...minds alive on the shelves

These are not books, lumps of lifeless paper, but minds alive on the shelves.  From each of them goes out its own voice… and just as the touch of a button on our set will fill the room with music, so by taking down one of these volumes and opening it, one can call into range the voice of a man far distant in time and space, and hear him speaking to us, mind to mind, heart to heart. 

~Gilbert Highet

 I found this quote posted today on:
http://prettylittleacorns.tumblr.com/

And it was perfect.

A Little Motivation Goes A Long Way

Hello friends.  I know it's been awhile.  Life has been it's usual encroaching, attention-demanding self, keeping me working, organizing, cooking, house-cleaning, tending to family (and extended family) crises, one right after another, and generally going in mad crazy circles.  But today the world stopped.  They called off school for thunderstorm debris (this was a new one on me).  I couldn't find an alternate place to take my son on such short notice and was left with no choice but to park my butt at home with him.  Call it an enforced slack day.  

Of course, the house still demands my attention at every turn, as our accumulated possessions are starting to take over our life and are screaming to be sorted, culled, and the remainders put to better use than their current positions of gathering dust and creating a nuisance.  There's still (always) so much to do.  But I've had this blog brewing in my head for a few days now, so I thought I'd take advantage of this little bit of down time I've managed to steal.  

I noticed something about myself the other day.  It had to do with motivation.  I had reached the end of my little give-a-damn rope and had slunk into a dangerous kind of apathy that was approaching depression.  Nothing seemed worth the effort all of a sudden.  All of the energy I'd been spewing forth seemed to be getting me nowhere and I was tired.  So tired.  And then something amazing happened.  I sat down at my usual thinking place in the kitchen and picked up this book I'd been reading a few days before about saving the environment and making an effort on an individual level.  This is not new information to me, not really.  The environment is a real issue with me and I've read on the problem extensively.  But this particular book is unique in that the author isn't telling the reader what to do... instead he has documented what he has done, how he changed his life and his perspective to lower his own impact on the planet.  It's inspiring.  And within ten minutes of reading through the Appendix to the book (I'd already finished reading the rest of it a couple days prior), I was back on my feet, ready to take on my day again, ready to do anything.  Because, hey, there's work to be done.  There's a planet to save, and how can I save the planet if I can't save my own home? 

Which leads me to the interesting problem of motivation.  I don't believe I'm alone when I get overwhelmed with all there is to do and it all seems hopeless.  I think this is a common problem, at least in our society.  We sit and we give up because there just seems no point.  But as soon as we are inspired by something we truly care about, suddenly the energy floods us and we can't wait to get up and get started.  Suddenly, everything is in perspective again, working is rewarding and every act has a purpose. 

I'm coming to believe that of all the problems there are in the world, the biggest may be lack of motivation, or that at least a renewed spark of motivation could go a long way toward solving the world's problems.  I think this may be one of the most important issues to ponder as an American, with so much work to be done here at home.  People stop caring.  We become apathetic.  We start blaming each other and the government and other countries and "society" and on and on for our problems.  For why our economy's been tanking, for why more and more of our kids are being diagnosed with asthma and ADHD, for our lack of healthcare, for our obesity, for why our families are failing to stay together, for our lack of community, for why we're not happy.  Since we have convinced ourselves that it's, as Douglas Adams in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy so aptly put it, Somebody Else's Problem, we have painted ourselves into a corner of helplessness, and there's nothing more depressing than being a victim.  

The sad truth here is that we are victimizing ourselves.  We are our own victims, because we have convinced ourselves that it is so.  Every one of us has the opportunity to wake up in the morning, or in a moment, and stop and think consciously about what we are doing and what we are going to do next.  We can start to realize that "society" is us!  And we can remember what it is to be a good example again, and how people learn from each other.  We got where we are now, here in our apathy and our nothing-I-can-do-ness because of what we saw other people doing.  If it became the social norm to be responsible for ourselves and our world, then we as a society would shift our focus.  We would spend our time grappling with the problems we face as a society instead of spending our time watching reality TV and shopping for hours on end for stuff we really don't need just to give ourselves some sense of control.  We would each know that we, individually, are responsible for what we, as a society, are doing.  You are society.  I am society.  You are, I am, our next door neighbors are, and family members and coworkers and friends.  WE are society.  If we each realized that, then we'd see that there's work to do, and we'd want to do it.  We would have a sense of purpose. 

One thing that de-victimizing yourself does is to free you up to move, to act.  You don't have to become and activist, necessarily, to help change this apathetic tide.  You just have to care.  And you have to make an effort every day to live a life that is more in keeping with what you truly care about.  Nothing will improve until we believe that it can improved and that we can do something about it.  

