Creative on Purpose Blog

Fate and destiny are terms frequently confused and conflated. Agency is an idea often ignored and misunderstood. A better understanding of each and how they work together may determine whether your journey as a creative difference-maker is frustrating or flourishing.

Fate is simply what is...

"No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man." - Heraclitus

Whether we're talking about shifting sands, shifting gears, a seismic shift, or shifting deckchairs on the Titanic, one thing's for sure, shift happens.

What's your relationship...

Volition is one of my favorite words (although coddiwomple is still in the top spot).

Volition is the exercise of will. Pursuing a difference worth making with integrity and intention. Volition and will reflect your character, who you really are.

Volition requires a readiness to make decisions ...

Values and virtues are terms frequently confused or conflated. Yet, the distinction between the two is worth teasing apart.

Values are your core beliefs and guiding principles. They're aspirational goals that provide you with a moral compass for navigating choices and decisions.

Virtues are your...

Today often looks and feels a lot like yesterday. It’s easy to assume that tomorrow will look and feel much the same. This is the seductive delusion perpetuated by the status quo. Every day is more-or-less another one of those.

And then something happens. Things go sideways. The world gets...

Life in the ancient world was full of adversity. If you lived to adulthood, you likely endured war, famine, plague, natural disaster, or some combination of these.

And yet…

In antiquity, there was a flowering of philosophical approaches to the art of living well and even flourishing while...

What do you do when you don't know what to do?

Discussing this question with friends led me to contemplate the virtues of both stillness and motion.

What do you do when you don't know what to do?

One perspective is that uncertainty about what to do next is an invitation to adopt a...

It's no secret, setting intentions alone does not manifest change. Sending your intentions out into the universe is a one way conversation.

Good things may come to those who wait, but those things taste like Guinness or ketchup.

Intentions matter, of course. Set them with care and...

Legacy isn't what you leave behind; it's the difference you're making now.

“While we wait for life, life passes.” - Seneca

It’s Time to Make a Difference

You are enough. Yet, capable of more. We need you. 

It’s time to make a difference. It’s time to fly...

"Character is fate." - Heraclitus

What if character is fate?

What if to live a good life you must be a good person?

What if the path to better living goes through character?

What if destiny is determined not by what you do, but instead is defined by who you are? Perhaps what you...

It’s in looking back and reflecting that a life journey is sorted and makes sense. Marcus Aurelius knew this. Marcus Aurelius was the last of what are known as the Roman Empire's Good Emperors. Meditations is a printed collection of what remains from Marcus' private journals.

What Is...

"The thing ordained for you – teach yourself to be at one with those. And the people who share them with you – treat them with love. With real love." – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

Fate

Fate is who you are and where you're at now. You can't change what brought you to this...