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One Creative Moment

by James E. Turner

One Creative Moment is a daily email for founders, owners, and creators. You'll get insights, irreverence, and inspiration to help you build a better business & live a more creative life.

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The Return to Pachinko Road

Not to be that “newsletter recommending” guy, having just yesterday drawn your attention to a new one I’m enjoying. But this has to be done and has to be done now. (I had meant to do it before the start date! But, life…) So I’m sharing this in case you would also find it interesting: Craig Mod’s latest pop-up newsletter, “The Return to Pachinko Road.” It’s, as Craig puts it, “…an 18-day pop-up walk, walking 600km from Kyoto to Tokyo along the Tōkaidō (“Pachinko Road”). Starting on May 14,...

3 days ago • 1 min read

Just read the second issue of a promising new newsletter from Finn McKenty. (I know him from LinkedIn, but am most intrigued by what he has to say about making YouTube work.) It included this painfully true quote: “… opportunities usually go to the people who are the most visible, not to the people who “deserve” them.” If you needed an extra boost to help you put yourself out there (or remind yourself why you’re doing it in the first place), there you go. There I go, too! Be seen, James

4 days ago • 1 min read

Think about the way your living space is set up right now. Has it always been that way? I’m guessing not. And yet, I was reflecting today that to our children, our kitchen/dining arrangement, for example, must seem permanent. Things that to them are the only way-things-can-be are, to us (Kayte and me), more like something we’re trying out “for now.” To them, this house is the seat and centre of tradition. To us, this is our suburban bungalow period. (Note: I’m not saying they’re wrong, nor...

5 days ago • 1 min read

Here’s something delightful for your weekend. Earlier this year, I subscribed to the free version of Ted Gioia’s newsletter, The Honest Broker. (No, not that kind of broker. A broker of ideas, of culture.) Yes, and his most recent piece had some music recommendations. Most notably, “Masked Indian Psychedelic Groove Trio” Glass Beams—a Melbourne-based, instrumental, guitar, bass, and drum outfit—playing their newly released EP, Mahal, in its entirety in this beguiling, mysterious, beautifully...

8 days ago • 1 min read

This idea came up during Steven Pressfield’s appearance on Rick Rubin’s Tetragrammaton podcast. I know Pressfield best as the author of The War of Art, an excellent book about the creative process. He revealed that when he’s writing a novel, he doesn’t read any fiction because it messes with his head. He knows if he reads a strong narrative voice or point of view, he’ll either feel defeated (I could never be that good). Or (worse) he’ll start to think/write like that, too, taking away from...

9 days ago • 1 min read

Do you ever struggle with indecision when trying to make the best use of your time? If so, here’s a simple rubric I (try to) use to help me choose among my most common solitary pursuits: If it’s between writing and reading, write. If it’s between reading and watching, read. If it’s between watching and sleeping, sleep. Sleepily, James

11 days ago • 1 min read

Have you ever come back from a walk (or a drive!) and realized you have no memory of the journey you just took? You’re in your head, working something out. Or you’re so used to what you’re doing that you simply don’t have to pay attention. And if nothing stands out, the memory blurs into the countless similar ones you already have. Today, my “walk to work” (around the block and back) was exactly like this. With one notable exception: a yellow Volkswagen T3 Westfalia Camper from the 1980s. I...

12 days ago • 1 min read

This is a frustrating but understandable truth. It comes courtesy of Everett Rogers (who coined the term “Early Adopters”). “The more someone knows about how to do something, the harder it is for them to learn to do it a different way.” I don’t know about you, but I can totally relate. I can think of a number of things I do where I’ve completely turned off my sense of curiosity and wonder, and now just go through the motions. I’m sorry to say I don’t have any particularly good advice on what...

15 days ago • 1 min read

If you work with clients on custom projects and have ever toyed with the idea of using value pricing, perhaps this framing will help you too! In a recent piece, friend of the list (and Ditching Hourly host) Jonathan Stark cleared it up for me in a big way. He pointed out that people want to work with you because they believe that what you do “…will improve something that contributes to the bottom line.” (They wouldn’t be spending a part of their one wild life talking to you for no reason,...

17 days ago • 1 min read

You won’t get emails like this from me often—because this sort of thing isn’t really my bag. But I was recently asked about boosting social media posts for a Tactics Roundup article, and I thought my answer would make a good email. (Plus, it references a previous One Creative Moment piece, which makes this quite meta.) My answer to the question, “How have you enhanced the virality of a marketing campaign?” was this: Engage a large account in a way they’re not accustomed. For example, I...

18 days ago • 1 min read
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