Category: Reading

The best of the blog: behind the scenes on organization, archives, and new reading collections for your weekend.

Posted on by Sarah K Peck

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“Sarah, how long does it take to build a website?”

That’s a great question. I get asked this question all the time, not surprisingly. And the answer, well–the answer is difficult to pin down.

Because it’s not just about the design, or the bones of the site–it’s about the content. And the organization of that content.

Building this site has been a labor of love.

Building this site is and has been a labor of love (and increasingly a business), and it’s taken me a very long time to do—I’ve been blogging for three years and I’ve written nearly 300 posts. The simple reason I’ve kept doing it is because I love writing. I love learning, ideas, and growth—and I learn through writing, philosophical contemplation, and grappling with ideas.

But how can you show how complex, layered, and deep a site is with a pixelated interface? The surface of a flat screen–whether a tablet, mobile device, or computer–only hints at the edges of the body of work; and often, we only notice the things that work poorly.

The length of time it takes to build a website is directly related to the amount of content that’s within the site.

And content creation is often the most difficult component. (I know: I’ve built and designed sites for people and waited months for the copy for the About and services pages to come; and I’ve done the same on projects where creating the paragraph to describe who I am and what I do takes an incredibly long time).

Adding new systems, getting organized, and site changes:

Over the past few month, I’ve been building into this site several new systems–from changing the frequency of posting to adding a newsletter and creating new sign-up forms–and I’ve also gone back and revamped and updated the archives and best of page. The complete record of all of the posts I’ve ever written (including some of the embarrassing early starts) are there.

How’d I get here? Simple. I wrote 250 essays, and I’m still showing up.

Going through all of the old content, watching my journey, looping together not-before-seen threads–let me discover new themes and do a macro-business audit. What do I continuously feel pulled to write about? What pieces were the standout pieces? Which ones surprised me? Are there areas and places I could improve the quality?

Some essays I would edit, massively. Time gave me perspective and new information. Others are poorly written (yup, happens to me all the time: the only way to get to the good stuff is to write it all out).

The benefit? I have 250 essays (well, probably 100 of those I would actually use). I can take these essays and build them into longer pieces; I can learn from them; I can build out longer documents by stringing them together, and I can start to layer complexity into future thought pieces.

So today, my treat: here’s a sampling of the best of the blog. Dig in, if you’d like. Have a cup of coffee and join me. I’ve curated what I think are the best of the blog, below. Enjoy.

On writing:

Life philosophy and the bigger picture:

Getting started, motivation:

Reminders, or how to keep going:

Making things happen–actually getting it done:

Psychology and the inner workings of the mind:

Useful tools, tricks, and tips:

Reflection, goal-setting, and tools for review:

Modest minimalist, and the art of having less:

Personal narrative and growing into your future self:

Reminders of kindness and empathy:

Swimming, running, athleticism, yoga + movement:

See the full archives or an extended list of the best-of-blog, in the menu up top or in the links. Thanks for being here.

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Find Your Creative Flow, A Chat With Barrett Brooks & Living For Monday, and My Favorite Fall Books

Posted on by Sarah K Peck

Bicycles, Sidewalks, and Sepia--Philadelphia 2011.

A big welcome to all the new faces and readers who have found me through the Thought Catalog essays, Scoutie Girl, and my recent interview with Barrett Brooks on the Living for Monday Show! It’s been a busy week behind the scenes over here, and consequently there are a LOT of new faces to this website. Feel free to poke around, check out the best-of collection, send me a note, or sign up for the latest posts by email. Thanks for stopping by, and I look forward to welcoming you to the community!

Welcome Back to Fall.

Something about the upcoming change of seasons makes me want to curl up in an easy chair, sit under the window, pick up a good book and read for hours. The hint of long summer days drifting into Fall is starting to appear; my daylight hours wane sooner each evening, and the breeze that comes in through the window is better than any air-conditioning unit could ever dream of being. I want to turn on a warm light and curl up in my easy chair during the evening hours just to read and learn. Luckily there are stacks and stacks of delicious new books–and podcasts, and posts–about to hit the shelves, as well as a few that I’ve been wanting to read all summer. Here’s a round-up of my favorite books and the things I’m looking forward to reading, listening to, and a few of the places I’ve been writing and publishing as well.

