Letting My Values Lead The Way
Every December, I take inventory of the year that has passed and look towards the future. My plans don’t extend past the coming year, as my goals are more about…
This moment
In the play of time and space, It has taken this long. And this is where we are. In this moment. As it exists within linear time and space.…
Are We Having a Conversation or an Argument?
I once had a conversation with a colleague where I was agreeing with him and commending him on his insights. At one point he looked confused and said, You're not…
Op Art
Op Art is short for Optical Art. It refers to art that creates a perceptual illusion in the frame. This is usually achieved by the calculated placement of a repeated…
The Brain Offers A Clue Into Our Nature
I just watched one of the most impactful Ted Talks ever. Jill Bolte Taylor is a brain scientist who studies severe mental illnesses. She tells the story of how her…
Flow
Flow is something I think about a lot. Am I in it? How do I get into it? Am I going with it? Am I resisting it? When I think…
Mick Jagger-ing It.
When I go out into the world to do daily things, my capability is higher than my audacity. It's just the way I happen to have turned out.I have friends…
Editing, Judgement, and Discernment
Have you ever heard the expression, There are no bad ideas in brainstorming? I think of stream of consciousness writing as a form of brainstorming. It's not to say there…
Art as Meditation or Meditation as Art?
I love meditating, but I don't believe that sit-down meditation is the only true form of meditation. When I write, and focus only on that, I can get lost in…
Art and the Gender Gap
Is there a difference between men and women when it comes to art? Well, yes. Historically artists who have made the most significant impact on the world have been male.…
Memory and Writing
I love writing about moments that intersect with multiple events. Right now I'm working on an article about my experiences in 1992, when I played violin in the Bombay Chamber…
Slaying Monsters
The website didn’t do what was expected of it the other day. It skipped over a couple of steps. Failed, and then started working again. Even though the entire event…
Trees are Like Sadhus
They sit rooted in one place and grow. Without moving they learn and listen and then sit even longer. They provide shelter and comfort and home for others. They…
Commitment and Improv
In improv, where there's no script or stage direction to lean on, commitment to who I am and who is with me on stage is far more important than what…
Talent vs Skill
Steve Martin is known to have said, “I have no talent. None”. That is good news for me because I am not particularly talented and don’t have much of an…
Distracted
I’ve had an unfocused and distracted day bouncing from one thing to the other, attempting to grasp a task by the tail and see it to it’s creative completion. Had…
Limitations and the Creative Process
Sometimes, the hardest part of the creative process is getting started. In the early 1990s, I used to perform improv comedy in Toronto and the surrounding regions. Doing improv helped…
Pleasing Planar Symmetry
As a photographer, we learn right away that repeating patterns make for interesting images. Every workshop has you looking for and making photos where the pattern repeats. We love seeing…
Finding Your Voice
Finding one's voice is something we hear writers talk about a lot. It can be very easy for some and is a longer process for others. I started writing stories…
I have almond milk. Catastrophe averted.
Attachment to Expectations and Almond Milk
I have lots of expectations. From the moment I wake up till I fall asleep at the end of the day. I expect to make a cup of masala chai…
Struggles with Language Learning in COVID times
What I notice is my fear that I will have to speak or be spoken to in the language I am struggling to understand. The first semester of Portuguese class…
Leaves changing colours in Toronto.
Growth and Change
Part of the beauty of playing with creativity is continually being open to newness, change, and growth. But part of growth also means I may not be the same today…
Ambiguously Intriguing
An artist is always wondering how to push the envelope and create something that engages the audience. While there are many ways of making captivating images, there is one in…
The Niagara River.
Mindfulness Reminders
I had a client who found the concept of mindfulness to be stressful. He felt that he not only had to handle the fast-paced, ever-changing, and increasingly-demanding life he already…