What We Have in Common

I will attempt a new 21 day challenge. my room mate is trying to quit smoking and I'm going to try and quit lazy (being, that is). So much like a working out, I will try to sit down and do some things that I generally do not care for (cooking, cleaning, etc) first thing when I wake (okay, after my morning coffee which is usually a book and/or something yummy to eat, b/c getting up in the morning is hard as it is)

After reading a self growth book called the Flip Side by a guy named Flip Flippen (I unsure if that's his birth name) it speaks about 8 things that hold people back, all of those I have and one that sticks out like a sore thumb: lack of drive. On top of that, Flip says that by the time a person turns thirty, it's downhill from there, that our patterns become ingrained, unlikely to change. That gives me approximately half a year. I better get going.

when I was 14 my dad made me shovel dirt for our family garden. Now, when you're 14, you don't like being told what to do, especially if it does not promise fun. It would be a week before I could dig all that needed to be dug. I was discouraged. Digging up dirt was not my idea of a good time. Interestingly, on the second day, I began to like it and even take pride in the work. I began to focus less on how hot and dirty the job was, and focus on the thought that my dad had asked me of all my siblings. I felt strong and proud. The next day, I could care less about pride and being strong. This sucks, I thought. Somehow I was able to complete the project and I sometimes look back on that experience fondly; a reference in what can be when we control what we focus on.

When I was itty bitty in Vietnam I would skip school and go to the pond by my house to catch frogs. One day I found my dad skipping work and going fishing himself, both not ready, i guess, to face up to the "real world". I prefer to see it as father and son both enjoying the jubilation of not doing what is expected of us. I don't remember if I was reprimanded nor do I remember if I understood the concept of blackmail or hypocrisy.

A barefoot man ran down a busy intersection of Lamar screaming "Holly! Holly!" My first guestimation of the situation was that his disgruntled lover had ran off from an argument. He had such a look of absolute devotion and desperation at the same time. It turns out Holly is his dog who took off after a bird or who knows what.

My life today is far from what I imagined it to be as a senior in high school; far from ideal but the process of living, learning, and growing (despite it's moments of discomfort and despair) is something that I am, if not happy with, at least open to.

Quotes I've enjoyed this week:
love, joy, happiness are often not found but created.
When I see an adult on a bicycle I do not despair for the the future of the human race - H.G. Wells

Random thoughts I've had:
* Caucasians have bread. Latinos, tortillas. Asians have rice paper. All edible. all delicious.
* When you come from poverty it is more of a challenge to learn to give.
* Here in Austin, the school for the deaf is a lot better kept than the school for the blind. I wonder if that is because of politics/funding or the fact that the blind students could care less what the grounds look like.
*There's a roll of scotch tape that i've been using sparingly for the last 2 years. It's almost out and I feel a pang of heartache. I'm gonna miss you, scotch tape. You've been good to me.

Good Apples

Just clipped my nails a few days ago and they've already grown back. Is it? me or do nails grow faster in the summer? Is this also true of hair?

On Thursday I had one of those moments in the week where I felt absolutely fine - like everything in my life is exactly how it should be. This feeling very seldom but when it does come I really appreciate it. A large portion of my twenties has been a battle with a negative emotional pattern. I discovered a film that speaks of this challenge

Questions to ponder...
Would you rather each an organically grown apple but picked by a booger picking farmer or an conventional one?

Running Errands

Runner Trains for Marathon by Running Errands

by Trevor Reichman on 02. 8.09

Cars & Transportation

Buzz up!

Dao Nguyen, who lives in Houston, is training for a marathon. But instead of running around in circles in Memorial Park, Houstons’s most popular running circuit, he has decided to run all of his errands instead...by foot...by running. This way, he is maximizing his time and caloric expenditure at the same time... to the tune of only 100 calories per mile, compared to the roughly 3000 calories a car needs to 'run' errands. Cars typically use about 30 times more energy to transport a person compared to that person traveling that same mile with their own feet, highly inefficient in comparison.

