November 2019 - Michael T Competielle Writer

Write Your Own Eulogy And Live That Life

We only have one chance at life. Our time is often wasted with unfulfilling mundane tasks and toxic people. Freeing yourself to live your life to the fullest should be your single most concern.

Over the years I have written a few eulogies. One was incredibly detailed and vibrant as I was able to emphasize the amazing life my friend had lived, however, another eulogy that I wrote was sad and incomplete as I struggled to find where this person’s life goals had been fulfilled.

“He was a great father, son and a harder worker.”

Utter horseshit and if anyway says anything like that at my funeral you have my permission to stab them in the eyeball with your car keys (assuming they still have car keys when I croak, or even cars, or even people for that matter).

My Eulogy

Every day I awaken with the thought “If today is my last, will I have regrets?” The answer is “hell yes” as I’m certain most people would agree. However, it isn’t because I regret the past. The past already happened so I give it the great “bon voyage and fuck off.” We can’t change that shit. What we do control are our present and our future.

I’ve been a son, grandson, father, brother, teacher, student and blah blah fucking blah. Just to be clear nobody cares not even me. What we do care about is the quality of those situations and how we interacted with each person.

An amazing friend once told me of an old proverb “the best day to plant a tree is 20 years ago, or today.” And therefore I daily plant the trees which will grow and nurture my future for as many years as I have left.

My eulogy will list my accomplishments as I work daily to reach them. Writer, philosopher, artist, filmmaker, craftsman, yogi, guru, photographer, pornstar. (I always squeeze that one in as a guy can dream). None of which I’m not working on in some capacity to enrich my life and enlighten everyone I come into contact with.

So my mental eulogy mentions all of these qualities and my backlog of works will be the proof. I will have written books, made more films, written more poetry and become a yogi. How did I get there? I started 20 years ago…or today.

You are reading article number 78 of 100. You are looking at one of over 50k pictures I have guesstimated I’ve taken. Is it my best article or best photo? If I die today it most certainly will be. Is there room for improvement? 100 percent and that’s what I work on daily.

You Are Writing Your Eulogy Everyday

I make it an important part of my day to randomly stop and ask colleagues, friends, coworkers, and family the most important question of them all. The only thing that actually matters. “How do you feel?” It floors most people and the first time or two you often get lame answers. “Fine”. How about fine isn’t fucking good enough. Ask me how I’m doing. Anyone that knows me knows that “I’m living the dream”. Am I? You bet your ass I am. Why you ask.

Because I work daily on my own personal development and goals. I’m going to get to where I need to be because I’ve designed my destiny. Do I have specific plans? Nope. I don’t generally do the same things twice. If I do I modify the sequence and mix it up. I don’t make concrete plans, I don’t follow rules and I read directions backward. Why? Because I like to see what direction the path takes me.

My eye is on the prize as I’m working diligently to learn, develop, create and just breathe. Life is what we make it. Shit is going to happen however if you are on a specific course, you can modify and adjust as your goals have already been set.

If it all ends today, so be it. It’s out of my control, however, when you hear my eulogy there won’t be a question that I was everything I had hoped to be. Possibly just a little sapling in the shadows of the future me that never will have the chance to materialize, but I’ll be damned if I don’t daily fertilizer myself with the beliefs I’ll get there. Some how..some day.

If it all ends today I’ll see the rest of you rebels in hell. Man will I have some stories to tell you. And if we live on realize we are still headed to the same place but my backlog of stories will continue to be mounting.

Today is the best day of my life and today I’m Living the Dream.
Michael Competielle

Stop Asking The Wrong Questions Trying To Get The Right Answers

We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them
Albert Einstein

The quest for knowledge and finding solutions to problems is a lifelong endeavor. We start off young and ignorant to the outside world as we begin to experience life and its many obstacles. As a child, we often would ask the question “why?” With anticipation the answers to the question are simple.

As we become older it is assumed that we become wiser. We believe it is through education and experiences however some people we recognize truly excel. They have all of the answers and have risen to the top, riding that wave of life.

