In Pursuit of Purpose
I've been thinking a lot about what makes for meaningful work. People often think that finding meaning is the same as finding happiness. More accurately, it's about being willing to…
What God Looks Like
My mother once told me the story of a cartoon she saw in a newspaper some years ago, which explained God. In the cartoon, God is a faceless, featureless oval on a table. People come…
Still from Artist Talk at ALL
Our Relationship with Power: Why It Matters & What We Can Learn
Did you miss my show at Arts + Literature Laboratory? Here's a recap of why I chose to focus on power and a video of the story I told at the reception.…
Lessons of departure: the heart and mind of a rural town in a tourists’ economy
Lanesboro Arts Center is beautiful. The space is bright, open, welcoming, and full of activity. They regularly host artists and writers to use the space as a getaway to focus on projects,…
Ink drawings of Trees by Jenie Gao
A welcome interruption: a letter for busy people
We are a culture in transit, both for the joy and the agony of it. Our long work commutes depress us, while ideas of travel and escape excite us. In…
Flat Pictures of High Places - ink and watercolor drawing by Jenie Gao
Rules are made to be…
I'm a lover of paradox, for those who didn't know, especially the man-made ones. In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, you need a parking permit to keep your car on the street at night.…
"The Substance of Your Beauty," ink and watercolor drawing by Jenie Gao
Art and Leadership: the power and purpose of creativity
I recently wrote an article called “The Myth of the Starving Artist—and what it can teach us about job security.” In it, I discuss how society’s attitude towards art parallels…
The love affair of art & politics-and the culture they create
The chase. The game. Love it or hate it, love it and hate it. Choose to play, choose not to play. There's no getting away from it. Our existence depends on…
That's a big question.
How to comfort your mother and still be true to yourself
My mom, like most parents, worries about my happiness and wellbeing, which means she spends a lot of time thinking about me being unhappy and unwell. Funny how that works, right?…
What a year of “underemployment” looks like
It's taken me waaaay too long to finally put this information together, but since a lot of people have asked, here's what one year of "underemployment" looks like since I…
The challenge of staying bold without being ignorant
It was 1991. I was three years old. My dad was in Seattle and my mom would be alone with me that winter. The road was covered with ice on…
True leaders are teachers
We need to be teachers. Whenever we learn something new, we should immediately ask, "How can we share this?" Our greatest asset as human beings is our ability to actively,…
Fall in Central Wisconsin.
What the seasons teach us about change
Fall. This is the season when the trees undress and the people cover up. Once again, the seasons teach us how shared conditions lead living things to change in different…
A Response to the Rape on the Madison Bike Path
This is in response to the rape that happened on the Madison bike path, which is now one of four attempted attacks since July. To my friends in Madison--and those…
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