I was listening to The Rich Roll Podcast the other day. His guest was comedian and fellow podcaster Pete Holmes. Midway through their conversation, they hit on something close to home for me: why I host conversational podcasts, and why I do it the way that I do. I’m an Read more
What we create isn’t for the haters. So forget ’em. Haters gonna hate. No matter what you show them, offer them, give them, bare to them. So dismiss ’em; they lack credibility. We create and share and make ourselves vulnerable first for ourselves. With courage haters can’t imagine. And then Read more
I wrote on the blog in February about my first attempt to check into all the hype over writing with artificially intelligent chatbots, like ChatGPT. I couldn’t break through the waiting line then. I’ve now gone back to see what the buzz was/is about and test out a few things. Read more
(Release Date: 08.08.23) Title: Joe Parkin, on cycling, doping and race fixing, and his many adventures in ‘search of that thing that so completely enthralls’ the mind and body Overview: In this episode of the We Are Chaffee: Looking Upstream podcast, Adam Williams talks with Joe Parkin. Joe was a Read more
I wrote about the impulsive kickoff to a yearslong creative idea in a recent blog post: “Basketball Hoops: A Photography Project.” These are more of my forming thoughts on the work as it continues to unfold. (See #showyourwork and the creative ethic behind a post like this.) This project can Read more
I don’t have the energy for this blog post. But my mind keeps trying to write it, so here we go … The other day, I came across a comment from months ago from an unsubscriber who wanted me to know why she was quitting the Humanitou newsletter. She wrote, Read more
Everyday my kids go to school and we don’t know if they’ll come home. Because that’s who we all are. That’s what we allow and enable and vote for and avoid uncomfortable conversations about. My 12-year-old son said to me one morning sometime during this school year, “You guys tell Read more
When I get a moment of light breaking through, an epiphany, a moment of clarity, I heed the urge and reach for a piece of scrap paper. It might be months later, or even years, when I encounter this scratch paper note in a pile of them on my desk, Read more
I have a history of celebrating milestone birthdays solo. By choice. I don’t have a mental catalog of when, where or with whom I have spent every birthday. But I do remember these: 21 … In Indianapolis. Alone. 25 … In Singapore. Alone. 30 … In Eufaula, Alabama. Alone. And Read more
I create everyday, and usually in multiple ways. Writing, photography, podcasting, editing, publishing, designing, visual art making. And so on. It’s inherent in the flow of things I do, professionally and personally, and generally in the flow of any given day. But I do not always create in all the same Read more
Sometimes keeping it moving one step forward at a time is all we can do as creators. Or sideways, backward or whatever direction keeps the motion motioning. Like when I’m on my bike, near an intersection and trying to sustain even the tiniest movement while waiting on vehicles to take Read more
I had a one-sentence blog post1 in my head. Something about a thing that was not everything, followed by a notion about what is everything. (Even though that phrasing bothers me these days, because it might be confused with the socially popular, dramatic, vapid penchant to declare any and all Read more
For the past six years, I have woken up every morning and made journaling my first priority. With rare and reasonable exceptions. Well, first priority after brushing my teeth, drinking a glass of water, and getting a cup of coffee to place next to me while I write. Six years Read more
It’s been many, many years. I’ve occasionally photographed a random basketball goal somewhere in one city or another, using the camera on my phone of the time. A driveway, an alley, a park. And for many, many years, I’ve held an idea in mind that I would intentionally create a Read more
A short walk along the Arkansas River in central Colorado, a seat on a boulder at the water’s edge. Meditation. & Poetry, unpolished. A flow I call poetic notings from time spent in nature come to mind, and I listen: The water at the river’s edge expands and contracts, inhales Read more
In the audio trailer of Michael Franti’s Staying Human podcast, he says, “ … the belief that I have, there’s no one that you wouldn’t love, if you knew their story.” I appreciate Franti’s sentiment. Truth is, I struggle with love. I am amazed over and again by how easily Read more
When we’re unsure of who we are as creators, when we are new to the experience, especially coming to it later in life, it’s tempting to think there is a particular way to create, a right way. It’s tempting to think there is a secret language known to “real” artists Read more
One of the lines I keep coming across is, “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience, we are spiritual beings having a human experience.” To keep that in mind is to practice the yogic or Buddhist idea of detachment. It’s practicing and expanding our capacities to dispassionately witness Read more
Nostalgia is a loaded concept. And, I suspect, not much more than an illusion. Handle with care.
Overview: Based on a listener’s timely and meaningful email, this episode (Ep 143) revisits a focus of building a path of purpose one step at a time by applying the Zen philosophy of chopping wood and carrying water. Originally from Ep 101: Humanitou creator Adam Williams digs into some thoughts, Read more