Archive (Page 2) • Craft By Zen Newsletter • Buttondown

September 22, 2015

Dear Reader, I'm late again. I'm realizing I'm better at writing on the train to and from work; something about my creative mind flowing better. I had a bit...

The Inner Game of Desert Running

September 16, 2015

?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"? Dear Reader, Yes, it's Wednesday. I wasn't able to make my Monday deadline, and I finished this letter...

Reacting vs. Responding

August 30, 2015

?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?Dear Reader, Next week I will not release a "Jear-Bear Letter" essay because I'm on vacation! I know, I...

On Passing The Torch

August 23, 2015

?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"? Dear Reader, I had every intention to finish my writing last Monday evening, but my parents made plans...

Journal of Self-Evaluation

August 10, 2015

Dear Readers, I had a few false starts with drafts. I wanted to talk about the pleasures of geeking out, about racial integration, about xenophobia, about...

Hello Dear Reader, I hate this feeling. I wrote half an essay, yet I really want to get my essay out there. I wanted to add mixed media, i.e. photos and...

On Perceived Difficulty

Dear Reader, Congratulations to Simon for being the first winner of the monthly book giveaway! I really like this idea of slowly giving parts of my bookshelf...

?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"? Hello Dear Reader, I had a draft of this letter a few weeks ago at the beginning of summer, but it...

Past Writer, Present Writer

Dear Reader, In anticipation of increased readership, I've decided to clear some space on my ever-expanding bookshelf. Each month, I'm going to pick, at...

On Burnout I've been experiencing heavy burnout over the past few weeks. I didn't spare myself much time besides work, scheduled play, travel, and sleep....

Reflections on the Buffet

?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"? Dear Reader, This letter comes to you late. I typed it up as quickly as I could, trying to bust this one...

?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"? Dear Reader, I'm keeping it short this week. Something bittersweet to stay away from talking more about...

On Found Purpose

?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"? Dear Reader, Even with a very busy schedule last week, I've found enough time to scrap together a piece...

?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"? Dear Reader, Sorry about the interruption last week. Perhaps having no email last week was a reminder...

The Friend-Date

?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"? Hello Dear Reader, It's been a busy week, and I really just wanted to draw something. Instead of the...

On Being True to Yourself

?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"? Dear Reader, This essay came about because I really felt I had to talk about this. It's been bugging me...

On Mind Wandering

?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?On Mind Wandering Kids and Boredom The other day, during dinner with my friend Jon, we were discussing...

On Endings and Beginnings

Dear Reader, I almost didn't make it. I had this draft finished on Saturday, but didn't revise it yesterday. It's still not in a "complete" form as I would...

On Cryptography

Dear Reader, As I'm in a hotel room with my two friends, one of whom is recovering from surgery, I have been typing out this lengthy letter. It's about...

Hi everyone, No essay this week. I know, bummer. Sometimes life gets the best of you. Instead, I present two essays that I absolutely love and having been...

Hi Dear Reader, I present the first part in what I hope will be a three-part series. This one is about weight. The next one will be about food. And the last...

Dear Reader, Here's a rather short essay. It came from a larger essay I started writing, but realized the focus was too large. Sometimes we have to narrow...

On An Open Dialogue

Hello Dear Reader, A few links for you to check out. 30 Species. 30 Pieces. 1 Fragmented Survival. Created with CSS polygons. Absolutely gorgeous interactive...

On The Power of Letters

Hello Dear Reader, Two piece of writing you should read this week. Someone last week asked me how I was able to juggle many projects. It's been a common...

Hello Dear Reader, I'm pretty beat this weekend. I barely finished this week's essay. I was debating whether or not to add a last section to tie it all up,...

On Caltrain Suicides

Dear Reader, Hello. Welcome to March. Today, I'm writing about Caltrain suicides. Caltrain is our train service here on the peninsula of the Bay Area. To...

February 23, 2015

Hi everyone, Today's a quick letter. It's two poems I hastily wrote in hopes that I might make a point across. One is about someone who sees things in...

On Getting Past "No"

February 12, 2015

Dear reader, Hope everyone's President's Day is going well! I want to give a huge shoutout to @helin_s for helping edit this week's piece. If you or someone...

On Book Recommendations & Funerals

February 8, 2015

Hi everyone, I have a double feature today. The first essay is a list of books that I've been influenced by. The second essay is a short piece on my recent...

On The Stranger

January 31, 2015

Hello all you lovely people, This week's letter is one I've been trying to write for some time because this person means the world to me, even though we only...

January 19, 2015

Good Monday to everyone, I'm releasing this on Mondays now. Welcome to this new time change. We will continue these letters every Monday like this from now...

On The Criteria of Friendship

January 10, 2015

Before today's essay, I have a few updates. I wrote a blog post last week about getting my job. If you have experience with seminar speaking, I have a few...

On Anxieties, Depression, And Suicide Prevention

January 4, 2015

Hi everyone. This is a different format than what you may be used to. I wrote this to one specific friend in mind, but intended it to be read by everyone....

On A Year of EPs

December 29, 2014

On A Year of EPs Lessons taken from Nerina Pallot’s Year of EPs For every month of 2014, Nerina Pallot has released an EP. Each EP contains five new songs....

A Year In Review

December 26, 2014

A Year In Review: 2014 I used to do “A Year in Review" back at my old blog. The last one I posted was back in 2011, and it was more of a chore than anything...

December 19, 2014

This week, I've decided to do something different. I'm writing about stories tied in by the common theme of the rain. A note, I've started posting these...

On Exposing Ignorance

December 12, 2014

On Exposing Ignorance At a former job, I was faced with a dilemma on a project I was leading; I didn’t know what I was doing. I felt like an imposter and...

December 3, 2014

When I pick up a new piece of music, I break it down into sizable chunks. What kind of structure does it have and can I break it down into something simple...

On Thankfulness

November 29, 2014

Welcome to the first Jer Bear Letter. My aim is to write something meaningful every week which may vary in length. I love story-telling and love to share. I...

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