Spring Forward but Don't Step in the Pot Hole

A pot hole could be figuratively or literally. What are your pot holes? Have you joined a gym lately or have you begun an exercise routine? Why not? Maybe the following scenario will shed some light on that question.

You know you have seen her. Over there in the corner. The thin, trim, svelte gym-jogger with the sweat stained bathroom hand towel covering the entire treadmill monitor as she treks on with nary a bead of sweat on her botoxed brow.

Not to be intimidated you quickly find an empty treadmill far away from the corner. Eyes focused straight ahead, (you almost wish you had blinders on, the kind they put on horses who pull the carriages around the park) You begin to tread away next to someone who seems to be treading a zillion miles an hour faster than you. Slyly, (lifting up one corner of your blinders) you glance from the corner of your eye (You know what I am talking about ) hoping you are not caught looking. Aha! Just as you expected. The monitor shouts 4.0! The 15 minute mile. Yikes!

In a split second you check to see if anyone is glancing at your measly 3.0. In other words the 20 min mile. Suddenly you feel like a fraud, or worse, like a horse. I mean, who does a 20 min mile on the treadmill at a gym? Certainly not the buffed 30 something who is pounding the treadmill pavement to your left and certainly not the super fit senior citizen to your right who is hanging on for dear life with both hands on the railing. Did I see a 4.0? But there is good news. No one cares!

Can you surpass all this self-induced humiliation and do your exercise outdoors? Perhaps. The main point here is to do cardiovascular exercise. At least for the required 12 minutes to actually work up to your required heart rate; hold it for the requisite 12 minutes, then cool down for 12 minutes. Can you give yourself 36 minutes a day?

What does this have to do with writing? Everything. Exercise stimulates the brain and it is better than standing on your head to grab for those ideas.

Write it down, (or should I say upside down)

Karma

Group Think

I think group think is dangerous. It takes all the fun out of being creative.

From the time a child is 5 years old until they turn, let's say, 11, their mind is like an explosive confetti factory. Ideas and thoughts are everywhere and non stop with all colors. Woe be unto the human who will try to squash this energy.

If you want to be fresh again, spend some time with a 5 or 6 year old and see the world through their eyes. Before it is too late for you or them.

Write it down,
Karma

Writing is Risky Business

At least for me, writing is risky. When I begin to write, there are a whole slew of ideas and possibilities for what to write about. I have to know myself , my perspective and my purpose for writing and have to get a sense of where I belong. Also, I have to know what is important and be able to get the words all down in a format that will be coherent to others. How can I narrow this down? I risk my confidence.

To do this, I have to turn off that voice inside my head that says "you'll never get this right", and calm my anxieties. I risk my own rejection before I even touch the computer keys.

OK, now it's time to take that risk, reach for the keyboard or pen and put the words on paper. Once I get going, the words just flow and I begin to feel connected to that spark, muse, or motivation that resides within me. In fact it resides in all of us. Trust it. Trust yourself.

Write it down,

Karma

Do You Cross Fertilize?

It has been said that writers write about what they know. This may be relevant in the beginning of a career but how many times can you write about your vacation to an exotic hideaway or your short stint as a body guard for some celebrity?

Research is key for any kind of writing and I know I am speaking to the choir on that subject, but I just needed to probe a little, so I picked up the book "A Whack on the side of The Head" by Roger von Oech.

Research doesn't have to be done in a library or online. People are one of the best suppliers of research around. For instance, some of the examples of Cross Fertilization given by von Oech are quite humorous and could be considered excellent ideas for some fiction stories. Let's send these people to lunch and see what they come up with:

1. A policeman and a librarian
2. A circus clown and an air traffic controller (now this one is hilarious, but no more than the next one)
3. A fool and a banker
4. A prostitute and a professional football player.

I'm thinking it may not be a bad idea for me to go get whacked upside the head once in a while.

Write it down

Karma

How Positive is Positive Thinking?

A friend of mine shared the movie The Secret with me and lately it has been a hot topic on a couple of blogs. Jennifer Louden had quite a discussion about it and brought up some interesting points. Does positive thinking allow any room for self doubt? Of course it does.

We, as a people, cannot be void of self doubt or indecision, but that does not mean we cannot think positively and be better off for it. To me movies like The Secret and books by people like Napoleon Hill can boost our morale and help us with low self-esteem.

In The Secret, a woman cured herself of cancer and a man became wealthy all because their mind thought it. However, I don't think it is that simple nor am I against the power of positive thinking because "thoughts can become things". It is just that movies like The Secret can cause false hope in some people who may not realize that along with the positive thinking comes hard work.

You guys, Nothing, I repeat, nothing takes the place of hard work. Now timing is another matter. It may take some writers a few years and many, many attempts to write and sell their work and then one person will come along and BAM, sell everything they put out fresh out of the gate. You all have heard the saying (loosely paraphrased) "Man, she can fall in S and come out smelling like a Rose"

I think all of us have used positive thinking and have practiced a little bit of "The Law of Attraction" principles and they may have worked because positive thoughts attract positive actions just as negative thoughts attract adverse reactions. So my advice is DO NOT give positive thinking up. I haven't been around the blog world too long but I can already see how positive this blogging world is. What a special group.

Write it down,
Karma

Where did You Say that Road Lead?

Liz thanks for you thought provoking posts on March 4

When Liz Strauss posted her "Five Goals I Never, Ever Wanted to Pursue" on March 4, she really got my recall juices going. I guess I began to think about traveling roads, when I would sit in the front pew on Sunday morning and Preacher Dan with his bible open in one hand and his other hand raised in defiance would shout out "The road to Hell is paved with good intentions."

Right then and there I knew I would have to watch my step....literally. For years I dared not to set a goal or desire anything that seemed to rise above my then preceived lot in life. (Which I considered very low at the time) After all, if I could go to Hell for having good intentions, where then in heaven's name was I going to go for not having any intentions for my life. Hmmm?

I think I'll take a little time to revisit some of my roads that I have traveled and reevaluate.

Write it down,
Karma

Are You Doing Too Much?

As I was skimming a few blogs today I ran across Yvonne Perry of the Lieurance Group, where she talked about Too Much of A Good Thing. She pondered as to whether she was doing too much within her writing business and if she should step back some. Go on over and read what she has to say. You will be able to relate as I did.

Write it down,

Karma