A Beautiful Anarchy

Lay Another Brick

19 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Sometimes the thing we're building, whether that's an exciting new project or a whole career, feels so big and overwhelming it seems impossible. Focus...

More Than Fun

11 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Isn't art-making and creativity meant to be fun? Why is it so often a source of struggle than anything a sane person would call fun? And are the chall...

For The Introverts

03 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Introversion seems to have become a movement lately and as someone with strong life-long introverted characteristics, I think it's great that we're fi...

A Different Episode

27 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

You're different. About the only thing that we all share in common is that we are so very different. So why do we learn so early to blend in and put s...

A Word With Pareto

13 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

19th-century economist Vilfredo Pareto was out in his garden when he noticed only 20% of his pea plants were producing 80% of the peas. Fast forward t...

More Than Time

30 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We need time to do our best work, but not only time. We need the internal resources to pay the emotional costs, and time without attention, focus, and...

Worry or Wonder?

23 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A recent visit to the dentist sent me into a tailspin when I was told I needed a root canal. After a week of fear (more like terror) and two hours wit...

What's Your "Hell, Yes!"?

10 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The creative life is full of decisions. Do we? Don't we? And how? Some people over-think their choices, some go with their gut. I go with a simple par...

On Vision and Craft

03 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

There is a relationship between the skills—or craft—that we hone, and our ability to dream about what is possible and reach beyond it. Creativity ...

5127

26 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Creativity is less the stuff of brilliant ideas and more the reality that those ideas take work to realize, to take a project from (in the words of Pi...

You're Doing It Wrong

12 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

For something so rooted in uncertainty, innovation and the discovery of new things, isn't it strange that creative work seems so often to be subject t...

The Ability to Produce

05 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

If the last episode of A Beautiful Anarchy was about the pressure to produce, this one is the (loving) kick in the pants you might need to stop worryi...

The Pressure to Produce

29 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Paralyzed by the pressure to produce and keep cranking out the work? You're not alone. Creators often feel like they're only as good as their recent w...

Boxed Sets & Glory Days

15 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

If the last episode of A Beautiful Anarchy was about failing to move on from past defeats and choosing not to get stuck there when things inevitably g...

When It All Goes Wrong

08 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Life is never a straight line. You never get into comedy, for example, thinking you'll nearly burn down the venue or bleed out on stage (keep listenin...

More Than What You Start

01 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

There was a motivational poster in my school that admonished us to "Always finish what you start." It included a photograph of a sprinter about to cro...

An Audience of One

17 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

When I sent out an email last month talking about the need to be able to identify the audience for our creative work, my own audience raised some ques...

How Do I...?

10 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The time has never been better to be a self-teacher. Learning how to do new things is as simple as asking Google, YouTube, or the million blogs and ar...

The Freedom Of Being Wrong

03 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Joseph Chilton Pearce said, "to live a creative life we must lose the fear of being wrong." And yet we live in a culture where the need to prove ourse...

The Play's The Thing

20 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Somewhere along the way we decided play and work were necessarily different from each other. Maybe it happened without our noticing it on the way to b...

Dig!

13 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Pablo Picasso was once asked whether he knew, when he started it, what a painting was going to look like when it was finished. "No, of course not," he...

Memento Mori

06 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The Roman stoic philosopher, Seneca, in the years before Nero went crazy and ordered the poor guy to off himself, was relentless in reminding those ar...

Getting Off The Nail

20 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Only 2 months ago about 190 million Americans made New Year's resolutions in hopes of introducing changes to their lives. Only 8% will accomplish thes...

Feed The Right Wolf

13 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In the old Cherokee story about the two wolves battling within each of us, the one that prevails is the one we feed. But is it that simple? Does one w...

The King is Dead

06 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In 1996 Bill Gates wrote an article entitled Content is King for the Microsoft website. This premise has proven prophetic. And yet no one seemed to st...

Curious, George?

23 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Einstein's brain was stolen, and subsequently studied. What did it reveal about his genius and creativity? Not much. Certainly not as much as Einstein...

Adapting to the Paintbox

16 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

While 'thinking outside the box' is short-hand for 'let's be really creative!' It is thinking inside the box, within our constraints and limitations, ...

Over Time

09 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

There are two narratives competing for the attention of creative people trying to unlock the so-called secret to success. One relies on natural talent...

Plenty in The Fridge

26 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Where do you get your ideas? If you're like me, sometimes they appear out of the blue, but most often it's the result of a catalyst bringing together ...

No One Needs a Juggler

19 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

When you're selling juggling to the world, as I did for a dozen years, you can't afford to let your marketing slip. It's easy to get lazy with marketi...

