Author: Craig Constantine

Which reminds me of… →

Published November 15, 2024  ·  All posts on Nov 15  ·  

The sud­den flash­es of insight we have in states of med­i­ta­tive distraction—showering, pulling weeds in the gar­den, dri­ving home from work—often elude our con­scious mind pre­cise­ly because they require its dis­en­gage­ment. When we’re too active­ly engaged in con­scious thought—exercising our intel­li­gence, so to speak—our cre­ativ­i­ty and inspi­ra­tion suf­fer. “The great Tao fades away.”

~ Josh Jones, from Why You Do Your Best Thinking In The Shower

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I really dislike Open Culture’s web site—modal dialogs, moving thinguses, distracting whatsits… but then, that’s what Reader Mode is for. :) Meanwhile, this was an interesting read just for the nugget of: It’s the distraction, stupid. As I read the bits about the Tao, I realized that—if I had read the Tao—I would not have read into the Tao sufficiently to get this point. (And of course, I’m presuming that Jones’s interpretation—or his reporting thereof, at least—is correct.)

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The quiet ones →

Published November 14, 2024  ·  All posts on Nov 14  ·  

Of the ones who have nothing to say, the quiet ones are the most pleasant.

~ Michel ‘Coluche’ Colucci

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Sit down →

Published November 12, 2024  ·  All posts on Nov 12  ·  ,

There’s a secret that real writers know that wannabe writers don’t, and the secret is this: It’s not the writing that’s hard. What’s hard is sitting down to write. What keeps us from sitting down is resistance.

~ Steven Pressfield

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This is how people actually find your show →

Published November 11, 2024  ·  All posts on Nov 11  ·  

I’m reading Amy Sillman’s Faux Pas and when I was searching her name in the Podcasts app I came across this conversation with writer Sheila Heti.

~ Austin Kleon, from Getting in and out of trouble

People find your show because they are looking for something, or someone, very specific.

People are not just sitting around thinking, “I feel like a need a new podcast to listen to… maybe something that inspires me to move more…” And then they search for “movement inspiration” . . . and then they land on my Movers Mindset show. No that’s not at all how it works. People do not find our show.

People find ONE, SPECIFIC episode. That’s what Kleon did above.

Think of a guest, or a topic, which you did about a year ago…

Now search for that person or topic in your podcast player, or in a web search engine…

Did you find that one episode you were thinking of?

Because people do that. And only then does our show description, show title, show art, episode art, episode notes, and all our hard work gives them the chance to pick us.

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Mr. Jones, put a wiggle in your stride →

Published November 10, 2024  ·  All posts on Nov 10

[When you are asked to do the score for a film, what makes you say yes?] If it seems like it will be a challenge and fun, then of course I want to do it. Also if what is needed is not something that somebody else can do better than I can. There is a kind of more conventional soundtrack thing and if that’s what they are going for I’ll say, “You know, there are people that do this better than I do. You need to go to them.” But other people want to try something new. They want to try something maybe a little different.

~ David Byrne, from David Byrne

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Wait, how is this the first thing from David Byrne that I’m posting? I’m flabbergasted by this oversight.

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Somewhat higher →

Published November 9, 2024  ·  All posts on Nov 9  ·  

The rung of a ladder was never meant to rest upon, but only to hold a man’s foot long enough to enable him to put the other somewhat higher.

~ Thomas Henry Huxley

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To make, as in: Creation →

Published November 8, 2024  ·  All posts on Nov 8  ·  

The most important work we do is to make decisions. Decisions don’t seem effortful (turn left or right, say yes or no) but the apparent risk and emotional labor is real. Hard decisions are hard because of the story we tell ourselves about repercussions and responsibility.

~ Seth Godin, from Decisions as effort

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To make a decision is an act of creation.

I’m not sure when I fully integrated the idea that making decisions is a creative act. But it definitely is a creative act. Making a decision is not simply choosing among options. Making a decision is not simply saying ‘yes’ to something. (And I’m not referring to the obvious corollary that a ‘yes’ to something is a ‘no’ to other things.) Making a decision creates a connection between the before and the after. Those were two things, and through our decision we create a connection; We create something greater than the simple sum of those two “parts.” The connection itself is something wholly new.

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Obstacles →

Published November 7, 2024  ·  All posts on Nov 7  ·  

We are kept from our goal, not by obstacles but by a clear path to a lesser goal.

~ Robert Brault

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Thanks for making me think, Ric! →

Published November 6, 2024  ·  All posts on Nov 6  ·  ,

It’s important we actually think about this: what you’re unaware of controls you here. We can’t talk about continuous improvement if we don’t ask ourselves,  why are we here as a team? What’s our promise to the organisation? Here, I think it’s vital that we embrace the fact that our hurry to get to say number three on a scale of ten is often what blocks us from actually getting to ten.

~ Ric Lindberg, from Continuous improvement

That’s from a July podcast episode of Ric Lindberg’s Results and Relationships which you can find wherever you normally listen. His is currently the only podcast I subscribe to.

Ric is usually showing up to lead others in the context of professional organizations… but not entirely. There’s plenty in his work that applies to us as individual creatives. Every episode, I find myself thinking: “Right! I already knew that,” and “thanks, Ric, for making me think about this!”

Showing up to lead is enough. You don’t have to break new ground for your work to be helpful.

Right! I already knew that. Thanks, Ric, for making me think about this!

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PS: About my subscriptions, there are many podcasts whose RSS feeds I follow in my feed reader app (along with hundreds of other things.) My podcast player is quiet; No new episodes appear creating that fear-of-missing-out. Instead, only when I open my feed reader app, do I see all the new episodes from the many podcast shows I follow. And just like everything else, I simply skim through, and I can add a podcast episode if I wish. This is an example of calm technology.

Head ramping →

Published November 5, 2024  ·  All posts on Nov 5

Instead of letting your head dangle forward when you’ve logged on, put some strength in your swipe and use a little muscle in your upper back to hold your head and spine up.

~ Katy Bowman, from What Your Phone is Doing to Your Body and How to Fix It

Over in the Movers Mindset project, Bowman is someone who has long been on my to-talk-to list. Some day!

Until then, you’ll just have to read everything she writes. It’s terrific. Large amounts of actionable stuff around bare feet. This article is about what you are doing to yourself through your habitual phone use—uh, it’s horrific. But then, maybe if you were empowered with some knowledge, then you’d change? (I know that worked for me!)

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