Writing Off the Grid

As autumn settles in, I also change up my routine a bit. I love the cool, crisp mornings and head out for my run while it’s still dark. I’m averaging about ten kilometres now on my daily run, so by the time I reach home night has given way to day. Watching the sunrise peel away the darkness offers hope for the day ahead.

In today’s world, hope is something that I am desperate to hang onto. The recent mass shooting in Las Vegas, the attacks in Edmonton and France — and the many other incidents that have cost innocent people their lives and injured scores of others — break my heart as they reveal man’s [constant] inhumanity towards man. But I refuse to let them break my spirit.

Because for all the darkness in this world, there is light. There are good people doing good things to help the people around them — not for praise or recognition — but because they are committed to making this world a better place. And what they’re doing is so important because this world needs more love, more peace, more selfless acts of kindness. Through their actions, they’re changing the world. And in the words of Nelson Mandela, “We can change the world and make it a better place. It is in your hands to make a difference.”

So Give Thanks

Here in Canada, we’ll celebrate Thanksgiving on Monday, 9 October 2017. Although I give thanks every day (my daily gratitude list), this morning especially reminds me of the need to be grateful and to give thanks. And I am grateful for this life, for my family, for my friendships (past and present) and for the wonderful blessings bestowed upon me each day.

As I climb the mountains in this life and traverse the valleys, I am grateful for the courage to keep on keeping on each day. I am grateful because, through the good times and the challenging times, this is what I’ve learned (or relearned as the case may be):

Change is constant. That means that each day I have to get up and be ready for the unexpected. I do not always know, or cannot necessarily foresee, all the challenges that will be thrown at me. I can only do that which is within me. And, so, there will be times when I pray, “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference.”

Do what it is that you love to do. My day job pays the bills, puts food on my table and shelter over my head. But it is my writing that makes my heart sing. So each and every day, no matter where I find myself in the world, I write. It keeps me focused. When I’m writing, be it a short story, novel or blog post, I know (as my good friend Adrienne reminded me) that I’m doing my best to “stay grounded in your conviction that you’re doing what you want to do and feel called to do.”

Love life. We live in an age where it seems like it’s not just easier, but more the norm, to criticize, deconstruct, than to try to build something up, attempt to see a silver lining. It takes a lot of energy to be negative all the time. It almost becomes a state of mind, and it is, quite frankly, unattractive. Maybe that’s why I do my best to lead a positive life. I smile and laugh a lot, which seems to be contagious. I guess I’ve learned to not take myself, and life, too seriously but to try and simply enjoy the journey. I remind myself of the blessings in my life — my partner, family and friends, my job, my writing and other artistic endeavours. I try to focus on what really matters to me, and that, in turn, allows me to see the beauty that is this world.

Be grateful. In 2013, after reading Rhonda Byrne’s The Magic, I started keeping a gratitude list. Every morning I count my blessings, listing ten things — no matter how small — for which I am grateful. Counting my blessings, I see that, even in the midst of chaos or uncertainty, life is beautiful. My gratitude list always puts a smile on my face.

On this bright, October morning, I am thankful for the god-sent blessings — in friendship, in life, in work — that keep flowing in my direction.

Grateful, I am, to be alive.

How do you show your gratitude for this life? Let me know in the comments section below.

Some days, it’s like I’m hitting my head against the wall. Why? Because I can’t seem to learn a simple lesson: the importance of rest.

I keep pushing myself to do more, be more. And that despite how I’m feeling. At some point, the body says, “No more,” and I end up grounded. That’s what happened to me. Upon my return from Frankfurt, Germany, earlier this month, all the signs were there that I was sick. Aching bones (it hurt to put on a shirt). Chills. Nasal congestion. Sore throat. Hacking cough. I battled a fever of 102°F. I was so exhausted that I spent a lot of time in bed or stretched out on the sofa. I had four days off, plenty of time to get better (or so I thought). I returned to work still feeling exhausted, still coughing, still miserable. There I was pushing myself again, and for what? Only to end up booking off and having no choice but to rest. Nineteen days after the first signs of illness appeared, I’m finally feeling better.

Those nineteen days were rough. That’s because resting feels so unnatural to me. Even when I’m sick, I still try to do laundry, unload the dishwasher and even write. I may not have the strength to stand very long, or the ability to concentrate (when it came to writing), but I feel like I have to try. There’s this almost compulsive need to keep going and going, like the Energizer Bunny.

It’s hard. Me voluntarily taking the time to rest, that is. I might be blowing my nose every two minutes and coughing up a lung, but when I see people rushing about the city, I’m caught up in that rush. Instead of slowing down, I’m speeding up — putting the metal to the pedal to meet the sometimes crazy expectations I set for myself. “Forgetting” to rest, it’s my overall health that suffers. And when I end up sick nothing gets done.

Today, I feel like I’m finally coming up for air. I’m back writing, working on the revisions to my manuscript. Being sick the past couple of weeks, I haven’t been online much and am now trying to re-engage on social media.