Facing your fears, taking a leap, and seizing your potential:

What would your life look like if you looking forward to Monday, rather than dreading it? Last week, I got to be a guest on the Living For Monday show with Barrett Brooks, where we talked about taking a leap and facing your fears. The mission behind the show is to change the way the world thinks of work–and get people excited about Monday, instead of dreading it. In the episode, we talked about how to land projects as a freelancer or entrepreneur, what solo-preneurship looks like, and some of the pivotal moments that influenced my decisions to date. Here’s a quick excerpt:

“How do you get the kind of projects you want to work on? How do you make beautiful work in the world? — I think it’s all about showing up, and showing up “one sentence at a time.” Start small, don’t get overwhelmed, and make sure you do at least one sentence or one part of the project. Break each project down into a piece at a time–and do something small, and do it every day. Over time, this makes it possible for people to find you, and for you to improve the project, and to get where you’re trying to go. Something is better than nothing. Starting is incredibly important.”

We talk about the opportunities that come from blogging, about making online work, and about the projects we’re both ramping up this Fall–check out the rest of the interview here.

Ever feel stuck in your creative projects? Here are 17 tips for getting un-stuck and getting back into your writer’s flow.

While procrastination and distraction are two of the biggest weapons against making your art, the third hurdle to jump is often the problem of getting stuck. When you’re stuck, you can’t find the right words, time passes endlessly, and you wish fervently for that flow — that moment when words come quickly, your thoughts spill out, and you’re itching to write more. What do you do to get back in creative flow and get un-stuck? My latest essay is over on Scoutie Girl with 17 ways to get un-stuck and get back into your creative flow. Huge thanks to Tara Gentile and Carrie Keplinger for having me there!

The Fall Reading List: my favorite reads and can’t-wait-to-read-them books on my shelves this month:

Enough about me! I can’t wait to read the words of the following incredible authors. Here are some of the many books coming out this fall that I can’t wait to read (and that I may have already pre-ordered on Amazon). I’m a bit like a kid in a candy shop, except the candy shop is my front door and my drug of choice are new shiny books that come in padded yellow envelopes.

Money: A Love Story, by Kate Northrup. The relationship you have with money is easily one of the most important relationships you have–and it’s not one that you should neglect. Kate’s powerful writing (which is quickly becoming one of my favorite online resources) talks about the spirituality and philosophy behind money, and how money (and debt) make you feel. Can’t wait to dive into this one when it’s out in just a few days (September 10, 2013).

The Small Business Lifecycle: A Guide to Taking the Right Steps at the Right Time. By Charlie Gilkey. I just finished this book–and it’s short, sweet, and to-the-point. Simple writing is sometimes deceptive in how easy it is to read and understand. Charlie has distilled critical components of business life cycles and put them into four stages that correspond to Martha Beck’s teachings in Finding Your Own North Star. The book is brilliant; it couldn’t have come at a better time for me as I’m diving deeper into the world of small business and entrepreneurship.

Mind Over Medicine: Scientific Proof You Can Heal Yourself, by Lissa Rankin. Lissa’s powerful TEDx Talks and her message — that health care needs healing, and that you have more of the power to heal yourself than you think — has resonated widely across the world. This woman is an incredible asset to the medical (and healing) community and bridges Eastern and Western schools of thought by promoting a blended approach, rather than an either-or. Psychology, philosophy, medicine and health all rolled into one book.

The Desire Map, by Danielle LaPorte. “A multimedia guide to what you want the most.” I first read this book last Spring and put the book down, in tears, because I was overwhelmed with feelings and thoughts and ideas. It was a crucial moment for me, and I’m back into the book this Fall as a guidepost for understanding, mapping, and creating what I want in this journey. The book will be in it’s second release this December.

The Fear Project, by Jaimal Yogis. I keep holding each new book I read up to the standards of this book–easily one of the best books I’ve read all summer, if not of all time. Yogis is able to captivate audiences through lyrical, narrative non-fiction that’s persuasive and quick to read, while still filled with rich insights and concepts. The book looks at fear, our relationship to fear, and how to overcome fear to reach our full potential.

