How often must it be the case that we look at children and see that they are compliantly doing their schoolwork or their chores, or whatever. "Ah," we say to ourselves, "they are highly motivated," and we think all is well. But maybe we should take another look and ask ourselves whether they are really doing it of their own volition, whether they ( Read more... )

Creativity is making decisions outside the constraints of others.

Don't get stuck in little mindsets ( Read more... )

Good writing should not only be correct, it should be potent.
Every word should carry in it the weight of the entire piece.
If you write something and you don't like it. Don't rewrite.
Just write it again idea by idea in half the words.
I promise it will be better.

Growing creatively requires the same deliberate practice that can make academic work so difficult. You have to sit down when you think that you have absolutely nothing to say, when you feel completely closed off, and somehow force yourself to open up.

It is a powerful thing to lose track of the here-and-now
and consider instead the shape of a life.

We all want to live as kings and queens,
but we're not all of blue blood.

And no one wants to know,
whether the life they live
is real or a facade.

There's a game out there, and the stakes are high.
And the guy who runs it figures the averages all day long and all night long.
Once in a while he lets you steal a pot. But if you stay in the game long enough, you've got to lose.
And once you've lost there's no way back, no way at all.

~Johnny Got His Gun (1971)

It has been the coldest of valentine's days.

( Read more... )