Perfectionism doesn't believe in practice shots. It doesn't believe in improvement. Perfectionism has never heard that anything worth doing is worth doing badly--and that if we allow ourselves to do something badly we might in time become quite good at it. Perfectionism measures our beginner's work against the finished work of masters. Perfectionism thrives on comparison and competition. It doesn't know how to say, "Good try," or "Job well done." The critic does not believe in creative glee--or any glee at all, for that matter. No, perfectionism is a serious matter.

Exercise often moves us straight from stagnation to inspiration, from problem to solution, from self-pity to self-respect.

Writing just for the hell of it is heaven.

Technology teaches passivity. Absorbed in our devices - at any age - we are absorbed in someone elses perspective.

Art is the imagination at play in the field of time. Let yourself play.

We have this idea that we need to be in the mood to write. We don't.

But do you know how old I will be by the time I learn to really play the piano / act / paint / write a decent play?" Yes . . . the same age you will be if you don't.