Halftime Speeches (vol. 1, no. 3)

Here are five bolts of inspiration I’m sharing this month:

1. Cheryl Strayed on doing the work:

“Writing is hard for every last one of us – straight white men included. Coal mining is harder. Do you think miners stand around all day talking about how hard it is to mine for coal? They do not. They simply dig.” (Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar)

2. Edward Weston on comparing ourselves to others:

“It has come to me of late that comparing one man’s work to another’s, naming one greater or lesser, is a wrong approach. The important and only vital question is, how much greater, finer, am I than I was yesterday? Have I fulfilled my possibilities, made the most of my potentialities? What a marvelous world if all would, — could hold this attitude toward life.” (ht Brainpickings)

3. Anne Lamott on KFKD (K-Fucked) radio:

“Out of the right speaker in your inner ear will come the endless stream of self-aggrandizement, the recitation of one’s specialness, of how much more open and gifted and brilliant and knowing and misunderstood and humble one is. Out of the left speaker will be the rap songs of self-loathing, the lists of all the things one doesn’t do well, of all the mistakes one has made today and over an entire lifetime, the doubt, the assertion that everything that one touches turns to shit, that one doesn’t do relationships well, that one is in every way a fraud, incapable of selfless love, that one had no talent or insight, and on and on and on.” (ht Daily Stoic)

4. Michael Franti on staying strong:

I believe that what you sing to the clouds,
Will rain apon you when your sun has gone away,
And I believe that what you dream to the moon,
Will manifest before you rest another day.
So stay strong, and sleep long, and when you need to
Let the morning take you out on to today, hey hey

• Click to listen: Yes I Will

5. New blog from me on walking the maker path:

“Am I on the path? Yes. How do I know? Because there’s only one path: Dream. Create. And, share what you make. That’s the path. You’re either on it or you’re not. It’s that simple.” (Career Day at Taylor High)

That’s it. Have a great day. And, go start something! – shawn

PS If you’re reading this newsletter for the first time, you can read previous issues here, view lists of poems, questions, quotes and songs I’ve shared before here, and subscribe here.