Here’s a great article on what serious writers do to get their writing done.
1. Show up regularly.
2. Get started, no matter how inspired they’re feeling.
3. Think on paper.
4. Get bored, and understand it’s part of the process.
5. Meet their deadlines no matter the hardship or duress.
Here’s a link to a great article by author Ryan Holiday on 23 helpful lessons learned from entrepreneur, author, podcast host, and investor Tim Ferris who has helped me virtually in my life and career.
Wanting everything, yet desiring simplicity.
The more you get, the more they want.
With nothing, there’s just authenticity.
But with nothing, you feel like nothing.
When you work hard you get known.
Attacks and Accolades.
Maybe do less and hide.
Lonely and peaceful days.
Wanting the new, yet missing the old.
Change is constant, an unbreakable code.
Love my love. Love.
Love the pain from love. Still love.
Between everything and nothing is something.
Maybe all we need is something.
Chef, author, and TV show host Anthony Bourdain bridged people together through his stories of culture and food, a great example of making our world more peaceful.
On that early evening, I waited by the small, shallow pond in the middle of the large field like we planned a year ago. It was dark. The clouds blacked out all of the stars above. Anxious, I began to pull at the tall blades of wild grass. Did she forget about me? Had she really moved on? In a bitter argument sometime after our promise, I was blocked out of her life. If she had wanted to reconcile with me, she would have contacted me. I was beyond wishing. Instead, I was living in a fantasy.
I waited for about an hour and gave up. Rather than heading back home, I kicked off my shoes, took off my socks, and rolled up my pants to just below my knees. I entered the pond, in an attempt to make the most of my trip there. The cool water felt nice, and I was mindful of the soft mud squeezing between my toes. I slowly proceeded to the middle of the pond, where at that point, I had no care of wetting my clothes. So I crouched down, placed my face in my hands, and let my emotions go. I felt my tears seeping out beneath my palms, making little drops that fell into the water. I stayed like this for some time.
Then, I heard something. There was a buzz. Then a second buzz. And then another and another. I raised my face out of my hands to see what was going on. There were hundreds of fireflies flying in the air, lighting up the pond like tiny flickering candles.
Further away, I heard a faint sound of grass moving in the darkness. Many of the fireflies flew towards the noise. And then I saw a silhouette of the curves of a woman near the other end of the pond. She took a step into the light of the fireflies. It was Kaylee. She was smiling at me in a fitted long-sleeve top and a short skirt. We stood there for a few moments, just looking at each other. My tears were now coming from joy. I grinned back at her.
“Sorry,” she broke the silence. “It took me longer than I thought.”
I looked at her high-heeled sandals and giggled with a shake of my head.
Kaylee followed my eyes and looked down at her feet. “Yeah, I don’t know what I was thinking.” She bent over to unstrap and take off her sandals. Then, she lifted her light skirt and waded into the pond. As she walked towards me, ripples moved across the pool of water. Upon meeting me, she wrapped her arms around my waist and placed her cheek against my chest. I embraced her body in my arms.
Strangely, the fireflies reacted by moving around us like we were star actors of some kind of show. “Uh, guys, what are you doing?” I asked them.
Kaylee lifted her head from my chest and watched them fly around us. “Let them be,” she joked.
She turned her attention back to me, and gazed into my eyes. “I missed you.”
“I missed you too,” I replied.
Still holding one another, we inched closer. I closed my eyes and felt her soft lips press against mine. My eyelids tightened firmer and quivered upon feeling a euphoric sensation that moved throughout my soul.
Life sometimes has its strange twists and turns. I was glad that we both took a chance on this one.
Hi Everyone,
I hope you enjoyed this romantic scene. To help me evoke my emotions, I listened to the songs “Sleepy Eyes” by Elohim & Whethan and “Stargazing” by Kygo ft. Justin Jesso while I was writing this, which I posted below. I found the picture shown above, of a boy and girl in a shallow pond in a field of grass at http://gde-fon.com/download/guy_girl_lake_water_night_fireflies/401727/1680×1050.
I’ve always been filled with imagination since I was a little kid. As an adult, I still dream and work hard until it’s hard to believe I’m living things I’ve imagined. Fiction plays a huge role in inspiring our reality. And vice versa, writers often infuse reality into fiction. Storytelling has a way of bringing us humans closer because it draws out our emotions. I believe as adults, we should never stop imagining, and if we have a story, don’t be afraid to share it. You never know, you may change the world.
Here’s a nice music video of Daenerys Targaryen and Jon Snow, characters of the Game of Thrones novel and television show. The song “If You Leave Me Now” by Foxes matches the scenes from this awesome show. Last Sunday, in Episode 6 of Season 7, Daenerys and Jon’s romance blossomed. I love romance. Nothing beats that warm and fuzzy feeling you get when you love someone.
I don’t watch much television or movies that much, but Games of Thrones is the exception. I also have the books. They’re so good, and a nice break from work. Though, Games of Thrones inspires me to work harder. Author and Executive Producer George R.R. Martin is so inspirational!
(Besides practicing business law and entrepreneurship, I am working hard to expand myself and get out of my comfort zone by being vulnerable with my creative writing, fiction writing, nonfiction writing, poems, quotes, and photography, which has given me comfort and joy, and I hope it does for you too.)
A little brown sparrow came to me on my window sill. It chirped to me comforting words, “Right now the sun is shining and the trees are swaying. I am here and everything seems to be alright. But at night, I will be gone, and they will come for you. Darkness has won here. Close your eyes and go back to your world. She will be waiting for you in the garden by the stream, sitting on the bench under the cherry blossom tree. You know who I am talking about.”
The bird hopped along and faced its back towards me at the edge, ready to launch into flight.
“Wait, why are you telling me this?” I asked.
The sparrow twitched his head backwards at me and chirped, “Because you created us. We want you to see the beauty of what you’ve done for us. The people here don’t know who you really are, but we do. Don’t give up on us just because of the pain you’re feeling here.”
He turned his head back forward and took off into flight, flying high above the coconut trees, becoming smaller and smaller until he became a speck and disappeared.
I wiped away a tear that trickled down my cheek. I knew what he meant, and I understood what I had to do.
A sprinkle of stars illuminated the sky with layers of blue and purple as a lightly filled tree stood guard near us. Every so often a cool breeze would create a soothing rustle with the showery leaves of the tree. This meditative moment was what the three of us needed. We were looking beyond our embattled past at another world we had envisioned before we met. Now, together as a team, we were determined to get there.
– Jon Riki Karamatsu, Fiction Writing, June 18, 2017 –