Dare.

Theodore Roosevelt, 1910:

"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again,

because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause;

who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly..."

I can be a writing ninja.

Sometimes my husband will start talking to me about an artist he's checking out, and after a couple stories I'll say, “Send me a link!” That's what happened with Darren Yeow. He's a concept artist, that is to say, basically a ninja.

I like his affirmations. One of the cool things about them is they're principle-oriented, rather than outcome-oriented. It's an experiment in faith – if one acts more and more according to one's highest principles, what good things could happen?  

Darren Yeow's story of how he began doing art for a living is a lovely thing. It's what got me interested in him in the first place, that and his epic diligence.

Fruit.

Considerate, they let us live as we

conceive a life - so different from their own

whose object was to flower, which must mean beauty.

But we desire ripeness, and that means

we must stay dark and strive assiduously.

-Rainer Maria Rilke