Read further for an interview with Dao Nguyen...

I met Dao from a rideshare ad that I placed on Craigslist. He is a repeat passenger, as we have both had to make the same trek between Austin and Houston a few times recently. Dao doesn’t own a car, a rarity in Houston, TX. He does have a bicycle for more involved errands.

He also limits his possessions to 50 at a time, but that is another story.

Here is my interview with Dao:

TH: What inspired you to train for a marathon?

DAO: I have had lots and lots of projects that I have started and have not completed. I decided that this was due to a lack of discipline. I figured that if I trained and ran a full marathon, that I could train my mind to "keep pressing on...to keep pressing forward" despite pain and that this would translate to other goals I have for myself that are not physical/health goals...say for instance, to start a photography business. Yes, it first takes a dream, but to make that dream happen it's not all fun and games, so again, my belief was that if I could run a marathon, that would give me a reference point, an accomplishment to find confidence.

TH: What gave you the idea to combine running with doing your errands?

DAO: Purpose combined with fun gives me meaning in life.

TH: Are you able to find enough errands to do to reach your training goals?

DAO: As of right now I would say I run between 5-7 miles everyday with a pack. I'd like to think that this translates to about 10-12 regular weightless miles I have yet to work out errand distances to coincide with training.

TH: Do you find that your training is hindered by obstacles such as traffic, insufficient pedestrian infrastructure, etc?

DAO: No it's even MORE fun. I love bumpy sidewalks, narrow sidewalks, sidewalks under construction, taped off work areas (I leap over them), curbs, red lights, children (often smiling), etc. It all adds to the pleasure of running.

TH: How do you carry your items (groceries, etc) while you are running?

DAO: For lighter items, a running pack, like one of those polyester ones they pass out free at banks or college recruitments. It's the lightest pack i can find. For full grocery runs, I am presently using a travel backpack made by swiss gear, it feels very snug. But it's a bit heavy so I am on the lookout for another pack with an equally snug fit but lighter. In running errands, yes, it's all about weight.

TH: Do you ever feel indecent being in sweaty running shorts while at the grocery store, bank, etc?

DAO: Yes, I went to get my hair cut and the barber commented, "You ran here?!" My entire forehead was dripping. Well, i gave him a big tip. He was cool. I'd like to think that it's inspiring and that when people see a lunatic with an orange or pink running pack down Westheimer more than once, they will ask the question, "What is up with this guy? Why is he always running? And always with a bright colored pack?" I just smile. In moments like these I like being me and in this space I feel very happy and in tune with the adventure of being alive.

TH: Did you make this decision for environmental reasons, or for practical reasons, being that you don't own a car? That being asked, is your decision to be car-free an environmental decision, or a practical one or both?

DAO: It's funny you ask. because my brother has a car I can borrow, but I like the exercise and honestly running errands is my coffee. I don't like how coffee makes me feel. I like a natural heart rate boost, so running is the only thing I know to increase my heart rate. And again, it's productive, so I like it. It fits me.

Live What You Love

I read a great book once when I was depressed, a self-help book, naturally, entitled "Live What You Love" by a married couple named the Blanchards. They are one of my heroes and I, too, want to "Live what I Love." My problem is I love to create but sometimes I get sick of it as well and want to do something else. I've found that the best thing is discipline and also variety.

It is important to keep on going on even when you don't feel like it. Right now my discipline muscles are not well developed. I can only do what I don't want to do and keep my focus on such activities for no more than 30 minutes currently twice a day. So basically, I am a slacker. I "work" about an hour a day and the rest of the time I am doing whatever the hell it is I want. My goal for the end of March is to be able to "work" 45 minutes everyday, twice a day. I'm on target to reach that. Hey, you gotta start small, eh?

Once my discipline matches my dreams I will really go places. So for now, I'm still daydreaming about the following:
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I find that passion and girls and work are all inter-related. Case in point. There are a lot of jobs and girls out there. Each with there perks and minuses. For example one girl could be super pretty but with a short temper. Another could be a whole lot of fun but old enough to be my grandmother. So for the time being we take bits and pieces of what we can and live off that. The goal or my dream I guess is to have the one woman or the one career that fulfills all of my needs.

