Monday Musings: Don’t Close Your Eyes! a.k.a. Optimism and Complacency

As I’m up to my ears in work, today’s Musings will be short and sweet … hopefully. You all must know by now that I can ramble when I get into something, so no promises!

Optimism is a great thing. It helps gives us hope in our futures, in our life paths, and in our fellow man. The ability to see the best in the world around us can help us go on, even when events in the world around us may look bleak. When balanced with a proper dose of realism to keep your heads from going into the clouds, optimism is an incredible tool for writing and for life in general.

There is a problem, though, and that is the looming threat of complacency. If you get too wrapped up in optimistic thought, it can be easy to expect that things will go right all the time, even if you don’t put in 100% effort or when you expect all of your fellow men to be as optimistic and forward-thinking as you may be. In thinking the best about our fellow men, we might be willing to sit back instead of making sure to help them along the path to a better future.

Essentially, the ideas that we are our brother’s keeper, that we are all shepherds for our neighbors, and that it takes a village to raise a child all exist for a reason. It’s great to think the best of your fellow humans and of our future, but you still must do everything you can to make sure it happens.

Until next time, good reading, good writing, and good luck!

Monday Musings: No Matter What, Keep Moving On

I was sick as a dog last night.  Today, I don’t really want to do anything but sip on some Gatoraid and stay in bed.  So I will apologize ahead of time if this isn’t some lengthy discourse or deep philosophical thought with underpinnings that will change your life.  There’s the disclaimer out of the way!

To keep it simple, don’t give up.

Many times, we find what we are trying to push forward, our passions in life, don’t make the impact you want them to.  People don’t seem to care, don’t seem to be paying attention.  You could argue that disinterest may be even worse than hate.  At least if someone hates what you are doing, you are evoking passion, even if it’s negative.

However, don’t let that make you lose sight of your own passion for what it is you do.  Don’t let that disinterest or hate force you from doing what you love (assuming you’re not a serial killer or something, naturally).  It takes time to build interest, to catch attention, and, most importantly, to temper and refine your own work.  Keep pushing, keep striving, and keep refining.

Until next time, good reading, good writing, and good luck!

No Such Thing: Why an unproductive day is still worthwhile

Last night, I had a worrying case of insomnia.  To be frank, I’ve slept fitfully at best this entire week.  Chalk it up to nerves, I suppose.  I had, after all, just recently managed to work up the nerve to start the Kickstarter and get back together with my biological family.  The lingering anxiety must have stuck with me this week.  Coupled with a flare up of arthritis (I have it in my hands, great for a writer, really!), I accomplished a big fat zero of my goals for today.  Normally, I would have kicked myself for this, but I had a bit of a realization today.

 

Even an unproductive day has merit.   Maybe your lack of productivity was caused by your body and mind simply taking a rest day, regardless of your wishes.  You needed that but, caught up in the bustle of modern life, you tried to push on without it.  Or perhaps what you didn’t accomplish at work was made up for in some other arena.  Maybe it gave you a chance to talk to friends, family, or housemates that you had missed in the whirl of your normal busy schedule.

 

Look, even if nothing else was gained, it was another day of life and another day filled with experiences and interactions.  If all you did was a mundane treadmill, the daily grind, it was still a day worth living.  Why?  Ultimately, every day is worth it, no matter what happens.  Even the tragedies of life are steps forward.  It may not feel like that at the time but positive things can be build out of the blocks left behind by horrible things.  All events, good, ill, and mundane, are the basic components of life.

 

Maybe I’m starting to see things this way because of my authorial perspective.  More likely, I’ve just grown up enough to see the truth of the matter.  Either way, my new outlook has made those blah days a little easier to deal with and that’s a good thing, no matter how you slice it.