Concentrate every minute … on doing what’s in front of you with precise and genuine seriousness, tenderly, willingly, with justice. And on freeing yourself from all other distractions. Yes, you can—if you do everything as if it were the last thing you were doing in your life, and stop being aimless, stop letting your emotions override what your mind tells you, stop being hypocritical, self-centered, irritable.
~ Marcus Aurelius
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Sometimes, definitely more often than I like to admit, I need to have my attitude adjusted. Like, a giant kick in the ass, adjustment.
Someone once explained to me their self-esteem box idea. Which is, by the way, a frickin’ brilliant idea. Ever since then the idea has rattled around the back of my head. Finally, this idea gelled into something I can use. It goes like this:
Sometimes I find experiences that eject me from Grumpy Land. They are rare, but they are glaringly obvious to me when it happens. POW! Well, that adjusted my attitude. The first part of my idea is to capture those into posts here on the ‘ol blog. (It’s easy to jot a simple note and write a blog post later as I do that a lot already.) This is classic “capture” in action.
The second part is that I’ve created an Attitude adjustments tag, and I’ll be tagging those posts as such. It’s easy for me to get to that tag. (I find it trivially easy to type, off the top of my head, the full URLs to specific tags.)
…and the magic part is a little plugin I found which will bounce me to a random post for a given tag. Depending when you are reading this, there might be 1 or 100 items in that tag, so this may or may not be random and interesting: Random attitude adjustment, please.
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Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a man’s sense of values and his objectivity. It causes him to describe the beautiful as ugly and the ugly as beautiful, and to confuse the true with the false and the false with the true.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
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By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; And third, by experience, which is bitterest.
~ Confucius
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People think that leadership is something that just happens. One is anointed a leader. One is promoted to leadership. One is born into leadership. And of course, this is not the case.
~ Ryan Holiday from, 18 Things I Stole From Some of History’s Greatest Leaders
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Holiday is most famous for his work raising awareness of the ancient, but still very apropos today, philosophy of Stoicism. (Not to be confused with the very different english word, “stoic.”) But this article is all about leadership. It’s a wonderful survey of guide stars. I’m particularly fond of the idea that a leader doesn’t make things worse.
My bias towards taking action… my urge to make a change to make things better… far too often I make things worse. If my life had an omniscient narrator, there’d be a lot of scenes that start with, “Here Craig forgot a hard won lesson. Despite not having a clear idea how to help, he still put his two cents in.” (Cue slow-motion footage of car crash unfolding. Cut to black. Roll end credits.)
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Anyone can steer the ship when the sea is calm.
~ Publilius Syrus
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Then I noticed a huge mound of stones stacked on the flat-topped summit, a clearly man-made production, tight as an Inca battlement and resembling a stone obelisk or maybe an altar. How someone scaled that red junker to stack those stones in that manner rather confounded me.
~ John Long from, «https://www.rockandice.com/john-long-tales/john-long-it-started-with-a-pile-of-stones/»
This is an amazing story told about rock climbing— actually it’s about rock not being climbable, except for the fact that people, who were not modern rock climbers clearly did climb these things. A simply amazing story.
Also, and not at all related, some web sites have these visual “hide” affects that tease you with some initial content. Some web sites do that the lazy way, by sending all the content along but then telling your web browser to hide it visually from you. Also, some web browsers have a “readability version” feature that will turn a hot-mess of a web page into easy-to-read text. If you use that feature on one of those sites, you can read all the text. Furthermore, some web sites actually include the full text of things in their RSS feeds even though they hide it if you go to the web page directly. Curiously, all of these things are completely not at all no way nuh-uh related to this article that I’m sharing today.
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How do personal experiences and creative approaches in stand-up comedy and podcasting intersect to explore humor and connection?
The conversation explores the transformative power of combining humor and reflection in stand-up comedy and podcasting.