Why is it these certain people always have the answers and seem to be fulfilled while you feel hollow and empty? What makes a brilliant mind? I’d say a great thinker.

On determining the proper question If I had an hour to solve a problem and my life depended on the solution, I would spend the first 55 minutes determining the proper question to ask, for once I know the proper question, I could solve the problem in less than five minutes.
Albert Einstein

Questioning The Question

We all have those people in our lives, you know the people with a hundred questions that never listen to your answer. They just barrel on with more questions not only ignoring your response but answering their own questions with premeditated answers. You’ll see a smile on their face as they walk away feeling contentment.

As they feel complete and resolved you feel confounded in how little time people spend thinking and more importantly articulating well thought out questions.

“You can increase your problem-solving skills by honing your question-asking ability.” — Michael J. Gelb

Confucius, Plato, Einstein, Aristotle, Lao Tzu, and Pythagoras were all known to be great thinkers. And all great thinkers ask brilliant questions.

So why do so many people struggle with asking the right questions? Because they want to hear the answer they already believe.

Great Minds Think Like

Insecure people spend most of their lives attempting to find security. They will surround themselves around the safety net of like-minded people while having conversations that corroborate their insecurities. They’ll feel better asking baited questions which are reciprocated with shallow reassuring answers.

The questions aren’t really questions as they are just statements of misdirection. As we stand in front of our peers and repeat to questions while awaiting comforting encouragement, we never really receive valid answers.

Asking questions we already know the answer to does not help in our self-development. Asking for answers to questions we can’t answer ourselves is the first step to enlightenment.

Answering Our Own Questions

If you have to ask superfluous questions you’ve already lost. Honest assessment and communication within yourself are a perfect opportunity for obtaining truthful answers. Asking someone else “Am I fat?” When you damn well know you are while awaiting the kind emotionally intelligent answer “You? No way, you look amazing” has manipulated the answer you want to hear even though you actually know the answer is false.

Why bother asking the question? Does the artificial dopamine rush from a manipulative lie actually make you feel better? Nope. You know you are overweight and out of shape. So how to get to the right answers? Ask the right questions. Simple right?

What Are The Right Questions

Okay, you recognize you’re out of shape. Diets and exercise cause you anxiety. As you make a mental list of options you know won’t work you triangulate onto a possible solution you believe could work. Now reask your question.

“I’m overweight and out of shape. I was thinking of taking a yoga class and try a new juicing diet. What do you think?”

Honest questions yield honest answers and you are well on your way there. Every day I ask myself questions and attempt to give myself honest answers. When I hit a question I can’t answer or I need to expand on a theory I’ll formulate a well-articulated question that can easily be answered with little objectivity.

Asking Why

When we are in touch with our thoughts and processed the information to a point where we feel we fully understand things the most valuable question is that of the child. Why?

Why do I have to go to work? Why am I maintaining this toxic relationship? Why am I wasting my time making others happy? Why do I not get satisfaction from (insert statement here.)

As I’m designing my future my time is spent accessing current situations and asking “Why?” When the answer is clear and concise I continue to follow the existing path. However, when the answer is met with murky waters and frustration, I move far away from those scenarios. My life has aligned with a clearer path to fulfillment as my questions are easily answered with two words.

Why?…. For Me….

Understand By Supporting Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, And Free Expression

Some days I just need to check in with myself. I pride myself on ignoring the evening news and hardly ever reading my daily New York Times subscription of curated articles. The news depresses me as I feel helpless within this modern society. However, there are areas where I feel I can learn to understand and make a positive impact.

For all of my life, I’ve been friendly with various types of people and love to lend a non-judgemental ear in an attempt to understand perspectives. Gender, sexual preference, race are not distinguishing factors to characterize who we are because what we are is human.

Humans are an imperfect species as we have tortured and killed each other, and isolated those we chose to spare. Our success as a species and lack of empathy has isolated nations and ravaged neighborhoods.

