The Path to Greatness

There are a number of reasons why AI can be problematic, but lawsuits over stolen copyrights and the like don’t touch on one of the more interesting and important reasons why AI should be used judiciously in creative work.

It can undermine your skills. And who among us wants to fall victim to that most dreadful of problems, creative atrophy?

This essay by Storm Humbert goes deeper into the perils of cognitive offloading, skill atrophy, and more.

Not a Scab, But a Wound – Apex Book Company

Don’t be drawn in by the allure of never having to go through the “being-bad-at-it” phase of learning a craft. We must allow ourselves to be bad—to downright suck—for a little while. Outsourcing our infinite potential to limited tools is how we become limited ourselves. Instead, pick up a pencil. Sit at a keyboard. Contend with the blank page and the empty canvas—the unsullied slab of granite. It’s the only path to greatness.

Like any tool, AI can be good at some things and not great at others. Knowing the why and when and how is critical to making good use of such tools, and those decisions require thought and good judgement. And what’s the best tool for building people who are good at thinking?

Why, a library card! AI Literacy Starts With Reading Books, Not Prompts

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Photo by S.Ratanak on Unsplash #365Ways #365Ways2026 #AI #creativity #InquiringMindsWantToKnow #libraries #persistence #technology #thinking #Thoughts #Writers #writing

A Bit of Luck for You

Happy St. Patrick’s Day, everyone! Here’s wishing you a little luck and a lot of fun:)

Photo by Michelle Baker on Unsplash #365Ways #365Ways2026 #StPatrickSDay #Thoughts

A Good Day

Today is a good day. Why, you might ask, and perhaps you have forgotten that today is Monday?

I stand by my statement, because I got this in the mail:

Three (quiet) cheers for libraries!

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To the Grindstone!

My list of things to do today is extensive, but there’s only one thing I really have to do: taxes. Ok, fine, I baked some chocolate chip cookie bars. But also taxes! Time to put ye olde nose to the grindstone and get this done.

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Photo by Ian Cylkowski on Unsplash #365Ways #365Ways2026 #buyingCivilization #focus #Thoughts

Happy Pi Day, Everyone!

Happy Pi Day, Everyone!

Today is March 14th, or 3.14, and as I’ve mentioned here before that means it is Pi Day!

This is a pretty perfect holiday for someone like myself who is very much a person who enjoys both science and food.

Guide to Celebrating Pi (π) Day | Exploratorium

What is pi, anyway? Divide any circle’s circumference by its diameter; the answer (whether for a pie plate or a planet) is always approximately 3.14, a number we represent with the Greek letter π. Keep calculating pi’s digits with more and more accuracy—as mathematicians have been doing for 4,000 years—and you’ll discover they go on literally forever…

Infinite, like my love for pie. I might go savory this year, actually. 

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Photo by Jessica Kantak Bailey on Unsplash #365Ways #365Ways2026 #PiDay #Thoughts

Are You a Friggatriskaidekaphobe?

/checks calendar, does a double, then triple take

If you are a friggatriskaidekaphobe, or someone who fears Friday the 13th, I’m afraid I have some bad news: not only is today not your day, but 2026 has not one not two but three Friday the 13ths!

I also have some good news: We had one last month and it went pretty okay. Here’s hoping the rest are as manageable!

If you’d like to know more, or aim to defang your phobia through knowledge, here’s an article that goes in-depth on this scariest of dates:

Bad News for Friggatriskaidekaphobes: 2026 Has Three Fridays the 13th

This is a tough year for people with friggatriskaidekaphobia, which is, yes, a fear of Friday the 13th. (Apologies if you have hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia, or a fear of long words.)

Maybe this is a good year to try to kick your fear through exposure therapy? Or you can just count down the hours until it’s over. In that case, happy 14th!

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Photo by Bùi Hoàng Long on Unsplash #365Ways #365Ways2026 #calendarStuff #fears #superstitions #Thoughts

In Treacherous Beauty

Yesterday’s storm has come and gone, leaving icy gems scattered across the ground, encasing the pines in sleek silver robes and the world in treacherous beauty.

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Photo by Mark Olsen on Unsplash #365Ways #365Ways2026 #home #nature #Thoughts #winter

Life Among the Possibilities

“You were born and with you endless possibilities, very few ever to be realized. It’s okay. Life was never about what you could do, but what you would do.” — Richelle E. Goodrich

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Photo by Maël BALLAND on Unsplash #365Ways #365Ways2026 #creativity #Thoughts #Writers

Neurochemistry In Real Time

Because it can sometimes be hard to keep a positive attitude with everything going on in the world, I thought I’d share this article. Also, books are just a good time. 

How reading books regulates your nervous system – Big Think

Reading is relaxing, and many people do it as a counterbalance to our overstimulated age.

But what exactly is happening when we read? What’s going on beneath the surface that makes reading a book feel so restorative?

The answer lies in how reading changes our neurochemistry in real time. Reading isn’t just about decoding words on a page. It’s a complex neurochemical process that affects everything from our heart rate to our hormone levels.

Go ahead, change your neurochemistry for the better.

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Photo by Max Harlynking on Unsplash #365Ways #365Ways2026 #reading #Thoughts #Writers #writing

On Art and Commerce

It’s Monday, which seems like a perfect time for a bit of wisdom on the intersection of art and commerce. This quote comes from sci-fi author John Scalzi, who has famously taken a stand on the importance of being paid for creative work, and knows a thing or two about building a viable living around art.

As a writer, and as a creator, nothing one ever does, professionally or personally, needs to be wasted. It’s all fuel for the creative engine… 

Anyway: If you’re a writer or creator, never be ashamed of what else you do. It’s 2026 and this special flavor of gilded age we live in at the moment means that what qualifies as “selling out” has an extremely high bar. Making a living was very rarely “selling out” in any era. I think these days the phrase should be mostly reserved for writing things you absolutely don’t believe, for the sort of people you would in fact despise, with the result of your work is you making the world worse for everyone. Avoid doing that, please.

Short of that, get paid, have those experiences and develop new tools. All of it will be useful for the art you do care about. That’s not selling out. That’s learning, with compensation. — There Is No Selling Out Anymore

Now I’m off to do some more learning!

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Photo by Henrique Malaguti on Unsplash, colors modified. #365Ways #365Ways2026 #art #creativity #Thoughts #Writers #writing