“Everything you have ever dreamed of having is being held in trust for you until you are at the level in which you are ready to receive it. You have to rise. You have to become the kind of person who deserves the life you want.”
— Brianna Wiest
You Have To Rise
Break The Rules
“By all means break the rules, and break them beautifully, deliberately, and well.”
— Robert Bringhurst
True Success
“What if we measured true success not by the amount of money you have but by the amount of human energy you unlock, the amount of potential you enable? If that were our metric, our world would be a different place.”
— Jacqueline Novogratz
How To Write by Elizabeth Gilbert
1) Tell your story TO someone. Pick one person you love or admire or want to connect with, and write the whole thing directly to them —like you’re writing a letter. This will bring forth your natural voice. Whatever you do, do NOT write to a demographic. Ugh.
2) Start at the beginning of the story, write what happened, and keep going until you get to the end.
3) Use radically simple sentences.
4) Don’t worry if it’s good; just finish it. Whether or not your project is good, you’ll be a different person at the end of it, and that’s always worth doing.
5) Don’t write with the aim of changing anybody’s life. That will lead to heavy, irritating prose. Just share what delights or enrages or fascinates you. If somebody’s life is changed by it, that’s a bonus.
6) Whenever you can, tell stories instead of explaining stuff. Humans love stories, and we hate having stuff explained to us. Use Jesus as an example: He spoke almost exclusively in parables, and allowed everybody to draw their own lessons from his great storytelling. And he did very well.
7) Your work doesn’t have to be any particular length, or written for any particular market. It doesn’t have to even be seen by another human being. How and if to publish your work is a problem for another day. For today, just write.
8) Remember that you’ve been doing research your whole life, merely by existing. You are the only expert in your own experience. Embrace this as your supreme qualification.
9) Every writer starts in the same place on Day One: Super excited, and ready for greatness. On Day Two, every writer looks at what she wrote on Day One and hates herself. What separates working writers from non-working writers is that working writers return to their task on Day Three. What gets you there is not pride but mercy. Show yourself forgiveness, for not being good enough. Then keep going.
10) Be willing to let it be easy. You might be surprised.
Reasons To Be Cheerful
David Byrne started a magazine called Reasons To Be Cheerful in which he and his team tell stories that reveal that there are, in fact, a surprising number of reasons to feel cheerful. Many of these reasons come in the form of smart, proven, replicable solutions to the world’s most pressing problems. Reasons to be Cheerful is here to tell you about some of them. Through sharp reporting, their stories balance a sense of healthy optimism with journalistic rigor, and find cause for hope. It is part magazine, part therapy session, part blueprint for a better world.
I love EVERYTHING about this.
What Choral Singing Can Teach us About Leadership
As someone who recently started a choir, even though I am terrified of singing, and as someone who leads teams, this article really spoke to me.
The Joy You Feel
“There is no desire that anyone holds for any other reason than that they believe they will feel better in the achievement of it. Whether it is a material object, a physical state of being, a relationship, a condition, or a circumstance – at the heart of every desire is the desire to feel good. And so, the standard of success in life is not the things or the money – the standard of success is absolutely the amount of joy you feel.”
― Esther Hicks
The Answer is Love: Evolving out of “Bad Other”
I needed to hear this. I appreciate it Tara Brach so much. She has gotten me through some dark times and keeps reminding me to stay in my heart.
10 Years with Hayao Miyazaki
10 Years with Hayao Miyazaki: An exclusive, behind-the-scenes look at the genius of Japan’s foremost living film director, Hayao Miyazaki. Miyazaki allowed a single documentary filmmaker to shadow him at work, as he dreamed up characters and plot lines for what would become his 2008 blockbuster, “Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea.”
“Are People Doing The Best They Can?”
There are some real gems in this conversation between Russell Brand & Brené Brown.
This really got me thinking. Are people doing the best they can? I want to believe they do.
Directions:
Yes! Yes! Yes! Hyperlocal is where its at.
Money Positivity
This illustration by Hallie Bateman definitely speaks to me as I have been (and still am) working through my complicated relationship with money.
I have learned to realize that money is neutral. It’s energy that allows me to do more of what I want to do in the world.
I enjoyed Magic Money, by Holly Alexander on this topic. Is this something you relate to? Anything you have come across that has help you understand and improve your relationship to money?
Talk About Your Joy
“Talking about our problems is our greatest addiction. Break the habit. Talk about your joys.”
I don’t remember where I saw this, but it really struck a nerve.
Green Book
On my flight back to NYC on Saturday I got to watch The Green Book. What an incredibly moving and thought provoking movie.
Teeter Totter Wall
This interactive art piece at the Mexican / US border wall is incredibly moving. It connects children and adults in meaningful ways on both sides with the recognition that the actions that take place on one side have a direct consequence on the other side. Way to bring light to an incredibly dark situation.
Design Questions Library
The Design Questions Library is part of d.school’s recently launched “Public Library“, a digital collection built to help you go beyond the basics and dive deeper into the nuances of design. Can’t wait to see what else they’ll be adding.
I want to know how you spend your time
Love this, by Jamie Varon.
Intention/Tension
“Too much intention creates tension.”
– Moojiji
This is Water
Probably one of the most famous commencement speeches of all times: This is Water, by David Foster Wallace. 22 minutes well spent.
Listen Completely
“When people talk, listen completely. Don’t be thinking what you’re going to say. Most people never listen. Nor do they observe. You should be able to go into a room and when you come out, know everything that you saw there and not only that. If that room gave you any feeling you should know exactly what it was that gave you that feeling. Try that for practice.”
— Ernest Hemingway
(via)
A Love Letter to My Lawyer
One of my biggest advice to anyone starting their own company is to find a lawyer that you trust and like. For the past 13 years Jerald Tenenbaum has advised me through *everything* and by now I consider him a friend. So grateful! https://t.co/8k8kPY2E2m
— Tina Roth Eisenberg (@swissmiss) June 26, 2019
(click to see the entire thread)
Lawyers get a bad rep. That bums me out. I have been working with the same lawyer for the last 14 years and I don’t think I would be where I am today without him. I had a bit of a “I love my lawyer so much” gratitude wave come over me yesterday so I channeled it into a Twitter Thread.
Kyle’s additional response put the biggest smile on my face, it really shows what a good human my lawyer Jerald is.
I have recently really gotten into Oprah’s Super Soul Sunday. (I mostly listen to it as a podcast.)
Usually Oprah interviews her guests, but in this episode, Glennon Doyle Melton shares her personal story and asks all of us: What would happen if we stopped being afraid of our pain?
It really moved me.
“Team Human”
Humans are no longer valued for our creativity, says media theorist Douglas Rushkoff — in a world dominated by digital technology, we’re now just valued for our data. In a passionate talk, Rushkoff urges us to stop using technology to optimize people for the market and start using it to build a future centered on our pre-digital values of connection, creativity and respect. “Join ‘Team Human.’ Find the others,” he says. “Together let’s make the future that we always wanted.”
Huddle at 1-800-GOT-JUNK?
Every Monday the entire staff at junk removal service company 1-800-GOT-JUNK? gathers in the huddle room at the corporate office to share good news, get an update from different departments and contribute ideas for missing systems or opportunities in the junk removal industry. Then everyone comes together for a final cheer. This made me look!