How to write and how to live. This quote comes from Steven Pressfield, the historical novelist who has a new book out: Put Your Ass Where Your Heart Wants to Be. It’s another way to say what Emerson has before him: “God will not have his work made manifest by…

On Medium and any other platform. Everything I read and consumed in this week fit into one theme: How everything is useful for you, fuel for. So let’s talk about that. In particular let’s talk about how: You Will Use It All. I found this idea in Stephen King’s On Writing, which I read this…

One book has transformed how I think about what I do—and why A friend of mine, for my birthday, got me Warren Bennis’ classic On Becoming a Leader. I thanked him for the book but it sat on Mount Nightstand for five months. …

The less you do creatively, the more you do. I’m taking it easy today. And because I’m taking it easy let’s talk about one of my favorite movies, which has at its core a very easy-living message that you and I find super-hard to live by. I love Forgetting Sarah…

Judd Apatow has a good line in his latest book, Sicker in the Head. There’s a feeling that you get when you get older, where you realize, like, kids don’t remember M*A*S*H. They don’t remember Cheers or Family Ties. And pretty soon, they won’t remember Friends. You feel everything is…

How idleness can dramatically increase output for creative types. Maybe because it’s August, or maybe because I’m reporting a magazine piece around the idea, but these days I’m thinking a lot about idleness. I come from its opposite. I come from a long line of farmers who lived the Protestant…

It’s one you can implement right now. Last Sunday, Sports Illustrated posted a profile about Gary Smith, the magazine’s greatest writer, now retired, who’s teaching mindfulness to elementary kids in South Carolina. Now, for those who know me, you know I love Gary Smith. You know a rule of his…

It’s true. For a couple of reasons, it’s time to talk about one thing I love. It’s this series of interviews that the great Bill Moyers, TV anchor and writer, conducted with Joseph Campbell. It’s stunning. As a storyteller, you may know Campbell, but in case not: He was an…