I’m interested in the kind of laugh you do when you look at things in a new way. Like, you pierce through something, and it’s a new thought people connect to and identify with.
~ Abby Wambaugh (17:59)
The discussion touches on the creative intersections between stand-up comedy and podcasting, focusing on personal expression and audience connection. Abby shares her journey of creating a podcast during the pandemic to explore humor’s societal impact and their later transition into stand-up. Through podcasting, she experimented with audio formats and advertising parodies, which helped her embrace spontaneity and humor.
Another key topic is the role of feedback in creative processes. Stand-up is highlighted for its immediate audience response, contrasting with podcasting’s private, controlled creation. Insights into how humor fosters social connection and challenges perspectives underscore the transformative potential of laughter, with a focus on maintaining kindness in comedy.
Takeaways
Creating humor that builds connection — Stand-up and podcasting are tools for fostering understanding through laughter.
Feedback as a guide — Immediate audience reactions in stand-up provide invaluable lessons for refining material.
Laughter as social glue — People laugh significantly more in shared settings, emphasizing its role in connection.
Experimentation in formats — Exploring unconventional formats like parody ads can inspire creativity.
Kindness in comedy — Avoiding divisive humor reflects a commitment to constructive engagement.
Exploration of identity — Stand-up and podcasting can be platforms to navigate and express personal identity.
Private versus public creation — Podcasting offers a reflective space, while stand-up demands immediate public interaction.
Resources
Why We Laugh podcast — Abby’s exploration of humor and its societal purpose.
Transom — A platform for sharing crafted audio pieces.
Sarah Schaefer — Comedian and podcaster known for creative projects like the Ha Ha Hole.
Casper Addyman — Baby laughter scientist studying the social and developmental roles of laughter.
(Written with help from Chat-GPT.)
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What lessons and insights emerge from the process of podcasting, and how do they shape personal growth and creativity?
Sharing inner strength moments evolves into a profound practice of learning and giving.
It’s a great opportunity to learn, and you do it and you can transfer that to other parts of your life.
~ Lizzie Rhodes James (18:25)
The conversation explores the dynamics of podcasting as a platform for sharing insights, personal growth, and creativity. Themes of learning and gratitude are central as the speaker reflects on their podcasting journey, emphasizing the importance of creating meaningful and timeless content. The discussion also touches on the process of pausing and reevaluating projects, highlighting the cyclical nature of inspiration and effort.
The technical and creative aspects of podcasting are also discussed, including the routines and systems developed to sustain the work. Lizzie shares experiences of integrating podcasting with other writing platforms, like LinkedIn, and the evolving goals tied to their creative output. Personal habits, such as morning productivity routines, play a significant role in supporting this creative process.
Takeaways
The cyclical nature of creativity — Reflecting on when to pause or continue a project.
The value of timeless content — Creating material that resonates across different periods.
The interplay of gratitude and giving — Sharing experiences to support and inspire others.
The technical evolution of podcasting — Learning from tools and systems developed along the way.
The role of habits in creativity — Establishing consistent routines to foster productivity.
The power of short-form content — Crafting concise yet impactful messages.
The importance of reflection — Stepping back to view the broader themes in one’s work.
Learning through doing — Applying podcasting insights to other areas of life.
Resources
Lizzie’s Inner Strength — A short-form podcast exploring personal growth and resilience.
Lizzie Rhodes James on LinkedIn
Stoic Philosophy — Referenced for its enduring relevance to personal growth.
Timeless principles from ancient literature — Encouraged as a source of wisdom over modern business books.
(Written with help from Chat-GPT.)
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We are always falling in love or quarreling, looking for jobs or fearing to lose them, getting ill and recovering, following public affairs. If we let ourselves, we shall always be waiting for some distraction or other to end before we can really get down to our work. The only people who achieve much are those who want knowledge so badly that they seek it while the conditions are still unfavorable. Favorable conditions never come.
~ C.S. Lewis
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