arrange • compose • conduct
Adam Grant: I have noticed, over the last couple of years, that you seem to really enjoy contradicting yourself. Malcolm Gladwell: I do! AG: Why? MG: Well, I’m more worried about not contradicting myself. So, I would be very concerned if I was still saying the same things today as […]
Later-life career redirections can feel like trying to turn an ocean liner. It takes full engine power and lots of space to execute the turn. Even as early as just after college graduation, young adults can feel locked into the path they spent so much effort preparing themselves for. Just […]
For most things you aspire to do, the answer is yes. Has anyone grown up in the Midwest and become a session singer in LA? Definitely yes. Has anyone gone to University A and gone on to perform on Broadway? Maybe. Has anyone decided to start running at age 40 […]
I’ve been enjoying digging into my all-time favorite TV show, The Muppet Show, since it was recently made available on Disney Plus. One of my favorite parts of the show is this: Everyone sings. Every cast member sings; they aren’t all singers. But they all sing – in harmony, in […]
I have recently begun a new practice of posting my daily post early on Patreon. In terms of my writing work, there has been no change. At the moment, I write in the evenings, as my kids get ready for bed, or just after. (My practice changes over time, because […]
The good years are now. Yes, even amidst a pandemic. Yes, even when you made outstanding music with your ensembles a decade ago, preferred the educational system thirty years ago, even if you think the social mores were better 75 years ago. The good years are now, because now is […]
From Dr. Brené Brown’s conversation with Jim Collins, this gem about a trusting mindset. Collins is describing the mindset of his mentor and co-author, Bill Lazier. He said, “There’s this fundamental fork in the road in life, and it is your opening bid to trust or does somebody have to […]
I remember my aunt being an expert at touching the tip of her nose with her tongue (as my daughter is, now). Her advice for learning the skill? Your tongue needs to sneak up on your nose. Now, of course our tongues can’t actually sneak up on our noses. But […]
In this excellent podcast conversation, Brené Brown and Adam Grant discuss the difference between pursuing success and pursuing mastery. Success is an external motivator – its focus is in how you are received by the world. Mastery is an internal motivator – its focus is in how you interact with […]
Real artists are generous. Even as they work to make a living at their art, they give as much as they collect. This month, our family ordered some chocolates from a Belgian artisan that we believe makes some of the finest anywhere (and which figured in our early dating, while […]