That would really be something wouldn't it? And to create a life that are all those qualities. It seems all so egocentric. Me, me, me. I wish I could have the things that bring me joy so that I can offer joy back. The ideal would be to do something that brings me joy that also brings others joy. Ah, so idealistic. Is there such a thing? I don't know any other way.
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On the surface I'm funny and always try to make people feel something evoke an emotion I guess, but in private I'm very worried and anxious, desperately, at times trying to figure out how to live my life. When I'm in flow state it's wonderful. I really do enjoy being alive. Oftentimes, however, it seems like a struggle. I wish I could just follow a daily formula. something that proves to work time and time again without fail. Does such a formula exist?

I say that creating is my miracle drug. Sometimes I get burnt out though. For example, I'm working on this blog and reach a point where I feel, okay, that's enough. I don't really want to do anymore. I'd just like to lay down and close my eyes and dream sweet dreams.

Oftentimes this is because some other need has not been met. I'm hungry or feeling neglected. for example, Aubrey is suppose to call me. It's already 4PM and it looks unlikely that she will follow through with what she said. She's probably on the defensive and will write an apology later.

I'll tell you what has worked. On my daylog it reads setting specific goals. My specific goal right now is to crank 7 more minutes of writing. 2nd on things that have worked is the daily adjust. Okay, so here we go. to keep our habits is key yes I agree and creative activity seems to work but at times we don't want to be creative and just want to relax. shall i force myself to create? I'll nap. Napping always seems to give me a boost. listening and grooving to music is only ephemeral and not intrinsic. having a performance day, yes, that is very key. to set specific goals with a deadline that is part of being specific. make it attainable and measurable.

They are playing football as we speak. Damn, the dog farted. something tonight?

Don’t Like Meditation? Try Gratitude Training. (Plus: Follow-up to “Testing Friends” Firestorm)

Filling the Void

Thich Nhat Hanh, the Buddhist monk and zen teacher once nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Martin Luther King, Jr., has a knack for making the esoteric understandable.

In discussing what some call “present state awareness”–experiencing and savoring the present—he offers a simple parable:

Let’s say that you want to eat a peach for dessert one evening, but you decide to only allow yourself this luxury after washing the dishes. If, while washing the dishes, all you think of is eating the peach, what will you be thinking of when you eat the peach?

The clogged inbox, that difficult conversation you’ve been putting off, tomorrow’s to-do list?

The peach is eaten but not enjoyed, and so on we continue through life, victims of a progressively lopsided culture that values achievement over appreciation. But let’s get specific.

If we define “achievement” as obtaining things we desire (whether raises, relationships, cars, pets, or otherwise) that have the potential to give us pleasure, let’s define “appreciation” as our ability to get pleasure out of those things. To focus on the former to the exclusion of the latter is like valuing cooking over eating.

How then, do we develop the skill of appreciation, which is tied so closely to present state awareness?

There are a few unorthodox tools that we’ve explored already for state awareness, like the 21-day no-complaint experiment, but the most common mainstream prescription is meditation.

The problem with meditation is that it too often gets mixed with mysticism and judgment (attempting to forcefully exclude certain thoughts and emotions). Who really wants to visualize a candle flame for 30 minutes? It can work, but it doesn’t work for most.

Here’s where we enter the 60-second solution: gratitude training. From Cornell to the University of Michigan, scientists are looking at the far-reaching effects of practicing gratitude just like exercise.

Here is one example from Dr. Robert Emmons of the University of California at Davis and Dr. Michael McCollough of Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas:

“The first group kept a diary of the events that occurred during the day… the second group recorded their unpleasant experiences, [and] the last group made a daily list of things for which they were grateful.

The results of the study indicated that daily gratitude exercises resulted in higher reported levels of alertness, enthusiasm, determination, optimism and energy. Additionally, the gratitude group experienced less depression and stress, was more likely to help others, exercised more regularly and made more progress toward personal goals. According to the findings, people who feel grateful are also more likely to feel loved.

