Might and Main Monday: Why Read? Katherine Paterson
I’ve been thinking about why fictional books matter. Do they? Why read? What would happen if we could no longer read stories? Fiction readers would live like people who choose not to read. A world of the here and now only, a world where one doesn’t join the dreams of others. There are a lot of people in the world…
Might and Main Monday: Tim Gautreaux
I’ve been thinking about this quote from Louisiana writer Tim Gautreaux. It feels appropriate as families across America will be celebrating the 4th of July. He reminds us that the place you grew up is valid material for creative expression, no matter how humble or obscure it is. People own the territory they are born into. That’s the richest ore…
Might and Main Monday: Ann Patchett
Writer Ann Patchett says it all in this quote about the creation of art and the importance of forgiveness. It’s from her article, “The Getaway Car,” reprinted in This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage. Forgiveness. The ability to forgive oneself. Stop here for a few breaths and think about this because it is the key to making art, and…
Might and Main Monday: Joseph Campbell
The idiom “with might and main,” is an old literary phrase that’s gradually dropped out of modern use. It translates to “with as much strength and effort as possible.” I kind of love it. It’s dramatic, it’s antique. I thought it was apt for how I could approach Mondays, similar to “seize the day.” Monday rings in a new week,…
Gretchen Rubin on How to Be a Better Person
Gretchen Rubin’s Better Than Before fits right in with The Cultivated Life principle: how to grow for the better. This warm, down-to-earth book tackles the subject of personal habits and how to master them. Habits are the architecture of our lives, Rubin says, and changing habits involves knowing your personality. This forces us to examine exactly who we are and how we…
4 Reasons Why I Love My Journal
I’ve always thought keeping a journal meant writing long passages of insight about your life and its meaning, a diary a la Anais Nin or The Artist’s Way that someday after you die would reveal who you secretly were. I’ve tried to do this in the past but it never stuck. But after reading Show Your Work, I’ve realized that…
Share What You Create From a Favorite Place
If you are a creator, chances are you want folks to see your work. Creative people know what I’m talking about. (Of course, we’re all creative in some way.) Yes, we paint, we write, we knit, we make stuff because it pleases us, because it sends us into a zone where we lose track of time, but we ultimately want…
