I do my best to spend at least part of every day recharging and refilling my creative well. When I can’t or don’t, I feel out of sorts (and sync), like my inner compass has lost its sense of direction.
For me, staying inspired isn’t about waiting for lightning to strike. It’s about cultivating curiosity. Reading something outside my usual comfort zone, listening to a podcast that makes me think differently, wandering through an art gallery (or even just the aisles of a bookstore)—all of it feeds the well.
When I let curiosity lead and give my mind room to wander, learning naturally follows.
When I’m learning, I feel alive. Wonder returns. Ideas flow more freely. Connections click into place with greater clarity. Even challenges stop looking like immovable walls and start resembling puzzle pieces, just waiting to be arranged.
It’s not about cramming my brain with more information, either. Sometimes “learning” looks like sitting still and really listening to someone’s story. Or spending time in nature and noticing details I might otherwise overlook—the sound of wind brushing through trees, the small dance of shadows on the ground.
The equation I keep coming back to is simple:
Keep Curious = Keep Learning
And when I do that, I stay connected to creativity, inspiration, and joy.
So, here’s my gentle reminder—for you and for me: don’t forget to refill the well. Pick up the book. Ask the question(s). Follow the thread of curiosity. The rest will come.
Thank you for being a friend!
Clint 🌈✌️
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BIRTHDAYS
1841 = Antonín Dvořák = Czech composer and academic
1884 = Dema Harshbarger = American talent manager 🌈
1886 = Siegfried Sassoon = English poet, author, and soldier 🌈
1897 = Jimmie Rodgers = American singer-songwriter
1922 = Sid Caesar = American actor and writer
1925 = Peter Sellers = English actor and comedian
1932 = Patsy Cline = American singer-songwriter
1934 = Peter Maxwell Davies = English composer and conductor
1937 = Archie Goodwin = American author and illustrator
1941 = Bernie Sanders = American politician
1954 = Mark Foley = American politician 🌈
1954 = Mark Lindsay Chapman = English actor
1954 = Ruby Bridges = American activist
1957 = Heather Thomas = American actor and activist
1960 = Aimee Mann = American singer-songwriter and actor
1962 = Thomas Kretschmann = German actor
1967 = Kimberly Peirce = American filmmaker
1970 = Neko Case = American singer-songwriter
1971 = Brooke Burke = American actor and tv personality
1971 = David Arquette = American actor, filmmaker, and wrestler
1975 = Larenz Tate = American actor, director, and producer
1977 = Nate Corddry = American actor and comedian
1979 = Pink = American singer-songwriter
1981 = Jonathan Taylor Thomas = American actor
1989 = Avicii = Swedish electronic musician
EVENTS
1504 = Michelangelo's David is unveiled in Piazza della Signoria in Florence.
1892 = The Pledge of Allegiance is first recited.
1916 = In a bid to prove that women were capable of serving as military dispatch riders, Augusta and Adeline Van Buren arrive in Los Angeles, completing a 60-day, 5,500 mile cross-country trip on motorcycles.
1960 = Psycho is released in theaters.
1965 = Small ads in Daily Variety and The Hollywood Reporter attract 437 young men interested in forming the world’s first fictional boy band, The Monkees. Three are chosen, with British actor-singer Davy Jones already cast.
1966 = The landmark American science fiction tv series Star Trek premieres with its first-aired episode, "The Man Trap.”
1971 = In Washington, D.C., the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is inaugurated, with the opening feature being the premiere of Leonard Bernstein's Mass.
1975 = US Air Force Tech Sergeant Leonard Matlovich, a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War, appears in his Air Force uniform on the cover of Time magazine with the headline "I Am a Homosexual". He is given a general discharge, later upgraded to honorable.
1986 = The Oprah Winfrey Show premieres nationally in syndication.
2001 = Kylie Minogue releases her single "Can't Get You Out of My Head," the biggest hit of her career.
2008 = Rachel Maddow becomes the first openly gay anchor of a major prime-time news program in the US as host of The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC.
2022 = Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom dies at Balmoral Castle in Scotland after reigning for 70 years. Her son Charles, Prince of Wales, ascends the throne upon her death as Charles III.
HOLIDAYS + OBSERVANCES
PORTRAIT + QUOTE OF THE DAY
“The fact is that five years ago I was, as near as possible, a different person to what I am tonight. I, as I am now, didn't exist at all. Will the same thing happen in the next five years? I hope so.”
Siegfried Sassoon
Thanks Clint and Siegfried Sassoon. Happy birthday, birthday twins Bernie Sanders and Antonin Dvorak, both inspiring to me. Dvorak's Songs My Mother Taught Me, Symphony from the New World (Going Home), and Rusalka (Song to the Moon) are some favorites.
✅✅👍 Cheers DougT 🇫🇴🇬🇧