In my periphery, just outside my window, something floated and swirled while I focused, concentrating on my screen. It moved again. Annoyed by the unexpected distraction, I glanced from my document to a scene grounded in reality and not the fantasy in my head. Small and white, barely visible against the backdrop of last week’s accumulation, snow flurries drifted. They appeared as almost imperceptible bits of fluff, but a few tiny dancing snowflakes never amount to anything. I dismissed them and returned to my task. Several hours later, I discovered a very different world. Those insignificant flakes were unrelenting in their objective to cover every bit of previously plowed, shoveled, scraped, and cleared surface. My weather app confirmed total snowfall of one to two inches.

The never-ending house remodeling project creeps along at a snail’s pace. I face the constant challenge of delayed components, contractor’s schedules, back-ordered items, and extended lead times because of the pandemic. Progress seems glacial. Yesterday a friend stopped by, and she expressed complete amazement with the improvements and the number of projects completed since the last time she was here.

I am not a patient person. I enjoy digging in, getting work done, and reveling in the finished piece for a hot minute before moving to the next item on my list. To say my daily recorded word counts have been disappointing would be a gross understatement. I have much bigger goals in mind. Three to four hundred words a day sounds paltry when you compare them to the thousands some authors claim to write. But those two previous incidents made me curious, and when I checked my spreadsheet, I discovered a total of 8,000 written words so far this year. If I maintain this rate, I will log 150,000 words by year’s end.

What small steps, taken today, will accumulate and change your world?

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

 

When does the future begin? A popular theory says “right now” is three seconds long. So does it start in four seconds or next year? Studies by Hal Hershfield at UCLA and Sam Maglio at the University of Toronto conclude the answer depends on you and how connected you are to your future self. Individual perceptions of when the present ends varied from “right now” to a year from now.  Those perceived time frames influenced current choices and, by extension, held a significant impact on their futures. While individual perceived timeframes tend to remain stable, external factors can change them.

The research suggests that the closer we imagine the future to begin, the more compelled we are to act. Counting time in days versus months or years changes your context. Ninety days feel closer than three months or the first quarter. The future events importance, a wedding, graduation, saving for retirement, planning a trip, do not matter as much as how we interpret the time-matrix. People who thought of their retirement beginning in 10,950 days instead of 30 years started saving four times sooner. Thinking of an event in days made the future feel closer and connected to today.

The more future self-continuity you feel, the more likely you will decide to take action today to affect your future self. By now, most New Year Resolutions have disappeared in the mist. I wonder if we would experience improved results if our resolutions lasted for a month or a day?

How connected are you to your future?

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Making tea is an art. A Japanese tea ceremony is an elaborate affair. The host sends invitations, prepares a room within specific guidelines, and creates a menu of yummy snacks. At the appointed hour, the hostess greets her guests, ceremoniously cleans the implements, makes the matcha, and all parties observe rituals that date to the 14th century.

Rooted in Zen Buddhism, the participants embark on an inner journey similar to meditation. Science upholds the idea, confirming the ceremony brings deep calm and even spiritual reflection to those who are involved. The specific steps engage all five senses and both sides of the brain. With each sense engaged, the mind works in unison. Living in peace and harmony, free from competing interests, we reduce our stress levels and relax. This intersection is where the world opens, and reflection runs deep.

When I take breaks, my goal is to reestablish balance. Mini vacations let me step away from my work. Alternate activities keep me occupied on one issue while allowing answers to another problem to find a home. But first, I need a cup of tea.

What rituals restore you and allow you to finish your projects?

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Occasionally, you need to sit, put your feet up, pat yourself on the back, and offer yourself hearty congratulations on a job well done. Your time has arrived to acknowledge your achievements, appreciate the hurdles you have overcome, the milestones you hit, and say to yourself, “Damn, see what I did.” They have taught us not to express overt pride in our work. Best to appear humble, right? But is that the best strategy? What is wrong with a pure delight, a springing pep in your step, pumping your ego, and boosting your self-confidence when you have completed something you weren’t sure you could do?

Life is short. Do the unexpected. Pour a glass of champagne, draw a warm soaking bath, and luxuriate in the decadence of doing nothing. When you take a timeout, stop being hyper-productive, engaged, on task, and busy, what you notice might surprise you. Now that you are alone with your thoughts, where does your mind transport you? Perhaps you observe a cardinal outside your window, the color of the sky, the sweet-smelling air, or the breeze touching your skin. Do your loved ones appear in a fresh light? Does your perspective shift?

The calm moments carved from overbooked schedules for nothing, reveal massive amounts of information. They fuel my passion, set my next course of action, provide clarity that often gets lost in the daily onslaught of perpetual motion and endless opinions. I let the universe find me instead of striving for a slice of success, and generally, I discover my reward.

How will you spend your Sunday?

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

I don’t remember adding stress, frustration, and exhaustion to this week’s schedule, but they arrived anyway. We should be accustomed to the unexpected events by now, desensitized to surprises, immune to feeling. But they design roller coasters to elicit intense reactions, and those feelings can’t be suppressed — they must be recognized, felt, and expressed. The biggest attraction at any amusement park runs on big, scary, height-defying, G-Force inducing tracks. You know, the one it is impossible to miss. It draws everyone’s attention from the screams, hoots and hollers, and the laughter. They say you can board, white knuckle the safety bar, and wail in terror, or you can enjoy the ride.

