What I'm Doing Now
(This is a now page, which I was inspired to create by the wondrous netizen Derek Sivers.)
Updated June 3rd, 2026, from my pottery studio and home in rural Minnesota, with my wife Sienna and our young children: Stella (4) and Iris (2). It’s a rainy, late spring season, with days getting hotter and longer.
Home Child Care
Living as full-time artists/potters/small business owners means we create our own daily schedules. Before joining Cherrico Pottery, Sienna earned a Masters Degree in Montessori Early Childhood Education and taught at a Montessori school, in a classroom of 20 x 3-5 year old kids. Naturally, she wanted our own kids to learn the principles of Montessori foundations. Although we have sent our kids to a licensed Montessori school and also an outdoor school (outdoors even in -20 degree weather) and loved these schools, we decided to instead keep our kids home. With the high cost of childcare and commuting, the decision to keep them home has resulted in golden haired cherubs running around the studio and land, lots of walks to parks, and extremely generous help from grandparents.
7 days per week, we balance living as artists with caring for our daughters. Sienna’s Montessori expertise shows in her natural ability to give our girls an organized, calm, loving environment. Memberships to the Minnesota Zoo and our local Children’s Museum also give remarkable low cost learning.
Prayer
Whether I'm alone in the studio or making breakfast for my daughters, I still start each day with a similar morning ritual. I'm not religious, but I was raised Catholic and went to Catholic school for about 16 years. I've been saying five prayers each morning: Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be, Serenity Prayer and Grace Before Meals. The words are so ingrained in my memory that I can say them as a short meditation. It's a gratitude practice that pairs well with morning coffee, journaling and one passage from The Daily Pressfield, which I have read almost every morning for about 3 years. Highly recommend this book for anyone struggling every day to make sense of a creative life.
"Mastery" by Robert Greene
It is impossible to recommend this book too often. Rarely is there a book that gets better with every reading. I have been re-reading and/or listening to Mastery about once every 2-3 months for about 5 years now. I believe it is required reading for anyone who aspires to succeed in deep, meaningful work. One useful quote:
“The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.” Albert Einstein, quoted in Mastery by Robert Greene, Page 269
June 20th: Come Visit Our Pottery Studio
June 20th will be only the 5th in-person pottery sale in 6 years of owning our studio. They have been delightfully successful. Pricing lower this day only (this one is a $25 sale) is meant to reward people for making the effort to travel here, while saving money, time and materials on packing and shipping. I’m even presenting to our small City Council twice this month, asking permission to change our business license to allow us to host these up to once a month. Please come visit us.
Saturn and Uranus Mugs
The newest planet to emerge from my kiln was the "Venus Mug" that I’ve been testing for years, unsuccessfully until last month. Gratitude fills my heart as almost all of the mugs sold in May. Next, I’m exploring Saturn and Uranus. Wish me luck, especially with a handle inspired by the planets’ rings.
Archery
Although I’ve shot about 10,000 arrows with my recurve bows (about 80% right handed, 20% left handed), archery took a backseat during the intense sleep deprivation of double toddlers, accompanied by business ups and downs. Perhaps writing this will help me shoot archery weekly or more, with morning coffee, on the land behind our pottery studio. Refocusing eyes to a target 20 yards down, with perfect posture and pulling (instead of pushing) muscles helps to reverse the damage to my often hunched posture that can happen with pottery and computer work.
Social Media @cherricopottery
Deleting all social media scrolling ability from my in-pocket phone has been wonderful. I literally can't scroll, which means I spend more time being present with my family, reading, asking questions to AI (I use Gemini becuase it is included with my pottery business gmail) and watching documentaries. Years of practicing news hygiene has also helped me be a better person and clearer thinker. I love Ryan Holiday’s idea that one of the worst ways to be an informed citizen is watching breaking news: “We are distracted by breaking news when really we should be drinking deeply from the great texts of history.”
cherricopottery.com/newsletter is the best place to get new pottery updates for free. But if you would like to follow my social media, where I still regularly post random updates, you can find my everywhere @cherricopottery and links consolidated at cherricopottery.com/about.
Thank you Tim Ferriss for showing me this great quote by Neale Donald Walsch, which I put onto this mug.