Our breeding of hate and separation has been passed down through the generations until it has become the poison of our thoughts and toxins to our tongues. Closing our eyes and ears to the ignorant is not an excuse as not speaking up only condones the hate.

Photo by Michael Competielle of Fierce Pussy Artwork

The Hate That We Breed

Generations have stood silent as horrible atrocities have been bestowed on people for being different. But why? What do we fear and why do we hate?

Over the years I’ve learned as I’ve questioned and I’ve accepted as I become enlightened. Who am I too chose what is right or wrong is based on another religion, skin or non-binary gender identity.

Many of my best friends and biggest inspirations have crossed gender barriers as they have attempted to obtain knowledge and acceptance. If we as people decided to love and accept with an open mind and let people be whomever they want to be this world would be an amazing place.

The Choice Is Yours

Understanding and being in touch with our own emotions and feelings is a unique power we possess as humans. As we raise our families and teach each other to love and respect others as we expect ourselves to be loved. How lucky are the ones that are born and die knowing our identities and living every day in our own unique ways?

Some people aren’t so lucky as many are born just not feeling quite right. They question their identity and seek answers to questions many refuse to speak of. We owe ourselves the right to decide where we feel comfortable and complete. We owe each other this right to choose without judgment.

I’m a middle-class white American straight male. It’s doubtful anyone has it better than me. I’ve got the world by the balls and can essentially do as I please. It’s with the power that I was born with that I’ve made the decision to educate myself and share my knowledge. To question the status quo and be supportive of our brothers, sisters, gender-neutral, non-binary and gender-fluid friends.

Hate is a learned response and through education that teaches truth and understanding, we can stop the hate. With compassion by listening, we can learn to understand the perspective that will change the fabric of our future. Collectively we will remain as one and ensure that future generations have the ability to modify their lifestyles as they see fit.

By taking away gender distinctions we can move forth in a positive and proactive uniformity. Open your mind and be mindful of the complexities of others and be supportive of their decision to find themselves. Our identities are best defined based on how we perceive ourselves in this world without judgment and impunity.

Finding Creativity By Associating With Creatives In Creative Places

Chelsea is a neighborhood in New York City which is home to a vibrant community of creatives. With a huge stock of art galleries, brownstones, and old industrial buildings Chelsea has been a destination for artists, writers, and musicians for over 100 years.

One of the most prominent buildings in Chelsea’s creative enclave is the Chelsea Hotel. Built-in 1885 on New York’s 23rd Street is the red brick 250 unit hotel building which stands 12 stories tall and was one of the first buildings constructed to become private Co-op apartments in New York City. A utopia for creatives and work class alike the co-op would share in utilities and amenities to conserve costs.

In 1905 the co-op went bankrupt and the building was converted into a luxury hotel that attracted many famous guests. In the post-war ’40s into the ’50s the hotel was showing its age and room rates dropped. The hotel continued to attract the likes of Jackson Pollack and Dylan Thomas who spent his final days living in room #205 of the Chelsea while sickly and on a drinking binge. He died while in a coma in the local St. Vincent’s hospital.

The Chelsea Hotel describes itself as “a rest stop for rare individuals,” a euphemism that still manages to pass the truth-in-advertising test if you take “rare individuals” to mean artists and addicts, and rest stop to mean possible death. Legends of The Chelsea Hotel

Apartments Available

Pulitzer Prize-winning Arthur Miller moved into apartment #614 after his divorce with Marilyn Monroe.

Leonard Cohen wrote “Chelsea Hotel #2” after his romantic encounters with Janis Joplin in room #415. He lived in room #424.

Bob Dylan stayed in room #211 while he wrote the song “Sara” for his first wife.

Sex Pistols Sid Vicious stabbed his girlfriend Nancy Spungen in room #100.

Club Kid Christina lived and died in room #323. Her body was discovered 5 days after her death.

