Jace Lee Anderson

Somewhere along the way, loving your project turned into pressure. Everything gets measured against the finished thing in your head. The joy leaves the room. What's left is grim, high-stakes productivity that doesn't actually produce much. Here's the fix: stop thinking of creative work as a switch. On or off. Good or bad. Serious or wasted time. Start thinking of it as a dial. And it turns out the same dial shows up everywhere in your practice. Once you can see the dial, you can turn it. The speed dial. Some days you're at 100: full send. Some days you're at 50: an hour, no more. Some days you're at 1: one little step, five minutes of contact with the thing. 1mph still counts as moving. In fact, the slow days are often where the real discovery happens. You're not sprinting past anything worth noticing. A project made of 1mph days still arrives. A project you abandon because it wasn't a 100mph day never does. The artist/editor dial. Making and judging are...

We’ve all been there. A conversation spirals into defensiveness. Words become weapons. What started as a simple disagreement ends with hurt feelings and distance. We walk away thinking, “Why is it so hard to just understand each other?” Marshall Rosenberg, a psychologist who worked in some of the world’s most conflict-ridden places, asked himself the same question. His answer became Nonviolent Communication (NVC), a framework that has helped everyone from warring communities to married couples find their way back to genuine understanding. The beauty of NVC isn’t in its complexity. It’s in its simplicity. The Heart of the Matter  Rosenberg discovered something profound: beneath every harsh word, every criticism, every demand, there’s a human being with unmet needs trying to be heard. When we learn to speak and listen in a way that honors those needs, everything changes. NVC rests on a simple truth—we all share the same basic human needs. We all need respect, understanding, safety, a...

This creative challenge will push your artistic boundaries and help you to grow as an artist. In the 1000 Drawings Challenge, you will build your skills, explore different subjects, and develop a personal style. Apply any medium and approach to the term 'drawing' that interests you the most. I took over a year to complete the challenge myself, and here are a few ideas that I found useful to keep in mind: Track Your Progress : Date everything. Write notes on what you did well, what you can improve on, what you enjoyed, and what surprised you. Keep a record of your drawings to see how you improve over time. Embrace Imperfections : This challenge is not about creating perfect drawings but about growth and exploration. Mistakes are more valuable than accuracy, allow yourself to make them and to learn from them. Each drawing is a step forward, and progress is more important than perfection. Set Realistic Goals : Break down the challenge into manageable milestones such as ten minutes...

Storytelling is as old as humanity itself. Whether we’re sharing life lessons, entertaining, or just passing the time, stories shape how we connect. But when it comes to creating your own stories, it can feel overwhelming. Where do you start? How do you find stories worth telling? And how do you make storytelling part of your daily practice? Think of this guide as a map to the stories already living inside you that are waiting to be told, how to structure them simply, and how to keep storytelling alive in your daily life. * * * Finding Stories to Tell Every single day, life offers us stories—big and small. The key is to notice them. Here are three methods to help you uncover the stories hiding in plain sight: 1. The Daily Journal To find meaning in the mundanity of each day, ask yourself these two simple questions at the end of the day. These questions help you develop a storyteller’s eye, noticing meaning in the ordinary. Don't spend too much time with this. Answer these question...

A Simple Guide to Healing Anxious and Avoidant Attachment Attachment styles are patterns in how we connect with others, shaped by our earliest relationships.  As children, we learned how safe it was to rely on others. If caregivers were consistent and nurturing, secure attachment was likely. If love felt unpredictable, distant, or overwhelming, we adapted, often by becoming anxious or avoidant. : • Secure: trusting, balanced, able to give and receive love freely and confidently.  • Anxious: craving closeness, fearing abandonment. • Avoidant: valuing independence, struggling with vulnerability. • Disorganized: a push-pull mix of both anxious and avoidant. These are survival strategies, not flaws. We can give ourselves space and grace to acknowledge where we are beginning our journey toward secure attachment. The good news is that attachment styles aren’t fixed identities. They can shift with self-awareness, therapy, relationships, and life experience. Healing me...

Ever sit down to draw, stare at the blank page, and think, I have no ideas? Or worse—come up with an idea, start sketching, and immediately judge it into oblivion? We’ve all been there. So here’s the rule: Fill two sketchbook pages every night before bed. No erasing. No rejecting ideas. Just draw. The goal isn’t perfection. It’s not even about making something “good.” It’s about filling the pages, having fun, and letting your imagination run wild. And the best way to spark that imagination? Ask: “What if…?” The Power of “What If” This simple question unlocks endless possibilities. It doesn’t care about logic. It doesn’t demand accuracy. It just opens a door and dares you to walk through. • What if clouds were jellyfish floating in the sky? • What if a wandering traveler carried an entire ruined castle on their back? • What if mirrors reflected not your image, but an alternate version of you? Your first idea might be predictable. But the second or third? That’s where things get inter...