I recognize the feelings and search for ways to express them. Sometimes, I work them out with bouts of cleaning, long walks or deep breathing, and yoga. Some situations demand I sing. It will be out of tune when I confidently belt out words at the top of my lungs, despite having forgotten everything except the chorus. On the days when I feel like crying, I dig deeper, find a fresh perspective, and I laugh.

Have you laughed today?

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Being an introvert, I am predisposed. I don’t really enjoy interacting with people. It ranks as one of my least favorite activities and generates never-wracking, exhausting, annoying, and stress-inducing feelings. Humans are fallible, error-prone, imperfect beings. We make mistakes, experience lapses in judgment, and space out when we should be concentrating. That leaves ample opportunities to offend others because of our bone-headed moves. When we increase our number of daily interactions, we multiply the odds of someone making us angry.

It would be easy to obsess over their ineptitudes, rage against their thoughtless behaviors, hold grudges, and look for ways to get even. But that requires vast amounts of emotional energy. It is precious energy I could use in more productive endeavors. The choice is mine, and I choose to let those feelings wash over me, pass through me, and I release them. I take a deep breath, gather the pieces of stress and anger into a ball, and on my exhale, I push the goopy, ugly mess out of my body. With the next inhale, I imagine every wonderful and positive trait I want in my life. With the negative vibes gone, I concentrate on directing my energy to more important things.

How do you start your day?

_________________________________________

Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

How many times have you heard someone lament they want to be free? What does that mean to you? Is it the ability to do whatever you what whenever your heart desires? Do you wish to act or change without constraint? The reality is so much more. Every action, each decision, has consequences, and any blame falls on our shoulders.

There is a secret to realizing the autonomy you seek. It involves taking responsibility and holding yourself accountable. Those two elements are inseparable and contradictory opposites, like Yin and Yang, darkness and light, young and old. Holding one requires you to maintain a balance with the other and attaining true freedom means exercising control. The powers that be do not automatically grant us our desires, but they are easy enough for us to take. We must use them with virtue, knowledge, and compassion. If we are lucky, those qualities transform into wisdom, and we can truly fly.

What will you do with your freedom?

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

We writers are great procrastinators. Few events remind us of urgent tasks and motivate us to finish trivial chores like a scheduled writing session. Suddenly we remember emails we must send, laundry that needs our attention, and the far reaches of the refrigerator cries for sorting, cleaning, and organizing. How have we missed the dust bunny under the back corner of the couch? There are text messages, file folders to comb through, and only twenty more levels until we reach the end of the Candy Crush path.

But words don’t write themselves, and the stories living in your head are difficult to share. The day dawns, and we realize it is time for a decision. The choice is to continue along the familiar rut of wishful thinking and ingenious avoidance tactics or to honor the promises we have made to ourselves. The smart course of action is to unplug, disable notifications, silence your phone, dismiss the voices trying to distract you and write. Some writers create a ritual to set the mood. They light a candle, put on their fuzzy slipper socks, pour a hot cup of coffee, lock the door, and discover the words to convey our grand tale.

What are your writing rituals?

_________________________________________

Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

So far this year, I have struggled to locate my desk and fought for time to write. The universe laughs at my measly plans and throws one obstacle after another at me to test my resolve. But those challenges won’t deter me, and I will keep my dreams alive. I discover precious minutes lumped in tiny pockets, a random chair, and realized my writing session is now.

Balancing my laptop on my knees or using the notes app on my phone, I ignore distractions and set work. My surroundings fade from my field of vision, I concentrate on my screen, and I hear the story in my head and hurry to transcribe every word. I work frantically until my window of opportunity expires.

Waiting for my muse to arrive proves to be a luxury I can’t afford, yet I still create inspiration from the chaos raging around me. I scrape together fragments of discipline and compose despite the circumstances. It does not matter if my writing is good. I have done my best to meet my daily obligation and the promise I made to myself.

How do you overcome your writing obstacles?

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

They are fleeting moments. The planets are aligned, the house is quiet, my fingers fly, and I channel a brilliance that transcends what meager skills I possess. I am convinced I am a genius. The great American novel is within my grasp. Eat your heart out J. K. Rowling, move over Hemmingway. F. Scott, please be a dear and fetch me a glass of champagne. Tickled pink, full of myself, I shut my laptop and pour giddy little me into bed where I dream of red carpets and accolades. Oh, my, is that a Nobel Prize?

The next morning, I float on a silver-lined cloud to my desk, smiling as I open the file and read.

“Wait, what is this?”

Disbelief morphs into frantic desperation as I check time stamps and backups, searching in vain for the scintillating words written mere hours ago.

“Who wrote this crap?” I scream.

A soft chuckle mocks me, and I groan. I know the answer. This crap belongs to me.

I could be steps away from throwing in the towel, giving up, succumbing to the fear gnawing at the edges of my resolve, and hitting the delete key. My gut says this isn’t my ending, only my beginning.

Revisions promise to be grueling, requiring countless hours, working day-in and day-out, climbing my thankless mountain. I have a responsibility to honor my burning desire and the stories the cosmos planted in my soul. They give me purpose, passion, and drive. They make me different. I renew my vow to out-last the lucky and out-work the lazy.

What dreams inspire your writing?

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer