of conceptual novelty. Some people think writers or "creatives" have a greater quantity of ideas than other people. This thinking requires a paradigm shift:
Writers don't have a greater quantity of ideas, they merely practice noticing them more.
Neil Gaiman
Every idea is a potential catalyst for action, and action is the first step in the change equation.
Whether it's a new productivity system in your life or a product that could create positive change, ideas start things.
Ideas are the lifeblood of change.
If we could see how vital ideas are to human growth, our relationship with these insights would change fundamentally.
Steps: Take note; take action.
start a blog
Seth Godin wrote today about how the most important blog is "yours" and the most important blog post is "the one you'll write tomorrow".
Whether you make decisions for your company, craft sales pitches everyday, or check people out in line is not as important as if you write about something you noticed in the world today.
If we're not noticing, how are we changing? And if we're not changing, how are we becoming...?
Writing isn't about sounding elegant- Hemingway was simple in his prose. Writing doesn't ask you to get it right every time- "Grammarly can help". Writing a daily blog isn't just for writers.
We write to form conclusions. To understand. To educate. To create meaning.
The question is not "did we do this well", but rather "did we do this today?"
acknowledgments
In an article titled, Against Acknowledgements, Sam Sacks critiques and disavows acknowledgements in novels and nonfiction alike, citing the solidarity in which writing transpires.
The problem with this view is that it breeds solipsism (or, self-mindedness, a philosophy that is equal parts arrogant and foolish). While I'm all for questioning conventional wisdom, I believe we are nothing without those who have surrounded us all our lives.
We cannot create in a vacuum. Even Thoreau at Walden Pond had his neighbors for inspiration- squirrels and birds, townsfolk and huntsmen.
Through a myriad of influences, we create work from and for the people who have created us. They may not have directly influenced our work in process, but they certainly influenced our thinking.
In big and small ways, our language, memories, and ideas all stem from others. Only with people are we able to write characters that reflect, places that repurpose our memories, and concepts heard in passing and staying.
Acknowledgement is proof of effort.
The intersection of learned artifacts make up our work. We have done the hard work of not looking merely inward, but seeing outward for the truth fused into the hands and eyes of people.
And so, we thank them.
imports and exports
George: He's an importer.
Jerry: Just imports, no exports?
Seinfeld, The Stakeout
You can't share if you don't listen.
That's how we train children and how we setup culture. One part respect, two parts logistic- we can't share what we don't have.
Learning reveals what we have to share. We ask of each person or circumstance life finds for us, "what do you teach", and hear (not an answer, but...) more questions about this complex thing called living.
Inversely, you can't merely listen, you must share.
Not sharing is what we call an echo chamber or selfish. The world asks something of each of us. Lending an ear is not a complete substitute for calling.
Purpose is a duality: to be called and to call.
Alcoholics Anonymous has eleven steps to bring an addict back to home plate. They then make the move of giving them a swing....
... to carry this message to alcoholics and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
Step Twelve
Not solely importing, not merely exporting.
He's an importer-exporter!
Thanks, Jerry.
the hole
There's a hole in all our souls that has captivated artists to write, spirituals to pray, and the rest to work. Somewhere along the way, we messed up the purpose of our work. We see the dropout rate from careers and education and the un-satisfaction level with jobs today- signs of an unhappy time.
When we talk about seeking purpose, we talk about doing something. Work.
When we talk about filling the hole, we talk about acquiring resources. Stuff.
The flip is not merely due to a perspective shift in our framework, but a way our culture is setup around work. Work has become a means to an end, not the end itself.
We work to buy stuff to fill the hole, instead of letting meaningful work fill it for us. Working for a paycheck is purposeful up to the point of financial security. Beyond that is selfishness that won't fill the hole, no matter the hammer's size.
We now have a chance to reframe.
Living simply, generously, and purposely. Choosing to have less and be more.
