Creator Villa

For more, see quotes.

Creator Villa

For more, see quotes.

Creator Villa

For more, see quotes.

People forget quickly, and once something has been forgotten, good luck retrieving it. No sense having to reinvent the wheel of our own imagination.

The same writing that enabled rapid technological progress during the last few centuries can help us progress intellectually in our private lives.

Creator Villa

For more, see quotes.

Our eyes evolved in spatious environments, where they are most relaxed. When our eyes relax, our mind relaxes. We work more efficiently and are better able to think creatively. Imitating a natural environment indoors can induce this effect.

Creator Villa

For more, see quotes.

Note: This post isn’t going to change your life, but it may entertain you. Baseball, “America’s favorite pastime” has fallen on hard times. While leagues like the NFL and NBA have taken measures to make the game more entertaining and appealing, especially to young people, change in baseball has evolved at a snail’s pace. Just this week, Chicago White Sox Manager Tony La Russa chided rookie slugger, Yermin Mercedes–get this–for hitting a homerun. Yes, a homerun on a 3-0 pitch while his team had a big lead in the 9th inning, but a homerun no less. Most people agree that baseball’s “unwritten rules” are just plain awful. Take a look at the fan response to this Tweet, for example.

Fans want MORE homeruns, and LESS salty pitchers plunking opposing batters for “showing them up.” Fans simply don’t care about the ego of pitchers, who make the game unwatchable with their unhittable fastballs and “sweet stuff.” The chart below tells you everything you need to know. As you can see, viewership of baseball’s flagship World Series event is on the decline, and it gets even worse the further you go back in time.

If you are waiting for the MLB to change, you will probably be waiting until the next pandemic, hence why I hereby propose an alternative XLB league designed with the fans in mind. Kind of like Vince McMahon’s XFL experiment minus the CTE. Here are the rules of the road!

XLB Rules:

• 6 inning games because 9 innings are three too many. No game should last longer than a motion picture.
• 2 strikes you’re out, and 3 balls and you walk. People will think of new idioms for life.
• A flat mound. Let’s not make it even harder to hit a 90 MPH fastball.
• Mic’ing up of players. Trash talk encouraged in-between pitches. And showboating.
• 8 players on the field, and no more than 2 outfielders. Groundballs are for T-ball.
• Corked backs not only allowed, but encouraged.
• Parks are 300 feet so you can let it fly. (See previous two rules.)
• No extra innings. A homer off instead, where 3 chosen power hitters get 3 pitches a piece from a pitcher on their team.

Note: Some of these suggestions were crowdsourced from my brothers and friends, but that’s OK, because it doesn’t take a genius to put this together.

Tag your bored billionaire friend! And let me know in the comments what XLB Rules we missed and/or got wrong.

OHH, and there’s this video for added inspiration. . . (NSFW!! Turn the volume off if foul language offends you.)

Below is my favorite poem, written by Elia Abu Madi. I’ve translated some of my favorite lines with the help of my Arabic-speaking friends. We took liberties, as this is poetry, and a literal translation obviously wouldn’t capture any of the eloquence. Special thanks to Danah for translating the title of the poem and the first two sentences, and to Binyamin for his input at different junctures. We dispensed with some of the metaphors that didn’t seem to work in English, while trying to preserve the heart of the original. If you study Arabic, I’d love to hear any suggestions you might have on how to better render a word or phrase (Text below).

NOTE: Thank you, FrankieFalah, for posting your translation in the comments, a lot of which I love.

“Be A Source of Healing” by Elia Abu Madi

When the world around you is venomous, Be a source of Healing.

When mankind is harsh and bitter, Radiate sweetness in your interactions.

Life has withheld from you none of its treasures, Will you withhold anything from life?

Do good, even if you receive nothing in return.

Does the rain seek a reward for its outpouring?

Does a fragrant flower receive any compensation?

Whoever repaid the nightingale for its warble?

Gather together the best and most generous among you, You will find the former to be even more giving than they.

Glean from them the knowledge of love, You who have eyes to see, For I have found it to be a precious thing.

Awaken love inside of you, If it has fallen asleep. Without love, People become like shadows.

If you choose love, Your humble abode will become a luminous palace.

If you choose hate, Your life will become a dark prison.

If the desert could love, Each grain of sand would turn into a flower, And its deceitful mirage into a pool of water.

A cup with no drink is but glass, And a man without love is but skin and bones.

كن بلسما “إيليا أبو ماضي”

