Not as you envisioned in your own mind, but collaboratively with a team.

Not precisely, but together with a child.

Not as it was scripted, but in a new, unexpected way.

Sometimes it’s much less about the outcome and much more about how we get there.

The destination becomes what it is because of how we journey.

“I don’t have time” can be a reality. But it can also be a posture. And a trap.

And sometimes what makes it real is that we’ve trapped ourselves by the posture.

People will screw things up that you would have gotten right. (They’re not you.)

People will make choices that you wouldn’t have made. (They’re not you.)

People will think things that you wouldn’t think. (They’re not you.)

There are certainly areas where we find affiliation and alignment. But we are all different people. To feel surprise, disappointment, shock, or outrage when others do not do as we do is to forget: they’re not you.

In golf, there’s a central principle: play the ball as it lies.

This means that once the ball is in play, you don’t improve its position. You don’t pick up the ball and move it. You don’t play it from somewhere else.

There are exceptions, but generally, you have to accept the situation — even if it’s daunting — and make your stroke.

This could be a helpful attitude in life, too. We play it as it lies. We accept the current conditions as our starting point. We play it from where we are.

Surrendering to what is now, in service of where we’re going. It’s not giving up; it’s accepting what is, and positioning ourselves for the next move.

H/T Angus

Daina Oniunas-Pusić says this of her latest film: “It was a story that presented itself before I necessarily knew where it was coming from or why, and it felt very urgent for me to develop.”

Consider the feeling she’s describing.

I don’t yet know where this is coming from. I don’t know where this is going. And yet, it is calling for my participation. It beckons me.

Creative prompts present themselves in many ways. Sometimes the vision and path are clear. Other times, we navigate through a compelling mist.

How we travel (or hide) tells a lot about who we are and what we seek.

Where do you feel creative urgency? Where do you sense urgency in life?

What is your reply?

Legal freedom and actual freedom — they’re not the same.

Being free and knowing you’re free — they’re not the same.

Knowing you’re free and feeling like you’re free — they’re not the same either.

* * *

But regardless of how we experience it, fighting for freedom is always a worthy fight.

Don’t underestimate the power of a warm, genuine smile.

Even with brief encounters, a smile can create lasting ripples.

And with longer gatherings, a smile sets the stage for positive interaction.

Don’t wait for showtime. Don’t save it for a clever joke.

Smile from the start.

In the moment, it’s possible to convince ourselves that we need to start over. That we need to scrap the work-in-progress. That we need to start from scratch.

Perhaps that’s true.

But more often, we merely need a reset. A pause. A re-centering.

Beginning again is not the same as going back to zero. The reset lets us restart from right here.

The Resistance — the feeling of stuckness that holds us back from our creative work — it often presents itself as full-strength. That is, insurmountable.

But it’s a lie.

Sometimes the Resistance is strong. Other times, it’s remarkably fragile and merely pretending to be strong.

When we think we need a creative push, sometimes all we really need is the gentlest breeze … a whisper of effort. At times, that’s all it takes for forward momentum to take hold.

Just begin.

My son tried to join two pieces of plastic using some liquid PVA school glue. I explained that this was the wrong kind of glue to use; it wouldn’t work well.

Later, I noticed his project on the table. Instead of a little glue, he had now used a lot of glue.

This kind of error isn’t limited to children. Many of us make this kind of miscalculation too, knowingly or unknowingly.

Whether our fix is through money, attention, food, risk, abandon, control … Sometimes we think, “This isn’t the best solution, but maybe it will work if I have a lot of it.”

Like using the wrong kind of glue, trying to solve a problem with great quantities of the wrong solution can easily become a mess.

There is a Lakota prophesy from some 2,000 years ago — that the birth of a white buffalo will signal the coming of better times.

One such buffalo calf was recently discovered in Yellowstone National Park.

It’s a good moment to ponder: what are better times? What do we think “better” is? Do we ever get it wrong? Is what we want for ourselves and for others … is this always better?

Are we wise enough to know?

The visiting team won by a wide margin. Throughout the game — even to the very end — they played with composure, focus, and good sportsmanship.

The home team lost by the same wide margin. Throughout the game — even to the very end — they played with composure, focus, and good sportsmanship.

Respect for the game and its players has nothing to do with the score. Winning or losing, by a lot or by a little, you always get to choose how you play the game.

I didn’t trust the thermometer reading. The room was surely warmer than what the gauge showed.

What I discovered is that the wall where the thermostat was mounted — that wall was particularly cold. The device was accurate; it was just measuring the temperature of the wall, not the air.

* * *

What’s close to us — what we allow to be close to us — can have profound effects. Our surroundings and our environment … they matter. But not nearly as much as what we keep close.

There’s a difficult balance we navigate. To know that we can make an impact. That our lives have purpose. That we can make a difference.

And at the same time, to know that we’re but a blip in time. A momentary twinkle in the infinite universe.

Ah, but what a twinkle we can be! In the lives of those close to us and in the work we commit ourselves to doing … our mark can be meaningful and memorable.

Keep leaning in.

“Last place” has a context: of all those who participated.

If there’s a comparison to be made — that some finish in higher standing and some finish lower — then the comparison might also be made that others do not even bother to try.

Competition has a place, but it also has a context.

Participation isn’t the stuff of trophies, but in some endeavors — internally — the effort counts as a win.

A defense contractor once explained that transport vehicles are approached differently in various branches of the military.

In one unit, the vehicle is fitted with lots of features and functionality.

In another, well, here’s how the contractor put it: “They’ll just rip that stuff out. They like the vehicles lean. They’ll strip away any extraneous gadgetry and only keep the essentials.”

There’s something inspiring about this latter approach. A sense of “We don’t need bells and whistles; we just need to get the job done.”

Sometimes we get caught up in our desire for convenience and comfort. But this can be an obstacle to forward progress. Instead of waiting on special tools and features, many times we can just set about our work.

Lucky, coincidental, timely, opportune, providential.

These words could be used interchangeably, but they’re not the same.

Each one hints at a kind of worldview.

Why do things happen at just the right time? What’s that about? What story do we tell ourselves when things fall together instead of falling apart?

The language matters.

It’s not enough to tell ourselves to remember the important things and to forget what’s not.

We have to train ourselves — sometimes at length — to identify which is which.

That is, to tell ourselves, in the moment, “This is worth noting. This is worth feeling. This is worth remembering.”

And likewise, “This? No need to dwell on this. No need to revisit it. I can gracefully let this go.”

In life, there are memories worth forming … and experiences worth forgetting.

Sort intentionally.

At times, we have moments when our minds blank. We’re about to answer a question or respond to a prompt, and *poof* we can’t recall what we were about to say.

How interesting.

There are countless programs and techniques designed to help us clear our minds. But when it happens unexpectedly — and quite naturally — it’s unsettling.

Perhaps we can learn to greet these blank moments with a smile. “Ah. There you are. The nothingness I was seeking.”

The timing may be off. But the empty space can be a welcome relief if we allow it.

A current diversity training program suggests avoiding slang, metaphors, and idioms. These don’t always resonate across cultures. For instance, sports metaphors don’t work with every audience.

(The program made some good, valid points.)

The training recommended exchanging metaphors, slang, and jargon with more universal and inclusive language — across the board.

That’s right: the script used the phrase, “across the board,” which is a term that originated in betting on horse races.

It was an amusing oversight.

Sometimes we’re so wet, we don’t even feel the water.