If you're wondering what book it was that so inspired me, it was No Impact Man by Colin Beavan.  He and his family tried to live making no adverse impact on the planet for one year.  They live in New York and the challenges were great.  I admire what they've done and the philosophy of inspiring by doing that Colin Beavan developed through this project.  

Motivation is easy when you're inspired by someone else's actions.  I am now convinced that leading by example may be our only real hope.  

On that note, I'm going to get back to de-stuffing my home, and I'm going to make sure that anything we get rid of goes to charity, gets recycled or gets put to some good use.  I don't think it will be as hard as I feared.  It's not for nothing.  It's for a greater purpose, and I'm just doing my part.

 

Life Under Construction

This image brought to you by:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/takomabibelot/393641932/

This is a short note to let you know that The Great Relocation process has begun and my life will be in a state of chaotic upheaval for a little while now.  I'll try not to neglect you too long.  But my posts may be sporadic, with lengths of quiet time in between.  Just know that I'm reconstructing my life and busying myself with the task of nesting and reconfiguring.  Organizing was never my strong suit, so believe me, I'll need all the brain cells I can spare for this mess. 

I should be back soon, refreshed and inspired, with many stories and lots to talk about.  Spring is waking up and getting dressed, which brings with it all kinds of things to look forward to.  Until my next report, I wish you all well.

Your Soul in Print

I've taken a bit of a break of late.  Life's been hectic and it's been easier to read the works of others than to use words of my own.  But hopefully my little mental reprieve is coming to an end. 

Don't get me wrong, I'm still reading, and plenty.  It's a happy addiction that I have no plans of curbing.  I've finally come to The Dark Tower, the final volume in Stephen King's The Dark Tower series, and it is every bit as enthralling as the rest.  Of course, having recently finished Song of Susannah (book VI of the series, ya' ken), I now understand more fully than ever before just how very personal this story is to King.  That realization (underlined, bolded and lit up with crimson neon) made my heart actually go out to this man whom I have never met but whose works I have been following for nigh on 17 years (not quite 19, but nearly, very nearly).  Because I get it.  At least I think I do.  I understand that these words we write, fictional or not, these are pieces of our souls, on paper and in print for the world to see and live vicariously through.  I get the compulsion – the feeling that you can't not write it down, write something, by the gods.  And I understand how painful the process can be – the mind-numbing task of getting it all out, of taking it from the concept that seemed to explode in your head one day down to written words on paper, and trying for all you're worth to get it perfect, to do the story justice, for God's sake.  All you can do is get the words down through your own fumbling human hands, filtered through your limited human experience and your never-completely-adequate vocabulary.  When it's big, when it matters to you, sitting down to the computer (or to the blank page with ink pen in hand) is like going to church or entering the sacred circle, performing your sacred duty, and giving thanks to your muse (or whatever you call the place where your inspiration comes from) while simultaneously hoping they picked the right schmuck to interpret this beautiful (or horrible or devastating or hilarious… in the end, they're all beautiful) tale. 

Sai King, if it's like this for you, if it is still, then I get it. 

And so I wander through my own wooded forest; a place strange and unfamiliar, where the landscape can change at a moment's notice and the light is tricky; the land of the unfinished story.  It's been slow going and may take another year yet just to get it all down, between the full time job and the mental dry spells, but what choice do I have?  As I said before, there's that compulsion, that inability to turn away from that fascinating shimmer that is your story, even when the going is hard and the visibility is nil.  It's got me, this one, so I'll keep plodding along until I find my way to the end. 

In the mean time, I have my blog to make note of my observations.  In the future, I'll try to be more consistent with my reports.  I hope you don't get too impatient.  When the mind wanders, it sometimes takes the scenic route back.

A Room of One's Own

CREATING MENTAL SPACE

Ah, the writing life. To spend hours creating spectacular prose about interesting characters with grand adventures. To sit at a coffee shop, idly drinking your café mocha and daydreaming about your next big scene. You are completely immersed in the fictional world you have created, and nothing can take you away from it.

And then there’s writing for the rest of us, for the real world. If your life is anything like mine, you’re working a full time job, carting the kids back and forth to school and band practice and soccer, trying to figure out (at 6:30 in the evening) what to make for dinner while the washing machine is going and you’re yelling and Kaylie or Carson to pick up their rooms if they want any time to play Wii! You finally get the kiddies off to bed by 9:30 (if you’re lucky… and they really should have been in bed by 9…). Okay, you’ve got an hour, maybe an hour and a half to get some writing done if you want to get enough sleep tonight. You turn on your computer and sit and stare at a blank document, waiting for the words to come. But, for some reason, the only thing you can seem to think about is that Kaylie has a doctor’s appointment tomorrow, so there goes your lunch hour. And did you call back that client? Did you mail that letter? Did you set out the meat to thaw for tomorrow night? The next thing you know, it’s 10:30 and you haven’t written a thing. You consider, in that moment, just hanging up your dreams. Life just doesn’t have room for you to be a writer.