Die Empty: Unleash Your Best Work Everyday, by Todd Henry. “Embrace the importance of now, and refuse to allow the lull of comfort, fear, familiarity, and ego to prevent you from taking action on your ambitions…The cost of inaction is vast. Don’t go to your grave with your best work inside of you. Choose to die empty.” Todd embraces and captures the mantras that are so essential to my life that this book is likely to become one of my new classics. I haven’t held the book yet (it’s out September 26), but I do have a story in one of the chapters and I cannot WAIT to read this book.

The Suitcase Entrepreneur: Create Freedom in Business and Adventure in Life, by Natalie Sisson. I met Natalie at the inaugural World Domination in 2011, where we shared laughs and teamed together in Pam Slim’s content-building workshop. I wowed her with my sketches; she wowed me with her ambitions and her travel-the-world lifestyle. In her recently released book, she maps the steps to creating a business you love while hitting the road–and gaining freedom along the way. I can’t wait to dive into it! It’s in my “read this next!” pile.

The Longest Way Home: One Man’s Quest for the Courage to Settle Down, by Andrew McCarthy. An absorbing, can’t-put-it-down narrative that reads like fiction as we follow the travels and adventures of a man who can’t stay in one place. From Baltimore to Vienna to Kilimanjaro, McCarthy, a National Geographic Travel writer, kept me captivated with his words and journeys–and made me consider the implications (and drawbacks) of full-time travel and its parallels (and conflicts) with home, life, and creating a family.  

When Thing Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times, by Pema Chodron. A classic, and an incredible reminder that arrival and closure are the last things we’ll likely get in our lives. Now is the moment, here is the time, and what you’re going through is the perfect teacher. Zen, spiritual, and philosophical, she’s a beloved writer by Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike. As Publisher’s Weekly writes, “Chodron’s book is filled with useful advice about how Buddhism helps readers to cope with the grim realities of modern life, including fear, despair, rage and the feeling that we are not in control of our lives.”

Thinking, Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman. Kahneman’s book was the winner of the National Academy of Sciences Best Book Award in 2012–and this book is an exploration of how thoughts (and thinking) are influenced and how we think in two different ways (System 1 and System 2). Psychology, thinking, memory and thought are investigated in this behind-the-scenes look at what’s actually going on inside our heads. As the New York Times writes: “It is an astonishingly rich book: lucid, profound, full of intellectual surprises and self-help value. It is consistently entertaining and frequently touching.”

Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain, by John J. Ratey. Movement is the number one thing we can do to reduce stress (and increase intelligence), yet we’re still unbelievably prone to sit still for hours on end and forget to use our human bodies. The science of exercise and the brain fascinates me, and in this book, Ratey details how breaking a sweat and elevating your heart rate helps lift your mood, fight memory loss, sharpen your intellect, and function better. Exercise isn’t an afterthought–it needs to be essential, and should be part of our processes of work, creation, learning, and life.

And so many more… The above is just a sampler of some of my favorites, and there are many, many more. I’m also looking forward to Scott Berkun’s forthcoming book, The Year Without Pants, and Pamela Slim’s book, Body of Work, both of which aren’t yet released (but I’m eyeing their websites to learn when the official release date is announced).

What are your favorite reads? What are you excited about getting into? Leave a note in the comments and I’ll add it to the list!

Love reading? Love writing? Join us in the Fall Writer’s Workshop, which starts in 10 days!

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William James on consciousness and movement

Posted on by Sarah K Peck

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William James, from the University of Amsterdam

In the 1961 text titled Psychology: The Briefer Course, William James, (an eminent theorist and one of the founders of modern psychology), writes a series of essays on habits, consciousness, the self, attention, association, memory, sense of time, and several more topics. The book, a compilation of James’ (1842—1910) writings, was one of the foundation texts for advanced introduction to the history and systems of psychology during my undergraduate education.

