Running, music business, metal, bright colors
Oh boy, James Victore never disappoints.
The quote below is in response to someone asking how to move forward creatively even though they’re older now:
Yes, “to do” is the answer. Action!
Action, action, action! Create, create, create
Shut up, stop waiting, and just make the thing. Take one step closer to the doing the thing.
Maybe you can’t direct a play tomorrow, but you can start writing the story. Sketch up the logo. Talk to someone who might want to do the same thing.
Action.
From ‘The life and the work are equally important‘
“Let’s face it—artists are always working, though they may not seem as if they are. They are like plants growing in winter. You can’t see the fruit, but it is taking root below the earth.”
André Gregory
My goodness, I believe this to be true.
I feel like my creative life has had so many stops and starts, as if it must be one continuous flow to be valid, but this quote above reassures me I’m wrong.
(via Austin Kleon)
We endured a pandemic. Life shut down. Live music stopped. No more going to the movies. It was take-out only at food stops. I avoided aisles at the grocery stores when it was filled with too many people.
Through all that, and a million Americans dead, it’s like we just couldn’t wait to get back to being miserable.
I’ve talked to a handful of people recently, and no one’s fucking happy. Short fuses, bad tempers, and people being shitty everywhere.
Oh, we can get back to “normal” a bit? Great. Time to be miserable.
Finally re-found this quote from Joe Holder:
“sometimes, all the time, never”
don’t think of exercise as an “all the time” activity—key is just to not let “sometimes” become “never”
don’t think of “junk food” as a “never” occasion— key is to just to not let “sometimes” become “all the time”
it’s all in the dose
Joe Holder via Twitter
This quote rattles my bones:
‘I was working in film production and was responsible for what’s called “pulling focus” – as the character moves across the scene, the focus puller keeps them in focus. That’s what I did for 10 years, mostly for commercials. But commercials are the most transient things you can possibly make. It’s so much energy, but they last for 30 seconds and are gone from the world. I wanted to make something more permanent.
Adam McDermott of Linus Bikes
Who remembers quiet Fridays? When all the demands of the week regain momentum just to crash into your Friday afternoon like a dumptruck? Sure. Why not.
Been trying the Pomodoro method of time management, and time blocking, and whatever, but really the best for me is “I’m working on this one thing, all my notifications are off, I’ll tackle the next action item when this one is complete.”
Multi-tasking is a myth, and a brain drain.
Photo taken with my GoPro 8.
A scene I get to enjoy almost every day, and I don’t have enough photos to account for it.
For a minute I thought I’d do one of those “write something everyday in December” things, but then last night I was exhausted and was in bed by 8pm on a Friday night, so that’s out the window. But whatever!
We are not robots.
I asked a friend recently, “how are you being a good manager to yourself?” And for me, that’s been giving myself lots of freedom and flexability in my freelance work. I don’t mean missing deadlines, but more like, if I feel like I need to take a walk, or a bike ride, or leave something for tomorrow, I do it now. Fuck it.
Finishing work is actually never finished. Somehow there’s always more tomorrow, and well, I’m not a machine. I need rest, I need hobbies, I need to not work.
So missing a day in the month of December, 2022 is not the end of the world.
I can never quite remember all the lyrics, but I think about them when I’m out for my night time walks.
Town is quiet now
‘Cone of Shame’ by Faith No More
Like it’s holding its breath
Stone marks the spot
You know who you are
They outlined it in chalk
Word to the wise
And the barman calls time
The whole “town is quiet now, like it’s holding its breath” part. The college kids gone for the holiday, while everything else is just paused. Less loud cards, people, commotion.
Like the town is holding its breath, at least until school is back in session.
We’ve had a lot of tragedy in town lately. A shooting, with the killer still at large. A teenager climbed into a dumpster and was killed. Someone brandished a weapon in broad daylight at an intersection right up the road.
That was all in one weekend.
Then to find out that a Kutztown High School alum was one of those killed in the Club Q shooting in Colorado Springs.
Most nights on my walks the town is quiet, but seemingly things are quite chaotic.
Love this from James Clear’s 3-2-1 newsletter:
“Children are joyful and treat each day as a miracle—in part because they are continually surprised.
Each day, they hear a new word or listen to a new song or learn about a new animal. It’s their first time visiting that restaurant or jumping in that pool or riding that rollercoaster. The world is continually unfolding before them.
How can you introduce more surprise into your life as an adult? How can you renew your sense of childlike wonder?”
James Clear
How, at 46, do I introduce wonder and surprise? That’s a tough one.
Going biking in new places brings about some surprise and wonder, as the weather may change, or I might show up right when a steam train is leaving the station, and I can try to “race it.” Those small, spontaneous moments, I guess.
Running is always a surprise, too, because I sort of never know how the body will feel. Most days it can be hard to get out the door (especially with the heat wave we have here on the east coast), but then 1.8 miles into the run everything feels great, or I see a breathtaking sunset, or I come across a dog who loves racing me from the other side of the fence.
In part I think it’s just getting out and doing something, throwing myself into the world and seeing what happens. That’s looked different in the past few years due to COVID, which has meant a lot of missed opportunities to meet new people, so lately it’s been about the experiences, and the scenery.
