“Scared is what you’re feeling. Brave is what you’re doing.”
― Emma Donoghue
* * *
Posts Tagged ‘creativity’
Keep Doing It
Posted in Other, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, creativity, Thoughts, writing on December 30, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Time Machines
Posted in Other, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, creativity, inspiration, Thoughts on December 28, 2025| Leave a Comment »
“We all have our time machines, don’t we. Those that take us back are memories… And those that carry us forward, are dreams.”
― H.G. Wells
* * *
Lessons from the Past
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, creativity, inspiration, Thoughts, Writers, writing on December 27, 2025| Leave a Comment »
“That’s what literature is. It’s the people who went before us, tapping out messages from the past, from beyond the grave, trying to tell us about life and death! Listen to them!”
— Connie Willis
* * *
Journey to The Journey
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, creativity, history, Writers, writing on December 19, 2025| Leave a Comment »
I ran across this short piece by Brian Lewis (self-described Cosmic Poet, which is awesome), and wanted to share.
In the fall of 1929, with America days away from financial ruin, Joseph Campbell committed what everyone called “professional suicide.” He walked into his advisor’s office at Columbia—degree in hand, future within reach—and announced, calmly, boldly, disastrously: “I don’t want one field. I want all of them.”
Yes, that Joseph Campbell, Mister Hero with a Thousand Faces.
By now, most of us have heard about Campbell’s Hero’s Journey, and how it distills thousands of years of mythology into a useful, easily transferrable model to help reach an audience.
(It also generated follow-on models, including Gail Carriger’s Heroine’s Journey.)
But how did Campbell build that original model? The essay shares some of the backstory of that process, and was full of new-to-me details. How did Campbell go from obscurity to one of the best known framers of storytelling?
Read the full essay for more. And yes, George Lucas plays a significant role:)
* * *
First Things First
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, creativity, Thoughts, Writers, writing on December 18, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Your first workout will be bad.
Your first podcast will be bad.
Your first speech will be bad.
Your first video will be bad.
Your first ANYTHING will be bad.
but you cant make your 100th without making your first.
So put your ego aside, and start.
— Alec Zamora
* * *
Look What We Did!
Posted in Science!, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, accomplishments, cool projects, creativity, history, inspiration, Thoughts on December 14, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Last month marked 25 years of humanity’s continuous presence in orbit around this fair planet.
25 years, one website: ISS in Real Time captures quarter-century on space station
Two NASA contractors, working only during their off hours, have built a portal into all of those resources to uniquely represent the 25-year history of ISS occupancy.
ISS in Real Time, by Ben Feist and David Charney, went live on Monday (October 27), ahead of the November 2 anniversary. In its own way, the new website may be as impressive a software engineering accomplishment as the station is an aerospace engineering marvel.
It’s a good story about persistence and creativity, and it’s great to have all of this history and knowledge in one place.
It’s also easy to get bogged down in the trials of life and forget what’s good. But really? Our adventures in space are pretty incredible. For most of our species’ existence we’ve looked up at the stars and dreamed. And now?
Look! Look what we did!
* * *
Making Peace
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, choices, creativity, life, Thoughts, Writers, writing on December 9, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Here’s a lovely thought piece by Spencer Sekulin on making peace with the ghosts of lives unlived and becoming your imperfect, unpredictable, beautiful self.
Forgive Yourself for Not Becoming Everything You Wanted – Spencer Sekulin
To live one life, you need to condemn many others.
Yet to try to live all of them keeps you stuck, forever.
Spencer’s fiction is also terrific. If you’re looking for excellently written fantasy, check out his work!
* * *
A Happy Writing Life
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, creativity, Thoughts, Writers, writing on December 7, 2025| Leave a Comment »
What does James Patterson, one of the world’s top authors, have to say about leading a creative and happy life? Here are three suggestions that resonated with me:
James Patterson’s Maxims for a Happy Life
2. Pay attention to process rather than outcomes.
3. Excellence is less about talent and inspiration, more about hard work and persistence.
5. Focus on what’s getting better, rather than fretting over what’s getting worse.
For the full list, check out the article above, or listen to the full podcast with Arthur Brooks.
In the end, “how does Patterson find the work of writing? ‘I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it.’”
* * *
Persistence Pays Off
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, creativity, inspiration, persistence on December 3, 2025| Leave a Comment »
I taught an octopus piano (It took 6 months)
This video is refusing to embed for some reason, but if you are impressed by clever and creative displays of persistence (by humans and others!), it’s worth checking out. Start at the 3:00 minute mark if you want to go straight to the training process, or at 15:00 if you want to skip to the piano performance.
Note: this video contains a lot of swearing. Which, as someone who has trained their cat to sit and jump (but definitely not play an instrument), I completely understand!
* * *
All the Pain and Joy
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, AI, art, artists, creativity, persistence, Thoughts on November 30, 2025| 1 Comment »
The flood of AI art has led to a lot of commentary, some thoughtful, some otherwise, by pundits, tech gurus, and artists themselves.
Here’s cartoonist Matthew Inman sharing his perspective on why he finds AI art problematic.
A cartoonist’s review of AI art – The Oatmeal
…I need you to know from one artist to another, that every mark you make on a page even a squiggly, imperfect one is still beautiful.
* * *
-
Recent Posts
She Said, He Said
-
-
Favorite Posts
Archives
Categories
It’s All So Random
What I’m Reading
You must be logged in to post a comment.