Michael

I’ve decided to change the posting schedule for this blog. I’ll post regularly here on Monday, Wednesday and Friday every week.

With my extra time, I will be working on three other writing projects:

1. Working on the happiness book with Nat.
2. Increasing posts on my travel blog, Where in the World?.
3. Increasing posts on my imaging blog, Seeing is Believing.

Regular posts for the other blogs will begin around Sept. 25th though there is a lot of material there already. I hope you will visit those blogs also.

Michael

Today’s post is the 1000th post since I started this blog almost three years ago. This is a major milestone for me. It only seems like yesterday when I started writing on a daily basis. But, 1000 days later, here I am.

It’s hard to tell if many people read what I have to say. I know of some, but most I don’t. That’s okay, because I had two goals for this blog project. The first was to journal what I was thinking, feeling or experiencing on any given day especially on the topic of living a happier life. The second was that I wanted to share that writing with at least one other person, hopefully more. I’ve met both of those goals.

I have to say that I have had a multitude of emotions over the last 1000 days while writing down my thoughts. At times it has been easy while other days extremely difficult. I’ve had insights that I’ve enjoyed while other days I couldn’t seem to think myself out of an open box. I’ve felt exhilaration and I’ve felt frustration. The common thread has been perseverance and dedication.

Bottom line, I’ve enjoyed this project. That’s my only reason for doing anything nowadays. I don’t have the time or the inclination for anything else. I want to extract the most out of my life. Doing things that make me miserable is not my idea of a fulfilling life. So, I look for ways to be happier and many times I’ve chronicled those techniques here. Not all will work for you, but many will. We all have to find our own way. That’s okay, but we can all help each other just a little.

The number 1000 is a great number to me. It feels like the completion of something; not the end of something, more like a chapter closing.

I look forward to what the next chapter brings. I’ll be sharing some of that right here.

Michael

Did anyone read my blog for Tuesday?

Apparently I didn’t even write one. I’m not sure what happened. I was working on a consulting project and somehow I was transported to today, Wednesday afternoon sans a blog post for yesterday.

I don’t know if in the last two years I’ve ever completely forgotten to write my post. I’ve been late. I’ve had technical difficulties but nothing that comes close to totally forgetting.

Hmmmm. Do I need a vacation? I just returned to work after a 5 1/2 month vacation. I’ve only been working for a month and two days. That can’t be it. Could it be low blood sugar since I’m currently on Phase 1 of the South Beach diet?

How about brain freezing due to the frigid weather up here in New England? Was it because I watched American Idol for two hours last night and was overcome by the excitement of the program?

No, I actually think I was taken by aliens, you know, the Close Encounters of the Third Kind type. They only returned me this afternoon.

I feel fine but electronics seem to act up when I’m near.

Have a great day!

Michael

Sometimes I go through periods where writing is very difficult. In fact, it’s can be quite a struggle at times. The last week or two have been like that. It seems like every time I sit down to write, whether it’s the blog, the book or anything else, it’s just hard to get anything out.

I talked to Nat about this tonight and he made the analogy about training for sports. The best training is when you show up. It doesn’t matter if you are having a bad day or a good day. Showing up is the key.

Deep down I know that I’m improving by writing regularly, but during times like this it is hard to be objective. But, I don’t stop. Little by little it works itself out and then I move on to another level. It’s a strange feeling sometimes, but friends can help you stay objective and on track.

I think Nat’s advice can apply to life in general. Show up every day regardless of what is going on internally. Don’t shut the world out. Be involved. Be present. Observe. Listen.

I’m feeling better already.

Michael

Friday night and today were all about book writing. Nat and I made enormous progress and in fact reached every goal we had for the 1 1/2 days. We are currently three weeks ahead of schedule. 

When you are working on a huge project like this, it always feels great to complete sections. Many times when we work together, everything just seems to click and flows quite readily. This last session was no exception except for the fact that it clicked more than usual.

It felt like inspired action. Inspired action differs from action because it comes from somewhere other than the mind. It feels like a pressure or extreme passion to do something and if you don’t do it you will burst. Typically, inspired action almost always taps into deep levels of creativity, generates great results and leaves a feeling of satisfaction that doesn’t compare to normal action.

Today was full of inspired action. That in itself generates more passion for the next phase.

Michael

And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise.  The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt. – Sylvia Plath

I love being a writer. What I can’t stand is the paperwork. – Peter De Vries

Writing. If you had asked me 10 years ago if I would be writing regularly, I would have laughed. But, here I am writing my thoughts down every day on more than one blog. I’m writing a book with my friend and business partner Nat. I have other writing projects in the planning stages. It’s all quite surreal to me.

Sometimes for me, maybe more than most people realize, writing can be difficult or challenging. I may not know what I want to write about. I may not be able to express what I’m truly feeling or I can’t quite get my point across. I am my own worst critic. There are periods when I have a lot of self-doubt. When I’m in a down mood (yes, it happens sometimes), I find it hard to write. Nat says when you can’t think of anything to write, that’s when you should sit down and write.