كُن بَلسَماً إِن صارَ دَهرُكَ أَرقَما

وَحَلاوَةً إِن صارَ غَيرُكَ عَلقَما

إِنَّ الحَياةَ حَبَتكَ كُلَّ كُنوزِها

لا تَبخَلَنَّ عَلى الحَياةِ بِبَعضِ ما

أَحسِن وَإِن لَم تُجزَ حَتّى بِالثَنا

أَيَّ الجَزاءِ الغَيثُ يَبغي إِن هَمى

مَن ذا يُكافِئُ زَهرَةً فَوّاحَةً

أَو مَن يُثيبُ البُلبُلَ المُتَرَنِّما

عُدَّ الكِرامَ المُحسِنينَ وَقِسهُمُ

بِهِما تَجِد هَذَينِ مِنهُم أَكرَما

يا صاحِ خُذ عِلمَ المَحَبَّةِ عَنهُما

إِنّي وَجَدتُ الحُبَّ عَلَماً قَيِّما

لَولا الشُعورُ الناسُ كانوا كَالدُمى

أَحبِب فَيَغدو الكوخُ كَوناً نَيِّراً

وَاِبغُض فَيُمسي الكَونُ سِجناً مُظلِما

لَو تَعشَقُ البَيداءُ أَصبَحَ رَملُها

زَهراً وَصارَ سَرابُها الخَدّاعُ ما

ما الكَأسُ لَولا الخَمرُ غَيرُ زُجاجَةٍ

وَالمَرءُ لَولا الحُبُّ إِلّا أَعظُما

UPDATE: Here is the translation submitted by user FrankieFalah. I actually like it better than my own and thought it was worth framing.

“Be Like Balsam” Translation

When fate conspires to smother you, be like balsam.

And if others are bitter, be sweet.

Indeed, life has loved you with all her treasures,

So who are you to be stingy in return?

Though the world is blind, multiply beauty.

Does the fragrant flower wait for a bribe?

Does a nightingale weigh the cost of each note?

Does the pouring rain expect a reward?

Gather the generous and count their ways,

Yet who among them can measure up to life?

Take from them the knowledge of love,

For that knowledge alone is precious.

Were it not for feelings, people would be like dolls.

Love, and by dawn the whole cosmos will fill your dwelling.

Hate, and by evening the whole universe will become a dark prison.

If the desert could love, each grain of sand would blossom and every mirage would be a pool of water.

A cup without wine is nothing but glass, and man without love is nothing but skin and bones.

When you unite, anything is possible.

As 2021 begins to unfold and the blog closes in on 100,000 page views (!), I want to open up an avenue for you to participate that I’m excited about. Creator Villa is now accepting guest posts from readers! A guest post is written content you created in the interest of others. If you’ve read around on the blog, you have an idea of the kinds of topics and posts that would be appropriate. You will not be financially compensated for your content (this blog is not for profit), but you are free to include a link to generate traffic for your blog, website, social media, etc.

Do not be limited by the following examples and do be free to think outside the box:

• A testimony of how fitness, fasting, meditation, or any other discipline/technique/life strategy positively impacted your life. E.g. An Hourly Log of My 3-Day Dry Fast (30 Insightful Journal Entries)
• An insight or observation from sports, culture, nature, or human relationships that can help people live better. E.g. A Phrase That Instantly Increases Your Likability
• A research finding or study (from a reliable source) related to personal growth and well-being. E.g. Blue Light From Your Phone May Be Keeping You Awake At Night
• An impactful quote or short reflection by you or someone else (with proper credit) that you want featured in the Quote of the Day section. E.g. Quote of the Day #91: Healing If there’s a short inspiring video you’ve transcribed that might also be a great idea. E.g. Radical Forgiveness Will Change Your Life (Vishen Lakhiani). Shoot me an email in advance and I’ll let you know if I want to feature the clip.

Send all submissions to contact@creatorvilla.com or use the contact form here. Before submissions go live, I will edit for content, style, punctuation, etc; title each post, add a cover photo, include the Guest Post tag at the end; let you know when the post will go live; and potentially write a short introduction in the body of the post. Be sure to give the name you want the submission to appear under, and a link to your blog/website if you want me to include it in the post. This gives you the opportunity to generate traffic in exchange for gifting the community with your creative content. Original submissions only. No plagiarism.

I look forward to reading your submissions in the coming months! Don’t feel bad or take it personal if your submission(s) doesn’t get featured. A small number of posts may get featured, and I will enjoy reading everything you send me.

A myriad of factors influence the popularity and circulation of articles. I’m talking about things like content, headline, pictures, and writing style. But there’s one factor that’s often overlooked: word count. During the last year, I’ve consistently observed that 1) relatively shorter posts tend to do better in the WordPress Reader and 2) relatively longer posts tend to better with search engines.

I get the sense that many bloggers follow a large number of blogs and value broad familiarity with what’s going on in the blogosphere. They often seek creative inspiration or something to improve their lives with no particular agenda in mind. This translates into an interest in relatively shorter posts. Search engine users, on the other hand, know exactly what they’re looking for. They don’t have a Reader full of blogs they follow and must go out of their way to find particular content that appeals to them. This makes them more eager, once they do find that content, to linger over it.

Another factor is Search Engine Optimization (SEO), which determines how search engines rank the order of webpages. Based on my research, search engines like Google prefer relatively longer posts in the 1,000 to 2,000 word count range. I doubt the Reader has this same preference (without any hard data). Also, when you follow a blog, you get a notification for every new post, even if it’s as short as Word of the Day. As an author determining when to cap your posts, you should consider your audience. Is this post targeted to other bloggers in the WordPress Reader or to readers who will find it via search engine?

I routinely check the site stats WordPress collates, and more than 85% of the the traffic for Creator Villa comes from search engines. That is partially why many of my articles tend to be on the longer side—I believe people will read them and benefit from them. However, I also know an article like this one is likely to generate more interest among bloggers via the Reader, so it’s wise to take into account particular articles as well as overarching site trends.

Is article length something you are intentional about, as a blogger and/or reader of blogs?