Here's a little secret: Sometimes I have absolutely no clue what I'm going to write about when I sit down at the keyboard. None whatsoever. My mind is a vacuum - literally. It sucks up whatever it's given, puts a spin on it, and deposits it on the page.
Input - that's the key. When there's nothing worth saying already in my head, I find a random prompt - the above picture, for instance - and see what it says to me. I analyze it for deeper meaning, filter it through my world view, and store it here for you to read, or ignore. I like to think that this practice makes me a better writer. If nothing else, the mental exercise is good. Too often we seek to escape thinking about things, when the only way to add something worthwhile to the picture is to do the opposite.
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Remember pick-up sticks? My youngest has a similar game where players pull random sticks out of a holey canister until someone finally selects the wrong one, and spills the marbles balancing atop them. Some sticks come out scot free. Others shift the infrastructure, moving marbles into precarious positions. Often a few fall long before the avalanche that ends the game. The person with the most sticks (and fewest marbles) wins.
There are numerous analogies one could make from this. That's what I like about random thoughts. Yesterday while Christmas shopping, I was trying to decide on a purchase and kept waffling. The item was right, but the color all wrong. I'd looked, but hadn't found a similar item in the local stores, and was sorely tempted to just settle. Eventually though, I walked away. I may not find it anywhere else, but at least I won't be filling someone's closet with unwanted clutter. Sometimes, saying no leaves room for something better.
My mother was always a great one for answering questions and complaints with contrived witticisms, often in poetry form. For example: What's that for? - Cat's fur t'make kitten britches. I can't! But, if you do it... - If "ifs" and "buts" were candy and nuts, we'd all have a Merry Christmas! I wish (fill in the blank)... If wishes were horses, we'd all take a ride. The first I still don't get, but there is truth in the last two. And while pat answers can be pretty unsatisfying in the moment, well, now I'm thinking my momma is pretty smart. Funny how that works, isn't it?
I write a lot about the need for each of us to develop our individual talents and follow our own dreams. But for a moment I'd like to think about the friends who support us along the way. Helping someone accomplish a goal, being part of someone else's picture, is rewarding in its own right. Parents know this. It's why they beam with pride at baseball games, knowing they first taught that child to throw a ball. Or why while watching a high school musical, they remember the all those times little voices called "Watch me! Watch me!", and they did. Why they celebrate those diplomas and career advancements like they were their own.
Knowing someone believes in you can be the best incentive to succeed. And, believing in someone else's dream can help it to happen. After all, the Beatles didn't become "THE BEATLES!" in a vacuum. So, here's a shout out to anyone who has read my book and is looking forward to the next one, who reads this blog, who has supported this endeavor with encouragement, advice, or passing the word along. I promise to do my best not to let you down. None available today - sorry. But, what I do have is encouragement, and it's absolutely free!
No matter what your goal is, if you haven't started yet, what are you waiting for? There is no "perfect" time - just time. And guess what? Each of us gets to decide how to use ours. Choose wisely. If you've already taken the first step toward fulfilling your dreams, keep going, keep moving, keep working at it! You'll get there eventually, or at least die trying, which is a lot better than having never made the attempt. Lately I've spent a lot of time considering the concept of "second sleep". Maybe you've never heard of it. I hadn't until just recently. What many of us don't realize about our current habit of 6 -8 contiguous hours sleep is that it is a relatively modern development brought on by the advent of electricity and the industrial age. Segmented sleep, also known as divided, bimodal, bifurcated, or interrupted sleep was the norm for the human race before then. Folks would retire early, sleep a few hours, awaken and be active for 1-4 hours, and then go back to bed for the remainder of the night. This routine was often supplemented with an afternoon nap. (To read more, go to: http://slumberwise.com/science/your-ancestors-didnt-sleep-like-you/ )
The reason I'm so fascinated with the practice is that I wake up a lot at night. Sometimes I can relax and fall back asleep, but more often than not my mind races headlong into trying to sort out whatever I didn't have time to deal with during the day. But because I'm also trying to not be awake, this wakefulness, rather than being useful, tends to further stress me out. Laying in bed with a restless mind is lonely and counterproductive - though I do sometimes come up with interesting plot twists in those wee hours, if only I'd get up and write them down! Sometimes I try praying, and eventually I do fall asleep again. Anyhow, this makes me think about how far we've digressed from our natural state of being. The road of progress has in some ways taken us further from our intended destination. Our bodies are rebelling to our modern diets. Our families fracture across continents instead of remaining close. Consumerism buries us in excessive "stuff". Despite our love of technology, many of us long for simpler times. And that's what I think about in the middle of the night. |
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