This blog is for two different kinds of people.

Those who:

• Dream of having their deepest, most tender creations (paintings, poems, performances, PowerPoints, etc.) singled out for praise and adulation.  These people will heretofore be known as pro-snowflakes

And also for those who:

• Shudder at the thought that because of what makes them, inexorably them, they will be singled out and deemed unfit for membership in the proverbial crowd; heretofore known as anti-snowflakes

​So, I’m a ha-uuuuggge Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan.  Huge.  Emotionally complex, physically appealing and charmingly dorky teens taking on hordes of big, bad and uglies while wearing on-trend clothing from the 90s; how can you not love it!?!?!?

Okay, let’s tell the truth.  Making dreams come true ain’t easy.  The reason all those inspirational underdog-come-from-humiliating-set-backs-to-win-stunning-victories-end-up-a-raging-success-and-get-interviewed-by-Oprah-type movies are so inspirational is because really operatically annoying things happen to the protagonist.

My aunt describes the creative process as follows:
1. Live life
2. Learn stuff
3. Share what you’ve learned
4. Say “Ta Da”

​Problems.  You know the ones you have that pound on you, pushing you down the way the schoolyard bully does to the little kid at recess?  The ones that spin you around, loom over your shoulder and wrap their arms around you, stealing your breath, throwing you to your knees and leaving you gasping?  The ones that make you stare up at them, a Goliath with low blood sugar and the only thing you can do is stand there, clutching a broken sling, closing your eyes and hoping for the best?  You know, those kinds?

​If you are a person who:
1. Sets a goal
2. Identifies the behaviors that need to change in order to meet said goal
3. Lays down plans for changing said behavior
4. Applies consistent exertion towards the aforementioned plans and behavior
4. Continues to execute on those plans until goal is reached
This is not the blog for you. ​

When in doubt, do the thing that’s hardest.  Our intuition is a beautiful gift and serves us faithfully in most situations.  However, when you’re freaked out, it’s close to impossible to hear.  When it feels like the world is ending, the rules have been scrapped and monkeys are conducting cymbal practice in your head, a good rule of thumb is to do the opposite of what you really want to do. 

​What’s the magic ingredient to magic?  Being a fool.  Or feeling like one, anyway.  That’s the price of inviting magic into your life.  You’ll feel awkward.  Dorky.   

The lotus blossoms springing from Buddha’s footprints.  The appearance of the Arabic word for Allah on a satellite picture of North Africa.  Jesus turning water into wine.  These examples and many others serve to remind us that there is something profoundly rebellious and beautiful that holds the tidy tapestry of cause and effect that organizes our daily lives. ​