Okay, it’s Monday at the office, time: 7:36 p.m. I haven’t had a self-defeating thought all day. Not one. Maybe it’s not just work that keeps them at bay. Maybe it’s concentration, a strong focus. But I can’t be this focused all the time. Obviously I need a leisure time strategy as well. Will ponder […] Read More

Turning through an old issue of Metropolis magazine — “Architecture*Culture*Design– last night, I came across an interview with a wise furniture designer, Bertjan Pot. He said this: “I think the best thing you can give to the world is the thing you do best. And if that is making pretty tables, then let it be […] Read More

It’s the first weekend since I’ve been writing down self-defeating thoughts–as a way to get rid of them. This process of “therapeutic homework” continues to be an education. Obviously, I don’t have a big enough sample to claim I’ve discovered a pattern. But I do notice that I’ve written down many more of them today […] Read More

Yesterday I mentioned that I had begun writing down my self-defeating thoughts and finding that the process of watching for them seemed to make them occur a great deal less– in fact, hardly at all. Important addendum: this morning I worked steadily through my forty-some e-mails with no procrastinating at all about the more complicated […] Read More

Tuesday morning my shrink suggested I write down any self-defeating thoughts I have in the course of the day. I can’t honestly say that I’ve had any since then. That’s three days without. I’m impressed. Who knew a cure could be so easy? Try it. And, if you will, share how it works for you. […] Read More

Consider the lovely South African guinea hen. Here’s a bird that’s actually used as a “watchdog” on farms. Not that she’s fierce. Instead she has a lot to say. She’s so attentive and ready to give voice that she can alert a farmer to any little disruption in the night. And warn off an intruder. […] Read More

At Saturday’s workshop, we spent a little time on the use of simple physical jobs as a form of meditation to improve our writing. As in: do a little writing, do a little laundry or sweeping or sorting, then write some more. Once we’ve cranked up the writing, then the rumination continues, in a more […] Read More

Oh, shucks. I thought I was about to shut down and go home for the day and then I realized: not yet. Saturday at the workshop I taught, I asked participants to devise and make a commitment to a realistic “sustainable” schedule for doing their own writing. At the same time, I silently made a […] Read More

It’s Saturday morning and I’m in the midst of leading a workshop called Get Your Ganges On. We’re now spending about 15 minutes writing, so this space is where I’ve turned. The point of the class is to help people draw on their most powerful inner resources in doing their work. I’m finding it exciting. […] Read More

I keep ducking out of the task before me today to cruise celebrity gossip web sites. Partly because I've worked too much lately and partly because of the disaster in Haiti. Here's the Haiti connection: when something huge is going on, it feels wrong not to be somehow involved in the moment. It reminds me […] Read More