McCollough and Emmons also noted that gratitude encouraged a positive cycle of reciprocal kindness among people since one act of gratitude encourages another… McCullough suggests that anyone can increase their sense of well-being and create positive social effects just from counting their blessings.”

In practical terms, here is one example of how you can test the effects of gratitude training in less than 10 minutes over the next week:

From Thanksgiving to next Thursday, November 29th, ask yourself the following question each morning, immediately upon waking up and before getting out of bed:

What am I truly grateful for in my life?

Aim for five answers, and if you have trouble at first, ask yourself alternative probing questions such as:

What relationships do I have that others don’t?
What do I take for granted?
What freedoms, unique abilities, and options do I have that others don’t?
What advantages have I been given in life?
Which allies and supporters have helped me to get to where I am?

Thanksgiving shouldn’t just come once a year. Use it as a system restart and a chance to put your appreciation back on track with your achievement.

Don’t forget the peach… and Happy Thanksgiving!

Staying Motivated

by Kevin Cornell

• Published in: Creativity, Graphic Design |

• Discuss this article »

Whether your chosen medium is pictures or language, food or formulas, everyone has the capacity to be creative in their work. But we can often lose our motivation to create, making it difficult to stay focused and excited on a project. So how does one keep their creative well from drying up?

Maintaining your motivation to create is actually a long-term endeavor. Starting out can be tough, but with discipline and consistency you will eventually reach a point where staying motivated only requires minimal daily maintenance—a simple matter of learning to make the right choices at the right time.

Of course, everyone is different, and each person will have their own unique formula to propel themselves into a creative frenzy. So while this article offers some possible solutions, it is up to you to make the right choices to keep yourself motivated. Maintaining motivation requires paying attention to your behavior, listening to your instincts, and learning how to encourage, bargain, and even trick yourself into being creative.

Phase I: starting out

As I’ve mentioned, starting from scratch is the hardest part, and rewards don’t come quick. But if you want to reach a point where all you need to do is give your motivation occasional maintenance, you have to start somewhere.

Here’s a few tips to help you when you’re starting out:

Set goals

It’s a lot easier to stay motivated when you feel like you’ve accomplished something, but how can you know when you succeed if you never set a goal? Give yourself something to achieve.

Stack the deck

Keeping interested and motivated is directly related to those successfully met goals. Set yourself up for more success than failure by being realistic in your goal setting. Small, bite-sized tasks at first. As you get more and more successes under your belt, make your goals more ambitious.

Build a creative den

Whether it’s your desk area, a dark cave, a hotel room, or a home office, you need a place specifically set aside to be creative in. Once you’ve decided on that place, use it like the dickens. Each creative success you have in that location will train your mind to be creative within its boundaries. When I set foot inside my office, something clicks on in my brain, and I’m ready to work. Sure, it took about six months to turn into a den—but trust me, it’s time and effort well spent.

Retreat, but don’t surrender

Never give up on projects or problems. Put them aside for a while, but always come back to solve them (even if it’s only developing a theory for solving them). Solving these problems will build your confidence, your knowledge, and (hopefully) your portfolio.

Find your cycle

Just as your body has optimal times for sleeping and eating, there’s also an optimal time when your body is at its most creative (and, unfortunately, least creative). For me, that super-creative time is in the morning. I know many other people find that they’re most creative late at night. Find out when you’re at your creative best, and start using that time to your advantage; save your least creative time to do the mundane administrative aspects of your job.

The right tools

Being creative is difficult enough; don’t make it harder for yourself by using inferior (or just plain wrong) tools. Explore your options and find the tools that allow you to create what you want to create, and get the best ones you can afford.

Follow your progress

Seeing just how far you’ve come can be an excellent motivational tool. If you don’t stop every so often to see where you were a couple months ago, and where you are now, do it—you might surprise yourself with how much you’ve gotten done, or how much you’ve creatively grown. Or perhaps you’ll feel you didn’t get enough done, and it will strengthen your resolve to work harder. Whatever the case, it’s worth it to check every once in a while.