What's Your Fight?

12 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

A friend asked me a question recently that brought me a series of revelations that have pulled me once again, from my funk and my boredom. That quest...

Home, Alone?

28 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In reaction to something the Chief Economist of the Bank of England said about creative work, and how working from home might be a barrier to that cre...

They Aren't Watching

21 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Worried about others watching (and judging us), many of us become self-conscious about how we present ourselves and our art to the world. Understandin...

The Monkey Trap

14 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Two months ago I left social media. The response to my leaving, from friends and those who follow me was varied, but predominantly what I kept hearing...

Turn The Lights On

31 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Things are pretty uncertain right now and most of us aren't completely chill about uncertainty. We fear what might lurk in the shadows. But rather tha...

The Feedback Trap

24 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Play the Unplayable

17 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Let Your Peg Bore Its Own Hole

03 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

It Takes Guts

26 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Un-Blank the Page

19 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Feed the Fire

05 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Stolen Ideas About Originality

29 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Balance, Boredom & Burnout

22 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Saying Yes to No

08 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The Problem with Deadlines

01 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Start Ugly + Start Often

25 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

THE LABEL STICKS

11 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

HARD BEGINNINGS

04 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

MISTAKES + MUTATIONS

27 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

WHAT YOU DO WITH THE SCARS

20 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

WITHOUT THE GARGOYLES

06 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

THE SAME RIVER TWICE

30 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

THE VALUE OF DOUBT

23 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

FIND WHAT YOU LOVE?

09 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

IT'S NOT THE TOOL

02 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

NAVIGATING FOG

25 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

TOUCH THE HEART

11 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

TOO LATE TO CHANGE

04 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

WHAT'S THE POINT?

28 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

THE BOSS OF ME

21 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

HUNGER > TALENT

07 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

BETTER QUESTIONS?

29 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

SECOND PLACE

22 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

NOW WHAT?

08 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Starting new work means eventually it comes to an end in some form and while the feeling of being done and shipping that latest thing is often euphori...

A LIFE AT THE IMPROV

01 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The rules of improv are not complicated and, depending who you ask, they vary, but there are 4 that are universal, guiding principles that keep things...

FEED THE STARVING ARTIST

25 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

A pragmatic 15-minute episode about connecting with the audience for whom we make what we create, and from whom we hope to make both a life and a livi...

CROWDSOURCING JOY

11 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Creative people often find their emotional lives connected a little too tightly to their work: happy when things go well, unhappy when the work gets h...

DEEPER WORK

04 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

I’m a big fan of being intentional about life, and how I spend my time is among the biggest decisions I make, and often, some of the hardest. You’...

WHERE IS YOUR HALL PASS?

28 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

You’re not alone in feeling at times like you need permission to operate outside the so-called rules and colour outside the lines. You’re not the ...

LEARNING TO DROP

14 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

One of the most common barriers to starting, finishing, and sharing our work is the crisis of self-confidence that comes from the voices we’ve liste...

SELL WITH SOUL

07 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Not everyone wants to sell their work, but for those that do it’s a different kind of struggle, a more complicated one with a lot of mixed feelings....

BEAUTIFUL WARRIORS

30 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

I never learned to fight, but I got picked on plenty in school. And then my mother put me in Judo and like a wimpier version of the Karate Kid, I lear...

THE PROBLEM WITH MUSES

16 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In ancient greek mythology there were 9 muses, responsible for the worlds of literature, science and the arts. They were the sources of inspiration, m...

TAKE ME DEEPER

09 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

This episode is an exploration of some of the distractions that keep us from our best work and getting more easily into the flow, and the need for tim...

JUST AN AMATEUR?

02 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

It’s common-practice to describe our art-making efforts as either amateur or professional, the amateurs often feeling they aren’t “real” artis...

BE VERY YOU

19 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

This is an episode about the struggle to be (and become) fully ourselves. Defiantly so, even.

LEAVING DAFEN

12 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

This is a conversation about the insufficiency of craft and imitation in the creation of art that is authentic to who you are, and the need for courag...

ABOUT PERFECTION

05 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

On the surface perfectionism sounds like one of those flaws you readily admit to because really it’s a modest way of saying, see, I’m not perfect ...

MAKE THE TIME

22 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Without exceptions the most fruitful times in my creative life, and I include my business in this, because I am making my business just like I make ph...

OVERWHELMED

15 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

I don’t think we’re hard-wired to be able to deal with this much information, this many so-called friends, fans, and followers and likes and news ...

IMPOSTER SYNDROME

08 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Imposter syndrome is a state in which we believe not only that we’re faking it, that we’re not real photographers or real artists, or whatever dis...