“Every minute of every hour of every day you are making the world, just as you are making yourself, and you might as well do it with generosity and kindness and style.”
— Rebecca Solnit
* * *
Posts Tagged ‘inspiration’
Do It with Style
Posted in Other, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, creativity, inspiration, Thoughts on October 9, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Most Interesting
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, creativity, inspiration, Thoughts on October 7, 2025| Leave a Comment »
“When you’re faced with something you don’t understand, I think the most natural thing but also the least interesting thing you can be is afraid.”
— Hank Green, An Absolutely Remarkable Thing
* * *
This Is Excellent
Posted in Likes, Other, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, inspiration, Thoughts, Writers, writing on October 3, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Whee, I just realized that our library has added two new libraries to its partner system and now I can haz alllll the books!
(Seriously, I can now check out something like 75 books at one time. I won’t, but I could!)
* * *
Nothing Plain About Jane
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, inspiration, Thoughts on October 2, 2025| Leave a Comment »
As anyone online likely knows, primatologist, conservationist, activist, author and reportedly all-around good egg Jane Goodall died yesterday. She was on a book tour, of all things, bringing her vision of a better world to those who would listen, and being an example of dedication and purpose for us all.
Dr. Jane was known around the world for her 65-year study of wild chimpanzees in Gombe, Tanzania. However, in the latter part of her life she expanded her focus and became a global advocate for human rights, animal welfare, species and environmental protection, and many other crucial issues.
I’m sad we lost her, and yet it’s lovely to be reminded that one person can do so much good.
What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.
— Jane Goodall
* * *
Heading Outside
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, inspiration, nature, Thoughts on September 27, 2025| Leave a Comment »
“Within National Parks is room—glorious room—in which to find ourselves, in which to think and hope, to dream and plan, to rest and resolve.”
— Enos Mills, Naturalist
* * *
Everyday Magic
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, art, creativity, inspiration, practice, Thoughts, Writers, writing on September 26, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Whether you want to draw, write, or some other creativity, this is pretty good advice.
The Artist Who Couldn’t Draw | The Kid Should See This
Roger didn’t like his drawings. He didn’t feel that he had any drawing talent. But then a girl named Zoe moved next door and handed him a magic black pen.
The lesson? Sometimes it helps to take things literally.
* * *
Keep On Going
Posted in Other, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, inspiration, life, persist, Thoughts, Writers, writing on September 12, 2025| Leave a Comment »
“Awful first drafts are fine—Agree with this. If you don’t finish something, you’ll never get in the game. Just quell the voice in your head that says “Are you kidding? No one is going to want to read this drivel” and keep on going.”
― Jamie Freveletti
* * *
The Hunt is On!
Posted in Entertainment, Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, Canada, creativity, inspiration, mystery, Thoughts, treasure hunt on September 10, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Are you a fan of puzzles, or mysteries, secrets or treasure? Then perhaps you will be interested to hear about the latest in a tradition of hidden treasure games like The Secret:
A $1 million treasure hunt is underway in Canadian wilderness | Popular Science
An actual treasure chest filled with around $1 million in gold coins is hidden somewhere in Canada. However, the mystery isn’t tied to a centuries’ old pirate bounty or unsolved bank heist, however. These riches were instead intentionally hidden by a mining consortium to celebrate the country’s “rich mining heritage and spirit of adventure.”
The clues are presented in the form of a 13-stanza poem. Have I already asked AI for its opinion on this poem? Maybe. Is it fun that one of the top contenders for the secret stash spot is a place I go to on the regular? It is! And while I doubt that I’ll spend much more time on this, it’s an entertaining idea.
(Speaking of entertaining, I expect that Josh Gates, TV host, explorer, and aficionado of similar puzzle/treasure hunts, will be doing a show on this at some point.)
Because this game is sponsored by a Canadian mining company, the winner will have to be a Canadian citizen to claim the prize.* Sorry (not sorry)!
You have until the end of 2026 to find it.
If nothing else, it’s a fun boost for poetry and a good excuse to get out in nature (explore responsibly, folks!).
Regardless, the hunt is on!
* Although what’s to stop someone from finding it, enlisting a Canadian to cash in the prize, then becoming enmeshed in a sea of ever-shifting lies and betrayals as each party battles to claim the full amount, opening up endless avenues for dramatic retellings and fictionalized accounts? Why, nothing!
* * *
Let’s Begin
Posted in Other, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, creativity, inspiration, Thoughts, Writers on September 9, 2025| Leave a Comment »
“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.”
― Mother Theresa
* * *
From Macaroni to Mona Lisa
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, art, creativity, history, inspiration, painting, Renaissance, Thoughts, Writers, writing on September 6, 2025| Leave a Comment »
One of the best ways to understand art and think about developing your own abilities is to study those who came before. That applies to writers, musicians, painters and more. I’m going to go out on a pretty short limb and say that every master crafter out there had a “see Spot run” or “macaroni and string” phase.
The problem is that we don’t see that, we see their masterpieces. And that can be inspiring but also discouraging. How did they make the leap from macaroni to the Mona Lisa*?
That’s an excellent if somewhat off-base question. Because for most artists, that transition isn’t a leap at all. It’s more of a journey, and anyone can go on one of those. (Consider how often you hear someone being called an overnight success, and they laugh and say, “Yeah, but it took years.”)
Here’s an example from the art world.
Raphael is now considered one of the three great masters from the High Renaissance. (Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo being the other two, so he had a high bar to reach. My point is that he didn’t start out at the top.)
Where did he begin, how did he improve, and what lessons does his progress give to aspiring artists out there?
How Raphael Became A Master – YouTube
This video provides an in-depth look at the what, when and how of it all. Hopefully it can also provide some encouragement to anyone working to improve, regardless of their art form.
And while it’s true that talent helps and that there are child prodigies out there (looking at you, Mozart!), most who achieve excellence do it exactly the way you are doing it: setting goals, studying what works, and practice, practice, practice.
* A note on the title: I know that the Mona Lisa was Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece, and Raphael painted a lot of Madonnas, but given that titling this piece “From Macaroni to Madonna” seemed more likely to evoke ’80s pop music rather than classical art, I went with this instead. (Although to be honest, I’m feeling a little bad about this decision and may change it later!)
* * *
-
Recent Posts
She Said, He Said
-
-
Favorite Posts
Archives
Categories
It’s All So Random
What I’m Reading
_-_1512-1513.jpg){kind=link}
You must be logged in to post a comment.