Colin Wright's Blog, page 37

Head-Pats

School always came pretty easy to me. As a result, being a ‘smart kid’ was a part of my self-image most of my life.

This is a very positive thing in a lot of ways, but in others it’s a horrible crutch. My self-esteem was very much tied up in performing at peak in all the little ways the academic world measures a kid’s intelligence (homework, standardized testing, templated essays, etc), and as a result I avoided anything that would require me to color outside the lines. The lines, you see, wer...

The Original Social Network

You’d have to try pretty hard not to make new connections while on the road.

Whether at your hostel or at a family-style restaurant or over drinks at the bar or through a friend of a friend, the act of leaving your home and going someplace else is a catalyst for networking of all flavors, and even the most introverted wallflower stands a good chance of encountering someone who shares their interests and who is open to making a connection.

These days, you can’t go online without seeing a dozen n...

Great Party

Below is a short story from my new collection, So This Is How I Go, which is available for a whopping $0.99 starting today.

Two quick notes:

This collection is about dying — all of the stories result in death, in fact, though generally without ‘showing’ the death itself — and contains profanity, adult themes, etc. Best not to read this one aloud to your seven-year-old.

I’ve also just recently relaunched Exiles, a subscription to which nets you two emails a month, each containing five original es...

Safety Nets

My life can seem scattered to the outside observer. My projects are diverse, my interests are manifold, and my lifestyle is literally all over the map.

But there is a unifying thread that winds its way through everything I do: freedom. The freedom to be malleable and adaptable. To change my plans on a dime, to live where I want, to spend my precious time with the people I want to spend it with, and to apply my creative energy in the same way.

I am responsible for allocating my resources and ene...

Higher Concerns

There’s a famous pyramid most of us would recognize, thrown around often as it is to explain why we are the way we are, and why we do the things we do.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is considered by some to be an excellent visualization of the stair-step path up which our quest to fulfillment takes us; a race to the top of a pyramid, upon which we’ll find enlightenment and immense satisfaction.

Of course, Maslow wasn’t really a pinnacle of scientific rigor. His Hierarchy is a concept that makes s...

I Hate Marketing

I hate marketing.

Not all marketing — I think there are effective, non-invasive ways to do it — but so much of what’s done online today just smacks of ‘sell sell sell’ over producing real value and doing something important. It’s all newsletter numbers and pop-ups and metrics that I can’t quite convince myself to care about.

I haven’t always felt this way. Like most people starting their first blog, many years ago I followed marketing guides I found online, all of which purported to help me gro...

Holding Down the Fort

I can’t not push boundaries. This is something I’ve come to terms with over the last several years. The only time I’m unhappy is when I stop learning, assessing, solving problems, and creating new things. This is the momentum behind my life.

Not everyone works this way. For some people, it’s far more important to establish toeholds and really dig in. To erect century-spanning structures, rather than propping up tents that will be pulled down and packed up the next day. To plant crops rather th...

Takeoffs and Touchdowns

Taking off in a plane is one of my favorite things in the world.

It’s a moment ripe with possibility; the act of becoming airborne compresses you further back into your seat even as it hurls you forward. You spiral upward into the clouds, first tucking away your landing gear, then gaining altitude, then setting a course for someplace new.

Touching down on a runway can be equally exciting.

When the wings change shape to slow your forward motion, the landing gear descends, and the massive mechanis...

Inherited Silver

Walking into a friend’s apartment not long ago, I was struck by the casual elegance of the place. The color scheme was mellow but invigorating, the wall of books passionately pruned. Every piece of artwork was obviously hung with intent, and every bit and bob on every shelf was carefully curated. The place was an aesthetic and functional masterpiece.

How strange it would have been, then, to compliment my friend on the quality of the silver candle holders she’d inherited from her parents. Piece...

Practical Pedestrians

We all have ideas about how things should be. How the world could be a better place, if only x, y, and z.

Unfortunately, in most cases these ideas are tested only in the laboratories of our minds and fail to move beyond the dry-erase boards of conjecture. All the wine-sparked discussions and rage-laced manifestos in the world won’t change a thing if no one ever makes manifest the concepts they contain. Walks an actual walk, rather than endlessly talking the theoretical talk.

Even if the practic...