Peter Vogt, Author at For Pete's Sake

About Peter Vogt

I’m a writer. An essayist, to be more exact. I tell stories here—true stories, from my own life, in hopes they will make a positive difference in yours.

I share laughs and tears, insights and observations, frustrations and realizations, relying all the while on the storytelling wisdom of Julia Cameron, author of The Right to Write.

It is a great paradox that the more personal, focused, and specific your writing becomes, the more universally it communicates.

Entries by Peter Vogt

Belief Without Certainty Is What True Belief Is All About

May 3, 2016/1 Comment/in Uncategorized /by Peter Vogt

Every Wednesday afternoon during my seventh- and eighth-grade years, my junior high school “released” a bunch of us kids as part of a hazy weekly practice called, imaginatively enough, Release Time. By all rights, this ritual should have taken place one time and one time only at the nearby Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge, where our […]

Peter Vogt

I’m a writer. An essayist, to be more exact. I tell stories here—true stories, from my own life, in hopes they will make a positive difference in yours.

I share laughs and tears, insights and observations, frustrations and realizations, relying all the while on the storytelling wisdom of Julia Cameron, author of The Right to Write.

It is a great paradox that the more personal, focused, and specific your writing becomes, the more universally it communicates.

Do Artists Have Any Real Idea of Their Real Impact on Real, Ordinary People? No — but the Impact Is Real

April 26, 2016/1 Comment/in Uncategorized /by Peter Vogt

He doesn’t know it – and he never will – but Bruce Springsteen made me cry this morning. Over two fried eggs and a couple of pieces of peanut butter toast, all resting on a chipped plate on my knee, I wept as Bruce Springsteen sang. Actually, it was Prince who brought me to tears. […]

Peter Vogt

I’m a writer. An essayist, to be more exact. I tell stories here—true stories, from my own life, in hopes they will make a positive difference in yours.

I share laughs and tears, insights and observations, frustrations and realizations, relying all the while on the storytelling wisdom of Julia Cameron, author of The Right to Write.

It is a great paradox that the more personal, focused, and specific your writing becomes, the more universally it communicates.

You Can’t Do Anything You Set Your Mind to — but You Can Do Most Anything

April 21, 2016/1 Comment/in Uncategorized /by Peter Vogt

I’m not sure about the wisdom in “you can do anything you set your mind to.” In my own case, if “anything” includes playing left wing for the Minnesota Wild in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals, or being the new Jim Morrison in a modern-day, reconfigured version of The Doors, well, the theory […]

Peter Vogt

I’m a writer. An essayist, to be more exact. I tell stories here—true stories, from my own life, in hopes they will make a positive difference in yours.

I share laughs and tears, insights and observations, frustrations and realizations, relying all the while on the storytelling wisdom of Julia Cameron, author of The Right to Write.

It is a great paradox that the more personal, focused, and specific your writing becomes, the more universally it communicates.

It Takes So Little to Do So Much — Whether We See It or Not

March 18, 2016/2 Comments/in Uncategorized /by Peter Vogt

Every morning when I take my kids to the bus stop, I lament the fact that our eight-year-old neighbor girl has failed to deliver on the French toast I’ve been craving — the French toast I’ve been only half-jokingly begging her to bring me ever since the cold winter began. “Do you have my French […]

Peter Vogt

I’m a writer. An essayist, to be more exact. I tell stories here—true stories, from my own life, in hopes they will make a positive difference in yours.

I share laughs and tears, insights and observations, frustrations and realizations, relying all the while on the storytelling wisdom of Julia Cameron, author of The Right to Write.

It is a great paradox that the more personal, focused, and specific your writing becomes, the more universally it communicates.

It’s Time to Take the Shields Down — Then Quit Putting Them Up in the First Place

March 16, 2016/0 Comments/in Uncategorized /by Peter Vogt

I’m at the car dealership. Waiting to be taken for a ride. My dad told me not to trust mechanics. “They’re all crooks,” he would always huff and puff. Not true. When I was in college, I met a local mechanic named Titus who ran his own little shop and once made a simple $40 […]

Peter Vogt

I’m a writer. An essayist, to be more exact. I tell stories here—true stories, from my own life, in hopes they will make a positive difference in yours.

