Master the art of living

This is a quote that really resonated with me. It is most often attributed to James A. Michener, though there’s no definitive evidence he actually wrote it. Variations have also been linked to L. P. Jacks (Lawrence Pearsall Jacks), a British educator and philosopher, who expressed a very similar sentiment in his 1932 book Education Through Recreation. The L. P. Jacks version reads almost identically, suggesting that the Michener attribution may be a later popularization.

There are times in life when the boundaries between work and play dissolve, when passion fuels productivity, and curiosity drives every project.

This idea resonates deeply with my journey. Whether analyzing HR data, building Alteryx workflows and Tableau dashboards, AI art communities, or diving into behavioral science, I’ve never treated these pursuits as separate compartments. My “work” is my play with higher stakes, and my “leisure” is work without a clock.

Like the master in the art of living, I’m less concerned with labeling the activity and more interested in pursuing excellence—whether that’s refining an Alteryx or ComfyUI workflow, creating surreal images, or unpacking an economic trend. Sometimes people may wonder if I’m working or relaxing. For me, the answer is always: both.

When your craft and curiosity merge, life stops being divided into hours you trade for money and hours you live for yourself. It all becomes your life’s art.