by Gary Mintchell | Jul 30, 2025 | Personal Development
Poets across centuries and cultures have developed structures for their poems. Haiku, ballad, sonnet.
Poets especially in the 1950s and 1960s explored something called free verse—that is, no outside structure.
The teacher of poetry writing at university explained how easy it is to get lost in free verse. The poet must discover an internal structure to effectively express themselves.
Some people have expressed that they wish a life totally free from constraints. “That is freedom,” they proclaim.
Just like the early free verse poets (ever tried to read Allen Ginsberg?), total freedom so easily drifts into meaninglessness. One becomes subject to whim, suggestion, cravings. No purpose. No value.
Some constraints actually allow for creativity and true freedom to live a fulfilled life. I’ll try to start your thinking.
- Consistent sleep times
- Consistent exercise
- Regular (for you) work times
- Ability and courage to say no
- Solid moral foundation
Can you add more?
by Gary Mintchell | Jul 29, 2025 | Personal Development
This is becoming a mini-series on curiosity.
Let’s see…a student for 17 years, teacher for one, school board member for eight, wife taught in elementary school for 35.
Some people dislike public schools (meant to provide a common education for everyone in a democracy) because they want to see teachers’ salaries reduced. Some because they don’t teach political or religious philosophy they espouse.
I side with Seth Godin. He calls it the industrial-education complex. Schools, public and most private ones (and most universities) exist to churn humans through the system such that they can provide bodies in industrial-type jobs. Not thinking or creative jobs. Assembling things, entering data/writing rote reports, attend meeting after meeting (sort of just like school).
In this post called Why and How from a couple months ago, Godin tackles science non-education. (Interesting that my copy of Burn Math Class arrived today. I’ve had the same feelings about math class as science class—and I like both things.)
Let’s get rid of science class in school.
Instead, beginning in kindergarten, we could devote a class to curiosity and explanation.
A class that persistently and consistently teaches kids to ask why and to answer how.
The unacceptable single-word answers are “because” and “magic.”
Curiosity is a skill, and it can be taught.
I learned biology when my parents bought a microscope, and I began exploring. I read about planets, and relativity, and dinosaurs. I learned electronics math while learning how to assemble and analyze circuits. I bought a 22-scale log-log slide rule (still have it) and an electronics math slide rule in the early 60s while in high school.
I was frustrated by chemistry. I kept wanting to ask Why. He kept saying to memorize the balance equations or whatever. The only math class than kept me interested was geometry. The teacher said what I’m really going to do is teach you to think. And he did. Solving proofs for theorems was pretty cool.
Everything in school could be taught as an outgrowth of curiosity instead of ramming down a curriculum devised by people far away who haven’t seen a classroom for decades.
Turn the teachers and kids loose and let education happen.
(By the way—works for spiritual topics, too. Curiosity led me to mediation, which led to studying the “mystics” and Desert Fathers, which led to studying the Christian thinkers and leaders of the first 300 years of the movement, which led to deeper understanding of the New Testament, which led to deeper meditation awareness…)
by Gary Mintchell | Jul 28, 2025 | Personal Development
Axios Finish Line evening newsletter always brings a brief, insightful nugget into my inbox—sort of like the cherry atop the sundae of the day. Axios is one of my two main news sources. They are journalists and a business, so they do drop into click-bait headlines at times and have too much “he said, she said” reporting with occasional speculation rather than strictly reporting facts. Even so, they are brief and even handed. Finish Line tops off the day.
CEO Jim VandeHei riffed off one of the best scenes in TV history from the Ted Lasso show. This is the dart contest scene (Oh, I forgot I was left handed). As Ted explains to (villain) Rupert, “If you were curious instead of judgmental, you would have asked if I had ever played darts.”
Lasso quotes Walt Whitman (not exactly accurately sourced), “Be curious, not judgmental.”
VandeHei writes, “Those four words can radically shift how you think and feel about politics, social media posts, your employer, and even friends and family.”
It’s natural to react emotionally or defensively when people do or say things you think are wrong — or flat-out bonkers. But try the opposite approach for a week: Be genuinely curious why they do or say those things. Worst case: You’ll burn less and learn more.
He offers four possible arenas to test drive. I’ll offer a glimpse. Click the link above for the full thought (short read).
1. Politics: Stop assuming the “other side” is corrupt, inept or dumb.
2. Social media: Never in history have humans wasted more time getting more worked up over more topics than when doom-scrolling. Instead of taking the bait, take a break.
3. Workplace: One of the smartest things we did when founding Axios was to be extremely transparent about the business and our beliefs. This demystified things internally — dramatically reducing the gossiping and wonderment about what we really think.
4. Family & friends: Almost every time my wife, Autumn, is pissed at me, it’s because I didn’t take the time to ask one simple thing: Why do you feel that way?
Try asking and listening rather than judging and talking.
by Gary Mintchell | Jul 4, 2025 | Personal Development
Every year I suggest that all Americans take some time to read a few things to refresh our memories about the founding of our country. It’s probably not a bad practice for all of you who do not live here just for the ideals.
Read
- The Declaration of Independence
- The Preamble to the Constitution
- Actually the entire Constitution
- If not all, at least the first 10 amendments—the Bill of Rights
- Bonus points—read The Federalist Papers
These documents are full of compromises—something that has made it last so long. And something we seem unwilling to do this past decade or so.
by Gary Mintchell | Jul 2, 2025 | Personal Development
Learning is not compulsory…neither is survival—W. Edwards Deming, quality master
There are people who have a set of things they know and judge all events and actions against that set. There are people who have the continuous unease of not knowing. The former can be typed (perhaps too rigidly) as “FJ or Feeling Judgmental” on the Myers-Briggs Types Indicator. The latter as “TP or Thinking Perceptive.” Anyone who has read more than a few of my thoughts can easily figure out which type describes me.
At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.—Matthew 18
As with all spiritual texts, this can be open to numerous interpretations. I choose in this context to reflect on “beginner’s mind.” Wisdom about as ancient as humans in community recognizes that if our heads are full of knowledge or “stuff,” then there is no room for growth, for learning.
Unless we change and become as little children, that is, unless we are open and fascinated to learn more, we will be stuck where we are.
Seth Godin remarked, “Learning is the difficult work of experiencing incompetence on our way to mastery.”
Unless we become like children—stumbling until we suddenly walk; needing an adult to keep the bicycle up until suddenly we are riding; stumbling over pronouncing a new word until suddenly we are fluent.
Where do you feel the tension of unease of not knowing that will entice you into trying until you learn?
by Gary Mintchell | Jun 30, 2025 | Personal Development
From Shane Parrish of Brain Food. The entire self-help industry in one sentence: Do what makes mornings exciting and nights peaceful. Will this make me excited to wake up? Will this let me sleep in peace? Everything that fails both tests is noise.
Health begins with good sleep.
Meaning comes from getting up excited to serve others according to your talents.
