My conversation with Cole Calfee
and some updates
Hey everyone,
Thought I’d take a moment to welcome a wave of new subscribers who have come onboard since I published The Path of the Wind in September. It never fails to amaze me that there are people out there reading my stories. So thank you, as always, for giving my writing your time and attention.
Last month, my friend Cole Calfee (a talented visual artist who also writes online) invited me on his podcast to chat about the pilgrimage, among other topics I’ve written about in the past. We also discussed the blurry line between art and content, creative insecurities, imposter syndrome, the Grateful Dead, spirituality, and psychedelics.
Cole and I are kindred spirits of sorts, as you’ll be able to tell, so this was a fun one:
I’m a fan of Cole’s work and asked him this summer to design the cover art for my story, which I think he pulled off beautifully. Take a look below to see how he rendered the wrought-iron ‘Procession’ in his signature crimson-stencil style:
I wanted to also share that The Path of the Wind was featured in the fall issue of The KBG Literary Review (an indie publication run out of the East Village), marking a small albeit proud step for me in this writing journey I’m on.
As far as what’s next, I’m currently working on the second installment of my pilgrimage tale, as well as an essay I’ve been tinkering with for some time about the tension between style and imperfection.
I’ll leave you with a passage from Alan Watts that I’ve been pondering. It’s from the book he was writing when he died, at just 58, from heart failure linked to alcoholism:
At the head of all virtues Confucius put not righteousness, but human-heartedness, which is not so much benevolence, as often translated, but being fully and honestly human.
A true human is not a model of righteousness, a prig or a prude, but recognizes that some failings are as necessary to genuine human nature as salt to stew.
Tao: The Watercourse Way was published posthumously in 1975, two years after Watts’ death.
Wishing you all my best.
Nick
Thanks Nick! Enjoyed this convo so much.