Actually it’s very easy, I don’t have to put on a tie!
on cbs sunday morning, after being asked how he keeps his honest, straight-forward image alive. while obviously apparent, this runs a bit deeper. he’s doing something that truly represents him.
he’s not putting on a uniform for some other man.
But the other thing to think of, it’s that being unbalanced (for lack of a better word) doesn’t mean you have to go into destructive genius mode. I don’t know if it’s your family or your health, but if you really want to head off in pursuit of a big dream, something’s gotta give. It’s up to each of us to determine what that’s going to be and how we’re going to allocate our energy.
the inspiration for my twitter bio.
Many people with jobs have a fantasy about all the amazing things they would do if they didn’t need to work. In reality, if they had the drive and commitment to do actually do those things, they wouldn’t let a job get in the way.
…
Virtually all of the houses with a single occupant or family (as indicated by a single doorbell or knocker) were shoveled clean. Nearly every house with multiple occupants — and most businesses — were unshoveled.
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A common good that requires work to maintain is ignored if there is a diffusion of responsibility.
emphasis mine.
But these executives were frequently numb to the sorts of innovations that enable high-quality production at low cost.
proof points and unique positioning:
::exhales:: i know this is sort of open-ended and more “okay, i get it - how do we fix it?” but maybe that’s the point. everyone is looking for ways to right the ship, to get us back on track, to get “us” flourishing again. to become omnipotent and ignorant all at once again probably shouldn’t be our best intention, veiled or otherwise.
we can do this differently and it doesn’t have to be choosing between one or the other. i’m absolutely sure of that.
We’re moving product, while the soul drowns like a cat in a well.
Quitting the Paint Factory by Mark Slouka (via gina)
funny that i came across this before a small announcement i’ll have tomorrow. ideal that it shared something that’s been in the back of my head for a long time (the whole essay is worth reading, focus in on the story of sherwood anderson).
guard your mind and guard your mind’s time.
When you live in NYC for too long, it’s common to forget what you originally came to do.
I just got back from a weekend up in the Adirondacks — shingling the roof of this new shed, chopping wood to heat a sauna, playing soccer with a big group friends — and it snuck up on me this morning upon waking up in Brooklyn, “Oh yeah, I came here to make $$$ so I could afford to live a peaceful life someplace naturally beautiful, where I can build sheds and play soccer all of the time.”
Folks, this internet shit is really addicting. Let’s spend some more time thinking about why we do it.
this is a powerful lesson my dad taught me a while ago. lots of times in life, you have to endure what you have capacity for in order to create opportunity for the rest of your life.
When we praise people who do work that is straightforwardly useful, the praise often betrays an assumption that they had no other options. We idealize them as the salt of the earth and emphasize the sacrifice for others their work may entail. Such sacrifice does indeed occur — the hazards faced by a lineman restoring power during a storm come to mind. But what if such work answers as well to a basic human need of the one who does it? I take this to be the suggestion of Marge Piercy’s poem “To Be of Use,” which concludes with the lines “the pitcher longs for water to carry/and a person for work that is real.” Beneath our gratitude for the lineman may rest envy.
