The Right to Write

I found this book on the shelf at my favorite lunchtime escape: value village. The title peaked my interest. “Right to write” it said on the yellow cover.

I’m not sure what made me want to read this book, but I like all the words in the title: right, I love my rights; write, I would love to write!

The idea of right to write is we all have the innate ability and desire to write, to express our thoughts and ideas. It doesn’t really matter if anyone else is going to read it, it’s about getting thoughts out of our heads, in the process we are able to examine, digest and re-evaluate these words being written.

I liked to write, I also had the feeling I don’t know what I am doing. I wasn’t trained as a writer but I enjoy writing, expressing my ideas. I picked up the book in part hoping to have some of my own opinions validated and to learn from someone who has been in the trade for more than 30 years.

She provide tools at the end of each chapter for the reader can work on, like writing morning pages as she calls them, which I think is a fantastic idea I plan to implement into my daily schedule. If these tools are the only things I got out of the book I would be happy with my purchase, but the book has much more to offer. It’s written in a very casual and candid tone, feeling like chatting with a friend, the feeling I get from the book is the author wants readers to write with complete disregard for the outcome, the act of writing is the desired outcome.

We like people who are eloquent, same goes for writing, especially those write write well. I wish to write and maybe even write well, however the desire to write flawlessly sometimes hinders the act of writing, the feeling of “I’m not gonna write perfectly I might as well not start.” is also addressed quite nicely in the book, she suggest to write imperfectly, perfection is for later, but first, imperfection. It seems like such a simple thing, just like we don’t expect anyone to perform anything perfectly the first try, we shouldn’t expect first drafts to be perfect. This frees the mind up to write, instead of trying to consider how the writing is not perfect and how to fix it, write first, fix later.

I also like her approach of get started by writing about something mundane, the weather, what your surrounding looks like and that might lead to more interesting writings. Getting started is all the motivation you need, once started stopping becomes the hard part. It is something I have thought about myself but confirmation from an “expert” is always reassuring. Now I just write down whatever is on my mind, make sense or not doesn’t matter because I’m trying to get started or to record something in my mind for later use.

In the book she made another point I find very helpful. I always thought it requires large chunks of uninterrupted time to write, like taking a year off to work on a novel or more romantic version of that: locking oneself away in a cabin middle of nowhere. Julia wrote that this is not the case, she said to “steal” time to write. A lot of her own writing are done on stolen time, a few minutes here between chores, an hour there while baby sleeps. It may not seem like much but a few minutes here, an hour there adds up over time. I have benefited greatly from this, I had the same romantic idea of all writers must have vast uninterrupted time dedicated to writing, while this is true for some, but it seems for most, stolen time is the best and most practical way to lay down a few lines.

Whenever there is enthusiasm there is the chance for snobbery especially if there’s money to be made. People gets turned off by snobbery and think it’s not for them but for someone who is truly passionate snobbery is the worst enemy. Like pompous and condescending audiophiles or whiskey/wine sommeliers driving off people who want to participate because of a slightly twisted sense of superiority Julia, in the book, despises those writers who make it their mission to keep “normal” people away from writing.

Not everyone can be a great writer but everyone should write. Writing help us find out more about ourselves. It can also be an enjoyable activity, with your favorite beverage and some music it could be your zen and escape. We may never get a book published, but we all have the right to write.

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The Right to Write: An Invitation and Initiation into the Writing Life
by Julia Cameron
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Ask yourself

I came by the idea of active question in the book Triggers by Marshall Goldsmith.