Phase II: maintenance

Applying the tips from above, you’ll hopefully reach a point where you’re consistently motivated. Yet even when you’ve reached this plateau, you will occasionally hit points where that fervor wanes. It’s in those instances when you’ll need to try something new or different, set obstacles, or even take a step backwards in order to get your motivation back.

Here’s some things to try when you feel like you’ve hit a rut:

Don’t set any goals

In the early stages of an idea, or if you’ve stumbled upon a creative endeavor you wish to experiment with, setting goals may destroy some of the spontaneity that makes experimentation so fulfilling. Let things play out naturally, and when you’re ready you’ll know if it’s time to duct tape that idea to a timeline.

Make the goals unrealistic

I believe in certain instances that biting off more than I could chew worked out to my advantage. It helped me focus on the project, and push myself farther than I would normally. Unfortunately, you run the risk of failing to complete those goals, or completing them and completely burning out.

Get out of the house

While a creative den can often get the juices flowing, sometimes it helps to go somewhere different to work. It may not be as familiar and comfortable as your creative den, but it can provide different stimuli that can positively influence your ideas, and eventually your work.

Study your peers

It can be helpful to see what others in your industry are doing. It may provide inspiration, and at the very least will give you an idea of what the standards are for excellence in your particular industry (which can help you figure out what to expect of yourself).

Ignore your peers

While it has its benefits, studying your peers too much can often cause you to focus only on their achievements, and lose focus on your own goals. What’s worse, it can often cause you to doubt your own work if it’s too different from the industry standard. When in fact you might be working on something just so different and fresh that it’s what the industry needs. Have a care, and don’t lose focus on your own work.

Seek external stimulation

We’re absolutely surrounded by the creative output of both human beings and nature. Taking a closer look at everything around you can spark new ideas, and give you insight into how to solve some of your own creative problems. Whether it’s a museum, the center of town, or the biggest damn waterfall you’ve ever seen, there might be something out there to push you back into a creative mode.

Seek internal stimulation

While surrounding yourself with stimuli can be helpful, it’s often just as helpful to remove all external stimuli, and let your brain stimulate itself. For example, I often go running to help give me ideas. Not because I like running, but because it’s possibly the most boring activity in the world. It’s often easier for me to mull over creative problems when there’s nothing for my brain to do.

Keep a sketchbook or notebook

I can’t emphasize this one enough. Ideas—good or bad—need to be recorded. No one can remember them all. Writing down an idea for long-term storage might just free up some room in your brain to tackle new problems. What’s more, you now have a library of ideas to lend a hand when a deadline is looming and you’re not feeling your most creative.

Work through it

While it may seem counterintuitive to force yourself to be creative, often it can work out for the best. It might feel difficult and clumsy at the start, but as you gain momentum you’ll almost always find your motivation has returned. And if it hasn’t, then take comfort in this—sometimes you may feel the work you’re producing is the most horrid abomination the world has seen, you may be producing good work after all. You’re just in the wrong state of mind to tell. Get through things as best as you can—you won’t know whether it’s good or bad until later on.

Give yourself obstacles

Set a time limit, refuse to use a certain tool, make yourself take a more difficult direction—often these obstacles lead to some pretty exciting results.

Remove unnecessary obstacles

We sometimes set unnecessary limits on a project, which hinder our ability to solve the most important problem. If you feel you’re too restricted while trying to solve a creative problem, it can often help to reevaluate the restrictions, and see if some of the unimportant ones can’t be stripped away.

Get on your horse

So there you go. Hopefully, some of these suggestions can help you get on the right path to long-term motivation, or help you jumpstart your slightly-waning creative enthusiasm. As I mentioned above, these are by no means the only solutions. Only you can decide what direction is appropriate when. But with a little luck, experimentation, patience, and persistence, you’ll find the right regimen for keeping your motivation and creativity ever flowing.

