If you’re not amazed by how naive you were yesterday, You’re standing still. If you’re not terrified of the next step, Your eyes are closed. —Jed McKenna
Art doesn’t need your self-loathing
I don’t know who needs to hear this today, but hating yourself isn’t necessary to create great things. Many of my friends believe that without their inner critic they’d fall back to laying on a couch and watching TV all day. They feel like they need to control and punish themselves to keep going. But […]
Yesterday
Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself. — Jalal al-Din Rumi
It is okay to fail. And it’s okay to be upset about it.
There’s only one thing that upsets me more than making a dumb mistake–making the same dumb mistake more than once. The first time I do something stupid it’s an opportunity to learn something new and avoid the same mistake in the future. If I do the same thing again, it’s just stupid. If it happens […]
Learn to open
If we learn to open our hearts, anyone, including the people who drive us crazy, can be our teacher. Pema Chodron
Mara
Are you all right
Making those
Obnoxious faces
Shrieking cries
Ferocious insults
Hysteric roar
I don’t recall asking
You to come but since
You’re here already
Let’s sit down and
Have some chamomile
Tea together
I might as well try to
Learn something
From you
Can’t learn
You can’t learn what you think you already know.
Time spent at school is mostly time wasted
I recently wrote about how modern education is completely detached from the things it is supposed to teach, and how it’s most visible for foreign languages. I don’t think foreign languages are taught less effectively than, say, chemistry or literature. It’s just much easier to verify the results in real life. You can be a […]
Teaching children to walk, the safe and empowering way
I don’t remember how it’s like to learn how to walk. According to my parents, it was a painful process for everyone involved. I managed to master the art of getting up and gaining speed long before I was able to decelerate and sit safely back down. In result, for the first few weeks I […]
The only skill you’ll ever need
I spoke with a lovely old lady today about how the world changed in the last few decades. She asked me what I think my grandchildren will do for a living. My grandchildren? I wonder sometimes what I will do for a living in another 10, 20, or 30 years, and the truth is, I […]