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The new show that picks up from where AS left off!

Giving Birth to "Taking the Leap!"

Okay. We still haven't delivered that final episode we promised.

But we are excited to announce the launch of something from the embers of AS!

Looking for your AS fix still? Check out Sean's new podcast, Taking the Leap!. Eric has even promised to appear on the show from time to time.

will there ever be a new episode?

Unfortunately the show is coming to an end. Although we've loved doing it for several years now, the amount of time and effort involved in putting together a show of the caliber we'd like is greater than what we're able to commit to it.

Getting together once a week and recording a conversation is easy, but the route we had been pursuing involved finding and coordinating with guests, recording an interview, heavily editing that interview, then getting together and doing a recording of our narration & commentary over that interview, before finally editing it all together and releasing it. That's a full time job.

We're going to record one final episode over the coming months to give the show some closure. We're really proud of the work we've done here, and hopefully there is enough compelling material in the 81 episodes we produced that is worth revisiting.

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Can spite be a positive force in your life? We chat with graphic designer Stef Marcinkowski, who says the urge to "prove the critics wrong" pushed him to improve his work, and kept him going through months of online flamewars over his webcomic Sarah Zero.

We mention:

the "Mary Sue" character trope

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#art #creativity #spite #work

#80: Positive Struggles, with Ellen Carol

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Singer Ellen Carol always has a lot on the go, whether it's recording with her latest band Sammy, acting on stage or biking cross-country with her dog for charity. But a recent foray into starting a retail store sent her into a tailspin. This episode, we chat with Ellen to find out how she got back on track, and how she finds the time for all her endeavours.

We mention:

Episode 79, with Trevor Shaikin

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#art #creativity #depression #drive

#79: Taking the Leap, with Trevor Shaikin

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Just do it. Follow your dreams. Don't waste another day. We're bombarded with these messages all the time. But what is it like to actually make that leap? For Trevor, the experience was a rocky one — while his journey to India was indeed life-changing, reintegrating into his life back home was the real challenge.

Here is the video we take issue with.

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#travel #passion #creativity #art #music

Two new places to follow Attention Surplus

Just a quick note to let everyone know we now have both a Facebook Page where you can follow us for updates, and a SoundCloud where you can subscribe and listen to the show. Thanks.

#news

#78: The Dark Side of Passion, with Sam Waldner

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We've discussed passion plenty of times on this podcast, but we've always treated it as a good thing — something that drives you to pursue the important things in life. But passion can be destructive, obsessive, addictive. We talked to addiction counsellor Sam Waldner about the dangers of the dark side and how he uses photography to channel his clients' passionate impulses in a healthier way.

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#passion #psychology #addiction #art #photography

You guys, I've been painting for a show that I put up today. The past two weeks I've been plodding through your archives. They're great! I've been really enjoying the project, even the old episodes! But I'm noticing the last post was about a month ago. Are you stopping creating podcasts?

We're definitely not stopping, but are taking a bit more time with each episode so we can polish and structure them more with our new format. A new episode is almost ready to go, and we're in the midst of producing the one after that.

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Craftsmanship is about doing what you love and doing it right. Eric tries out a definition based on three key elements: A passion for continuous improvement, experience, and quality and attention to detail.

We'd love to hear from you on this topic. Where is the craft in what you do?

We mention:

Knife maker Joel Bukiewicz

Our favourite interview with Ira Glass

This John Cleese talk on creativity

See also Those Who Make on Vimeo

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#craft #creativity #passion

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Almost every episode of Attention Surplus includes a short outtake at the end. Since we're about to start our third year of recording, we decided to compile our favourite outtakes from the first two years of the show. [Download](http://s3.amazonaws.com/attentionsurplus/Attention+Surplus+-+Outtakes+Year+1+and+2.m4a)

#attention surplus #podcast #outtakes #humor

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Our topic this week, suggested by Ellen Carol, is the tension between money and happiness. Happiness, it turns out, is hard work. In fact, Sean says the question shouldn't be "Do I love doing this?" but "Is this work worth it?"

And we talk about some of our "roads not taken" — like political science and juggling — and living for experiences rather than things.

We mention:

This short talk by Alan Watts (YouTube)

Clayton Christensen's TED talk, "How Will You Measure Your Life?"

The Minimalists, a blog about "living a meaningful life with less stuff" — see also this Toronto Star article about the authors

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#career #happiness #passion

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This week we discuss being stuck with Byron Bignell. He was "stuck" for over 18 years. Sean sat down with Byron to talk about being "stuck" and how to approach getting "unstuck."

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Note: We ran out of time in our episode and weren't able to share all of the treatments Byron explored. While connecting with people was the start of his turnaround, he attributes a lot of his recovery to participating in a trial of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation. We include this in case any of our listeners are suffering from clinical depression or know someone who is looking for additional therapies to explore.

#change #depression #psychology

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This week, we discuss consciousness in humans and animals, the senses, and flying planes.

We also mention:

"Does Self-Awareness Require A Complex Brain?" (Scientific American blog)

Radiolab's episode "Seeing in the Dark"

Linotype: The Film

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#psychology #animals

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Are you living an interesting life? We touch on that question this week, and return to the topic of ritual, which we discussed way back in episode 8.

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#adventure #ritual #time

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This week, we talk about moments that matter — paying attention to the things that bring us joy and meaning, how that differs from simply seeking pleasure, and how it can help us challenge ourselves to keep growing as we get older.

We also mention:

Sylvia Boorstein, interviewed on American Public Media's On Being

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#life #perspective #happiness #change #purpose

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Last year around this time, we mentioned a website called 10Q, which gives you ten days to answer ten questions about your life before locking them away in a digital "vault". This week, we look back at our answers from 2011 and see where we were right and wrong.

You can find 10Q at doyou10q.com. As of this posting, the vault has closed once again, but you can sign up to be reminded of the service when it returns — or you can always take a lower-tech route by saving your answers in a computer file or shoebox.

We also mention:

Anaïs Nin, quoted at length on Brain Pickings

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#10q #life #work #change #perspective

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