I’ve spent most of my life dancing in shadows. I don’t mean the ones cast by light, but the ones that settle into your bones and stretch behind your eyes. Melancholy isn’t sadness; it’s more like a lingering fog, much like a silent ghost that clings to my soul like dew on early morning grass.…

Self-motivation is a strange creature. People love to preach about building good habits, as if stacking enough of them together will build you a better life. Sure, routines have their place. But no habit will save you if you don’t know why you’re doing the thing in the first place. More than anything, I’ve always…

Fellow creatives, if what you create pisses people off, you’re probably onto something. You know the kind of hate I mean, that shows up with passive-aggressive silence, unprompted criticism, or your former friends whispering that you’ve “changed.” Well, good, because the writing process should change you for the better. Whether readers are changed by what…

Letter writing allows me to be a better version of myself — not cleverer, but more honest. That’s the idea that circles in my mind every time I sit down and wonder why the old ways of communication still appeal to me more than the breathless immediacy of the digital world. I’ve thought about finding…

There’s a line from Simon & Garfunkel’s 1970 classic “The Only Living Boy in New York” that occasionally thumps me on the forehead like a passive-aggressive post-it note: “I get all the news I need from the weather report.” That’s either poetic detachment or the kind of deadpan wisdom only a man in a corduroy…

I’m turning 38 today, and I’m officially fresh out of patience for nonsense and performative pleasantries. The training wheels are off, my gloves are gone, and so is the leash I once wore to make other people comfortable. If you’ve read my work before, you already know I don’t suffer fools. As a Phoenix, I…

There was a time when I felt that books could change the world. Indeed, books have had a great impact on world culture and society, but often not in the ways that immediately impact what they were intended to when they were first written. Of course, few authors ever gain any sort of significant celebrity.…

I’m quite fond of this quote from American journalist Bill Moyers: “Creativity is piercing the mundane to find the marvelous.” No matter how mundane something may at first appear, creative efforts can find ways to make it not only interesting, but marvelous! How’s this done?Let’s explore how creativity can transform even the most ordinary aspects…

What do you believe it means to be humble? I’ve always believed “humble” means being modest and respectful to others without trying to impose one’s own world views and opinions on others. But, whereas it seems many people seem to think that to be humble means always being self-effacing or submissive, I don’t think that’s…