Colin Wright's Blog, page 39

No Promises

We love guarantees. Reducing risk when purchasing a new car or trying out a new gym is a deal-sealer for many people because it means you can jump headfirst into the pool, but pull yourself back out, dry as when you started, should you find the temperature is not to your liking, depth is not ideal, or the chlorination levels are too high.

We also like to follow instructions that guarantee certain results. Try this diet — you’ll lose 20 pounds, guaranteed. Try this philosophy — you’ll be way mo...

There Will Always Be More

There will always be more ideas, if you’re capable of having them.

There will always be more opportunities, if you’re in the position to notice and take advantage of them.

There will always be more ways to stand out and show the world who you are, if you’re willing to do so in the first place.

There will always be more paychecks and rich foods and attractive company and exciting stories to live out and tell to awestruck friends and family years later, once the scars have healed.

And because there...

Brave, Mighty Words

Dog

The following is from my new short story collection, 7 or 8 More Ways to End the World, which is available on Amazon for $.99 today.

I am running through the sprinkler. The grass is soft, with patches of poky, dry weeds tickling my paws. There is pollen sticking to my fur and my tongue lolls from my mouth in contrast to the frantic movements of my legs and the waving of my tail.

Donald has just thrown the ball, and I’m in pursuit of it, feeling more alive than moments before, the thrill of the...

Business Is

I spend a lot of time around businesspeople.

Many of these people have a pretty good idea of why they do what they do. “We’re going to change the (something) industry for the better.” “We’re hoping to make the world a better place.” “I saw a problem that needed solving, so I’m solving it.”

All valid reasons to dive into business; the world, industry, or problematic area — hopefully — will be better for their efforts.

I also spend a lot of time with creative folk. Writers, painters, performers.

Ma...

On Appreciation

There’s an overwhelming desire for most people — myself very much included — to improve one’s sense of discriminatory predilection, social acceptance through association, and intaking of only the highest quality inputs.

Which is a fancy way of saying we all want to feel like we have good taste. Our music, our food and drink, our sense of style, and appreciation of art: It’s all representative of who we are, to some degree or another, so it makes sense that we define ourselves by these preferen...

The Pursuit of Small

When I was younger, I pursued big.

Big house, big job title, big paycheck. I had hopes and dreams off-scale from my reality, and as a result I scrounged and saved and hurled myself at the resources I would require for those extra square feet of happiness.

And I’d be lying if I said that pursuit didn’t make me happy at all. The thrill of buying something I could barely afford was a thrill, and I felt very confident knowing I owned nice things. I felt like I made those things manifest, even if it...

Calling All Telegraphers

The invention of the telephone was an epic win for humanity.

The myriad components of what eventually became the practical, functioning telephone we’ve known and loved for a century and a half were invented by different people over the course of many decades, and a patent for the device was given to Alexander Graham Bell in March of 1876. It’s pretty much been sunbeams and rainbows for the world of communication since then.

That is to say, it’s been great for everyone except telegraphers. Life...

Photo of a Sunset

Growing up, there was a framed photo on our wall of a sunset silhouetting a helicopter and some kind of rocky outcrop in the ocean.

As a kid, the photo baffled me. I would tell friends who visited that it was a picture of some kind of sea dragon — that rock there? A California Loch Ness Monster. That’s why they took the photo; it was evidence.

An alternative theory was that the helicopter was something special. Some kind of robo-helicopter, or a spy helicopter that had never been captured on fi...

Habitats

Habits are hard to establish, and can be even harder to break.

I can’t tell you how many people I know who struggle to maintain their ideal physique or do work they’re proud of, not because they don’t know how to eat right and exercise and sit down and create amazing things, but because their habits are out of whack; they can live up to their expectations for themselves part of the time, but not all (or even most) of the time.

This is because creating habits is a different skill set completely...