This month we’re taking a quick tour thru ancients teachings.
My first visit to Egypt is just a few months away so exciting!
Daily Thoughts
If it’s not Reality, what is IT?
Read this 2016 The Atlantic article over the weekend, still processing…
Today’s Thought:
“We become what we do.”
ie “baby steps”
Am I wasting my time?
Seth (Godin, not Adam & Eve’s third son), says write and publish everyday.
I doubt I have that much of interest to say, but it’s the habit, not the output that he’s advocating.
It is true, the habit of finishing and publishing is something I need to acquire. So, here’s today’s, dedicated to Seth (who cares not a hoot).
And his entry today which is rather à propos fro: https://seths.blog/
Jot
“An almost magical idea, a tiny little word, a chance to make it real.
If someone tasks you with carving something profound into a block of granite, the emotional overhead is probably too high to do our best work.
But if you simply want to jot something down, all you need is an iota, a tiny glimpse of what might work.
It turns out that just about all granite-worthy ideas begin as jots.
Simply jot.”
DAY NINE: money
BitCoin is worth more than gold, again.
I own a little of it, and Ethereum, and gold (actual gold coins) so, when it makes news, I pay a bit of attention.
But not enough of either to worry about. Maybe it goes up more, maybe it goes down again.
Maybe soon we’ll start using BitCoin or another digital currency to buy and sell actual stuff. I doubt my gold coins will ever get used unless I end up living during the Apocalypse (but why?)
Just mussing, wasting time instead of writing or editing my fiction…
day eight
An oxymoron possibly.
Isn’t ‘make us better’ the what and the why of all the organic chemical manipulations we’ve concocted to alter ourselves?
Anyways, I’m for them.
Sure, we’ll screwup and make drugs and take drugs that don’t make us better but that’s no reason to ban them.
Day SeVeN: Comfort
I like my comfort zone. So why is “getting out of your comfort zone” an objective?
At the Duke.EDU site, they say: ‘By embracing the unfamiliar, you expand your skills and become an even more valuable team member’
Do I want to be a ‘more valuable team member?”
Day Six: Stuck in the middle
I feel like I’ve been planning and writing and rewriting act 2 for years. I’d think it would move quickly. After all, my characters are careening from incident to incident, discovering secrets, anecdotes and desires that propel them to act.
But every time I think my hero is ready to move on to act 3 and the climax of her story, another act 2 reading requires more explanation. What’s stopping her and me? Just a thought today.
DaY FouR
Today’s reading: I’m grounded (as a human) in: Peace, Compassion and Strength.
Peace is often seen as passive, a recoiling from the fight. But it’s not; not when peace is a conscious choice to embody and project. We can fight for peace but when compassion and strength are included, it’s a lifestyle choice available to me, no matter the external appearances.
SO, am I ready to live in peace? To choose compassion and strength over fighting? An enlightening question to ask myself. And, when I say yes, my world is immediately more peaceful.
Day Three: Fictional Characters
Today I’m working on planning a series of adventure novels set in the 1970s and 80s.
A series depends on a couple of recurring characters that appeal to readers over a longer-term. so, even though it’s a book about structure, her character development advice helps me plan.
Jessica Brody (the author) says I need characters with: “… a strong, compelling want and an even more compelling need that readers will resonate with. … figure out what to do with this beautifully flawed character of yours.
Where are they going?
What is their big journey?
What is their most perfect plot?”