Quote of the Day

What your daily routine consists of is not that important.  What's important is that the routine exists.  Cobble together your own routine, stick to it most days, break it once in a while for fun, and modify it as necessary.

-- Austin Kleon, Keep Going, p. 21

Quote of the Day

Trauma permanently changes us.  This is the big, scary truth about trauma: there is no such thing as "getting over it."  The five stages of grief model marks universal stages in learning to accept loss, but the reality is in fact much bigger: a major life disruption leaves a new normal in its wake.  There is no "back to the old me."  You are different now, full stop.  This is not a wholly negative thing.  Healing from trauma can also mean finding new strength and joy.  The goal of healing is not a papering-over of changes in an effort to preserve or present things as normal.  It is to acknowledge and wear your new life -- warts, wisdom, and all -- with courage.

-- Catherine Woodiwiss

Quote of the Day

A little imprisonment -- if it's of your own making -- can set you free.  Rather than restricting your freedom, a routine gives you freedom by protecting you from the ups and downs of life and helping you take advantage of your limited time, energy, and talent.  A routine establishes good habits that can lead to your best work.

-- Austin Kleon, Keep Going, p. 20

Quote of the Day

Finding yourself is not really how it works.  You aren't a ten-dollar bill in last winter's coat pocket.  You are also not lost.  Your true self is right there, buried under cultural conditioning, other people's opinions, and inaccurate conclusions you drew as a kid that became your beliefs about who you are.  "Finding yourself" is actually returning to yourself, an unlearning, an excavation, a remembering who you were before the world got its hands on you.

-- Emily McDowell

Quote of the Day

The idea is not to live forever, but to create something that will.

-- Andy Warhol

Quote of the Day

It's undeniably fun to read about the routines and rituals of creative people, but what becomes clear after a while is that there is no perfect, universal routine for creative work.

-- Austin Kleon, Keep Going, p. 17

Quote of the Day

Every day, hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture; speak a few reasonable words.

-- Goethe

Quote of the Day

Blood does not family make.  Those are relatives.  Family are those with whom you share your good, bad, and ugly, and still love one another in the end.  Those are the ones you select.

-- Hector Xtravaganza

Quote of the Day

When you don't have much time, a routine helps you make the little time you have count.  When you have all the time in the world, a routine helps you make sure you don't waste it.  I've written while holding down a day job, written full-time from home, and written while caring for small children.  The secret to writing under all those conditions was having a schedule and sticking to it.

-- Austin Kleon, Keep Going, p. 15

Quote of the Day

My life is full of love; I designed it that way.  I try to make my own experience about love and I look for kindness in others.  That's the thing I value the most: it will get you through everything.

-- Armistead Maupin

Quote of the Day

There will be good days and bad days.  Days when you feel inspired and days when you want to walk off a bridge.  (And some days when you can't tell the difference.)  A daily routine will get you through the day and help you make the most of it.  "A schedule defends from chaos and whim," writes Annie Dillard.  "It is a net for catching days."  When you don't know what to do next, your routine tells you.

-- Austin Kleon, Keep Going, p. 15

Quote of the Day

If you want to know who the oppressed minorities in America are, simply look at who gets their own shelf in the bookstore.  A black shelf, a women's shelf, and a gay shelf.

-- Armistead Maupin

Quote of the Day

Relying on craft and routine is a lot less sexy than being an artistic genius.  But it is an excellent strategy for not going insane.

-- Christoph Niemann

Quote of the Day

Being gay has taught me tolerance, compassion and humility.  It has shown me limitless possibilities of living.  It has given me people whose passion and kindness and sensitivity have provided a constant source of strength.

-- Armistead Maupin, More Tales of the City

Quote of the Day

It is not the experience of today that drives men mad.  It is remorse or bitterness for something which happened yesterday or the dread of what tomorrow may bring.  Let us therefore do our best to live but one day at a time.

-- Richmond Walker

Quote of the Day

The creative journey is not one in which you're crowned the triumphant hero and live happily ever after.  The real creative journey is one in which you wake up every day, like Phil [from Groundhog Day], with more work to do.

-- Austin Kleon, Keep Going, p. 13

Quote of the Day

Any man can fight the battles of just one day.

-- Richmond Walker

Quote of the Day

We have so little control over our lives.  The only thing we can really control is what we spend our days on.  What we work on and how hard we work on it.  It might seem like a stretch, but I really think the best thing you can do if you want to make art is to pretend you're starring in your own remake of Groundhog Day: Yesterday's over, tomorrow may never come, there's just today and what you can do with it.

-- Austin Kleon, Keep Going, p. 11

Quote of the Day

The truly prolific artists I know ... have figured out a daily practice -- a repeatable way of working that insulates them from success, failure, and the chaos of the outside world.  They have all identified what they want to spend their time on, and they work at it every day, no matter what.  Whether their latest thing is universally rejected, ignored, or acclaimed, they know they'll still get up tomorrow and do their work.

-- Austin Kleon, Keep Going, p. 10-11

Quote of the Day

Even after you have achieved greatness, the infinitesimal cadre who even noticed will ask, "What next?"

-- Ian Svenonius

Quote of the Day

Other than death, there is no finish line or retirement for the creative person.

-- Austin Kleon, Keep Going, p. 10

Quote of the Day

The creative life is not linear.  It's not a straight line from point A to point B.  It's more like a loop, or a spiral, in which you keep coming back to a new starting point after every project.  No matter how successful you get, no matter what level of achievement you reach, you will never really "arrive."

-- Austin Kleon, Keep Going, p. 10