Iterations

Jeffery Saddoris
  • 4.8 (43)
  • Society & Culture
  • Updated Weekly

Iterations is the audio version of my occasional journal/newsletter where I share stories, personal experiences, and ongoing questions around creativity, process, and making things that matter. Some episodes are more reflective, some are more practical, and some are just me thinking out loud and trying to make sense of things.

  1. A Pattern So Grand and Complex

    18h ago

    A Pattern So Grand and Complex

    "We're not geniuses, we're just regular guys who are interested in things." — Neil Peart On August 1st, 2015, Rush played their final show at the Forum in LA. I was there, just as I had been for so many Rush shows over the years. That show felt different — special in a way that we weren’t really prepared for. For months leading up to it, there were rumors that this would be the last show and after the final encore of “Working Man,” when Neil came out from behind his drum kit to take a bow with Alex and Geddy, the rumors became true. Over 40 years and thousands of shows, Neil never took a bow out front — instead, he just put down his sticks and quietly left the stage. As he wrote in “Limelight,” he simply couldn’t pretend a stranger was a long-awaited friend. I've been following a thread for over 40 years that started with a borrowed Rush record and led me to books, ideas, and work I couldn't have predicted. This iteration is about where that thread goes when you really pull it. LINKS Rush Rush live 6/7/26 in Los Angeles (Full Show) Neil Peart “Innerview” w/Jim Ladd (1980) Neil Peart’s last interview w/ Jim Ladd (2015) Neil Peart on Moving Pictures w/Strombo Rush Article Archive Neil Peart’s Favorite Books of All Time Hugh Syme Roger Dean Storm Thorgerson Taken by Storm: The Art of Storm Thorgerson and Hipgnosis Mick Rock CONNECT WITH ME Visit my Website: https://jefferysaddoris.com Get my Newsletter: Subscribe Email me: talkback@jefferysaddoris.com

    9 min
  2. A Way of Living

    May 31

    A Way of Living

    For most of my life, I’ve been trying to reconcile two very different ideas about success. One was rooted in practicality, achievement, and outcomes. The other was rooted in curiosity, learning, and exploration. In this episode, I look back at a question my mother asked me during my senior year of high school, the unexpected lessons hidden in a lifetime of creative work, and why I’ve come to realize that what I wanted was never really a career at all. It was a way of living. CONNECT WITH ME Visit my Website: https://jefferysaddoris.com Get my Newsletter: Subscribe Email me: talkback@jefferysaddoris.com

    7 min
  3. What Rust Remembers

    May 6

    What Rust Remembers

    "Sometimes the thing you’re skilled at needs to be broken a little before it can surprise you again." For the past several years, I’ve primarily identified as a painter, despite the fact that the most consistent work I’ve done is writing. That said, lately I’ve had the uncomfortable thought that I might not want to paint anymore — at least not the way I’ve been doing it. Not because I’ve lost interest entirely, but maybe because I haven’t lost it enough. I can pretty consistently make paintings that “work” on some level, and, honestly, that might be part of the problem. CONNECT WITH ME Visit my Website: https://jefferysaddoris.com Get my Newsletter: Subscribe Email me: talkback@jefferysaddoris.com

    10 min
  4. Small Is Still Significant

    Mar 5

    Small Is Still Significant

    Lately I’ve been feeling the weight of how complicated everything seems — I even wrote a bit about it in the last Iteration. It seems that the scale of it all — the speed, the certainty, the volume — can often make even small efforts feel almost invisible. I’ve caught myself wondering whether the things that I make or the conversations I have matter in any “real” way, and honestly, that unsettles me. And I suspect I’m not the only one who’s felt that. CONNECT WITH ME Visit my Website: https://jefferysaddoris.com Get my Newsletter: Subscribe Email me: talkback@jefferysaddoris.com

    7 min
  5. You Have to Start Making Decisions

    Jan 27

    You Have to Start Making Decisions

    Towards the end of last year, I started thinking about building a new website for myself. Not just another vanity site (although I’ve built plenty of those), but more of an archive of the various things I’ve done over my career and a hub where I can share stories around what I’m thinking about and what I’m working on that aren’t dependent on The Algorithm. After years of inconsistent, and if I’m being honest, fairly half-hearted efforts to play the social media game, I’m finally done. I have no more interest in chasing likes or followers or the ever-elusive “brand deal.” I just want to make stuff in my quiet little studio and write about what I make — but also, and maybe more importantly, about what others are making, doing, and thinking about. In fact, in many ways, I kind of want my making to be a byproduct of what others are making, and maybe that includes you. CONNECT WITH ME Visit my Website: https://jefferysaddoris.com Get my Newsletter: Subscribe Email me: talkback@jefferysaddoris.com

