Blog

My clients in the arts regularly complain that they don’t trust themselves. By this they mean many different things: that they don’t trust that they can do good work; that they don’t trust that they can perform under fire; that they don’t trust their own decisions or...

Last week I described how your first task with respect to teaching an art class, writing class, or music class is deciding where you will hold it. This week let’s look at your next task: what will you teach? There may be many things you know. Let’s be a little silly...

Let’s say that you’re an artist, writer, musician or other creative or performing artist who’s been thinking about teaching a class so as to provide yourself with an additional revenue stream—and also because you think you might enjoy it. How would you begin? Here’s...

This week I want to introduce you to the following habit: the habit of quick meaning repair. Every day we’re bombarded by small (and sometimes large) threats to our experience of life as meaningful. Maybe you submit your slides to a gallery and get a particularly...

Here’s an emotional wellness tip that may really serve you—whether you’re an artist or not! Say that a feature of your original personality is that you’re prone to sadness. At one time it was assumed that a full quarter of human beings were born “melancholic.” Whether...

This week (April 7 – 9) I’m hosting a completely free virtual conference on emotional healing. I’ve conducted more than a dozen video interviews with some top folks – Alex Lickerman on the undefeated mind, the poet Mark Nepo on healing and presence, Melanie Greenberg...

Are you worried that you may be repeating yourself in your art and not moving forward? Indeed, a creativity coaching client recently said to me, “I just painted something I really like. But it looks an awful lot like something I painted years ago. Is that a problem?...

Mary has sold many millions of copies of her books. There are authors who make such claims; Mary really has sold that many. However tremendous sales do not guarantee happiness and Mary is not happy. She wants to throw out the old and dive into the new but she has fans...

A fellow I know, a New Yorker who lives in New Jersey, makes his living providing businesses with ideas for stunts. He is paid a lot of money to come up with some idea for a stunt—the equivalent of jumping off a building, edging between two skyscrapers on a tightrope,...

I believe it was a ’56 Buick. I know it cost $50. It was my first car and I drove it mostly drunk, as I was drinking quite a bit in the Army. I would leave Ft. Dix sober, it being only Friday afternoon, drive the two hours to Brooklyn or Manhattan, and begin a weekend...