Month: October 2025

Arguments with people you are close to are worth examining. For one, they are inevitable. The health of any relationship will depend on how quickly a conflict is resolved, not on its absence. What’s interesting is how quickly things will dissolve into debt. I did this, so you owe me that. And you didn’t do this, so you owe me that. Even questioning one’s status or honor can be put into these terms. And once you see it, you can act in all sorts of ways on how to resolve this debt. Quite often, a simple ‘thank you’ or ‘I’m sorry’ can quiet all the noise. However, understanding what you’re arguing about can change the entire conversation.

Exercising three times a week, sleeping eight hours a day, and eating a well-balanced diet doesn’t have an endpoint. You might have a goal for what weight you would love to achieve. However, that doesn’t mean the journey to a healthy lifestyle ends. And too often, we start things with an imaginary endpoint when we should really be focused on developing a practice. 

It is indeed difficult to change the world. Too much emphasis has been placed on making an impact on everyone. Even the best books haven’t been read by everyone. That’s just an impossible task. But we can certainly change our communities. The circles of people around us. And that is enough to raise the floor.

Ignore the ceiling. Raise the floor.

A great deal of credit and status is given to those who change the world, from robber barons to industry titans and tech billionaires of today. However, what we actually see down the road is how these individuals who shaped the world also destroyed it simultaneously. Because the games we play revolve around the accumulation of capital, it is rare to see winners who play different games. From science to the arts. We can name the best basketball players in the world. We can name the richest people. We can point to the most popular products. But we struggle to name who came up with the first vaccine.

Better how?

Better price point?

Better by spec?

Better by accuracy?

Or better in the sense of feel?

Often better is in the intangibles we have a difficult time describing.

Which makes better really difficult to capture in a boss-employee dynamic.

And so, we show better not by tangibles we can point to, but in the effort to make something “better.”

But is it actually better now or more to the taste of the one giving the assignment?

Saying goodbye to your art is indeed a difficult skill to acquire. But rejection isn’t a failure. It’s part of the process in seeking better taste. Popular work isn’t necessarily the best work. It just might be work that resonates with the population.

Picasso, as we understand him today, didn’t treat women particularly well. Once you learn it, it can change the story of how you view his work. How does one resolve this inconsistency?

When you study art, the process, and the artist behind it, you will find artists are just like anyone else. Full of curiosity and wonder, and at the same time full of mistakes and skeletons. And it is always dangerous to elevate your heroes. (There is a reason why they say you should never meet them.)

The thing is, when we elevate art into mythology, we tend also to inject our morals. Art can stand as art. Not a statement of morality, either. And I think that is an important distinction.

Part of who we are is what we have done. Our history can’t be ignored. Over time, we can find patterns.

But those patterns don’t have to continue in the future. The other part of us is the potential—who we could be. What’s important is the next move—way more than what we did yesterday.

How much do we mean what we say?

And how much do we say what we mean?

Corporations are not human. And they certainly are not your friend. With a goal to abstract, how can they be viewed as anything but a parasite? Sure, if I have a problem and need a hammer for this nail, I don’t call a corporation; I instead phone a friend.