Alleys are valuable because they're in-between and out of the way, but still easy to access. They're not the beautiful, aesthetic part of a building — the glorious facade or cozy living space — but they're close by, adjacent to loading docks and kitchens and the other utilitarian spaces that are necessary to life.

Humans are fallible — we get distracted, we forget, we have competing commitments which subconsciously pull us away from doing what we value.

Structure is the antidote. If something is important, it's absolutely okay to create structure around it — no matter how awkward, unspontaneous, or weird it seems.

There's a myth of the lone artist, the reclusive genius, and sometimes withdrawing, temporarily, can result in great art. But much more often, Mozarts need their Haydns. Group of Seven members need their other six.

There's more to your mind than just the grey stuff inside your skull. In fact, your mind is a complicated system that includes and relies on all kinds of external resources. These resources help with every aspect of cognition: remembering, focusing, analyzing, and more.

Sometimes it takes a profound shift in mindset for someone to make a change in their work or life. An epiphany, a whole new perspective, maybe even hitting rock bottom.

And sometimes, it just takes a new trick.