Garden City // John Mark Comer
change (no.2) choose
There are inspiring people who are making change and not looking for a paycheck or pat on the back. Ziggy Alberts, Tristan Harris, Seth Godin, John Mark Comer, Joe Hollier, Yvon Chouinard to name a few. Creators in spaces from music to clothing, all doing things different.
How do we get there?
Choose.
These people don't start that way. They choose everyday to make change. To create something and put it into the world, creating new pockets of curiosity, generosity, and connection.
They build a routine to foundationally fall back on when they step out. They are able to choose change because, to them, it's the default.
The choice to step out from this routine differentiates them. They don't commit to the practice to catch the bigger fish or make more stuff. They commit to make changes and solutions.
How do we choose everyday?
Guard Rails.
Intentionally choosing change everyday requires discipline. Discipline doesn't come naturally to each of us. We need guard rails of two kinds-
Habits and mantras.
Practice that has been conditioned to an unconscious level, and thought behind speech or action to repeatedly recenter our focus. These both keep us in line to do the work we are called to do.
How do they know what to change?
They don't.
They show up everyday trusting the process they have created, the guard rails they have setup, and the intention they have in their hearts to make change.
They know that showing up is the most important part of the work they do, and the way they engage their audience is directly informed by this- never trying to appease or pander, always trying to create the next right thing.
change (no.1) applause
There are people who are making real change and not looking for a paycheck or pat on the back. Ziggy Alberts, Tristan Harris, Seth Godin, John Mark Comer, Joe Hollier, and Yvon Chouinard to name a few. Creators in spaces from music to clothing, all doing things different. Applause is a grotesque byproduct of the generous work they do.
Seeking encouragement is a habit that's easy to pick up but hard to kick.
It's an output minded focus that detracts from our work.
Receiving validation for the work we do is dangerous.
As Seth Godin says, "reassurance is futile."
The counter-thought is the echo chamber. How can our work meaningfully effect people at their core if we aren't hearing from them? How can we know when our work stops resonating?
These thoughts come from the Resistance. I'm entirely convinced now that the creative people listed above are not caught up in asking whether they are still relevant but are entirely committed to carrying out their creative act of Defiance because it is what they do, with or without applause.
They do it because they have defined the who and what their change involves, and they know it works when they are allowed to continue creating that change.
Fantastic
Film director Wes Anderson works magic. I was captured by his imaginarium of Roald Dahl's 1970 classic children's tale years after it hit theaters in 2009 and years before I was ready to write about it.
Fantastic Mr. Fox takes you to a world familiar but different.
Talking animals- check. Humans made artless fools- check.
Anderson isn't interested in reinventing the wheel; he just wants to reveal what our society has forgotten about the spokes.
The film lives in a world we've seen countless times. That is innovation. Every animation in 2009 was about out of this world characters with a wacky, semi-complicated plot (e.g. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Up, Coraline). Anderson created something simple, grounded, and relatable to teach a more important lesson.
We're all a little different, but there's something kind of fantastic about that, isn't there?
There it is- no fluff.
With inspired visuals, a distinctive soundtrack, and a wit-filled script, this world we've seen again and again shows us how the mundane is fantastic.
I don't want to belabor why this matters or how it is shown in the film. This one is purposefully selfish-
Go watch Fantastic Mr. Fox.
inspired images // accidentally wes anderson
the film // Fantastic Mr. Fox
the question
What problem do you solve for people?
Life is the great math teacher. Writing problems on the board, waiting for a student who cares enough to share a solution. The students have been given more than enough tools to work it out but bystander effect, fear of failure, and peer pressure halt any sum in its track.
The difference between math and life is certainty.
If we're doing math right, we can be 100% sure of a math solution. But if we're doing life right, we are never 100% sure of the solution.
And that's not a bad thing.
Uncertainty leaves open the door for more and more questions. More and more problems to solve. More and more kinds of people to bless.
