Monday, January 23, 2012

Keepers Of The Sacred Words

As writers, I think we are the keepers of sacred words. I'm not talking just Ni, Peng, and Neee-Wom here. I mean the permission words, like create, believe, imagine. We have to believe that we are creators of new worlds worth imagining.

The main struggle isn't usually the dreaming, but rather the follow-through. It can be difficult to peruse finishing the first draft of a short story or manuscript. It might feel exhausting to revise, cut whole chunks form a story you've slaved over, and then unravel it into a whole new dimension.

But if the characters haunt you the way an echo from the last note of an amazing song chases after your ears, you must persevere.

Every author I have ever interviewed, and in three years time that's a whole heap of amazing scribes, has had to suffer at the hands of patience, perseverance, and faith. Sometimes blind faith that has been duct taped and thrown in a back closet.

But they don't stop putting one finger to key after key after key. They don't backpedal in fear, away from their passion and path. They don't succumb to fear or petty annoyance. They simply strive. Ahead. With an umbrella of hope and vision for tomorrow or the next day.

Keep your words sacred, especially when talking to yourself. Be gentle with yourself, for you are a child of the universe. Your words and your stories matter.


Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Heartening For The Disheartened

I think we all lose our moxie from time to time. When you're treading water for a long while, testing shore to land to deep end, it's near-to-impossible not to get a little (or hella lot) worn out.

The land of Dishearten, where dreams deflate, ambition sours, and will loses way while chasing why. If you're following your passion, chances are you've spent some time in this underworld.

I have a go-to for when I find myself here. It may seem a little silly, but it always brings me a smile and reminds me that impossible is only possible with the I'm. Im+possible=impossible. As soon as I change my mind, and go back to believing, all-to-everything is available to become true.

Pure Imagination:


Come with me and you'll be
In a world of pure imagination
Take a look and you'll see
Into your imagination

We'll begin with a spin
Trav'ling in the world of my creation
What we'll see will defy
Explanation

If you want to view paradise
Simply look around and view it
Anything you want to, do it
Want to change the world, there's nothing to it



There is no life I know
To compare with pure imagination
Living there, you'll be free
If you truly wish to be

If you want to view paradise
Simply look around and view it
Anything you want to, do it
Want to change the world, there's nothing to it

There is no life I know
To compare with pure imagination
Living there, you'll be free
If you truly wish to be



Monday, January 2, 2012

The Even Flow


As 2012 gently guides us into the future, change is shaping itself into the present. My world is a very exciting one right now, and it's filled with a calm awareness. Which isn't something I'm overly familiar with. I believe it is brought on by the grace of letting go of that which does not benefit me and grabbing onto belief.

I'm letting go of people, of habits and expectations. I'm turning to belief in myself, my family, and greatness for others. The Universe is talking, and I'm hearing and listening to what it has to say. I don't think we're always taught kindness. To love without malice, without judgement or jealousy. But just because we aren't taught something, it doesn't mean that we can't learn.

I've witnessed attitudes that baffle me, anger and resentment that take away from joy, and fake interactions that neither fulfill nor provide solace. 2011 opened a number of doors and showed me a grand scale of photos into some of the best and worst moments of humanity.

Here's what I have resolved. What I can do, and what I will not. In 2012:

I will move forward with forgiveness.
I will not hold myself to an unrealistic standard.
I will make mistakes.
I will try to laugh more than I cry, unless crying makes me feel better.
I will do my best to be kind, provide empathy, and let love walk into every room I enter.
I will try not to judge you, and when I start to, I will remind myself that I am not God.
I will believe in all things.
I will ask for forgiveness and the ability to believe more.
I will love on the grandest scale I can imagine and supersede it.


I hope this year that you give yourself over to what your heart seeks. That you believe in yourself, even if you feel foolish or doubtful. That you let yourself make mistakes, and don't judge the mistake as a failing. I hope you will close your eyes and imagine who it is you want to be. That you see that person, that you name the qualities they posses and the dreams they desire. And I hope that once you see who that person is, that you recognize that because you wish it, because you name those qualities and see them, you already have everything inside you to become who you wish to be.