20 Comments
Aug 26, 2023Liked by James Taylor Foreman

Texted to my mother as instructed. She will actually enjoy it tremendously—as did I. A friend of mine owns a window cleaning business called, "Just Windows." His tagline for the business is, "Because glass looks better when you can't see it." In the same way I often cannot see your writing, because I'm busy being wowed by the view.

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Ha! Love it, Rick. Hope it meant something. And I really appreciate you reading and taking the time to comment. Always good to see you around.

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Sep 6, 2023Liked by James Taylor Foreman

Your writing always does.

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I get concerned I'm babbling cross-eyed at times, so it's good to hear from a fellow word crafter.

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Aug 26, 2023Liked by James Taylor Foreman

Loved this one, dude. My favorite essay of yours to date.

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Thanks man. It means a lot. It was very time-consuming to write! Which is an annoying fact about getting better.

Glad to see you in the comments.

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Sep 5, 2023Liked by James Taylor Foreman

Apologies for high jacking your thought provoking essay with my screed. The inchoate ideas wanted to come through. Wrong container for this context. Deleted but not forgotten.

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And please never feel like you're highjacking my essay. It makes me very happy to see a long-ass comment. More of that, please.

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I wish I could still see it! I always take way too long to get to the comments. I want to make sure to give them the proper time and attention. I read what you said and I remember thinking it was very interesting and insightful. Do you happen to still have the text somewhere? Please let me know because I want to continue that conversation.

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Sep 6, 2023Liked by James Taylor Foreman

Creativity is the work of my lifetime, and it takes me a long time to write and publish things. It will appear on my page in a different context. Someday. Timing is everything when it comes to reaching an audience. Wait for it...

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Aug 27, 2023Liked by James Taylor Foreman

Thanks for this absolutely fantastic read. I’ve been unable to see the forest for the trees with some career and life goals I’m considering now and this approach really helps pull my mind out of the how obsessing and back into the why focus.

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Thanks for reading, Adam. I worked hard on this one, so I'm glad it struck some kind of resonance.

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Aug 27, 2023Liked by James Taylor Foreman

“Nice try, hope.” Hahaha

Funny just yesterday I wrote a song called “Fever Dream”! This article was very reaffirming and inspiring, thanks Taylor! :)

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Can't wait to listen to the song. In fact, I'll go listen now....

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Really enjoyed this, Taylor. One of your better ones, if not your best. (Too bad my mother doesn't read/speak English.)

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Silvio, it means a lot. And I know you're working hard on translating this for your mother! (Jk)

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Aug 26, 2023Liked by James Taylor Foreman

I think you're right that most people are "overly obsessed with the objects in their way," and that "they sacrifice the dream for the objects."

However, I do think we need to understand the tools of the trade in order to become fluent. As you said with English, we have to learn all of those steps in the process in order to reach fluency. But you're right that we need to have the dream to inspire us to move through all of them.

In my own life, I relied too much on the dream in the beginning of my writing. I thought I was just bursting with talent, and that anything I wrote would turn to gold. But now I'm realizing that I have a lot of work to do to learn the tools of the trade-- how to be concise, to tell better stories, to write more lyrically, etc. The dream keeps me going, but the objects are what help me build it.

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Yes, true. We can't babble and believe ourselves Shakespeare. And the dunning-Krueger effect is very real, especially at the beginning.

But when you really know.... you really know.

It's not about fooling yourself. You have to have the courage to face the object. But you can't confuse the object for that which seeks to move through objections.

I think we're on exactly the same page.

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I’ve been completely paralyzed by objects! I’ll be chewing on this one in the days and weeks to come for sure. Thank you !

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Your post is a powerful exploration of the tension between dreams and obstacles. The coffee mug and pen analogy beautifully illustrates how, when we're in the flow, challenges seem to disappear.

Your observation about the school system's focus on "objections" resonates deeply, highlighting how fear of failure can hinder us from pursuing our dreams. The examples of Einstein and Oppenheimer further emphasize that vision and determination, not mastery of every detail, are key to achieving greatness.

Your call to action – to follow our vision and ignore naysayers – is truly inspiring. It reminds us to trust our intuition and embrace the journey, for that's where true fulfillment lies. Thank you for sharing this thought-provoking piece, Taylor!

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