Lean into uncertainty. Lean into the question.
read
Writers drink bigelow vanilla-chai black tea, use a no. 2 pencil, keep record of earth-shattering vss's (very short sentences), and are obsessed with good grammar and latin roots. Or I imagine as much.
These are vain without one thing to make a writer a writer: reading (with just this piece you have become a writer).
If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.
Stephen King
Commonly misconstrued is the idea that great writers are wholly original. Jeff Goins writes, "the most creative minds in the world aren't especially creative; they're just better at rearranging." Adaptation is the great coalescent.
Every great writer was inspired by a writer whom we should label "greater". That's how math works. Take part from one and you are left with less than one.
In actuality, the great, inspired writers take from their favorites and build something even more true to themselves and original. We are even more than the sum total of the blessings we've received in our lives; writer's influence included.
So, we read.
We read because, in the words of Ram Dass, "when all is said and done, we're all just walking each other home."
they say...
People who hear this phrase and cringe are movers and shakers. Noticing what's wrong with life is the first step to doing something about it. The people who do something about it are Nelson Mandela's and Rosa Park's.
It might take a village to raise a child, but it almost certainly takes a child to reform that village for all human flourishing. One voice out of many.
E Pluribus Unum got us to the top, but what will bring us down is the failure to listen to the child saying the emperor has no clothes.
(They won't say it because it's popular; they'll say it because it's true.)
***Side note on atomic change: In truly simple ways, many people live out Defiance to the status quo in their lives without showiness or wanting a trophy. It doesn't take movements with unions and speakers to go against the grain for change. It requires only that one person start using a reusable straw. And then another...***
read:
The Emperor's New Clothes // Hans Christian Andersen
Atomic Habits // James Clear
penny for your thoughts
In pre-Revolution France, coffee shops were antithetical to our's today. They were the reason pre-Revolution France became post-Revolution France.
Commonly known as penny universities, French men (at the time male exclusivity certainly stymied the amount and quality of ideas that could have been) came for cheap caffeine and the free flow of knowledge.
Enter individualist America (growing increasingly unaware of the distances between us).
Coffee has very slowly become one of (if not the) consumer's top drink choices. You can't beat the warmth, energy, and aesthetic a house cup provides. So too does the vibe we feel at coffee shops foster a controlled, efficient environment.
We could return to the open-discourse of penny universities, but our pluralist society creates barriers of social norms, self-obsession, and ideological lines. It's hard to break down walls and have productive conversations for human flourishing with strangers.
We start with steps.
Small step: I have a friend who will ask another customer about their drink choice, how they chose, and eventually what they create. (He has genuine fascination with people's creative sides and digs for stranger's "why")
Big step: I know a creative who wants to open a modern-day penny university, creating affordable coffee and space for people to share, create, and encourage ideas. (Even equipped with table flags to signify wanting to hear ideas, share ideas, or just chat!!)
The first step is coming up with your next step. Then go.
It will hopefully only cost you a penny but gain you an ally for your journey.
status quo
Whatever the status quo is, it's wrong. How can you tell?
We have a society made up of 300 million people with vast and world-shaping potential. How many of them are able to step out of their comfort zone and try to change things? Not enough.
The status quo is wrong.
everybody says that
Why does everybody say that? Is it true or is it popular?
Telling the difference between the two is essential for artists because artists must have good taste. (But) The same can also be said for bank-tellers because "water-cooler" and lunch break conversations are where we look for truth.
All conversation revolves around determining if something is true or popular. Be it through false truths we tell ourselves and rumors we spread at other's expense, or the praise we give and inspiration we put out in the world, we are wired to talk about and find truth.
Look at two places we spend an overabundance of time at daily (regardless of location)- the news and social media.
We are submerged in a search for truth- his truth, her truth, their truth, the truth- with no leader able to tell us which is truly true.
(But) Michaelangelo couldn't create until he understood his own creation. Eric Liddell didn't "feel God's pleasure" until he understood his purpose.