What you need, friends and interested parties, is head space. You need to be able to shut out the mental clatter and walk into your mental writing room, that place where you are surrounded by nothing but the landscape of your current creative pursuit. Here are some tips that have helped me.

Sound

One of the biggest challenges to concentration comes in the form of what you hear. If you are a person who needs to block out the audio world around you in order to concentrate (or even if you just need something auditory to fixate on), here are some things you can do:

1. Music – Put on some head phones or crank the stereo to the preferred volume. Listen to music that puts you in the vibe of the mental landscape you’re trying to tap into. You can create a soundtrack on your mp3 player or computer that goes with your current story or scene. At the very least, choose music that fades nicely into your mental background. Unless you don’t mind constant commercial breaks and DJ chatter, I would recommend NOT tuning in your favorite radio station. Save the talk radio for those times when you’re looking for something else to talk about, not when you’re trying to form your own words.

2. White Noise – If music is too distracting or you can’t find the right kind, there’s always white noise. Turn on a fan or set your old TV set to static. This may also be a good time to start some clothes or dishes washing – you get some chores done and the appliances create a nice soothing whir for you to create by.

3. Cut Distractions – If possible, take the phone off the hook, turn off the TV (or go into a room where other family members aren’t watching TV) and let everyone know that it is writing time now, and you need to be left alone unless someone’s bleeding or something broke. Also, log off the Internet. This is no time to be checking e-mail or looking up that little factoid. If you come across some detail you need to check, write it down on a piece of paper and do your research later. Tell yourself you are writing now, nothing else. Not writing out character sheets or researching or plotting your story. There are other times for that. Not now.

Sight

Another way to get yourself in the zone, so to speak, is to be selective with what you see. Sure, you’ve got the four walls around you and the various items around your home, but you can choose certain inspirational pieces to focus on to make going from scattered to focused much easier.

1. Put up pictures or pieces of art, cut out of magazines or where ever you find them, around your writing area. If you find an image that strikes a particular chord with your story, keep it handy, either displayed in constant view in your writing area, or taped to the cover of the notebook you're working in so you can grab it whenever you need.

2. Choose a desktop that inspires you so that you’ll see it as soon as you turn on your computer.

3. Get away for awhile – If you’re blessed to have a long enough break that you can actually have a couple of hours to yourself, a change of scenery may be just what you need. Go to your favorite coffee shop, diner or a park if it’s nice outside. Take whatever inspirational elements you need (your mp3 player, that picture of the ocean, etc.) to get you in your groove.

Brain Storming

When it’s time to write, it’s time to write, but what about the rest of the time? Learn to take advantage of the little moments to brainstorm and develop what you’re working on.

1. Keep paper and working pen on hand at all times. You never know when an idea will hit you, but if you have something to write with, you’ll be ready.

2. Write down your stressors. If your head is full of your to-do list and things you’re worried about, you won’t have the ability to think creatively. You need your head space for your creative pursuits.

3. Brain storm while you:

- Exercise
- Take a walk
- Drive your morning and evening commute to work
- Do housework
- Before you go to sleep – sometimes the mind can come up with some pretty interesting material while you dream.

Whatever you do, don’t tell yourself it’s impossible, that you’re too stressed or you’re too busy. If this is important to you, it can be done. Don’t accept any other reality.

Suck It Up

Another day in paradise, and I gotta' say, the spark isn't really finding me lately. It's been much like swimming through mud and pushing myself to keep moving forward. Too much summer heat, too many things in the schedule to keep track of, too much clutter in the old noggin. Occasionally, I catch one of those little glimpses of... something... but it usually ends up being the mental equivalent of seeing what you're just sure was a great snowy owl soaring past, only to find it's a plastic grocery sack floating through the air. Ugh.

So, Muse, what gives? Are you taking a break? On strike? Did ya' think you might mention you were going to check out before you just left me hanging here? Oh, the frustration.

Of course, if I were talking to me (as, I suppose, I am) I would tell myself to grab a cup of coffee, throw on some Vast or some Coldplay (depending on how far into my no-inspiration-havin'-funk I am at the moment) and get to crackin'. Write something, sing along to the music, close your eyes and just zone out for awhile. But whatever you do, don't sit there and whine about how mentally clogged you feel. Suck it up. Your Self is waiting.

Yeah... that being said, I think I'm going to go take a walk now and bask in this July heat, see what speaks to me. Or maybe I'll just sit in the A/C and read. Half Blood Prince is coming out tomorrow, so I've got some Potter to re-catch up on. Mmm... iced tea and Potter... that just might be the perfect reset button.