Just like in life, writing has its ups and downs; its moments of elation; its periods of illumination. Many times there are surprises. Other times I know exactly where I am going.

But, generally, I don’t know what I’m going to write about until I sit down to write. That’s the writing journey for me; a parallel path right beside my life. It can be frustrating at times, but mostly it’s fine as I’ve been trying to make my life more about being in the moment anyway. My writing discipline should reflect that, I believe.

Bottom line……I’m not stopping. I find it too personally rewarding to stop now. So, when it’s hard like today, I’ll sit down and find something to put down in words.

Have a great day!

Michael

Have you ever been in a situation and not known what to say? Have you ever tried to write something and couldn’t find the right expression for what you where feeling? Did your mind become a literary wasteland where words and fully formed thoughts were hard to find?

Welcome to my world today. Not only am I having difficulty with writing this blog but it was hard all day where verbal and oral communication were concerned. Why is that? What is happening on days where this seems to be the theme?

I wish I could figure it out. On the surface it is like standing in a room void of furniture or other modes of mental stimulation. Deeper though, it feels like heavy introspection where your conscious mind has difficulty penetrating.

So, I’m left with one option. Acceptance. No blame. No judgment. No anxiety. No stress. It works in almost every situation. Just thinking about it has given me a few words to put down here. Acceptance helps to penetrate whatever barriers may be preventing you from doing something.

It’s the first step to making a shift or change.

Michael

While I was flying to the U.K. tonight, I read around 200 pages of a book where the author was attempting to accurately date the Great Pyramid in Egypt.  There has been much controversy on the true building date of the Giza Pyramid. That’s what struck me as a interesting topic to read but the approach the author took as he outlined the many theories surrounding the Great Pyramid was what got me thinking.

You may or may not have seen Robert M. Schoch’s documentary on the Great Sphinx of Giza in the 1990’s. He is a trained geologist who studied the erosion patterns of this enigmatic sculpture. Mr Schoch determined that two weathering patterns existed; one by wind/sand and the other by flowing water from rain. His controversial scientific opinion was the Sphinx was built many thousands of years before current thinking, during the times when the Sahara was not a desert and had regular rainfall. It was the only sound explanation for the erosion pattern.

In Pyramid Quest, Mr. Schoch trains his attention on the Great Pyramid. He does something quite interesting to me. Mr Schoch explains in detail many of the most famous theories surrounding the date and purpose of the Great Pyramid. In almost every theory, he was able to show how the events of the time were influencing the author’s theory. No one had stepped back to try and view the Great Pyramid in the context of the people who lived when it was built.

It made me wonder how often we miss the true understanding of something because we are seeing it in the context of our own experience. How many times do you put yourself in another’s shoes to gain understanding from their perspective? It’s not very easy to do, but I believe it is vital to gaining a more accurate understanding of a person or thing.

I’m going to work on being more aware of where my opinions, thoughts and beliefs are coming from. My perception may be keeping me from a clear understanding or interpretation of a person or situation.

Michael

This weekend marks a huge step and beginning for me. Nat and I have started to write our book. I mean seriously write it. We’ve been planning and preparing for several months. We both blocked off this weekend to start the process. Even though writing a book is on my list of things to do before I die, I don’t believe I really ever saw it happening. Apparently, I did.

What has been so incredible is that the process has been much easier to get going than either of us had imagined. We’ve had quite an amazing day as word after word poured out of us and into to the word processor. The outline/structure brainstorm took less than 90 minutes. It was a wonderful thing.

Our excitement level is quite high because the book is more real now that we have it started. It’s not just an idea anymore, but a real project with tangible results.

I’m honored to work on this writing project with Nat. His ceaseless help in my writing endeavors has been a great inspiration to me. And he has helped me find at least one of my writing voices. Thanks Nat.

Well, back to work. Hmmmm….It doesn’t really feel like work as we are having so much fun. And that’s what it’s all about, right?

Have a great day!

Michael

Today marks the 365th consecutive post I’ve done on this blog. It’s really hard to believe that it’s been one year since I made that commitment. There were many days that I struggled to get anything written at all. On numerous days, the topic “appeared” to me 5 minutes before I wanted to write. Other days generated 1 or 2 weeks’ worth of posts in an hour or less. I never knew what would happen. It was fascinating.

It’s been a challenging road, but I don’t have any regrets. I’ve grown immensely from this project. I have no idea whether it has helped other people or not. Of course, I hope my introspections, thoughts, random muses, observations and elaborations on my belief system have triggered positive thoughts or changes in others. Ultimately, though, it’s simply about being out there, exposing my inner thoughts and processes while searching for continual happiness

I promised myself on Jan. 1st, 2008 that I would continue writing as the personal benefits are priceless. 2008 is already showing great promise for a variety of things. I’ll be writing about those changes as I experience them.

For all of you that have continued to read this blog, I thank you. How about some comments every now and then? Don’t be shy.

Have a great day! Here’s to another 365 posts.

Michael