The Wisdom of Don Schlitz

The best that you can hope for is to die in your sleep

At the ripe old age of 23, Don Allan Schlitz Jr. of Durham, North Carolina  delivered to the world words of wisdom well beyond his years. His vision of leadership, creativity and what life’s all about has impacted me most of my life

And yet?

Most people attribute Don’s writing to Mr. Kenny Rogers.

It was only today that I knew who was responsible for the words that have resonated with me for so long:

On a warm summer's evening

On a train bound for nowhere

David Byrne of the Talking Heads was explicit when he wrote about life: 

We’re on a road to nowhere.

Schlitz was more subtle. 

Few words describe the creative life better than a train bound for nowhere. This train might be on fire. It might be getting attacked by bandits. There are a lot of times the whole process feels like its going off the rails.

Sure we may have goals. They give us directions, like train tracks. In the creative process, they’re totally arbitrary. This is true whether painting a picture, making big changes in our lives or s…