The kind that kicks ass here on earth.

Me, many years ago–early 80s. Plus a lot of muscle.
This is for you, Davee.

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I usually don’t play music when I write–too distracting. With one exception. When I want to get serious, I put this on repeat and listen to it over and over. I don’t know why but for me it’s perfect–perfect tempo, perfectly spacious. Love.
From the “Diva” soundtrack from about 20 yrs ago.
sentimental-walk.mp3

[…]

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Just started “following” a woman on Twitter (this is not like stalking, you’re supposed to follow people) who blogs about stepmothering. Her stepkid is little, mine is 21. When I married his dad, he was 11 so I’ve been part of his life for a fair amount of time. There have been super-high pros and […]

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I am one of the luckiest people alive because I have some amazing friendships. Like the guy mentioned above who e-mailed me those comments about Dylan. I mean how awesome is that.
This morning was talking to another friend who said, when I was telling him about trying to become a better, more disciplined writer, “Sometimes […]

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Whenever I find myself in a conversation about interpersonal difficulties (“my boss is a screamer,” “I can’t get my boyfriend to ever be on time”) I always ask, “have you ever heard of the enneagram? I get one of four responses:
1. No. Please move on.
2. Isn’t that some kind […]

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Was e-mailing with a friend yesterday about the kookiness of trying to make a living as a writer when he said this:
Being an artist is a risk. Risking non acceptance. Art has an interior dimension. One is groping for what has profound MEANING. Then to present that sense with integrity […]

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This is in reponse to Kirby’s comments on this posting.
Kirby, hi and thanks for writing. When you say you’ve been typed by experts, what does that mean? Have you met with enneagram teachers or taken classes? Just curious.
You’re right, the books really contradict each other. And so do many teachers. That’s one reason why, when […]

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Woke at 530 am. Was nervous about meetings today and after much thought and study, devised the following step-by-step strategy:
1. Feel nervous.
2. Rouse good cheer and trust in my own intelligence.
3. Drop all of that.
4. Click in with the atmosphere of the meeting […]

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Unlike fiction writers, we non-fiction, self-helpy people don’t submit books, we submit book proposals, a lengthy outline of an idea. Good news: The book is sold before you start writing it. Bad news: creative direction is subject to group-think.In writing 4 books, I’ve screwed this creative direction thing up every which way. I’ve acted the […]

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Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche
Student: You often criticize a film by saying that it is too aware of the audience. But when people make films, especially in the West, the point is to entertain people.
Chogyam Trungpa: If you are completely confident in yourself, you don’t have to think about the audience at all. You just do your […]

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