Each of us has a sculpture to craft, a race to run. We can't do it through the noise of truth and popularity. We have to find the place outside any of us where our truth stops and the other truest truth begins.
Then we understand that "everybody says that" to avoid admitting this truth.
west tx
West Texas grass is not beautiful until it's laden with frost.
Greens and yellows and brown all coated by a sheet of white to birth a silver gleam. Bermuda grass, totally out of its element, is tested by the burden of a snowy glacé. A weighted blanket on leafy tundra, a winter's night unveils the true character of the frozen turf beneath.
A person is not beautiful until we see their resilience under the pressure of life.
Back straight and dimples high flying in the face of pain and the admission of uncertainty. It's not denial of the weight, but acceptance of the hope. Having suffered the trials of this world (and expecting more to come), the faith-filled wanderer is able to stand with a renewed spirit, fully recognizing a new truth:
Snow will always be melted by a new sun.
//
I still remember the day I knew I wanted to be a writer.
Thirteen. Fingers trembling over our family's white-polycarbonate, 2006 MacBook. I wrote one sentence.
As Sean walked, he could hear the pounding of his metallic boots through the gravitized hallway.
I've remembered that sentence since the moment I wrote it. I ran to my sister, pushed her face to the screen, and witnessed her reaction.
We still reference it today in jest, and after years of denying my creative yearnings, masking the art I always meant to create, I cherish this sentence so closely as inspiration and the purpose for my life and the work I want to do.
I believe I was designed- created for this, as I believe that every person was designed with a primal, distinctive purpose and work.
Victor Frankl wrote it better than I ever could (but I still write...):
"Everyone's task is as unique as his opportunity to implement it... In a word, each man is questioned by life; and he can only answer to life by answering for his life."
counterintuitive
How does one learn to draw with their non-dominant (ND) hand?
If you thought, "the same way as learning to draw with their dominant (D) hand", it's actually more complex than that...
When we have been inundated in a complete way of thinking and doing, our options are to either to force the alternative (we sometimes call this 'rote') or to lay new pathways.
We learn to write with our ND hand the complete opposite way we learned with our D hand. If you started by picking up a pen, make that the last step. If getting ink to paper was how you reached excellence, think before touching down your quill.
The mind is slow in unlearning what it has been long in learning.
~ Seneca
In neuroscience, discoveries have molecularly proven that our brain's are shaped by what we learn and do. Solve 2+2 to =4, and our brain trains that equation to be sorted into our "data base" that consists of all the learning we have ever done. It becomes what we call, "a neural pathway."
What's fascinating about these pathways is that the more we train and leave unquestioned the inputs into our brain, the deeper in our brain these pathways become carved. This is wonderful for automating tasks like the sum of two basic numbers or texting with eyes closed, one-handed (possible if you're under twenty).
Where this becomes a problem is when we need to unlearn things about the world and reframe our social, theological, or technological context.
We live in a time where information should be taken with a full shaker of salt. The process for seeing the world in new ways complicates our understanding of learning.
Let's choose to lay new pathways, not force an alternative ideology, lifestyle, definition of love (etc.) onto our preexisting frameworks.
When training your ND hand to draw, here are some practical, healthful tips:
Learn (relearn) how letters are shaped by your ND hand.
Do hand/brain exercises (brush your teeth and comb your hair at the same time)
Do many, varying activities with your ND hand (texting, using a fork, opening doors).
In the same way, don't pick up the pen and start writing a manifesto on racial reconciliation or vaccine nationalism without getting out of yourself and away from the unrefined, derivative beliefs we all commonly hold undisputed.
Then, when all of the pathways are carved, pick up a pen- start writing.
reintegrate
Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you...
When (not if) you crash and burn due to crippling fear and anxiety, unrealistic expectations, a callous word, resurfaced trauma, or the weight of our sinful, messed-up world, take a day off.
