Want to hear something ridiculous? The Olive Garden intentionally overcooks their pasta. They intentionally stay away from food that pushes the envelope. They rename traditional Italian ingredients to Americanize them. It’s safe to say the Olive Garden is butchering Italian food. And why? They do this to please their customers. Now it’s somewhat admirable…a restaurant…
I’ve been mulling over an idea in my mind for about a year. It’s a complex concept blending quantum physics, theology, and creativity into a single theory. It’s all there in my head and on paper, but I haven’t really released the concept yet. It’s just too complicated for folks to grab hold of without…
I was chatting with a freelancer friend of mine. They were expressing their feelings of self-loathing for wasting about 50% of their time on social media. It’s a huge temptation for freelancers, self-employed people – frankly anyone who works a desk job. It’s super easy to be super unproductive. I’m experiencing that temptation daily. That…
I’ve been working on a book. And by working on a book, I mean I have one-third of it completed, sitting in an untouched folder buried in my computer’s file system. I started it a month or two ago. I got super excited, wrote a bunch, then put it on the back burners. I still…
Have you ever heard a song and said to yourself, “Almost.” That song was almost good. In fact, it might have become your favorite song. But it just didn’t make the cut. It’s a decent song, but it’s not great. Conventional songwriting goes like this: Write. Refine. Record. But conventional songwriting creates conventional songs. Conventional…
On Monday I launched a new issue of Sunday| Mag. This one was completely different than the others. I interviewed one church on their creative process for Christmas – and wrote 12 articles covering it ad nauseum. It was a risk. So I hit publish and waited. I was scared. Immediately I got 20 unsubscribes. I…
I’m writing an article for a magazine. It’s going to be seen by about 30,000 people. Needless to say I’m a bit nervous. I want this thing to be perfect. And perfection means procrastination because I know it will never be perfect. So it’s keeping me from writing. Here’s the funny thing. Each month, 30,000…
I’ve told you before of my membership in a top secret graphic design mafia. A group of great graphic designers invited me to their group and I gladly accepted. But here’s the thing: I don’t really belong in the group. I’m not a great graphic designer. They’re phenomenal. There will be times you don’t belong.…
Today I’m working outside. It’s a beautiful 70 degrees, overcast, and I’m surrounded by rushing water. Plus I have Wifi! Living in Texas doesn’t give me too many outdoor days to enjoy. So I have to seize the opportunities when they present themselves. It’s inconvenient to work outside. There’s occasional wind, West Nile Virulent mosquitoes,…
When good creativity happens, communication happens. It’s important to realize this – especially in the church. There’s a huge movement lately to infuse our services with creativity. Unfortunately, that often translates to strobing lights and silly gimmicks. But if people walk out of our church services without understanding our message, the creativity was completely ineffective. Creativity…