It’s a serious question. Most of us spend an inordinate amount of time passively absorbing the thoughts of other people, bingeing TV or doom-scrolling through our social media accounts....

Compassion: A Short Story

I do some part-time work as a professor and counselor at a local college, mainly to stay connected to the world of higher education that has been a part of my life for over...

What is it about writing that is so good for the mind and the soul? You don’t have to be  Don DeLillo or Cormack McCarthy. It’s not necessary to be Hemingway or Steinbeck to reap...

I remember a time that I was perfectly content in my little house in my little home town. That was ages ago. I’ve been psychologically “running” for a long time now.

It happened...

Today I have been fortunate and careful enough to complete 66 orbits around the sun. Like any life there have been many highs and lows. Like any person, I have tried to maximize the highs and...

Welcome to my 48th article this year and the last of 2023. The end of the calendar year is as good a time as any to take stock of the last 12 months and make new plans. Time to start again.

There...

So here it is. You have cleared your mind and stilled the incessant, distracting chatter (as we discussed in last week’s blog post). Now you are staring at a blank page, or staff or canvas....

The quieter you become, the more you can hear. - Ram Dass

Here I sit in a coffee shop, attempting to write. This has to be one of the loudest environments around. I can barely hear the scream of the...

The smell of the polish, the feel of the wood; after all these years it still brings me pleasure and no small amount of comfort to perform my ritual of preparation before I step on a stage or hit...

At the end of the day, it’s what we actually do. Professional creators in any field must contend with a dizzying array of support tasks. But the care and effort we bring to our craft is what...

My wife, Jenn is a creator of the fine art persuasion. She draws and paints and many of her creations are stunningly unique. At one point early in our relationship I commented, “Wow -...

“Sad songs, they say so much,” sang Elton John in 1984. The dark side of art was popular long before Bernie Taupin wrote those lyrics and remains so now.

Sophie’s Choice; The Road;...

This article is dedicated to all the creators out there working their butts off. All y’all (that’s Southern plural) creating content, watching trends, crunching numbers, tweaking...

The older I get, the more I see the value of taking a longer view. When I was first learning to drive, my father told me to look farther down the road to keep me from weaving around. It was good...

As an existentialist, I don’t believe that we are born with a pre-defined destiny. Consciousness does not come with a road map, so you are free to choose your own self-meaning. Let’s...