By David Himmel

• Sometimes, the book’s dedication comes before anything else. Everything you make needs to have a reason and an audience.

• My friend Mark Melbourne told me one of the most important pieces of advice I’d ever heard: “The only thing better than falling in love is when you realize that you’re over it. The same can be said about project. Giving a shit about it is amazing, not giving a shit about it is even better because, like with relationships, you are free to focus on so many other things. Freedom, above all else. Always.

• Not everything matters. Relax. Laugh again. Easy does it.

• Purge that which haunts you via creativity not mental captivity. That is to say, flush your toilet bowl brain, do not compost that shit in your back yard.

• The better I get at this endurance running thing, the more my body seems to be slowly killing itself.

• If you’re not sure how to say something, it’s best to wait to say until you are sure.