Here are some assorted links to get your weekend off to a good start.
10 Motivational Practice Tips: Melanie Spanswick nails it with a list of various things you can do to improve the quality of your practicing, including ideas on process, community, and alignment.
The Uncertainty of What You Should Be Working on Right Now: Leo Babauta’s ideas on how to keep yourself organized are grounded in the Zen tradition, and understand the reality of what it’s like to work in a landscape where everything is always changing. His four ideas:
1. Keep the whole board in mind.
2. Play one stone at a time.
3. Dance with the uncertainty.
4. Leave no trace.
On Making Decisions: Our quality of life depends on making important decisions at certain points in time. Kurt Harden’s advice nails it:
Make the decision. State it out loud and then let it sit overnight. In the morning confirm that decision.
Don’t personalize. Write like a person: I intend to get back to my newsletter really soon and the strong personal tone advocated by CJ Chilvers is what I’ll be aspiring to.
Some thoughts: Timely advice from Rebecca Toh, whose blog has really started to find its stride in the last few months. This idea resonated with me:
Every day adds up to make up a life. Hence the small things we do every day matter.
Finally, a rare but magnificent collaboration between Sviatoslav Richter and Benjamin Britten playing Robert Schumann’s Bilder aus Osten in Aldeburgh (via Anton Nel):