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

Wow! The latest book by J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, was fantastic. This book has broken all previous records in sales for a first book. The first printing was over 12.5 million. The Harry Potter books have brought reading back to a generation that has been consumed with T.V., video games, movies and other forms of entertainment. Harry Potter has been quite the phenomenon.

I’ve read all the books and I just finished the seventh and final in the series last night on a plane to Germany. The story was so engaging that I read over 300 pages while flying through the night.

J.K. Rowling’s stories are engaging, interesting, full of intrigue, have complex twists and turns, fast paced action and are amazingly vivid in detail. She effectively blends multiple, basic human themes in her writing. This book deals with the hero, the quest, the problems associated with racism, the atrocities of war, fighting for what you believe in, one person sacrificing themselves for all others, the power of love, the enduring mystery of life and many spiritual/religious themes. As they say in the U.K., “Brilliant!”

My only complaint is that this was the last in the series which generates a small empty feeling. But at the same time I have such strong feelings of being enriched by the entire series. Mixed emotions for sure, but I’m happier for reading them.

If you haven’t read the books, I suggest you start now.

Michael

I wrote this poem while flying from Frankfurt to Boston today.

Snow Sounds

Softly falling
Swirling down
Quietly blanketing
All things exposed.

Whiteness envelops,
Surrounds and absorbs
All colors
Transformed.

Inner voice connects
With outer beauty
Inward and outward realities
By silence bridged.

The sound of snow
Soft, deep, timeless
The world’s cacophony
Now muted

My soul
At
Peace