I received an email the other day that promised me “success hacks”, shortcuts, quick fixes to the realisation of my dreams. “Ooh, wonderful!” I said. “Finally, the solution I’ve been looking for. God knows I’ve tried so many”. “Maybe this one will work”. Or maybe not.
Sunday Letters
Welcome to the Sunday Letters archive. Here you'll find all editions of the newsletter from 2015. Sunday Letters is a conversation I'm having with myself. It attempts to address the psychology and philosophy of living the good life. It is the pursuit of an answer to a question. Thanks for being here.
What To Do When Creative Ideas Overwhelm
Having many creative ideas is something that many people wish they had, but for others, too many creative ideas can be accompanied by overwhelm. As a result, we do nothing. Or maybe we try everything and end up with a scattered or diluted focus.
Engineering Consent, Eating Paleo & The New Studio
This week on Sunday Letters I’m discussing the subject of propaganda, of public relations. I’m looking at the practice undertaken by corporations and governments the world over to engineer the consent of the masses towards their aims. Download the 1928 book titled; Propaganda, by the controversial figure, Edward L. Bernays.
State of Flow & Expert Performance
In today’s episode, I’m discussing two books, the first one is called Flow, by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and is an exploration into what makes us happy, and the second, The Road to Excellence; The Acquisition of Expert Performance. Listen to the full episode on The Daily Larb Podcast.
The Timeless Creative Mind
The following article, The Timeless Creative Mind, is an excerpt from a chapter titled “Timeless Creativity” (working title) from the forthcoming paperback, The Artist’s Manifesto. Find out how you can support the publication of this book and receive your free paperback and audiobook version.
The Power Of Deliberate Practice
The Power Of Deliberate Practice And Myth Of Innate Talent In today’s episode of Sunday Letters, I’m discussing the power of deliberate practice and introduce you to the work of Anders Ericsson. Ericsson is a psychologist at Florida State University, studying the psychological nature of expertise and human performance. In his 1992 paper titled; “The Role […]
Finding Time For Self In The Elaborate Game
There is no me, and there is no you, that is fixed and permanent at least. Whatever we are changes depending on the people we are with, the places we visit and the experiences we have in the elaborate game going on around us. But many of us don’t see that. Although I might take my existence as fixed – I am Larry Maguire, artist and writer from Dublin Ireland, for example – I also constantly change both physically and psychically even as I sit here doing nothing.