P00360I found myself re-reading Chapter 14, on Consciousness and Movement—particularly the ideas that our thought patterns are influenced by our ability to move, or moreover, the fact that we are first and foremost mobile creatures—implies that consciousness itself is a motor activity. It’s been a while since I’ve dusted off my psychology textbooks, but I found myself up at night re-reading texts and trying to figure out what the relationship between movement and thinking implied.

In chapter 14, Consciousness and Movement:

“All consciousness is motor. The reader will not have forgotten, in the jungle of purely inward processes and products through which the last chapters have borne him, that the final result of them all must be some form of bodily activity due to the escape of the central excitement through outgoing nerves.”

“The whole neural organism, it will be remembered, is, physiologically considered, but a machine for converting stimuli into reactions; and the intellectual part of our life is knit up with but the middle or central part of the machine’s operations. “

 A bit further into the chapter, he talks more specifically about the relationship between feeling/thought and movement, which I find particularly interesting: 

[…]

“Using sweeping terms and ignoring exceptions, we might say that every possible feeling produces a movement, and that the movement is a movement of the entire organism, and of each and all its parts.”

The implications of this are fascinating. If every thought is a movement—that is, if every time you think, you produce some motor reaction (a neural stimulus, a twitch, a physiological shiver or reaction to stimulus; if each thought is related to stimulus that is transmitted through mechanical means throughout your body,

Then every single movement in your body is correlated to some extent, to thought.

And if this is true in one direction—if every motion in our body maps to some sort of thought process and embedded, historical thought;

Does every thought we have recall that initial motor stimulus and reaction?

…

And if so,

Does the act of movement, of creating mirrored movements and using each component part of our bodies, from walking to sitting to bending to lifting to exertion, to micro-movements and patterns of the smallest, indiscernible increment, but movement nonetheless—

Then cause us to think, even if only to recall previous thought patterns?

…

Certain physiological processes and therapies, massage in particular and yoga as another example, have foundation in the idea that movement is training for the mind.

 

The implication, however, for a society that prizes sitting, creating, and laborious hours behind a computer unmoving, — does this cause the resulting correlating conclusion of an equal and opposite reaction–or possible that a lack of movement may be correlated to an unmeasurable or intangible lack of intelligence happening on a widespread scale?

I suppose I’m suggesting: is a sedentary nation also a stupider nation?

Perhaps this is too far-fetched and unproven to be real; hence it is entirely (at current state, in my current mind) a speculation exercise: but sometimes, I wonder, after the glorification of Steve Jobs has waned a bit longer, after people thoughtfully critique his unique ability in a unique time and tease apart his contributions; –I wonder if the application of modern computers, with wide exception of course, will also be seen to perpetuate the numbing of a certain type of intelligence.

Thoughts for pondering.

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I’m working on a series of essays and thought pieces about the importance of movement and thinking and the relationship between the two. I host a series of events called “Walk and Talk,” in San Francisco that marries the ideas of movement and analysis and provides fodder and opportunity for philosophical discussion. The groups are small, but feel free to request and invite if you’re in town.

Also–if you’re in San Francisco this week, I’m teaching a class at General Assembly this Thursday, February 7th on Storytelling and Narrative. I’d love to see you there!

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Feasts, Powder Kegs, New York, Filming, Indianapolis + Lots of Link Love!

Posted on by Sarah K Peck

Rooftop Yoga On The Standard, NYC.

What another whirlwind of weeks! I touched down in San Francisco a couple days ago, just in time to see that the entire city had turned orange (Halloween and the Giants in the playoffs will turn this city somewhat crazy), and as soon as the wheels landed, it seems I’m back into the circuit with several exciting events and adventures both behind me and ahead of me.

New York: The City That Never Sleeps

I spent the first week of October in New York and Brooklyn as a Fellow at The Feast On Good Conference, a space that “gathers remarkable entrepreneurs, radicals, doers and thinkers that bring their talents to the table to make life better and answer the question, ‘What does the world need now?’ ” This officially marks rounds out my top three conferences to date– Continue reading “Feasts, Powder Kegs, New York, Filming, Indianapolis + Lots of Link Love!”

