This is part 15 in a series exploring the 12 virtues that can free artists from cultural enslavement. ATTEND Abandon is that quality a singer has when they let it all go. A child playing with abandon is a joy to behold. They are lost in the activity. They are fully committed. They are holding […]

This is part 14 in a series exploring the 12 virtues that can free artists from cultural enslavement. ATTEND If we are good boys and girls, and do exactly what we are told, we will follow our parents expectations, follow our teachers expectations, follow our cultures expectations, and live lives of consumer success. We will […]

This is part 13 in a series exploring the 12 virtues that can free artists from cultural enslavement. ATTEND Duty to human values and expectations has been a profound enslaving factor for me in my life. Having grown up in a home environment of command and control, duty was the key bonding agent. Duty connected […]

This is part 11 in a series exploring the 12 virtues that can free artists from cultural enslavement. ATTEND The promise of Poetry is the fulfillment of the artists’ task. the making real of the mysterious dream, and the offering of that object as gift. Poetry poses several challenges, both technical and systemic. Technically we […]

This is part 10 in a series exploring the 12 virtues that can free artists from cultural enslavement. ATTEND Low quality work creates low quality life. Every act of mediocre works sends us farther away from the Mysterious. Low quality work is essentially building the simulacrum with bad alignment, bad transparency, bad Mystery. Quality is […]

This is part nine in an exploration of 12 virtues that can liberate artists from cultural enslavement. ATTEND We’re living in a post-god world. Rationality and scientific reason, Western reason, has developed to such a powerful degree, that the old world of magic and mystery has been obliterated and replaced by scientific method, systems of […]

This is the seventh in a series on how 12 virtues can liberate artists from cultural enslavement. ATTEND Our egos are terrified of loosing ground. If we get a decent spot in the hierarchy, we fight to keep it. We dig in. Ideally we go up incrementally. Jump to find an opportunity to rise. Better […]

This is the sixth in a series on 12 virtues that can liberate artists from cultural enslavement. ATTEND The world is a terrifying place. there is danger around every corner. There is vulnerability, there is death. Loved ones are taken from us, jobs are lost for no reason, we are misunderstood when we are our […]

This is the fifth in a series exploring 12 virtues that can liberate artists from cultural enslavement. ATTEND The modern human can no longer climb a tree, chase down game, carve a spear, defend their home, build their house. With few exceptions, the modern human has sacrificed their body for convenience. They’ve given up their […]

This is the third in a series exploring 12 virtues that can liberate artists from cultural enslavement. ATTEND I went walking with a friend at the beach and there was this enormous proliferation of tiny little snowflake-like things on the beach. We looked closer and it was jellyfish – desiccated jellyfish. A few of them […]

This is the second in a series exploring 12 virtues that can liberate artists from cultural enslavement. ATTEND People are horrible. They’re mean, selfish, they take your parking spot, they don’t listen, they’re ugly, cruel, stupid, sad. And pathetic. They are a mess. We don’t want to love others because they are so horrible. They […]

This is the first in a series exploring 12 virtues that can liberate artists from cultural enslavement. ATTEND 

My GOD what can be harder than loving one self? I’ve met a handful of people in my whole life that really easily love themselves and accept themselves automatically. What pleasant, peaceful childhoods they must have had. […]