Creativity can be fickle. In the times where it’s flowing, you feel unstoppable. But when it’s not, the blinking cursor is insufferable. Writer’s block is an excuse, though. You have to come up with strategies for how to push past it.
Music
How to Defeat Your Detractors
Stop seeking the opinions of those who are not on your side. Don’t listen to the negative talk. It’s a Detractor Beam, and it won’t do you any good.
Curiosity is the Currency of Change
Curiosity is like a renewable energy source. There’s an inexhaustible supply out there. We just have to be open to it, to learn from one another, and to embrace change. In other words, curiosity is a choice.
Clamshells and Candybars: Naming Your Product, Service, or Business
A name is important. Your brand will be built around it. Pick one that is durable.
System of Saints
Every field has its own system of saints. So, how do your earn your sainthood?
Imagine My Surprise
The interplay between artist and audience is endlessly fascinating to me. “Who cares what actions do when words are good enough?” From “Why Me Look” by Michael Boezi, with “Live Liner Notes.”
Making Consumers Out of Citizens
We are trained to be fearful of one another, so they can sell our safety back to us. The solution? Empathy. We don’t need to listen to their drumbeat of fear—we just need each other.
The Movies Ruin Everything
What we see in the movies (and other media, of course) sets unrealistic expectations for all of us. But “we’ll just have to try this scene again, what else can we do?” From “Movies Ruin Everything” by Michael Boezi, with “Live Liner Notes.”
Maybe Johnny Rotten Was Wrong
What John Lydon did for rock and roll is simply immeasurable. It lit the fuse for me, and burned brightly enough to inspire me for decades.
Come in, London! On the Radio Again
Another one of my songs is featured this week on The D1Radio Hour, “System of Saints.”