Heard in the bus queue–
Older colleague to younger:
Use nepotism to get ahead and
put aside your principles in order to
break into something.

As for goodness,
If not now then when?

Modern life is about finding answers, not asking questions. Romantic love is often absent, or “solved” using technology. There is little or no spiritual seeking. Work is a job, not a calling. There is little natural or artistic beauty in daily life. And suffering is something to be eliminated.*
Arthur Brooks

If we avoid the pain,
We may also be avoiding the good things–

*Arthur Brook’s The Meaning Of Your Life.

SOME RANDOM THIN|SILENCE
THIN|SILENCE FROM A YEAR AGO

Each work (or more exactly, the artist’s inner odyssey as she labours to produce each work) will be a hero’s journey in its own right.*
Steven Pressfield

*Steven Pressfield’s The Artist’s Journey.

SOME RANDOM THIN|SILENCE
THIN|SILENCE FROM A YEAR AGO

The universe exists on at least two levels…The second level exists “above” the first but permeates the latter at all times and in all instances. The second level is the invisible world, the plane of the as-yet-unmanifested, the sphere of pure potentiality. Upon this dwells that which will be, but is not yet.*
Steven Pressfield

That which Steven Pressfield sees above,
I imagine below –
Though above or below doesn’t matter,
As long as it is there–

The place we go to
is a place of reframing or retelling our stories,
An extraordinary world of possibility
enabling us to do what we must do.

*Steven Pressfield’s The Artist’s Journey.

SOME RANDOM THIN|SILENCE
THIN|SILENCE FROM A YEAR AGO

The other kind [of magic], though, is surprisingly abundant. This is the magic of being able to turn on lights for others. It happens when we cause connection or open doors. It’s the magic that comes from creation, and it’s based on abundance.*
Seth Godin

So if you want to solve problems, drive change, and create a better world, all you have to do is start.**
gapingvoid

Abundant because everyone can make magic,
Though if we never begin, no one will ever know –
Including us –
How one thing leads to another,
And how the more connection we have –
others, the universe, god –
The stronger the magic,
And it doesn’t have to be for everyone,
But it does have to be for someone.

*Seth Godin’s blog: The other kind of magic;
**gapingvoid’s blog: Stop Waiting For A Sign.

SOME RANDOM THIN|SILENCE
THIN|SILENCE FROM A YEAR AGO

The artist has no idea what he’s doing…The artist is not expressing himself. He is discovering himself.*
Steven Pressfield

Finding our work,
Whether paid or unpaid,
Is finding ourselves,
And then we can give ourselves away–
Some would call this freedom.

*Steven Pressfield’s The Artist’s Journey.

SOME RANDOM THIN|SILENCE
THIN|SILENCE FROM A YEAR AGO

If you have to stand in queues
this can be a good question
to carry with you–
It never wears out
or goes out of date.

SOME RANDOM THIN|SILENCE
THIN|SILENCE FROM A YEAR AGO

A year ago,
I was enjoying my hot chocolate
as I sat in a Melbourne cafe, watching
a humongous queue of Oasis fans
waiting their turn to buy merchandise.

It caused me to ponder how
the best place to be
is in a creative line of one–
Doing the thing
only each of us can do.

SOME RANDOM THIN|SILENCE
THIN|SILENCE FROM A YEAR AGO

It sounds facile to say, “We don’t pick our subject. Our subject picks us.” But I’m convinced that statement is true…Like the hero’s journey, the artist’s journey demands to be lived out. It demands to be expressed.*
Steven Pressfield

I didn’t set out
with the idea of doing
what I now do.

It found me
along the way
and I cannot not do it.

Something speaks to us
through our lives,
And how will we respond?

*Steven Pressfield’s The Artist’s Way.

SOME RANDOM THIN|SILENCE
THIN|SILENCE FROM A YEAR AGO

What gift do you bring for your people?…The gift is the product of the hero’s solitary suffering.*
Steven Pressfield

I came here, and, well, I’ve been here ever since. The moral of this cautionary tale is: if you want to do something, you’d better watch out, because you might just end up doing it for the rest of your life!**
Josef DeCoux

Passion–
The original sort
as in
suffering and
enduring–
The thing you cannot
not do
with all your heart
and energy, all your curiosity
and imagination
and creativity–

*Steven Pressfield’s The Artist’s Journey;
**Quoted from Robert Macfarlane’s Is A River Alive?; follow the link above to check out Josef DeCoux’s passion.

SOME RANDOM THIN|SILENCE
THIN|SILENCE FROM A YEAR AGO