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When I’m working on a particularly challenging project, I keep a document open to capture thoughts along the way. Below is an excerpt, embellished and expanded a bit — but entirely real.
***
Okay! I’ve set aside the time to write. Here we go.
Whereas I thought last summer that I needed to get my makeup and lighting right and just start shooting, I now realize that I have to start with a script. So here I am, blinking cursor in front of me.
Read MoreWhat would you do, if only you had permission?
Who do you need it from?
Can you give it to yourself?
Yes, you may hire someone to clean your house.
Read MoreThis isn't school. You're a grownup now. Give yourself an A if you really want one.
You get out of it what you put into it — and you get to decide what that is going to look like.
There is no "I didn't finish last time," or "I can't keep up with everyone else." It's not a race. It's not a contest. There is no scorekeeper, and there's no score.
Read MoreMiddle school is a time of great change and upheaval in a person’s life. We can thank puberty for that, along with an adolescent’s growing self-awareness and sense of identity.
Many students try on different superficial identities, coming to school with a carefully cultivated goth, punk, or preppy look. If it doesn’t fit, they simply move on to the next one.
On the other hand, there are profound transformations that are possible when students are willing. They can let go of a lifelong antipathy toward math and become devoted to it; instead of being closed off and lonely, they can initiate friendships.
Read MoreYears ago, my sister tricked her kids into eating broccoli by passionately pleading, “Please don’t eat my trees!”
They gleefully stuffed vegetables into their mouths while she wailed, “Noooo! Where will all the birds live?”
At a family dinner recently, I tried this on another nephew, age three, who was reluctant to continue his meal when there were so many other interesting things to do. I’m pleased to report that it worked instantly and repeatedly. He got that look on his face like, “Oh, we’re playing a game here,” and joined me in the improv comedy, eating all the food on his plate.
Read MoreI was on my way to work one morning in my early twenties when I saw someone at a stoplight who changed the way I saw the world.
As a young adult in a new city, I had a rigid set of rules about how to live and, at the same time, a limited ability to operate in accordance with them.
These rules governed what I could eat and when, what I could spend, and how I could spend my time. It was my best attempt to tame the chaos of my circumstances.
Read MoreStarting a new hobby or learning a new skill can bring on a sort of infatuation phase: You think about it all the time, even when you’re supposed to be doing other things. When you can’t actually be engaging in your new pastime, you’re watching YouTube videos or listening to podcasts about it. You can’t get enough.
And you may start to feel a little self-conscious about it. If you have big goals, however, ignore that feeling and do your thing.
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