    9 min
  6. Let Go Lightly

    12/29/2025

    Let Go Lightly

    About 18 months ago, I started seeing a therapist. I had gotten to a place that I’ve only really been once before and Adrianne encouraged me — actually, she implored me — to talk with a therapist. She once said to me, “Every day, I’m terrified that I’m either going to come home and not find you, or worse, that I will.” I’m not going to lie, that hit pretty hard. I knew I was in a dark place, but we often think that we are the only ones who know just how bad it really is — that we are somehow hiding it from the rest of the world. It’s not true, of course, but that was me in that moment, and to hear the person I love the most in the world say that to me…let’s just say that it shone a light on the dark that I felt surrounded by. So for the past year and a half, I’ve been having the sessions and doing the deep work of unlearning what I had learned and letting go of some of the limiting beliefs and behaviors that have seemed so hell bent on keeping me out of the light. CONNECT WITH ME Visit my Website: https://jefferysaddoris.com Get my Newsletter: Subscribe Email me: talkback@jefferysaddoris.com

    9 min
  7. The Weight of Waiting

    09/23/2025

    The Weight of Waiting

    It took a bit to fire up, but once it did, the familiar rumble of my Dad’s 1974 Ford F100 took me right back to my childhood summers. As Art slowly backed the truck off of the trailer, Adrianne commented, “It’s smaller than I thought it would be, given how large it looms in your history.” Indeed, I thought. One of my earliest memories of this truck is of waking up on the bench seat at Buckskin State Park on the Arizona side of the Colorado river. It was cold that morning — though it was light, the sun hadn’t yet crested the red rock hills that bordered the campground to the East. Dad and my stepmother Linda were both awake after having spent the night in sleeping bags in the bed of the truck. Dad had made a small fire that was crackling and popping and I remember the faint smell of coffee on the chilly morning air. CONNECT WITH ME Visit my Website: https://jefferysaddoris.com Get my Newsletter: Subscribe Email me: talkback@jefferysaddoris.com

    8 min
  8. Style, Stunts, and a Tiny House

    09/02/2025

    Style, Stunts, and a Tiny House

    I’ve shared this story before, and regardless of whether it’s true or just the stuff of photographic legend, it’s so good that I think it bears repeating every so often. The story goes that a photographer was presenting his portfolio to the great Jay Maisel. He asked Jay how he could take more interesting pictures, to which Jay immediately replied, “become a more interesting person.” It may sound trite, but I think it’s often easy for makers to become myopic in terms of the types of things that inspire them. Painters are often looking at other painters, photographers look at other photographers, musicians are often listening to other musicians, and so on. If you’re always looking (or listening) to what’s familiar, the odds of you arriving at something that’s unfamiliar (even if it’s only unfamiliar to you), are pretty slim, which is why it can be helpful to look outside of your comfort zone for inspiration. I’m interested in almost everything so as you might imagine, my feeds are pretty eclectic. While I’ve gotten away from posts like this over the years, I think I’d like to jump back in and offer up an occasional look at some of the things that have caught my attention, and might catch yours. LINKS Long Hot Summers / The Story Of The Style Council Mubi interview with Lee Pace The incredible tiny home of Masato Igarashi You can find all of the links I mention in this Iteration on my Substack. CONNECT WITH ME Visit my Website: https://jefferysaddoris.com Get my Newsletter: Subscribe Email me: talkback@jefferysaddoris.com

    5 min
See All (143)

4.8
out of 5
43 Ratings

About

Iterations is the audio version of my occasional journal/newsletter where I share stories, personal experiences, and ongoing questions around creativity, process, and making things that matter. Some episodes are more reflective, some are more practical, and some are just me thinking out loud and trying to make sense of things.

Information

  • Creator
    Jeffery Saddoris
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2026
  • Episodes
    143
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Jeffery Saddoris
  • Show Website
    Iterations

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