Andy Warhol film The Chelsea Girls in room #442

Photo by Michael Competielle
Andy Warhol’s Auricon 16mm sound-on-film camera with 1200′ film magazine

Jon Bon Jovi wrote the song and filmed the music video for “Midnight at the Chelsea” in room #515

Madonna took the photographs for her book “Sex” in room #822

Writer Thomas Wolfe spent the last few years of his life in room #829

Patti Smith lived in room #1017 with Photographer Robert Mapplethorpe

Brilliant Works

Arthur C. Clarke wrote 2001: A Space Odyssey

William Burroughs wrote The Third Mind and Naked Lunch

Arthur Miller wrote After the Fall

Dylan Thomas wrote Under Milk Wood

Yves Klein wrote his Chelsea Hotel Manifesto

Joseph O’Neill wrote Netherland

Thomas Wolfe wrote You Can’t Go Home Again

If Walls Could Talk

The walls of the Chelsea Hotel were adorned with original photographs and paintings by many famous artists. In the later years, the hotel functioned as an artist flophouse as the rent was often paid with artworks. Stanley Bard was the hotel’s manager known to be lax on rents allowed artists to live and create often for years.

Drunk or high Chelsea’s occupants would stumble through her hallways, hiding from their own realities. The walls having witnessed brilliant talents and agonizing pain.

A Renewed Life

The Chelsea Hotel was purchased in 2011 for $80 million by the real-estate developer Joseph Chetrit and stopped taking room reservations on August 1, 2011. Long term residents were allowed to stay during the renovations as many were protected by rent control laws, however, the construction made the building a health hazard and many residents were forced to move out.

While protected by Landmarks of New York one would hope the fabric and spirit of the Chelsea will remain. Sadly the juxtaposition of the arts and environment has sadly died with the closure of the building and the redevelopment is certain to keep out the artists and writers that made her famous.

How I Regain Control From My Anxiety In 5 Minutes

Monday mornings, the bane of my existence. Where I awaken from the comfort and calmness of my weekend to the racing thoughts of my responsibilities. My breathing is short like a staccato violin and life’s complexities race towards me as I stand still at the intersection of my mind.

Scheduling conflicts, upcoming holidays, year-end deadlines and changing weather conditions awaken me as I feel the rush of cortisol pollute my body. The pressures of being in charge and responsible I need to maintain control even though I feel a cloud of thick dense fog over my concentration.

Regaining Control

As I recognize these are my last few minutes of rest before a long hard day I know I must regain control of my mind. As I’m quietly still lying in bed it’s the perfect scenario for mindful meditation.

The room is dark and nearly silent. The sounds of my dogs breathing in the forefront, soothing and rhythmic while in the distance, I hear the sounds of the highway traffic beginning to build up.

As I lay flat on my back and stretched out like a mummy with my hands to my side I begin to regain control of my breath. With every ounce of concentration and focus, I take in my first calculated intake of breath. As I feel the air come in I imagine it flowing down into my lungs and begin to fill them like the expansion of a hot air balloon.

I hold the air in my lungs for a few seconds as I begin to feel the effects in my extremities. I begin to exhale with complete control like opening a bottle of champagne without explosive popping.

My next breath is again focused and purposeful as I’m feeling the flow expand my chest. Slowly my mind begins to again take charge of my thoughts as each anxious thought fades away like the ripples in calming waters.

The focus on my breathing becomes consistent and autonomous as each trouble vaporizes and my body is calmly rested. Deeper in I breathe with the same timing but increased intensity as my anxieties seem ever so small and distant.

My body begins to feel rested and energized as I keep breathing and open my eyes slowly. I’m still physically in the same place however my mind and my spirit are in control as I begin to float through my day. Calmed, mindful and in control.

How I Increased Productivity By Multitasking With Mindless Activities While I’m Mindfully Focusing

Every morning I do essentially the same mindless routine while I’m reading and catching up on my life. The routine is pretty simple and regimented so I can maximize my personal time. If I plan ahead properly I have an entire 1/2 hour of focused mindful reading and thinking.