Active questions are questions that put you in the driver seats, questions like “Did I do my best to define a career goal?” instead of questions like “Do I have a career goal?” that puts you in the passenger seat instead, making you someone going along for a ride with no control over where you end up.
When “Do I have a career goal?” is asked it sets in our mind a black and white situation with no shades of grey in between. What if I’m just setting up a goal or I don’t have a goal and is working on one? “Did I do my best to define a career goal?” is a much more involving question, it makes you think about your career goal, not only whether or not you have one but to think even if you have one is it the best for you? Could you improve on it? Is it time to change it? What’s the current situation with your career? It is a question that provokes and promotes active participation instead of a passive yes or no.
I’ve always thought and told myself that I have the power to change my situation because I can change the way I act in different situations and control the way I respond to the world.
Active question is a great way to have me ask myself or rather, remind myself that I am in the driving seat of my own life. Sometimes, maybe very often times it’s hard to realized you are actually the master of your own destiny. The world overwhelms us, could be too much to bare and it’s just easy to go with the flow and let the world take you wherever it decides. Active question is a good way to tell yourself “I may not be able to control the world but I can do something to get closer to the desired outcome.”.
I want to from now to set up a series of active questions to ask myself at the end of each day and I could score how well I did on each one. I don’t expect myself to be able to ace each question everyday, just trying, however, isn’t enough, not only would I have to try have to try hard, effort counts here.
I will score myself on how much effort I put in to each category and overtime I should be able to see if I’m heading in the right direction. The hard part would be to be honest with myself, and face the harsh reality that I may not be putting in as much efforts as I had hoped.
The questions:
“Did I do my best to eat healthy today?”
“Did I do my best to write today?”
“Did I do my best to be a better husband?”
“Did I do my best to learn something today?”
“Did I do my best to exercise?”
Start with the basics, I will be adding more as I find out more about myself and gain more experience. I am scared of these questions in part because I might not end up liking the answers I’ll have to give and in part am worried if I had just wasted my life before this. It is never too late to start, journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step.

Would it help?

 

 

Have you watched bridge of spies? The movie with Tom Hanks as someone who had to negotiate with the USSR regarding the exchange of a spy and a pilot. In the movie Tom Hanks’ character on multiple occasions asked the spy “why aren’t you more worried?” “Would it help?” replied the spy.

Springing to action seems like a good idea until that action doesn’t seem to contribute to anything, and often would make it worse. “Would it help?” ask yourself. Screaming out in pain when I burnt my hand seems like a great idea, would it help? Absolutely not, not only would that not help it would probably scare my wife and cause all sort of unnecessary concerns and undue stress, rinsing it under cold water and put some lotion/healing cream on it would be the thing to do.

“You missed the turn!” not much I can do now, I’ve already missed it. I could swerve and cut other people off to try to make my turn, but would that help? It would probably cause some traffic accident and that definitely does not help, calmly, take the next exit or street, make our way back on track. It might have taken a few more minutes but it sure as hell beats getting into an accident, not only waste hours not going anywhere but also risk getting someone hurt.

Most events allow for a few seconds or even a few minutes for us to think it through, remember how you were told “count to three before saying anything”? That is basically it. Give yourself a bit of time to ask “would what i am about to do help the situation?”

I write therefore I am

Like many people I was never good at writing by hand and would say “oh it’s really too hard for me” or “what’s the point of it when you can just type everything?” Was always glad whenever I get to type up an essay instead of handwritten.

It’s true we do a lot of our writing on the computer or the smartphones that never leave our side. The ability to sync notes to all your devices is amazing, but it would be hard to answer your phone while it’s being stuck to the side of the fridge, or when the battery runs out while trying to keep track of produces that needs to be acquired. Handwriting saves you from buying a new phone every time you want to stick a note on the fridge, and save the electrons in your phone.

Despite very few write by hand anymore many notices. In my line of work I take a lot of notes at meetings or reviews. It feels nice when people comment on and are impressed (usually) or surprised by my handwriting, it’s almost like people suddenly respect you more, well probably not but it’s something unique and rare. Hand writing saves you from awkward conversations with colleagues and friends by distracting them with your penmanship!

A handwritten thank you card/note, a beautifully penned snail mail or postcard, makes for quite a treat in this email and text dominated world. It’s all about putting your personal touch, handwriting is extremely personal and like a signature, unique to you, and also shows careful consideration and considerable effort. Others would appreciate the time and effort. Handwriting makes you look like a sophisticated social savant (without actually being one)!

Have you seen those framed quotes at the local home decor stores? They look terrible don’t they? You think to yourself “my goodness, I can probably write better than that!” Low cost home decor items, and it’s made just for you by you, how cool is that? Makes a good gift as well. Handwriting saves you money from buying crappy home decor!

