Monday memo #71
Enjoy the search.
The Monday memo is food for thought to fuel your week.
Hi everyone,
Imagine an old prospector, with his burro, traveling through the mountains. He’s looking for gold. He has learned to read the story of the rocks and streams. He searches for signs, and follows where they lead. He pans in the streams. Occasionally he finds some gold. It’s possible one day he may strike it rich. But he’s not living in the future. The real treasure is the life he lives, day by day, a life in the wilderness, walking alpine meadows and mountain streams.
Goals are important in creative work. Without something to search for, the creative journey can become aimless wandering. But it’s important to remember that the real treasure is the joy you find along the way. There are no guarantees of success in the creative life. If rewards come, great! Enjoy them. But the real value lies in the daily journey, following where curiosity leads, and finding joy in the search itself.
Exercise.
This week, approach your creative work like a prospector. Each day:
Read the land. Spend 10 minutes observing your creative environment without judgment. What patterns, opportunities, or “glimmers” do you notice?
Follow at least one promising stream. Follow a creative hunch or curiosity without demanding immediate results.
Pan for gold. Engage in the methodical work of your craft, knowing that the process itself has value, regardless of what you find.
At the end of the day, record in a journal: What signs did you follow? What small treasures did you discover? What did you learn about the terrain of your creative practice? Most importantly, reflect on the joy you found in the journey itself, not just in the outcomes.
See what happens.
We are nearing the end of our spring semester.
Last week we had a fabulous session with Dan Mall. Our conversation flowed through personal stories, cultural insights, and real talk about financial struggles, vision, and creative purpose.
We are in the final stretch, with four more weeks until our spring semester ends on May 14th. Here’s a preview of the next few weeks.
This week, April 23rd, we will reconnect and reflect on our journey so far this year and what we want to accomplish in these final weeks.
Next week, April 30th, we will do one final troika session.
On May 7th we will share our final projects with each other and do some final planning for our spring open house and exhibition.
And on May 14th we will close out the semester with a bang, and invite friends and family to an open house exhibition, where we will open our doors to share what we’ve been working on with the world.
More information for members is below the fold.👇