To-do list: Create something beautiful.

Laurie Anderson has cracked the code:

[Live link to Austin Kleon’s Keep Going book is here. His weekly newsletter is great too!]

You can cross everything else off you to-do list. (Uh, other than “pay the mortgage”… that might not end well.)

“None of us know what will happen. Don’t spend time worrying about it.”

Easier said than done, I know. But worrying is a waste of your precious time. Don’t take it from me, listen to JC:

Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?

— Luke 12:25-26

“Make the most beautiful thing you can.”

Laurie Anderson is an artist, musician and filmmaker. It’d be easy to cop out and say “I’m not a creative type like she is, so how can I make the most beautiful thing I can?”

But there’s beauty in the quotidian. Being kind to your co-workers… that’s beautiful. Taking a photo of nature and sharing with your friends? That’s beautiful. Hugging your kids and/or your pets? Lovely! Texting a friend you have seen in a while? Charming! Adding a generous tip to the person serving your coffee? Gorgeous!

“Try to do that every day. That’s it.”

Look at you, making something beautiful! Keep it up! Every day…