A Few Random Thoughts

Perception and POV Again:

On the subject of perception and point of view, they are not always accurate. It’s hard to remember what we think is going on isn’t always the truth. We can’t know someone else’s heart. This false truth, this perception or point of view is often a point of contention or conflict. It is where the story is.

As a writer, it’s good to notice these situations as we go about our lives. It makes for great ideas for the scenes of our stories, but it also lets us step outside the problem, just a bit, and maybe see that we do not know someone else’s heart, so we don’t really know what that other person is thinking, why they are doing what they do.

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Reassess:

It’s mid-year. I like to take a look at my goals and resolutions about now and see where I am. I reassess and sometimes, I see I need to adjust goals to the reality of what else is going on in my life. As the primary-care giver to an aging parent, very often…most of the times, really, things just don’t go according to plan. That can send my writing off-kilter, too. And as much as I want to dedicate every spare moment to my writing, that is not the reality of my life or what is very most important.

That is the one thing I’m determined to remember in everything I do—what is truly important. People before things, accomplishments before money, writing what I want to, to the very best of my ability and time before publishing.

Anyway, every once in a while I need reminding of some little thing I’m determined to accomplish. For instance, I’ve been going through old files, deleting duplicates, mooshing documents about the same story or subject so ideas are hanging out together, both irritating habits of mine. Some mornings I forget I planned to spend ten minutes on that and another ten minutes going through the books, files and junk that I’ve used already or has just accumulated in my office. That small block of time I spend has already helped so much in my organization and helped get a few stories and essays done or at least, farther along.

Oh, and that last ten minutes of the first half hour of my writing hours, my house plants on Mondays, tidying up or reading writing magazines or books the rest of the week. The Monday house plant care is for my soul, I guess. Plants fill my house and yard, but the house plants keep me sane through the winter. I value them, so the few minutes it takes to groom and water them is like a hedge fund. The tidying up and ‘assigned’ reading is my way of keeping my head in it, so to speak.

A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he be at peace with himself. —Abraham Maslow