• Illustration by Kevin Cornell

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Related Topics: Creativity, Graphic Design

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About the Author

Kevin Cornell is an illustrator/designer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He spends the majority of his days maintaining his website, and drafting treaties for imaginary conflicts. It is rumored he is allergic to cashews, but that is largely unconfirmed. Kevin is the staff illustrator to A List Apart.

30-day Challenge

30-day Challenge

On a larger time scale, I feel like I'm doing circles the whole of my 20's. I'm a flake and leave most things unfinished. I've wanted to change this about myself and tried a 30-day challenge last New Year's in San Francisco/Berkeley but failed to stick to it. I'm trying it again, this time with some helpful web applications and that failed attempt as a reference point. If you're a dreamer like me but find yourself not accomplishing your dreams because of lost of interest of lack of self discipline. Try out a 30-day challenge. See if it does anything for you. Good Luck!

Hostelling International - Austin, TX "Reasons"

I need money, or so I think. There are some things that I love that require money and I need to be reminded of these things. I want to travel as I have today to the Hostel International here and good ol Austin, TX. I love meeting new people and such. The things that require money are the need of a car. It would make things just so much more convenient. And money to buy groceries so that I can cook good, hearty meals for my new friends and myself. And gasoline money so that I can continue traveling.

It would be sweet to win like a year's supply of groceries or like a year's supply of gasoline or like win a new car, all SWEEEEET fortunes that will likely not happen so work it shall be until I stumble on that meal ticket.

Went hostelling yesterday and enjoyed it very much in my opinion. Met a real interesting fella named David, the consummate freelancer. I wanna be a consumate something, and a freelancer sounds very sexy, adventurous, and...er consumate. I think I would like to continue hostelling until I find an even better lifestyle. Hostelling is great because you are always surrounded by people. And if you want your privacy, you can always go back to your room, like a dormatory for grown-ups, but a little better because you have a community kitchen to use.


Secondly, the ebb and flow of newcomers always keeps things interesting. You can meet awesome girls! But I noticed only one yesterday :( Haha, yea! it's like a dating service without being so blatant! I mean, imagine waking up and having neighbors to talk to!!! Awesome, I just love that, there is something magical about it all.


Thirdly, hostelling especially helps with my motivation. To be surrounded by people, I am rarely bored. There is always an invitation here and a new idea there. What I need now is to save up money for two things to make my hostelling experience much more convenient: .::1::. a laptop with wireless capability and .::2::. a better working car.














Hostelling International Lounge - Austin, TX















Fellow Bunkmate who cycled from San Marcos


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Music Reason and Emotion

August 25, 2005 - Friday

Wheatsville Co-op -- Austin, TX

I am asked to show how I feel. How interesting is all I cansay. Austin is unique, that is a definite. I do belong here, yet I am bombarded. I am happy to have moved back here] with information, I am no longer bored, if anything, overwhelmed. There are so many ways of approaching life here, in Austin, I begin to lose my perspective. Initially, I came down here to pursue music, that was my approach, my final destination, performing cover music at coffee shops and open-mics, which, I no doubt will achieve, If I choose, that excited me coming down from Dallas.

It still does, [Oh, god pretty girls everywhere here in Austin, & my type, too! I think. Has what is important changed any? Slightly. The emotional 2 the extreme experience is now not only pure emotional stimulation (fun) but also purpose; a reason for the work. Reason just became more important than the emotional experience. For strong reason will bring strong emotions! Thus our answer to why we do not have emotional success...no reason to feel excited.

The Winding Road

Monday, December 15, 2003
Here are my current philosophies on life. I like to approach my life using analogies. Lately, I have been referencing my life to a roadtrip. It's funny, normally when you think of roadtrips, you are affected with excitement and a feelings of anticipation. However, lately i've been feelin' very reluctant to go anywhere. I don't know exactly what it is, but the motivation hasn't been with me lately. You know the feeling you get when you know you ought to get out of here but you don't exactly have any reason outside of the hope that once you get out you will encounter that reason.