Seth Haines's Blog, page 31

The Weekend Review

It’s a rainy weekend here in the Ozarks, one of those gray, pre-fall kinds of weekends that beg you to stay inside. Could there be a better weekend to curl up with a good book or catch up on a few good links?

Books:

Have you picked up your copy of Essentialism, the book about the disciplined pursuit of less? I own it on Kindle, Audible, and in hardback, and this book continues to shape my thinking. (I’m reading it for the third time.)

Politics:

What if more prominent Republicans shared their...

The Business of Words and Actions

Commitment–it’s some combination of actions and words, words and actions. And whether it’s a simple commitment–resolving to write every day–or something more complicated–committing to work less for the sake of your family–the formula for follow through is the same: say what you mean, and do what you say.

It is a world of diluted words, of easy words. We throw them around like packing peanuts, like mass mailers, like monopoly money. We forget that words matter, that they obligate action. And o...

The Business of Words: Genius

Words matter. But in this world of constant messaging, the endless ticking of the marketing clock, the constant pushing of more and more words, I wonder–have we watered down our language?

Today, I’m exploring the business of the words “genius” and “innovative.” Are they being overused? You decide.

***TINY LETTER***

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The Business of Commitment (Part II)

Do you have time to draft a brief?

Absolutely.

Can you take on another client?

I have nothing but time.

Meet me at the boys’ basketball game?

I’ll be there.

Fix the fridge?

Sure. Okay. I’ll do it.

Don’t forget to take out the garbage?

Yeah. I’ll get right to it.

Demands, demands, demands. They come screaming from every direction, require our attention, our commitment. In a world of seemingly endless requirements, of round-the-clock communication (whether by phone, text, email, Facebook messe...

The Business of Commitment

If I’m honest, these are my commitment-killers: competing desires, time constraints, people pleasing, distractibility, and addiction to the superfluous stuff(a technical definition, of course) ofthe market. I know the truth–I can’t do everything, everywhere, with everyone, all the time–and yet, how often do I sacrifice my commitments on the altar of spontaneous desires? How often do whims distract me from the things I’ve already said yesto?

Tell me I’m not alone.

I haven’t written here in som...

Back to School Inspiration (A Modern Parable)

It’s that time of year again, the time when all the children catch anxiety like the flu, the time they carry it to the schoolhouse and pass it around quicker than lice. It’s back-to-school season!

Ain’t it grand?

In the hopes of lightening the mood for you and your child and perhaps imparting a little inspiration, I created an Instagram Stories back-to-school parable. Today, I’m sharing that inspiration with you here. (And for the record, I use the term “inspiration” quite loosely.)

Are you...

The Symmetry of a Woman

There are women born into symmetry, and this is less a statement about beauty and more one ofbeing. These are the womenwho learn themselves, who learn life, and who learn to balancetheir emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being across the axis of awareness. Only visionary women live this way.

In the old house on the tiny farm, Amber vacuums the baseboards, prepares the house for another tenant. She hums a tune–the Pixies?–as she works the far wall. “This is how to work without grumbling...

The Secret of Saints is…

On Saturday, I spoke at an event held in an Catholic church in Minneapolis. The stained glass was pristine, the stuff of much larger cathedrals, and it spurred this piece. Enjoy.

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The Secret of Saints Is

to be gentle with their histories;
to hold them like crippled birds
fallen from early summer’s nest;
to know nothing but that histories
and wounded birds must go free
to die (this is the earth’s course);
to mourn once the natural finite,
the songs that might have been, maybe,
and t...

Hope in Community

There is something about Minnesota in the summer–emerald green grass, iridescent sky, the whole of community grateful, smiling, singing praises that it’s not twenty below zero. (They are grateful for the little things in the Gopher State.) I was in the land of the Norsemen to speak at Steve Wiens’s event, “Sobriety and Spirit,” and to spend time with the communities ofGenesis Covenant Church andThe Table at Christ Presbyterian.

Between Sunday services, I made my way to Minneapolis’s Loring P...

A Good and Proper Slaughtering

John, Winn, and I have been talking about the human experience, about writing, and about recording the things that are real,sansfluff. This is a passing attempt. (Warning: this gets gory.)

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The straight-run matured into a veritable flock–ten hens and eleven hackled and cocky roosters. Ratios being what they were (one rooster for every hen, with only one hen to spare), and cocks being what they are (territorial and full of the stuff of life) our lady birds were receiving quite a bit of atte...