When I am feeling behind, I stop looking forward. I fool myself into thinking "As soon as I finish this thing, then it will be easier to do the next thing," but of course it's never that simple. The more time I spend looking back, the more I trip over what’s right in front of me. Instead I’m trying to allow time each day for looking forward, catching up, and being present. Progress, I’m reminding myself, is more important than completion.

I want to make art, make money, and make love. That’s pretty much it. Sometimes it feels that simple, and other times I complicate it with a bunch of nuance.

A girl canceled on a first date an hour before it was scheduled to happen because, "It's time to focus on just me," she said. Clearly she is prioritizing her own needs and self-care, which is generally a very healthy thing, but in this case she is trading her integrity for “me time.” A healthier approach would have been to recognize her limits and needs before making external commitments.

When I am enthusiastically having fun, it spills over to those around me. I often overlook the value I add by simply living out loud. Maybe I'm not the only one who benefits from unabashedly enjoy those moments.

When my marriage was falling apart, several close friends voiced very strong opinions on what I should do. They thought they were helping me, but they didn't seem to realize they were actually burning the bridge that once connected us. By telling me what to do without having lived through my experience, it felt as if they cared about their beliefs more than they cared about me. Lately I've wondered if the Israelis and Palestinians feel the same when others voice their opinions from a safe distance.