“Effective Philosophies” explores practical wisdom for Creativity, Business, and Life
(among other things)
What Makes a Philosophy Effective?
(And why blog about it at all?)
I believe there are no right or wrong ways to live, rather more or less effective ways. For instance, it’s not an especially effective life strategy to go into the jungle and try to pet a wild tiger. That is an effective way to get your arm torn off. An “effective philosophy” might be, “Don’t touch that tiger.”
But Effective Philosophies shouldn’t be about avoiding things. We don’t want to live in a cave, surviving only by avoidance, do we, living in the dark and eating bugs? No! We want to live, to feel truly alive… To know we got the most out of life while we could. So, I think Effective Philosophies are more than “don’t touch that tiger.” They are about exiting the cave, venturing into the jungle, and taming that tiger, making it your friend, an animal sidekick on your hero’s journey, and even dancing with it. Yeah… dancing with tigers. Now that’s living.
So what’s an Effective Philosophy? I can’t quite say yet… but I aim to find out. That’s the purpose of this blog. The idea behind starting a blog (about 20 years too late) is to use it as a net to finally skim through the various ideas that many different smart people (a great deal smarter than I) have had over many lifetimes. Ideas that I studied and applied as I wound my way through several careers in both business and the arts, testing them through trials and errors, and developing a sort of compendium of the greatest hits… so that I (and you, the reader) might be able to apply those ideas to our own short lives so that we can get the most out of every last breath we take. And then some.
Some Effective Philosophies posts will be long, and some will be short; every one of them should have at least one nugget of Effective Philosophy that you can (and I can) apply to our art, business, or life in general with the confidence that it has worked for at least one person. If it worked for them, it can work for you. But not everything will be to your liking, and that’s just fine. Pick and choose, try the moves, take only the steps you like, string them together, and choreograph your dance. Then, find a tiger, find a way to tame that sucker, start playing your favorite song, and swing your partner round and round!
Extras
Mentors & Models
A relevant quote from my collection of favorite wisdom nuggets…
“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” – Anaïs Nin
Rabbit Holes
Further reading or exploration related to the day’s topic…
Here are a few philosophy books, both ancient & modern, that I found incredibly helpful. You might too!
- “Meditations” by Marcus Aurelius
- “Man’s Search for Meaning” by Viktor Frankl
- “The Laws of Human Nature” by Epictetus
- “A Calendar of Wisdom” by Leo Tolstoy
Of course, there are many more but that should get you started. What books would you add to the list?
Today’s Exercise
A practical exercise to help you apply the day’s philosophy to your life…
Write down your current beliefs about life, success, and happiness. Then, question each one. Are these truly your beliefs, or have you inherited them? This self-reflection is the first step in finding & choosing those effective philosophies you want to make your own.
