Balance

When people ask me what I do, and I tell them I teach a course called Designing a Balanced Life, longing invariably smears across their faces. “I need that,” is often the response. But then, when asked to conjure an image of balance, they think of a scale or a stack of rocks. I don’t believe we are seeking a static state of equilibrium these images represent, or eternal peace, or even a life without conflict.

Then, what is it we seek when we yearn for balance? Or maybe a better question is this:

If it’s true, in an ever changing world we will never achieve balance, why even try?

Let Me Feel Safe

Everyone in the world is having trouble feeling safe. I wrote a song before the pandemic hit. Its message of safety and kindness seems like something we could all use right now, so I asked some people to sing it with me and made this theatrical mini-musical. Please share the video with someone who may need

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Stop Sucking at Creativity

To make progress on anything takes the right small steps. If you are already very good at something, it’s because you know how to take those steps, but when you suck at something, the next right small step is missing. This is so common when it comes to creativity. I’ve heard from many people about the creative

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Stop Sucking Your Vitality

“If you only had enough willpower, you’d be healthier.” Now there’s a myth I grew up with that persists today. It’s bullshit. Look it up. Willpower is a limited resource we waste on things like trying not to eat the giant piece of chocolate cake in front of us, getting to the gym when we’re

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Stop Sucking at Money

Last time it was about Love, and this time it’s about Money. There are so many ways to suck at money, and by suck, I mean you are so bad at this particular skill, it regularly gets in the way of everything else. A friend of mine was looking for work and was so daunted,

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Stop Sucking at Love

Is there something that really matters that you suck at? Love is the energy we give to help other people, especially people we care about it, and most of us suck at some aspect of it. Conflict especially makes it hard to lean in with love. It’s so tempting to stay angry and righteous. Here’s

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Calmer Holidays with an Eye on the Little Old Lady

He looked nasty. He might have been saying “vacuum” as he glared back at me through my windshield, the wiper smearing early evening raindrops across the dirty glass. I had nudged my car into the crosswalk, trying my best to inch around the left turner in front of me and cross Mission Street before the holiday crowd swarmed

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Go Back to the Start

I was with my daughter at a film festival which had been sponsored by Chipotle, and the following commercial played at the beginning of every show. (Watch it in a minute.) It’s beautifully produced, nostalgic, and powerfully, vaguely inspiring, and after four or five views through the weekend, it grew a little tiresome. Then on

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Don’t Lists and Project Folders for a Simple System for Everything

“David, your Simple System for Everything works for everything!” That was the crowd’s undulating chant at the colosseum right before I hushed them for the grand finale— something about online dating as I recall. It was the Great Year Workshop of 2014, and everything was just dandy until a bold voice called from the dusty

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Love and the Trembling Wanting

“I can’t get your face out of my mind and the taste of your skin lingers still. I want you to meet me tonight just outside your backdoor. Bring your haunting imagination, your big laugh, and your silky eyes. I’ll bring my open chest cavity and a fist full of spice. Make sure you level

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How to Give the Perfect Gift: 21 Ideas + Giveaway

Most people don’t really care so much about things once they have them. Sure the iPhone is a gift to humans from Zeus, and my bicycle, may it rest in peace, is sorely missed (literally, ouch), but in general most things we get people aren’t that great. So why give your friends and family more

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