Posts – page 74 of 74

I’m trying out a new tool for writing. Rather than using a complicated program like Word or Open Office, I’m now just using Windows Notepad. There are almost no functions or options, just a full white window with a blinking cursor.

But the software is only half the story. I’m also using an old Gateway laptop that I bough off a college buddy for $20. There’s no Internet connection or media player. Later, I plan to wipe the hard drive as well to get rid of any possible distractions. I want to have a tool that is entirely dedicated to writing.

Each night I sleep between seven and eight hours. Out of 24 that is one third of my day. I never feel like I have enough time in a day to do all the things I want, and so much of my time is eaten up by sleeping. Its seems like such a waste. But it doesn’t have to be.

Every night, the body goes through several distinct stages of sleep. These stages are divided between rapid eye movement sleep (REM) and three stages of non-rapid eye movement sleep (NREM). The body goes through several cycles of this. The phases vary in length but as the body has been asleep longer the third phase of NREM lengthens and the REM phases become closer together. It is during the REM phase where dreams occur. REM sleep takes up 20 to 25 percent of each night’s sleep or about 90 to 120 minutes. Now this phase usually occurs several times per night, and within each phase the brain weaves intricate plots and unique worlds which we sometimes remember as dreams.

Debt is a heavy burden. Large, unexpected bills are worse, when they come due all at once. Even though I have the money stored away, it is still stressfull to know I’ll have to part with so much of it so quickly.

I’m not sure I’m ready to be a grown up just yet. The weight of responsibility sometimes seems more than I can hold. But I am an adult now, and I have three people, including myself, counting on me. Now is no time for weakness. Now is no time to falter or back down.

Distractions are the undoing of any effective time management scheme, right? They are bad and should be avoided at all costs. They should be stomped out. I am about to unwind this conventional wisdom that I’ve displayed in a straw-man argument.

Distractions do not need to be bad. They don’t even need to be kept under close scrutiny. Distractions can be the source of inspiration and creativity.

I don’t feel any need to point out the fact that I am easily distracted. I easily stumble out of what I should be doing into unneeded activity that does not move me any closer towards checking off any of the items on my to-do list.

This is quite possibly the most useful productivity blog of all time. Check it out below:

http://productiveblog.tumblr.com/

That big idea always strikes unexpectedly and with little warning. There is a flash of inspiration and the burning desire to act.

Recently, I had the inspiration to start this blog. It emerged from my memories of how I loved to write in high school and college. In high school I fancied myself a poet, and that continued through college, where I majored in writing. As a newspaper reporter, I felt right at home writing every day for a living.

For all that is out there in writing and speeches about the secret to happiness, and for all the time, effort, and energy spent on its pursuit, I don’t know that the question, “How do I know when I’m happy?” has been adequately discussed.

This is a dangerous question to ask. If, after reflection and some introspective moments, I find that the answer is no, I’ll realize that I need to make some changes in my life to continue the chase. However, the real danger in this question lies in another answer: Yes.

I’d write more about myself, but I’m really not that interested in the subject. I’m worried that will show up in my writing and bore my readers. So, rather than take that risk, I’ll stick to a wider range of subjects to deliberately exclude talking about me. What will those subjects be? That is still to be determined. But, by avoiding talking about myself, I think I’ll be able to keep things interesting and keep the audience engaged.

That’s rule one. Until I become an interesting subject, there’s no use writing about me. Maybe in the course of writing about other subjects I’ll emerge as a subject of my own. However, I’m not counting on it and neither should you.

My brain is a loud place, like a high school cafeteria, a constant clamor of activity screaming for my attention. It’s not that I have so much going on in my head because when it’s just me, I can hear the echo of a pin drop.

The reason for the noise is the endless stream of information pouring in through all five channels at once. Even sitting here writing this, there’s the sound of my son playing on his blanket and squirming around on the floor like a squid and singing in in experimental shrieks. and my wife on the phone giving advice to her sister.

Winning isn’t everything. Sometimes it’s not enough. Without the honor of fair battle, it doesn’t matter.

Winning is only winning when the fight is fair.

Why are symbols so important in cultures around the world? It is not for what they are but for where they point. It is incredible how reliant humans are on symbols, which are deeply embedded in every aspect of civilization.

Words are symbols–representations of ideas or things. They can show the thing without being the thing in themselves.

However, symbols without an interpreter are useless.

If they are, it’s at a faster pace than every before.

The world is changing faster than ever. Or at least, I assume it is. It could just be my perspective. It’s not every year that I get married, move to a new state, start a new job, and have a baby.

But maybe it’s not just me. Maybe the gradual change has decided enough with the slow and steady.

It could very well be that my attempts to do more are misguided. It could, perhaps, be that I need to do less, that I need to empty my life of the clutter so that the really good things can shine through. There is so much noise that I find it hard to think.

This noise is probably my number one impediment to writing. Writing is thinking–recording and organizing thinking. The noise keeps me from thinking. That is what has stopped me. I need to begin eliminating the noise, piece by piece.

It turns out that I’m easily distracted. I know this because after I wrote the title to this blog, I took a break to check my email and read some other postings.

Distractions are all around us every day, trying to rob the things we should be focused on of our attention. Distractions may after all be unavoidable. However, they can be managed.

Controlled distractions sounds like an oxymoron, and it probably is. What I’m speaking of is developing an awareness of the things that distract you and limiting their access to your attention.

The planet or civilization? That must be the first distinction, since individual can choose to view the “world” both through the perspective of humanity living on it or from a more humanity-is-an-insignificant-speck-in-the-grand-scheme point of view. That being said, from the second perspective, the world is going on as it always has - slowly changing, seemingly without cause or reason.

On the other hand, the “world” where people live is going at a very different pace than it ever has. Lives are changing more abruptly. Individuals in free and wealth countries have more choices than ever before. But does that matter? Does the number of choices one has really have any effect on the net freedom of the individual. One might suppose that total freedom is the total number of life decisions left up to the individual minus the contraints put upon that individual by uncontrollable outside forces. But to outside forces negate freedoms one for one? A freedom is of greater value than an abridgement of another freedom.

There is a lot of bloggers out there and that is a good thing. The more voices, the closer we (as a civilization) get to saying and thinking everything. Saying everything, however, like a hydra, will only make the number of things to say even more numerous.

I want to get in on this conversation and be a part of it. I’m am thankful to have that opportunity at my finger tips.

My family went to the pool today but it started raining as soon as we arrived. Still we got to enjoy the storm from the cover of the patio. It was beautiful.

Rain, beautiful to behold, fun to play in, horrible to be caught in. It doesn’t change. Just me and my perception.