I hope this time that I can learn the lesson on the importance of rest. At the very least, let me take the counsel of Eddie Cantor: “Slow down and enjoy life. It’s not only the scenery you miss by going too fast — you also miss the sense of where you are going and why.”

Are you taking time to “slow down and enjoy life?” What’s the one thing you do to help you re-energize? Let me know in the comments section below.

Today’s blog post is inspired in part by the Word Press Daily Prompt for 30 August 2017: Enamored.

It’s going to be another hot and humid day here in Toronto, and with it comes the risk of thunderstorms this afternoon. If the skies do open up, we’ll scramble for cover to stay dry (and to avoid being struck by lightning). I love summer. I’m just not one for the heat. It’s the humidity that I have a difficult time dealing with, actually. It drains my energy, leaves me feeling lethargic, somewhat foggy, and unmotivated. I don’t feel like doing anything. That’s when I realize I have to just hold on.

For me, life as a writer has a lot to do with “just holding on.” On the days when I write — whether I’m starting a new novel or short story, or rewriting or editing a manuscript — and the work feels uphill, I encourage myself to just hold on. I remind myself that I’ve made it through difficult periods before. I practice patience (or I try). Giving myself over to the work, I edge forward one word at a time. I try not to worry about how “bad” the writing may seem because I can always come back to it later, polish it, make it sing.

The challenge? I can’t let myself get caught up in frustration. If I’m feeling too bogged down because the writing isn’t moving forward as fast as I’d like, I take a break. I go for a run, make a trip to my favourite coffee shop, or whip up something sweet and delicious in the kitchen. If I do that, then I usually come back refreshed and can see the writing from a new perspective.

Just hold on is, perhaps, another way of saying, “Take the long view.” A career in the arts doesn’t, for a lot of artists, happen overnight. We show up at the page, the easel, the piano, day after day honing our skills and building our repertoire. We fly through seasons of abundance where all our projects take flight. We stagger through the seasons of drought when projects stall, and our confidence may take a knock. But, always, we show up daily to practice our art because we believe in our dreams. We continue to just hold on.

Let us go forth together and do what it is that we love to do. Let us hold fast to dreams, to who we dare to be. And when, as the saying goes, the going gets tough, remember to just hold on.

How is your creative/life journey moving along? When you feel stalled, how do you get yourself moving again? Let me know in the comments section below.

This blog post is inspired in part by the Word Press Daily Prompt for August 2, 2017: Foggy

Waking up at 4:00 a.m. this morning (18 July 2017) and then sitting down at my desk to write, I relish that moment of quietude. It’s that one time of day — as most people in the city are still asleep and the busyness of the morning commute has yet to commandeer the streets — when I can actually hear myself think. It instils a calm, allows me to feel hopeful about the day ahead. I try not to think too hard about the ambitious agenda I’ve set out for myself. Otherwise, I’ll end up feeling overwhelmed, which will send me spinning, and my plans for the day will quickly be derailed. I don’t want that to happen.

Why? Because it’s difficult to escape today’s “go-go-go” mindset. It’s easy to believe that to succeed I need to act like the Energizer Bunny, and that I must keep going and going and going. Guess what? Between the demands of my day job and the ruthless pursuit of my writing dream, I’ve discovered (and it’s a real shocker) that I’m not the Energizer Bunny. I’m human, and my body needs to rest. And if I don’t let myself recharge, my body will tell me to slow down by way of a cold or some other ailment.

Each day I try, as Corita Kent advised, to “Love the moment, and the energy of that moment will spread beyond all boundaries.”

This won’t surprise you. I am forever learning the art of work and play. Life is rich with all its beauty and with so many things to discover. Writing is very important to me, to my life, and each day I write I am inching closer to realizing my dreams. But life isn’t, and shouldn’t be, all about writing. When I open myself up to other experiences, when I let myself do other activities, I am gathering material for my creative stores. Like this morning, running along the lakeshore at sunrise. Or flipping through Child, Bertholle and Beck’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking for something creative to make for dinner tonight. Continuing my journey through Tom Clancy’s novels. Small, simple pleasures.

So there are days when I simply need to rest, when I need to let myself do nothing. Here’s the problem: It’s hard to let myself rest (like today) when I find myself often looking to the future and where I hope to be. But if I try to keep working when I’m exhausted (or more aptly, burnt out), the work, or more precisely my writing, won’t hold up later on. It’ll be tired, stiff, lifeless. Then I end up procrastinating and fretting over my inability to work. The funny thing is this: When I take time to rest, to let my body and mind recharge, I’m able to come back and tackle my artistic projects with vigour, see their worth (or lack thereof) from a new perspective. Once again, there is a natural ebb and flow. It is still, for me, a question of balance.

Louisa May Alcott puts it this way: “Have regular hours for work and play; make each day both useful and pleasant, and you prove that you understand the worth of time by employing it well. Then youth will be delightful, old age will bring few regrets, and life will become a beautiful success.”

Do you have regular hours for work and play? How do you recharge your body and mind? Let me know in the comments section below.

This blog post is inspired by the Word Press Daily Prompt: Savor.