change – archie writes

advice, artist life, change, fear, goals, honesty, hope, inspiration, living life, self help, writing

it’s no use going back to before 2020, because I was a different person then

Posted on December 18, 2020March 13, 2021 by archie the writer

You know the the story: a hero goes to rescue someone from a dangerous land, and they are told one explicit rule to follow: don’t look back.
So, of course, they look back.

Orpheus rescues Eurydice from the dead but looks back and she vanishes forever.
Lot’s wife (unnamed, so let’s call her Lottie why not?) looks back on the doomed town she is fleeing and turns to salt.
And so many other parallel myths from the Japanese, Mayan, Indian and Sumerian legends.

Well that is how a lot of us are probably relating to this calendar year called 2020.
Move on and don’t ever talk about it again, right?
Or at least we all agree this is the botched timeline borne from time travel hijinks right?

Let me ask something outrageous: Continue reading “it’s no use going back to before 2020, because I was a different person then” →

advice, change, death, egos, fear, inspiration, self help

murder me, archie wrote

Posted on November 17, 2017November 25, 2022 by archie the writer

Apologies for the dramatic title, but these Jessica Fletcher gifs are not going to appreciate themselves okay?

But I meant what I wrote – murder me.
Who you think you are – let that who die, pass away, leave you behind.
And by that, I mean: get out of your way, get out of your head, get out of bed, get out of your funk, go outside, get beyond your expectations for today, and just get on with it.

So, are you confused yet?
Wondering what am I talking about?
Doubtful that I even have a point here?
Suspicious that I might be stalling, trying to improvise an answer to my own rhetorical questions?
Am I just trying to create filler to fit in more Murder, She Wrote gifs?

Let me clarify with another JF classic (okay, it may have been partly that last one).

But seriously now – across so many spiritual practices and psychological disciplines, there is a fairly consistent agreement about the notion of layered identities. Continue reading “murder me, archie wrote” →

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archie the writer – becoming a full-time artist, not growing up or getting a job

Posted on March 7, 2017April 20, 2020 by archie the writer

I hate work.
I really do.
I think most people do too.
And by ‘work’, I mean essentially any situation where you would not be there, doing that task, associating with that place or those coworkers, if not being paid for it.

That creates a pretty clear distinction between:

careers that really challenge ourselves to grow, expanding upon our own potential, rewarding our efforts and investment of time and talents…
jobs we do to pay off debts and otherwise serve as a checkpoint in life because we were told this is how to be an adult.

This is an important difference, but so often do we conflate ideas under one broad label. Just as we mislabel ‘work’, we confuse ‘success’ (equating personal fulfilment with competitive materialism) or ‘confidence’ (equating liking yourself with pride and vanity).

Continue reading “archie the writer – becoming a full-time artist, not growing up or getting a job” →