Keeping ideas connected to reality so they can serve our lives in reality.
Art as Inspiration: Lang Lang at the Prado
Great musicians can inspire students of music to improve their own playing and artistry. I experienced this myself in 2017 when, as a novice piano student, I went to see the world-renowned pianist Lang Lang on tour. I was awestruck by his technical skill, fluidity,...
Cara E. Yar Khan on the Value of Courage
“Courage and confidence are practical necessities . . . courage is the practical form of being true to existence, of being true to truth, and confidence is the practical form of being true to one’s own consciousness.” —Ayn Rand I love listening to people...
How TOS-Con Changed My Life
November 5, 2019: That was the day that changed everything for me. For the past three months, I had been working through my first semester of a graduate program to get a master’s in philosophy. I planned to teach philosophy at the university level. I was performing...
Five Steps for Building Lasting Habits/Routines
Author’s Note: Over the years, I have learned a lot from the work of Cal Newport, Mel Robbins, Alex Epstein, and Jean Moroney on the topic of building positive habits. The following includes my own integration of some of their ideas. Building life-promoting habits...
Orlando’s Christmas Gift: Two Nutcrackers and Spiritual Fuel
When was the last time you leaped to your feet to applaud artists performing live in a theater? It seems like forever ago for me. That void was recently filled to the brim in downtown Orlando, Florida, when I attended two performances by local ballet companies of...
How to Make Work Something You Love
For many people, “work” is a word with unpleasant associations. Children associate it with the burden of school work, which they have to do, like it or not. Many adults associate it with a nine-to-five job, an onerous chore that they believe they must endure in...
Discovering the Good: Morality, and Where It Comes From
On December 14 at 2:00 pm ET, the Ayn Rand Centre UK will host a discussion with Craig Biddle and Douglas Murray, moderated by Gloria Alvarez, on the nature and source of morality. Here’s an indication of what’s in store: A sign of a society in disarray is the...
“Pick Yourself Up” with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers
Performers who love what they do can invoke a pure, soul-fueling joy in their audiences. Two performers who exemplify this are Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. The pair starred together in ten musical films between 1933 and 1949. Astaire and Rogers were both...
The Value of Creative Solo Projects
Producing a solo work of art that beautifies your home can leave you with a wonderful daily reminder of your abilities. I learned this after arranging photos I’d taken over my couch to create an esthetically pleasing corner of my humble abode. A few years...