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I feel blessed that I can do a variety of writing styles. For a living, I write for business. Marketing, technical, and content. Which is, if I may say so myself, a nice range.
But I also really love writing from my heart for this Blog and some of my other projects like the book I’m working on called “Love Letters From Your Soul.” I hope someday to publish a commercial personal/spiritual growth book.
Fiction probably brings me the most joy and delight. I love to write rock fiction, or what I like to refer to as romance and passion in the exciting (and now relatively extinct) music business. With, I always hope, a bit of growth mixed in.
I have to admit, more often than not, I am reading a spiritual/personal growth book. I do get into fiction now and again, though. I count myself as a Harry Potter devotee. And I can gobble up books on Arthurian legend. Not averse to a good cozy mystery either. I have seen more than my share of movies and amazing films. Soap operas have been my secret pleasure for years. And am proud to count many fine story tellers among my close friends. So I do know a thing or two about story.
For many years I held the notion that nonfiction expands and fiction is merely an escape. But I am changing my mind about that. I’m coming to see that fiction plays an important role in our growth as human beings.
Fiction, when done right, gives an intimate views into the minds and hearts of others. We feel a connection with well crafted characters. We see parts of ourselves acting through the story. And parts of others we know. We may not like them all, but we can come to understand a little more about why they do the things they do. Good fiction makes clear the character’s motivation. If you don’t buy that you’re unlikely to enjoy the story. It’s like Science Fiction: If they give you a good basis for belief, you will follow a good writer just about anywhere out there.
It is a study in understanding. In the best cases, it can open us up to the experience of being the same. Seeing how we all share the same DNA and our motivated by many of the same things. Even someone who appears to lead a live very different from ours. It creates bridges into other worlds. And has done so long before the Internet.
Story is a very powerful tool for learning, history, growth and motivation. At the heart of all stories is a person, an entity, a living, breathing creature. Relationship and struggle are the playthings of story, reflecting life as we know it.
At its best good fiction gives us a view of oneness. It talks of unity and how we are all the same. The more we can feel that the better for all of us (for the one of us.)
Sometimes I have to remind myself that life does not always move in a straight line. Growth happens in fits and starts. Just when I think I’ve made some headway, I find myself down on my butt again. Many times I’m heading in one direction when I see the need to take a sharp left. Scanning the horizon for something, I find something else coming up from behind me! When I’m in the midst of a project, a seed I planted in one garden may well blossom in another.
Karma works this way, too. It’s not always: I do a good deed and get something good back from it. Very often the rebound Good comes from unexpected quadrants.
Social networking proves this theory as well. Connecting with someone here can provide a juicy connection from someplace far off. Those six degrees of separation often bounce in mysterious ways.
All of this shifting and twisting can leave me feeling a bit unsteady.
The trick is, I think, to follow the Japanese proverb which says, “Fall down seven times, get up eight.” For some of us that may be, fall down 10 times, get up 11.
It’s at times like these I need to remember to be kind to myself. When I’m determinedly working on something, whether it’s a piece of writing, a job search or personal growth, there will be slip ups and times I feel like nothing’s moving. I need to just stay with it and keep going. Pick myself up, dust myself off, tend to any wounds, give myself a pat on the back and take another step.
Progress does not always move in a neat, tidy or clear line.
When things go wrong in our lives, when we have upsets or heartbreaks, that’s the time when we really need the Positive Slant.
It’s easy to feel, at times like these, that you have no control. That what’s happened is out of your hands. It can make you sink into helplessness.
The truth is there are things you CAN do.
It’s very important to feel what you’re feeling. Be sad, mad, depressed, or sorrowful. The trick is to not let yourself sink into it. There is a tendency to feel safe in your wallow. That’s not going to help. Allow yourself just enough time to acknowledge and face your feelings, accept what’s happened. Then, move on.
Having a next step can often dig you out of it. Get busy figuring out what you need. What can you do to feel better, to deal with the situation? If there’s something that needs your attention to rectify or soothe matters, do as much as you can. Break it up into tiny actions. A small amount of effort applied regularly, produces results. You may not be ready to tackle everything at once, but you can time a small step.
This is a perfect time to practice reaching out for help. It is NOT essential for you to face this alone. You may find, after your boyfriend or girlfriend is out of your life, for example, that you have a lot of time on your hands. Rather than sitting home, feeling sorry for yourself, call on your friends and family. Ask what they’re doing and if you can join them. Encourage them to include you in whatever they’re doing (especially if you’ve been cutting yourself off with your significant other.)
An important note here is that people will find it much easier to give you what you need if you tell them, specifically, what you’re asking for. Most people are happy to help, but don’t often know how.
As you go through your day (after all your friends can’t keep you distracted every moment) search for and collect whatever you can find that makes you feel good about yourself and your life. What do you still have to feel good about? Make a game of it. See how many you can find. Ordinary things are the best to fill your basket quickly. Things like the way the sun comes in the window or a tasty lunch. Also, be sure to notice when things go your way. When you get a seat on the subway, when you get what you wanted, when you’re praised or acknowledged for a job well done. Find whatever you can to keep your thoughts off what’s bothering you and on what’s good, what makes you feel better.
It’s crucial at this point to take really good care of yourself. Step up your self care. Go out of your way to do nice things for yourself. Eat well, get some movement, and stay away from situations which strain your emotions. This is a time to be selfish! If there are things you need to do, it’s better to face and do them. Just pad the way as much as you can.
When you’re feeling stronger, see if you can play with the situation. Can you turn it around, inside out and look at it from another perspective? Exert the Positive Slant and see things in a new light. You may be able to turn something “bad” into something positive, something that could be really good for you – a lesson, a growth.
When you can start seeing in that new way, with perhaps a sense of excitement, with a solid foundation of gratitude, you’ll know you’re on your way to healing.
Sometimes I have to remind myself that life does not always move in a straight line. Growth happens in fits and starts. Just when I think I’ve made some headway, I find myself down on my butt again. Many times I’m heading in one direction when I see the need to take a sharp left. Scanning the horizon for something, I find it coming up from behind me! When I’m in the midst of a project, a seed I plant in one garden may well blossom in another.
Karma works this way, too. It’s not always I do a good deed and get something good back from it. Very often the rebound Good comes from unexpected quadrants.
Social networking proves this theory as well. Connecting with someone here can provide a juicy connection from someplace far off. Those six degrees of separation often bounce in mysterious ways!
All of this shifting and twisting can leave me feeling a bit unsteady.
The trick is, I think, to follow the Japanese proverb which says, “Fall down seven times, get up eight.” For some of us that may be, fall down 10 times, get up 11.
It’s at times like these I also need to remember to be kind to myself. When I’m determinedly working on something, whether it’s a piece of writing, a job search or personal growth, there will be slip ups and times I feel stuck. I need to just stay with it and keep going. Pick myself up, dust myself off, tend to any wounds, give myself a pat on the back and take another step.
Progress does not always move in a neat and tidy line.
The Positive Slant On the Path 