I share laughs and tears, insights and observations, frustrations and realizations, relying all the while on the storytelling wisdom of Julia Cameron, author of The Right to Write.

It is a great paradox that the more personal, focused, and specific your writing becomes, the more universally it communicates.

There’s No Such Thing as Normal People — Only Normal Feelings

March 10, 2016/2 Comments/in Uncategorized /by Peter Vogt

I was hanging out at the nursing home with my 81-year-old mom this morning, waiting with a crowd of seven for the music program to start in the rec/dining room, when up in her wheelchair rolled a resident I’d never met before. “What’s your name?” she asked as she eased to a stop, locking on […]

Peter Vogt

I’m a writer. An essayist, to be more exact. I tell stories here—true stories, from my own life, in hopes they will make a positive difference in yours.

I share laughs and tears, insights and observations, frustrations and realizations, relying all the while on the storytelling wisdom of Julia Cameron, author of The Right to Write.

It is a great paradox that the more personal, focused, and specific your writing becomes, the more universally it communicates.

Music Is — and Always Was — Supposed to Be Fun

March 9, 2016/0 Comments/in Uncategorized /by Peter Vogt

I’m jealous of my son Theo. Envious. Wishing I had my youth back and could walk in his shoes, at least in one respect. Theo is blessed to have a one-of-a-kind orchestra teacher at school who radiates the idea that music is joy. Bust-out-smiling, completely-lose-yourself-in-the-moment kind of joy that involves hard work, yes, but never […]

Peter Vogt

I’m a writer. An essayist, to be more exact. I tell stories here—true stories, from my own life, in hopes they will make a positive difference in yours.

I share laughs and tears, insights and observations, frustrations and realizations, relying all the while on the storytelling wisdom of Julia Cameron, author of The Right to Write.

It is a great paradox that the more personal, focused, and specific your writing becomes, the more universally it communicates.

Alzheimer’s May Destroy My Brain, But It Will Never Destroy Me

February 17, 2016/6 Comments/in Uncategorized /by Peter Vogt

I don’t know a damn thing about Alzheimer’s disease. Not really. Nothing beyond the common man’s understanding that it is a merciless invader that destroys the brain from the inside out. Slowly. Painstakingly. Certainly. Nope. I don’t have a degree in neurology from Harvard Medical School. I haven’t conducted a single double-blind study that will […]

Peter Vogt

I’m a writer. An essayist, to be more exact. I tell stories here—true stories, from my own life, in hopes they will make a positive difference in yours.

I share laughs and tears, insights and observations, frustrations and realizations, relying all the while on the storytelling wisdom of Julia Cameron, author of The Right to Write.

It is a great paradox that the more personal, focused, and specific your writing becomes, the more universally it communicates.

Could It Be — Could It Really Be — That Life Is a Gift and Not an Assignment?

January 21, 2016/2 Comments/in Uncategorized /by Peter Vogt

I’ve been trying to avoid acknowledging it for hours, days, weeks, months in some ways. For lots of reasons. When you’re a writer you’re supposed to be a wise, confident soul who gives to your readers, not a lost, vulnerable soul who takes from them. And when you’re a grown-up you’re supposed to act grown […]

Peter Vogt

I’m a writer. An essayist, to be more exact. I tell stories here—true stories, from my own life, in hopes they will make a positive difference in yours.

I share laughs and tears, insights and observations, frustrations and realizations, relying all the while on the storytelling wisdom of Julia Cameron, author of The Right to Write.

It is a great paradox that the more personal, focused, and specific your writing becomes, the more universally it communicates.

I Choose to Keep Running — Lather, Rinse, Repeat

December 21, 2015/2 Comments/in Uncategorized /by Peter Vogt

Running is my life — although I don’t mean that in the way you might think. Running is not my No. 1 passion, maybe not even a passion at all. I do enjoy it — a lot. I run more days than not, because it makes me feel good physically, psychologically, emotionally, spiritually. Running has […]

Peter Vogt

I’m a writer. An essayist, to be more exact. I tell stories here—true stories, from my own life, in hopes they will make a positive difference in yours.

I share laughs and tears, insights and observations, frustrations and realizations, relying all the while on the storytelling wisdom of Julia Cameron, author of The Right to Write.

It is a great paradox that the more personal, focused, and specific your writing becomes, the more universally it communicates.