There’s a difference between your best self and your favorite self. (Hold back the vomit - I want to puke even typing these words, but the points below were pretty profound to me, so if I can do it, so can you) Your “best self” is a social construct. It’s your best life by society’s … Continue reading Best Self Vs. Favorite Self
Author: Cultish Creative
Perform In Front Of Your Peers
Netflix’s The Greatest Night in Pop documentary tells a story I’ve been amazed (obsessed? utterly fascinated with?!) for years. On a single night in 1985, the biggest pop artists in the world - from Michael Jackson to Bob Dylan to Cyndi Lauper + MORE, recorded the hit song, “We Are the World.” The documentary tells … Continue reading Perform In Front Of Your Peers
How Emotions Are Made
You have an emotion factory in your head. Emotions aren’t the raw material. They’re not even the end product. But they are manufactured along the way. Once you know they’re just one stop in a workflow, you can start to appreciate all of the mini-connections and feedback loops concurrently networking. All within your factory. (That … Continue reading How Emotions Are Made
Pop Vs. The Underground: Community Wins (Jay-Z + Eminem Vs. Kweli + Common Edition)
Choosing to be a great artist is an investment. It’s an investment in time and passion and sweat - all poured into captured performances. Because greatness is achieved in the audience’s reactions and remembrances. You can choose more than one type of audience to invest in as an artist. It comes with tradeoffs. Some financial, … Continue reading Pop Vs. The Underground: Community Wins (Jay-Z + Eminem Vs. Kweli + Common Edition)
Swim Till You Sink
It’s ok to take on a challenge without knowing where it could take you. Breathe in for a minute. Think about the word “pointless” and then exhale. Ok, one more time, adding some nuance: It’s ok to take on a challenge without a precisely identified endpoint, goal, or purpose. This is one of those “zen … Continue reading Swim Till You Sink
Sunday Music: Burna Boy’s Virgil Abloh Tribute
You don’t have to follow in someone else’s footsteps to benefit from the path they’ve laid out. Maybe it’s in inspiration. Maybe it’s just in knowing somebody walked that walk. But noticing who’s ahead of you, it counts. Noticing you can go forward, like them - but as you, it counts. Burna Boy was working … Continue reading Sunday Music: Burna Boy’s Virgil Abloh Tribute
Podcast Of The Week: Pino Palladino On Questlove Supreme
How does a lanky Welsh kid become the most soulful and sought-after bass player in modern music? I’m still asking the question. I still don’t know. He doesn’t read music. It’s all “feel.” And it’s all professional network-driven respect. He’s a long-standing friend and fellow contributor to projects Questlove’s been on, including D’Angelo’s Voodoo (one … Continue reading Podcast Of The Week: Pino Palladino On Questlove Supreme
The History Of Lobster (And An AI Lesson)
Lobster wasn’t always a high-ticket delicacy. And I’m not even talking about your fanciest New England friend’s childhood memories. A long time ago, lobster was little more than the Chinese takeout of rural Maine. The reason lobster “blew up” was the railroad. That’s right. No Red Lobster without Big Railroad. The story is simple, but … Continue reading The History Of Lobster (And An AI Lesson)
The 5 F’s Of Stress Response (Fight, Flight, Follow, Freeze, F*** It)
In Peter Atwater’s book, The Confidence Map, he says the situations where we are MOST stressed, are those when our feeling of certainty and control are the lowest. Makes sense. I remember sitting down for a class in high school and having the teacher say, “Clear your desks, pens and pencils only, I’m passing out … Continue reading The 5 F’s Of Stress Response (Fight, Flight, Follow, Freeze, F*** It)
Applying Atwater’s Confidence Map
It’s often as hard to make sense of “where’d we start” and “where’d we go” as it is to make sense of “where are we now” and “where are we going?” I can hear you thinking. “Matt, no it’s not. Or at least it’s not really that hard. Beyond simple cause and effect, there’s a … Continue reading Applying Atwater’s Confidence Map