Creativity is the higher fire...

Don't make the mistake I've made, thinking that maintaining a certain amount of inner anger is a good kind of fire to store up as a propellent. It does fester and smolder and it can fuel some short outbursts, but anger is something you always want to work through. The right fire, the higher fire for your belly is creativity. You've got to burn through the anger to clear a space for creativity. So get on that. Try the heavy bag.

I don't know exactly how or when I got it into my head that anger is an essential component of the functional personality. Long time ago. It might have been this episode of Star Trek (incidentally written by Sean Penn's papa, Leo, who might have instilled an idea or two about anger in his son). Mind your sources.

(photo, Alex Kess)