Something I’ve wondred.
Why do villains always laugh?
A puzzling thing
Tag: culture
Recommend Reading: @ClaireDederer’s “What Do We Do with the Art of Monstrous Men?”
As my culture deals with abrupt waves of awareness of the ugly, monstrous behaviors of so many prominent men, Claire Dederer presents a rather thoughtful article.
What Do We Do with the Art of Monstrous Men?
I struggle with this, too. Ms. Dederer captures my sentiment quite nicely. Very insightful questions, making one think, which seems considered criminal any more.
A Reflection on Alan Watts: A Haiku
Straightening out life
Violates its core nature
We must let it be
This haiku is my response to Alan Watts’ quote “you’re only making a mess by trying to put things straight. You’re trying to straighten out a wiggly world and no wonder you’re in trouble”. I find this very relevant in today’s climate.
Billy Joel
I don’t understand
What life in New York is like
Cultures intersect
Contemporary Communications
A current cultural value: speed. Faster, faster…get more done sooner!
So, with that, one of my recent personal observations: I need to slow down. In the grand flurry of work, I find it easy to wrap myself up in the frenetic nature of life and reactively communicate. My most common culprit: email, though other medium catch that, too.
Taking that moment to consider “what am I trying to say?” and “what do I want to happen?”, then evaluating my content against those proves itself valuable again and again.
Also valuable: thinking through medium. Is an email the best tool to get the results I need? Sometimes I end up shifting to a phone call after a few emails where we talk past each other.
Quite often slowing down, getting focused on quality ends up being by far faster. In my experience, I find that true more often than not.
Responding to our vacuous culture
Seeking richness
And depth
While our culture
Celebrates and delights
In the vacuous,
The superficial,
The inane
Gently, gently,
With greatest care
I dream we can bring
A love for grace,
Dignity, compassion
If you like what you just read, give it a like, read more, and leave a comment.
Enough?
Each minute pops up
Opportunities to spend
Always needing more
A Few Thoughts On Wil Wheaton’s Radio Free Burrito, Episode 45
Just finished the 45th episode of Wil Wheaton’s Radio Free Burrito. I adore his wit and share many of the things that tickle his whimsy.
In this episode he talks a bit about getting a gig from an audition. He’s rather pleased with himself as this has not been the most successful vessel for booking his work. It’s quite understandable, really, that you meet success where you’ve met nothing but frustration. That feeling of validation is quite invigorating.
While talking about that, though, he mentions the times he’s thought about quitting these. Not quitting acting, but these types of auditions. For me, the key thing: he’s successful getting work via, what I’d call “networking”. The undertone: that would be “quitting”.
I’d argue that, no, it’s not. Acting, and acting gigs, are the goal. He has success there! He’s acting, and paying the bills. Everything else is gravy. There’s nothing wrong with quitting unsuccessful tactics while working towards your dream. Quite the opposite.
Some times, quitting is essential.
One way to consider this: the ol’ 80/20 rule. 20% of what most people do generates 80% of the results. If one is meeting success doing “it” one way, and not in another, focus on where you’re meeting success.
It’s not only “ok” to quit what’s not working, I’d argue that there’s an imperative.
Focus on results, not the process. So what if someone else gets all their work “this way”? Focus on what works for you. It might be valuable to explore how you can do things differently, and use that to grow. And, as Wil points out, sometimes the exercises that don’t generate the gigs have other value. For him, many times it’s getting in front of key people; building that network.
Results, my friends, are what should drive us.
Keep up the good work, my friends!