Stop work; stop your side-hustle. Stop vying for attention in whatever social sphere you're orbiting in an attempt to reach the center.
Recuperate. Restore. Revive.
You may find the world will still be intact when you return, usually in a better state because of your restart.
Anne Lamott, almost everything
clichès
Clichès make up a majority of our speech from day to day. We cast about expressions looking for meaning amidst these recurrent phrases. Take a look at your last essay from high school or college and see how prevalent these "stereotypes" are in our speech and writing.
Even Homer partakes in this convention:
"Joy, warm as the joy that shipwrecked sailors feel / when they catch sight of land... their bodies crusted with salt but buoyed up with joy as they plant their feet on solid ground again, spared a deadly fate."
Odysseus' reunion with Penelope, from 'The Odyssey'
Notice the amount of imagery that does well to paint visuals in the listener's mind. "Warm as joy", "catch sight of", "on solid ground", "shipwrecked sailors".
Poets and orators coined so many phrases we still use today because our brain needs shortcuts to make speech easier. *I can write, "read between the lines to see the truth that only time will tell how every cloud has a silver lining", without much imagination or effort because of how familiar with these cliches we have become
(*While this isn't the most powerful sentence written, it shows how easy it is to write using clichès- I count 3 words of originality).
Let's look at origins. The phrase "full circle" was created by the progenitor of 1700 words in the English language, William Shakespeare. The reason Shakespeare coined a phrase like this could have been rooted in its "insidious memorability." Plays and poems of the day were recited orally, and without notes. Having to memorize copious amounts of lines for scenes leads to the necessary evil of creating highly memorable "catch phrases" (or clichès) to insert into a script.
This is not a bad thing- to the contrary, it frees our mind up for problem solving or other kinds of creative thinking- but it is something we need to recognize. Language exists to create relationship.
As we drift farther out from our roots in classical education, into a world of digital connection and untempered social skills, we need to be conscious of how our words deepen or shallow relationships. We can reclaim language and begin to plant a trellis of intentionality.
Speaking words in a vacuum does nothing; you must garden with your words. You must live in the flower bed if you want to grow something there.
Redeeming How We Talk, AJ Swoboda and Ken Wytsma
timely article // the Chicago Tribune on COVID-19 philology
previous read // but, so, i mean, as far as
stripped
"How do you take something really simple, and make it better not by adding more, but by stripping it down?"
This philosophy stands behind so many innovative, minimalist technologies* that are hitting the scene in a "big tech"-dominated world. People are realizing they have more options than the default, and they are willing to choose wholeness and intentionality in spite of these options being harder to assimilate.
These products exist, and they don't carry the burden of the forbidden fruit in their design. Originals writer, Adam Grant, writes about why employees who use Firefox or Chrome on their work PCs are "more committed and better performers" in the companies in which they reside. These workers are "originals" because they reject the default tech (Internet Explorer) in favor of taking "a bit of initiative to seek out an option that might be better."
How can we intentionally choose the products that we bring into our lives, instead of having them chosen for us?
And how can we educate those with less influence to see the injustice they are forced into? Executives from Silicon Valley have, for a long time, refused to give their children smartphone access as they know the effects their own products have. In the European Journal of Social Psychology, John T. Jost writes about the perception of merit-based economic systems saying, "the people who suffer the most from a given state of affairs are paradoxically the least likely to question, challenge, reject, or change it."
Those in places of affluence who are able to see the dangers of technology are the ones who are in the place today to shape the future of those who cannot shape it for themselves.
It's our job to become more intentional about this way of life that has creeped into culture so pervasively over the past two decades. Take steps towards choosing...
***And discover these creators for your own education!
*tech // Remarkable 2 and insider Blog
tech // thelightphoneII
tech // Fossil Hybrid Smartwatch
paper // Social inequality and the reduction of ideological dissonance
mover and shaker // Center for Humane Technology
read // lpII review
read // stg 3
read // not the end