Tag Archives: discipline

“She’s going to beat you senseless.”

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5

It’s date night, and in a surprising twist, Drew and I are both reading. The timer set for 15 minute increments. And when the Model-T’s “Oogaa Oogaaahhhh!!” blows on his iTouch, I laugh, demand that he change the alarm-tone, get over it, and begin a few minutes of sharing what we’ve read so far.

This whole Reading-During-Date-Night-Thing is a bit out of our normal routine, but it’s working for two reasons: 1) we are fostering communication and curiosity and compassion for one another using “Hey, tell me about what you’re reading” as the backdrop, and 2) I just dove into Mandy Steward’s latest book.

So when the Oogaaa sounds, I get to hear about Dragons and Fortune-Tellers (or something like that), and then I tell him about “Tomorrow’s Dreams Today.” And my reports to Drew go a little like this:

p. 8: I won’t spoil the story, but you need to know that when I read through this page, I got uncharacteristically teary. Then the second time I read it I couldn’t help but laugh. So Drew and I laughed. Then flowed the honesty about how it rubbed up against a recent dream-dying day I’d experienced. Beautifully, the Author-Mandy won’t let me sit in my dead dream. She says I have to figure it out. Flesh it out. Live it out. Drew said he liked “this girl” and how she thinks.

p. 14: After marking this page up and down with my own scribbles and underlines, I review things with Drew. We’ve reached her thesis concept, her aim to show us how she lives out her artist-dream in her present day realities. It shakes me. And he wants to know “what is this book about? Is it a memoir? Is it a story? What is it?” I used words like Artist and Faith and Journey and Parenthood and Responsibilities and Creativity but they didn’t feel complete. So I flipped ahead for future pages that would show where she was taking me (don’t tell Mandy). And I read some of the section titles and quotes and questions… And I felt words like Right Now and Plan and Challenge and No Excuses rise up. Oh boy. And that’s when Drew, with an ironic thrill in his voice, said she’s gonna beat me senseless. And yes I did that throw-my-head-back laughing, and resolved to tell you about the first 15 pages of what is becoming my new favorite book.

So I type all that out and then that dang Ooogaahhh starts up again and I read this post to him. And then hear more about the Dragons.

Enough typing. I need to get back to the dream-reading and question-answering and plan-making. And for my people, the artist/creative/dreamer types? Y’all might wanna do your dream a favor and read this book. And please do tell me what you think of p. 8, mkay?

Grab it here.

If you’re going to have a jump-start routine, get one that’s unbreakable.

Posted on
18

After a wild weekend, of my Granny’s 80th birthday party and my nieces’ drool all over me and a stomach churning hot Sunday morning outdoors, I slept a bit late this morning.

It happens.

I eventually rolled out of bed eager to get my morning routine going, which centers around an unapologetic cup of coffee. And something to write on/with/about. And a bit of quiet at our banquette.

I’ve flirted with this routine for a few months now and didn’t realize it’s importance until this morning.

My coffee-maker was distaster stricken. Unbearably unusable. So, no coffee for me. Ok. That’s fine. I can get creative and get moving without this bit of the routine.

But I never sat down to my kitchen table to do my creative writing and reflection.

And I never even ate breakfast, except for a piece of Granny’s sour cream poundcake, which she knows I love so much that she only sends me home with a fraction of a whole pound and strictly warns me that if I don’t share with Drew it’ll make me fat. Yes. That’s my Granny.

Granny’s voice is echoing in my head. And my eagerness to jump-start my right brain and get some serious creativity flowing on this Music Monday was at a near stand-still by 10am.

So what do I do? I go to the local grocery store and grab a 4-pack of Starbucks Mochas and some salad and salsa and hummus and declare this day to be healthy and lively and full of potential just waiting to be met.

I come home absolutely convinced of the importance of having a creative routine, type this out to remind you and me both, and then hit publish.

And yes, you know it, go sit in my kitchen and sip mocha and write.

Good morning, blog-world. Go get you a fierce morning routine and work it. Rule it. Live it.

Friday Finds: Super-Awesome Commenter Edition (that’d be you!)

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11
  1. Cori likes to use words like “kilometre” and “fortitude” and “honour;” and she just might kill me for saying this: She’s making “a solid effort” to run her “arse” off these days and I like to bug encourage her about this. So y’all hop on over to this wildly but forgivably canadian blog and say “RUN CORI RUN!” She’ll LOVE it!
  2. “I was simply fulfilling my Christian duty to go to church”–this is the kind of stuff Prudence writes. Her posts are like onions. Not the red make-you-cry onions, but Sweet Vidalia Onions that grow in my hometown. They are rich and layered. You should check out one or two posts.
  3. 15 minutes a day can add up to a lot of minutes in a month (I don’t do math. And Drew, Mr. 4.0 Math Undergrad, isn’t here to help me. So let’s just say it’s a lot.) Imagine what you could accomplish if you spent just 15 minutes being creative each day. Or just check out The Right Brain Planner’s post for inspiration!

Oh. And y’all. As an added bonus, here are two must-reads: 

  1. Here Be Dragons is brought to us by one of the coolest young ladies I’ve ever had the privilege of waving at across a not-so-crowded Starbucks. But, alas, she’s in a warzone working with the Red Cross and her family now lives in Texas. So I may never see her again in real life. I make up for it by reading her incredible writings about dust storms and books. And it’s never boring. Never with a capital EVER.
  2. The first thing you need to know about Ed Hose is that she is a she. The second thing you need to know is that she is the most talented, sincere, and quirky person I’ve ever had the privilege of chatting with in that aforementioned not-so-crowded Starbucks. By day, Ed is an illustrator. By night, she’s a writer. And apparently nighttime only hits about once every 3 months in her life. So, here’s whatcha gotta do: Go to feedmyinbox.com and tell it to email you the latest on Ed’s blog (http://edhosedrawingconclusions.blogspot.com/) whenever she drops one on the world. Just do it. When have I steered you wrong?
And let me know what you’re reading these days! Let’s swap notes, shall we?

How to do what you don’t want to do.

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32

Raise your hand if you have no troubles at all motivating yourself to do something you really DO want to do.

Like, let’s say: watch TV.

Aaaaand all hands are up!

Ok. Raise your hand if you don’t want to be bothered with That Thing That Is Good For You But You Don’t Want To Do.

Like, oh, say: exercise.

Look at that! All hands are up again!

ah huh… I get you.

I even hear that little click in your brain that sounds a lot like: “Sooo… What are we going to do about it?”

Well. Here it is: Pair something you LOVE with something you don’t really want to do but still need to do.

Like, for instance: watch TV while exercising.

It works for me–keeps me from being absolutely miserable over what I’m trying to do. And it’ll probably work for you, too.

We are fast-foodies. We are inspiration junkies. We are artists. We are creative. We are creatures of comfort–motivated by desire, not discipline. It’s true. And if we don’t want to do something, then we won’t. Our “want” has to overpower our “won’t.”

I mentioned before that I’ve watched Alias while on the elliptical, and friends, it’s a magical combo! …until I got a bit tired of Alias (Sydney: if you’re reading, I’m so sorry. I still want to be able to do side kicks like you do.) Solution? I moved on to another magical show.

What’s next for me? Get up early, like the grown-up that I am, and do my morning writings, like the artist I want to be. How? My best shot is Ice Cream for breakfast. This will probably also “tip the scales” in an unfavorable direction… Problematic, yes.

What about you? What would you say is your “That Thing That Is Good For You But You Don’t Want To Do?” Seeing any possible magical pairings?