Your Monday Motivation
In case you, like me, need this today (or any day):
Tag: Motivation
Various and Sundry
Finding Joy amid the Interesting Times
While I continue to spend less time on Facebook and more time on Bluesky (or reading or, gasp, walking in the outside world), there’s a couple elements of connectivity I find still useful. One is remembering birthdays, which I did used to do via a treeware calendar designed for the purpose (specifically one with artwork by international treasure Sandra Boynton). But let’s face it, some electronic and digital reminders help us. And so I often…
Writing
Writers’ Block, Procrastination, & other Author Ailments
Statistically speaking, some of you made some new year’s resolutions regarding writing, but what if you’re finding that difficult? Dennis Palumbo is a screenwriter-turned-therapist I’ve referenced before on this blog (see this one about getting notes on your script and this interview with veteran screenwriter Ken Levine). Well, there’s three more articles I can share, ones he wrote for the Psychiatric Times last fall — and ones that might help writers figure out their author…
Various and Sundry
You Can’t Beat the System: New Year’s Edition
Okay, so “the system” is not something people are generally groovy about, now that I think about it, but I came across this article by James Clear from December 2013 that I shared more than a decade ago, pre-blog. What with the new year approaching, he was counseling against setting goals and instead establishing systems that would become habits. If this sounds familiar, or in fact he does, that’s because five years later, he published…
Various and Sundry
Finding the Right Routine
I really should have posted this back in January when New Year’s Resolutions were top of mind… or perhaps when, here in the States, we sprung forward for Daylight Saving Time. However, whether or not our collection of Mason jars in the cupboard can successfully store daylight, having routines is a good idea… and certainly we’ve all heard about the importance of morning routines. In fact, go-getters who manage their extroversion without caffeine can be…
Writing
Bradbury on Starting Writing, Keeping Writing, and Love
I grew up reading Ray Bradbury stories and loved it when 13 of his short stories were adapted for radio (because, you know, I’m into that sort of thing). So, naturally, I’ve checked out some interviews and lectures where he talks about writing and his thoughts on it. This hour-long lecture comes from when Bradbury was around 80, so it should come as no surprise if your curmudgeon detector goes off. However, other videos can…
Various and Sundry
Nuance on the trend of “Quiet Quitting”
Earlier this Fall, there was a flurry of posts, thought pieces, and assorted hand-wringing about “Quiet Quitting,” which sounded weird until I learned far too many people have been using the phrase to describe people doing their jobs, just not going above and beyond. To reference The Princess Bride, I don’t think “quitting” means what they think it means. In fact, I rather side with the people pushing back at hand-wringing over people doing what…
Various and Sundry
A Secret of Happiness or Now I Want to Check In With Silver Medalists…
It’s not uncommon for me to kick off Monday’s with a post about motivation or life satisfaction, so I figured I’d post this brief article by Arthur C. Brooks over at The Atlantic. In short, Noël Coward may have been on to something when one of his characters in Design for Living goes on in a perfect theater banter way about how one can have too much of a good thing. Basically, the happiest people…
Various and Sundry
Satisfaction & Stepping Off the World’s Treadmill
Monday posts have been about motivations and resolutions and worldviews so far this year, so why stop now? From that standpoint, Arthur Brooks’ piece for The Atlantic was a welcome read (or, if you so desire, a 41-minute listen). What I appreciated was the time Brooks took in defining why we human animals are on this neverending treadmill for satisfaction. The societal pressures are, I would hope to most people, rather self-evident. The evolutionary arguments…
Various and Sundry
Hacking Your Personality in the Pursuit of Happiness
So, a couple weeks ago, I posted a link to some deep thoughts: guideposts for how to live your life. It was all part of a series of posts I’ve been doing this January exploring the whole notion of New Year’s resolutions writ large. So why not continue? The article that piqued my interest in this case was an article by Christian Jarrett for the BBC. A TL;DR summary of the article might be “everyone…