Reading: Creativity, Talent + Marissa Mayer. Also: Urban Revival and Adults Making New Friends

Posted on by Sarah K Peck

What I’m Reading – July 18, 2012. Here’s a list of a few things I’m skimming and looking at.

  • Why Tech Is Driving More Urban Renewal – by Mark Suster. The shifting trend sees startups–and tech companies, entrepreneurs, colleagues, and VC’s–pushing to locate back into areas of social density where people want to be. From Twitter’s move back to SF to trends across other US cities, will urban migration patterns continue? One VC weighs in.
  • Creativity: “Want to be more creative? Pick a problem you care about and get to work.” Scott Berkun.
  • More Startup Talent Needed in STEM fields:  How American Can Get More Startup Talent – from June 2012. It turns out we still need more people in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) jobs, and we’ll have a shortage in 2018, to the tune of about 250,000 people:

“This scarcity of talent has received a lot of attention in connection with high-flying Silicon Valley companies: Google threw around $100 and $50 million offers to keep their top talent from fleeing to Twitter, and some companies pay tens of thousands to recruiters for even junior talent. Startups feel the same pressure: TechCrunch describes a “war for talent” among young firms, and anyone who has chatted with the CEO of a fast-growing tech company knows how much time they devote to identifying and wooing top technical talent.”

  • Marissa Mayer was named CEO of Yahoo, which caused a flurry of attention, again, to the idea of women being at the top and the disparity between men and women in leadership; shortly after her appointment, she revealed she’s also having a baby boy this Fall. What do you think?
  • What about making friends when you’re older? The New York Times talks about the decline in making new friends post-college, post-summer camp, as a straggling adult. Is this true for you? I think it has to do with the sedentary nature of singular jobs and the lack of intermingling, and “networking” is today’s smarmy way of trying to figure out how to connect to other people. My opinion? It’s not just about getting people into the same room or location. We have to figure out ways to let people build trust through shared experiences—not necessarily easy ones, either—and things that change up the context or environment we’re in. Remember summer camp? Where’s summer camp for adults? (Don’t worry – I’m working on it).

Four Mantras All Writers Know And Love

Posted on by Sarah K Peck

I’m on a writing retreat with my younger sister and family this weekend, and we’re editing, writing, and working on several projects (from crochet to design to catching up on other unfinished ideas).

We were sitting by the ocean, bantering about writing and editing. She shared four “writing mantras,” from one of her favorite teachers, and we both realized that these are rules we live by in our own writing practice. I loved them and I thought I’d share.

If you can’t read well, you can’t write well. The most important thing you can do to be a better writer is read. I recently listed a years’ worth of my favorite books, and I’m already embedded in at least half a dozen new novels, historical accounts, and business books this month alone. Immersing yourself in good quality writing is the best teacher.

There is no good writing, there is only good re-writing. When I work with new writers, I often tell them to expect the first page to be “full of shit, with a few gems hidden in there somewhere.” It takes time, patience, and a whole bunch of red-lines to work with words on a page. It also takes the courage to put words down on paper without initial judgment or concern. Just do it, and let yourself write. Don’t let your judgment of yourself preclude you from starting in the first place. Trust that it can continue to get better with editing, time, and practice.

The goal is not complex words and simple ideas, but simple words and complex ideas. If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough. Writing does not need to be complicated, pretentious, confusing, or full of jargon. To me, writing is a process for building understanding for yourself, and others. For myself, I often copy notes, explore ideas, and re-work words on a page just to tango with an idea until it makes sense in my mind. If I can’t explain it to people, then I’m not well-versed enough in the concept. Writing is a tool for communication (externally) as well as understanding (internally). Often, much of my writing is just about my words, rants, ideas, and explorations–before any of it gets shared with anyone else.

What you take out is just as important as what you leave in. Getting to a clear, simple essay or point is not straightforward. Often, I have to write 5-6 pages just to get to a distillation of one great paragraph. It’s part of the process.

What are your writing dreams and goals? Are you upping the ante with your writing? I’ve recently received multiple messages from people who want to be writing more. My advice? Do it, and do it as often as possible. A little is a lot.