Many people feel that we can all multitask however studies show our productivity and concentration struggle as we attempt to do too many things at the same time. With the notable reduction in productivity and focus, what we believe is multitasking, in reality, are rapid shiftings of our tasks while we lose concentration and focus.

By creating a daily mindless routine regiment, my muscle memory has taken over many of my morning tasks. My mind can focus fully on reading or focused thinking while I’m making breakfast or washing dishes because I’ve fallen into a groove.

Mindless Focus

Having crafted a pattern of simple tasks, my processes seem to function absent of thought. I’ve visualized myself as a kitchen virtuoso since my routine is similar to a master musician that can perform perfectly while engaged in a detailed conversation.

As I distance myself mentally from my morning routine, my mind shifts to my planned mindful focus. I can read a short article or listen to a podcast with full and complete immersion. Each word I read or hear is processed into long term memory as I lose myself in the exercise.

How I Know It’s Working

The proof is in the pudding they say. Well in my case the proof is in the cleaned kitchen, breakfast made, vitamins taken, lattes frothed as I’ll evaluate all I have done within that short period of time.

If I made any mistakes in my process such as forgetting to turn on the toaster or making the espresso incorrectly, I’d agree that my multitasking technique doesn’t work and therefore I could possibly be focusing on my mindful activities. However, what actually is happening is completely the opposite. My productivity has increased while my focus and retention have become more present and purposeful.

Having my mornings to easily accomplish my chores and desires early has begun to set the tone for the day. I’ve become more focused, fulfilled and present. My completed task list grows while life’s mundane daily routine has become a mindless passive routine.

Mindful Excercise

You can multitask simply if you focusing your mind away from what can become mindless. Dishes, folding wash, raking leaves are all activities that you can remove focus from while you redirect your mind into meditative mindful exercises.

As I’ve retrained my mind to stay focused on mindful activities my productivity has increased and my presence is in the now.

Finding Peace And Connections Within The Sounds of Our World’s Typography

Letters and symbols of nine various languages meticulously connected together to form 19 floating cloud-like stainless steel orbs. The creation of the world’s most well-known sculptors Jaume Plensa in an installation he calls Talking Continents.

Each unique individual letter is fused together to form words without any true meaning and function as an example of the breakdown of communication.

However, as we look at each unique form as they represent humans sitting on top of these floating orbs we begin to understand Plensa’s title of Talking Continents.

The Sounds of Continents

As I’m preparing for my next large scale project of 100 days of unique sound recordings I find inspiration and connection to Plensa’s works. What would be the unique sounds of these nine different and unique letters or words as they were formulated into a connection of sentences or statements? Are we all saying the same things albeit in a different tongue?

In our study of text and more elegantly typography, we see how the combinations of only a few letters can create words of beauty. The beauty of our every language articulates our feelings and emotions that resonate from island to island, continent to continent.

The Beauty In Plensa’s Silence

As I quietly walked amongst each orb I recognized letters that highlighted the diversity in distance Plensa was recognizing. It was here in the silence circling each island that I began to question our differences as we were all connected and unified, fused together as one.

Is each unique letter chosen by Plensa to make connections to our similarities while appearing to be different? What was the connection that made each sculpture unified? Are we as humans actually unified and we are saying the same thing maybe just a bit differently?

Upon closer inspection, I noticed all of the orbs seemed to be facing the same direction. Was this intentional? Are we collectively moving along together while seemingly drifting apart?

On this day I don’t have any insightful answers however I’m certain my explorations of typography, sound, and languages will have a new and enrichening perspective.

Building A New Brand Must Consider It’s Environmental Impact

Walking into a Starbucks one afternoon I ordered a Dragon drink. Paying with the cashless and paperless app I awaited the calling of my name. When my order was up I walked up to the counter and grabbed my drink and thanked the barista.

