MY WEEKLY BLOG<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t Stop<\/p>\n
I met an interesting man at a small Christmas Eve gathering.
As we spoke, I noticed that he was really listening to the things I was saying\u00a0and answering thoughtfully. I was \u00a0impressed with how he described something he was doing, working in the field of animation in an innovative way. It\u2019s not my place to further talk about what he had come up with, that\u2019s his to share, but the way his eyes lit up when he was talking about it showed me that he was in love with what he was doing. And like all relationships, he was challenged by it it but he was not deterred. He had a wistful look in his eye as he strove to explain his work, a hint of sadness and a firm resolve that it didn’t matter what anyone else thought. He was committed to his idea and would follow through wherever it took him.<\/p>\n
He mentioned that he didn’t know how people would respond to\u00a0it and I said the only thing I knew for sure. \u201cHowever long it takes, whatever\u00a0people say, just keep on going. Don\u2019t stop. It\u2019s all about stamina.\u201d As I stare\u00a0out the window of my office right now and watch the rain coming down, I\u00a0remember the old postal creed, \u201cNeither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of\u00a0night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed\u00a0rounds.\u201d Deliver that idea. Don’t let anything get in your way. If you keep on\u00a0going, if you vow not to stop what you\u2019re doing, it will transform into
something you never imagined.<\/p>\n
It takes extraordinary will and commitment to keep moving\u00a0toward a goal, but it takes even more gumption to practice your craft without
an end game in sight. I\u2019ve had many books published in the past, but these\u00a0days, getting published is the furthest thing from my mind. When I decided to forego\u00a0that goal, I stumbled along at first, feeling lost without a specific reason\u00a0for what I was writing, but eventually I told myself, \u201cI\u2019m writing because I\u2019m\u00a0a writer, plain and simple. That\u2019s what writers do.\u201d It was all about love and\u00a0it didn’t need to have a clear purpose. I loved my work and that was enough. I still\u00a0write every day, at times it\u2019s a job for hire, but a great deal of the time,
it\u2019s not necessarily to fulfill a goal. I write because I love doing it. It
isn’t a chore. It soothes me and it stops time. Something miraculous happens\u00a0when I sit down at my computer. It feels like I penetrate the screen and do my\u00a0work from the inside out. It\u2019s trance-like as words begin to dance in the air\u00a0around me, my fingers tap the keys, the clock stops ticking, the words become\u00a0thoughts and they fly onto the page. It\u2019s just me, my creative mind and the\u00a0page that I\u2019m filling up with no apparent effort.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not shaping my current pages to fit into any particular\u00a0genre at this point and I\u2019m not making sure the chapters are connected. I\u2019m not\u00a0checking for typos and connective tissue. I\u2019m not thinking about where it\u2019s\u00a0going and where it’ll end up. Or if it will end up. Maybe it will morph into a\u00a0book. Maybe it\u2019ll be rewarding to read it to friends. Maybe it will give me\u00a0ideas for my blog and maybe it\u2019ll never go further than my office and no one\u00a0will ever see it or hear it.<\/p>\n
Whatever you like to do, write, read, paint, sing, dance,
cook, just get on with it. You don\u2019t have to attach anything to it. It doesn\u2019t\u00a0have to fit into the description of being productive. It doesn\u2019t have to please\u00a0anyone else. You simply have to delight yourself and don’t stop. Think of what\u00a0you\u2019re doing as a love affair, \u201cas constant as the Northern Star,\u201d in the words\u00a0of songstress Joni Mitchell. Be in love with yourself, fall in love with your work\u00a0and be grateful for that love. When you know what you like to do and you do it,\u00a0you’re one of the luckiest people in the world.<\/p>\n
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\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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