The hardest part about this whole thing is starting, I had a hard time figuring out how to start writing. Then I remember we have access to literally all the information in the world, the internet. I looked up on how to start writing on youtube, of course videos are much easier to absorb than written words.

Openinkstand, she has a lot of videos and instagram with tips on handwriting and calligraphy, the audio quality is not the best but worth a watch regardless (watch all her videos): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIN1zjrrf_Y

Here is a nice little video on cursive writing, in the video he used a fountain pen but the pen is not important. Like photography, it’s the person who writes, not the pen. In the video he talks about paying attention to how you write and slowing down, very important tips. They also have a video on worksheets and guides: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6rfoRiWa8A

This here is an interesting video, it’s someone who is not that good at writing by hand trying to improve, he’s got the right attitude and it’s really something we all should do when practicing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9WURPrgqe8

Just watching or reading doesn’t do much, it takes practice. nothing beats practice. here’s a few places you can find worksheets or books on how to write. just take 10 or 20 minutes a day to do a few exercises. it really isn’t that much of work and you will be quite impressed with the amount of improvement over not even all that much time.

This PDF helped my get started with cursive writing, i’ve never learned it in school so this is the very basics and first introduction of cursive to me: http://www.peterson-handwriting.com/By_Hand_Books/Cursive_Step_1_Rev.pdf

Loops and tails is where you can get instructions and worksheets to get you started with some basic cursive writing: http://www.loopsandtails.com/

A few more worksheets for you: http://www.donnayoung.org/penmanship/cursive.htm

Here are some lessons from The International Association of Master Penmen, Engrossers, and Teachers of Handwriting: http://www.iampeth.com/lessons/guide-sheets

 

To quote a friend: #Funemployment

The other day I walked outside and was wondering, what makes all this go around? I mean not in a bullshit, superficial, “oh look at me i’m so smart” sort of way, or in a “oh it’s just physics”, kind of way. More in a “I’m just wondering what this is all about” or “I’m feeling kind of lost” sort of way.

It’s been about 2 weeks since I lost my job (not my fault I swear), I think it has finally sunk in the phone no longer tells me when to wake up, big plus, and I’m no longer getting paid, big not so plus.

Work seemed so far away now, I can’t even remember what it felt like to go to work. The normalcy that came with having a, at least what I thought at the time, a stable job is rather easy to get use to and really really comfortable. It’s like floating in a pool that perfectly matches your body temperature.

I suppose even the best plug leaks over time, and without knowing, the bottom of the pool greets my head and a rude awakening. Despite all this not being my fault, or the fault of others i work with, I or they, can’t really help but be stuck with the consequences of some would say reckless manager of the business. I, however, don’t know much of the details but can’t help feeling not so great towards this individual.

However every bad thing is the beginning of something, or at least i was told that and i like to think that as well. I mean we have to lie to ourselves from time to time to keep us happy: “that one chicken wing won’t make me fat” or “he totally still loves me”. Of course being the highly skilled and very in-demand individual such as myself i believed I would have no trouble at all in finding something new. So far the lie hasn’t worked.

However it’s not to say it’s all bad, I mean I now have time to read, learn and flex my literary muscles. I’ve never been a particularly good writer but I do like to write stuff. You know, the usual “I can complain about something I should be a critic!” I’ve even written a few reviews of restaurants and places on google maps (you can thank me later).

Through all this, I have a few people I am extremely thankful for. The obvious, my parents, everyday they tell me “don’t worry! You still got us!”, it’s nice to know someone’s there for you, even if sometimes they might know be able to not know how to help but they are there and willing. My girlfriend, she’s been extremely supportive despite being in the same situation (we work together, different department). More about them later.

But back to the question, what makes all this go around? I don’t know, but for now I feel like it’s family and friends. People, makes this go around, people you care about and people who care about it. Even that asshole who cut you off at the parking lot, maybe he just lost his job too, maybe he wasn’t feeling so good, or he could just be an asshole, but the point is you don’t lose much by being nice, being nice makes us happy, and being happy makes us nicer to people. Seems like a pretty good vicious cycle to me.