Heading out the door I stopped to grab a straw and noticed the only offering was a plastic straw. Immediately I was disappointed and a bit pissed off. How could a large coffee shop like Starbucks get it so wrong?

I did a quick Google search and realized they indeed did have a global initiative to replace plastic straws with recyclable lids by 2020. Why a year to stop ordering plastic straws and start using recyclable lids is beyond me but it’s a start.

I began to think about my local favored coffee shop who replaced paper straws with the plastic lids. I just happened one day and they moved on. They only two locations versus 30,000 and it made me think of a McDonald’s documentary I once watched in which it takes years for them to roll out a new product line. Their mass got in the way.

New Brands Must Start Right

Working with a new startup as Brand Designer I’ve placed myself into a strategic position for the future of the Brand and therefore the companies lifespan.

I’ve spent far less time researching or designing the perfect logo or tagline in favor of determining the brand’s identity. With the average life expectancy of a company diminished to only a dozen or so years, priorities must be set properly during the formative years of a brand.

Trends come and go and successful company brands ride the wave of trends while learning how to maintain market share and positive growth. As a new startup, we have the luxury to fill a void in our market and make a large impact by trendsetting and not following the existing market.

Forecasting out with a 5-year projection on product and brand decisions we can recognize the decisions made today are representative of where the company will stand in 5 years. Short term goals while ignoring there impact on the companies future are carving a path to failure.

As I research brands and products I love and use, I’ve recognized these are lifestyle brands. Products that make up the fabric of my personal identity and align with my vision of the perfect life.

Environment and sustainability top my list as does a brands status of how the treat their employees. With corporate giants swallowing up large mark shares of companies whose original mission was quality and convert them into profit centers at the expense of the environment and staff we have created a downward spiral, racing to the bottom.

100 Percent Sustainable

The core of our new brand is to be 100 percent sustainable. In our design meetings, we will hit many roadblocks as we see voids in our market which lacks environmentally conscious products. As we have been developing our corporate initiatives and drawn lines in the sand we are now seeing an open field ripe for growth. The products that currently doesn’t exist allows us an opportunity to make them.

The narrative of our story of how we began and how far we have come is inspiring. We have great distances to strive for however seeing our ecosystem of a brand in our 5-year projection has become clear.

Why We Will Prosper

Sales and trends aren’t guaranteed. They come and go based on the latest Instagram tag. We won’t be a copy that will survive but a company that thrives based on one simple belief. We believe in our people.

Sitting on an hourlong train ride into NYC I was deeply immersed in a conversation with a colleague. He felt everyone on the train looked like cattle headed for slaughter. I gave him the answer that is the qualification for success.

These people didn’t wake up and say I’m going to do a horrible job today. They didn’t get dressed up and say I’m going to be angry and depressed all day. Those things happened due to environment. Corporate culture that has extinguished their spark. Believe in your people and empower them to build with you the lifestyle you want to live…. And they will.

Our Conversations, We Are Speaking But No One Is Listening

The power of human beings is our ability to communicate our thoughts and emotions with clarity and detail. The issue is, however, most people haven’t anything to really say or understand what we are actually saying. Assemblages of words that make up sentences that lead to paragraphs that speak volumes of nothingness. We vocalize our emotions based on superfluous fragments, the sum of which is zero.

Focused Listening

The key to being a great communicator is to become a great listener. If we mindfully listen to the words that are shared with us we can extract the details of how a person feels and that is where great communication is born.

Think of yourselves as the editor and the therapist as our “patient” shares with us their deepest emotions. We process each individual word and determine which words we can cutout. As we mentally abridge the story it allows us to exercise our abilities to perform Mindful Listening and deepen our connection to the story.

As the words become statements that hopefully become full-fledged thoughts we can begin to paint a mental picture of the storyteller’s feelings.

If you silently listen without retort or introjection you will begin to fill in the blanks of what story you are actually being told. When the storyteller finishes it allows us time to breathe and help the storyteller feel comfort in your understanding of the narrative. It’s at this moment when you are able to express your analysis.

