

THE ARTLIFE BLOGS: a journey of 1,000 miles that's gonna end in 2018
I read an article at the New York Times yesterday* about how ineffective willpower and effort are, for implementing New Year’s resolutions. Apparently numerous studies show that what does work, really well - instead of gritting one’s teeth and getting all stressed out - is practicing gratitude and compassion, plus genuinely taking pride in our accomplishments. As an independent teacher and psychotherapist, this new understanding is going to change the logistics part of my wor


THE ARTLIFE BLOGS: Mind Map, Squared
I love accidentally discovering new ways to do things. I made a mind map* recently. It took three versions to get to a completed, articulate - if somewhat daunting - depiction of my current life as a whole. But I kept the second work-in-progress version, on which I'd drawn all the categories I needed to include, but also ended up with lots of crossings-out, redirecting arrows, etc. I couldn't quite bring myself to throw out this second version, even though it looked messy and