Positive Response

With complete sincerity, you should begin to respond with “what I hear you saying is” as you explain back to them what it is you heard them say. A positive response notating what content you have been shared can allow for a deeper and more meaningful dialog.

We often don’t hear what we are saying or even understand the meaning behind what it is we are saying. As we hear back what another person feels they heard you say, we can begin to rebuild the content into a baseline.

Once we are reconnected to the repeated narrative we can begin to access the basis of how are statements come across to an outsider. Many times hearing back the regurgitation of our words leaves us unsettled and exposed. It’s at that moment when the listener can make the largest impact.

What it all means

Most often our conversations stem from the expression of feelings that have developed inside our reptilian brain. This portion of our brains is responsible for carnal knowledge of basic functions essential for life. Our reptilian brain handles our primal instincts inclusive of our fight or flight emotion.

Our primal mind is incapable of reasoning or thought processing and so, therefore, we often aren’t making processed statements when our narrative comes from our lizard mind.

With a kind response we should ask the storyteller “but how did it make you feel?” This one usually floors a storyteller as it’s an uncommon question that will develop the deepest impact.

It’s during that exacting moment we hope to have moved the conversation into the frontal lobe of our brains where emotional expression, judgment, and problem-solving takes place. With our focus inside this controlled environment of our minds, we have moved away from fight or flight into deciphering the content.

When you give this segment of your brain the ability to process and decipher what we have heard repeated back to us, we can then look deeper within ourselves to find the clues on why we may have been triggered.

When we care to listen and allow a story to unwind, it’s the responses we receive back that opens our mind to the ability to figure it all out. Learn to listen and listening to the process is the most powerful of our human minds. Nurture the process and sharing how you feel makes the largest advancements in self-development.

Why Is It The Most Interesting People Are Avid Readers?

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”—Dr. Seuss

Yesterday I was reading a post from an artist friend where she asked her social media friends what books were they currently reading. From Malcolm Gladwell to Sun Tzu, the answers to the question continued with a flurry of the most interesting titles. Ironically the answers mostly came from the most brilliant artists, many of whom are mutual friends.

We learn from reading. Electrical impulses fire inside our minds sparking new connections. As we learn and expand our thought process, we become more creative, inspired and free. A few moments with well-written text is mediative as the immersion allows focus into the unknown.

Piles of Well Placed Words

My shelves are filled with piles of books written by literary masters. Many of my books I haven’t the time to read yet my connection to them remains strong as they encapsulate my personal space.

From Kerouac to Hemmingway fragments of their experiences fuel my passion to create, experience and love because the treachery of life is softened by the well-articulated notions.

When I’m with my well-read friends the connection is expressive and passionate because you can hear the power of an author’s inspiration in words they speak. Details and descriptors fill every sentence as the well-read can paint you a photograph so you feel as if you are there no longer a spectator.

The well-read can quote paragraphs and phrases embedded within the narrative that has become the fabric of their existence. The power of perfectly placed wording can take your breath away but feed your mind.

Words Inspire Creativity

My list of friends is made primarily of creatives types such as musicians, actors, painters, writers, photographers, and sculptors. When I get to the heart of the connection I’ve recognized a pattern. They are all well-read.

Most of my favorite books have been recommendations or gifts from my closest friends. From the smallest passage to the culmination of a writer’s manifesto these books have helped develop and feed my passions.

Boredom is a trait for the closeminded and lazy because when we are open and impressionable our experiences become life-changing. Spontaneity and risk are the only paths to development and growth.

The Syllabus

Having read a substantial amount of books I find that it is the reading list of my most celebrated people that defines their style and inspiration. Steve Jobs studied calligraphy and annually read Autobiography of a Yogi, by Paramahansa Yogananda. Ryan Holiday recommends Sun Tzu and the Art of War while Werner Herzog recommends The Peregrine.

As philosophy intertwines with spirituality and we learn about life from our connectivity to others, reading and sharing will continue to invigorate our souls.