This week I felt miserable, discouraged, drained, and I grappled with intense fatigue. I suffered from the walking dead syndrome, dragging myself from task to task, and watching my productivity plummet. My self-diagnosis is an acute case of the blahs. We all experience bouts of blahdom, and while it is “normal,” it is never easy to manage. Sigh.

My tried-and-true coping mechanisms are impossible or impractical because of COVID, and my home remodel. The gym, my favorite coffee shop, and inside group dinners are no-go zones. Zoom meetings with friends are ineffective. We outlawed hugs. Movers buried my art supplies in storage boxes along with my crochet projects. But we always have more options than we realize. We just need to dig deeper.

I rediscovered my joy of driving. Make-up is optional. Pajamas and slippers are acceptable attire and the roads are less crowded. Even though my car’s thermometer reads a hot 92 degrees, I roll down the windows, blast my music, and blow away the cobwebs.

Then there is my writing. There no better feeling than seeing a few hundred words appear on the screen. This year I have struggled to write and forced myself to compose daily regardless of the outcome or my dismal word count. Yesterday my friend arrived tired, sad, and contrite, but ready and willing to help.

Does writing improve your mood?

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

I had never heard of François de La Rochefoucauld when I found his quote. My guess is you haven’t either. His words feel timely and pertinent for today. Time for a Google search. Wikipedia reports he was born on September 15, 1613, in Paris. He was His Highness, the Prince of Marcillac. An educated nobleman, he served in the military and in the French court of Queen Anne and Louis XIII. Like Marcus Aurelius before him, François was an author of maxims and memoirs. 

They say many 19th century French critics referenced his work, and his ethics and style influenced the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. Now, four hundred years later, he is still influencing us. The aspect of maxims that intrigues me is they are truisms of human nature, which chronically repeat. The observations of a Roman emperor, a French aristocrat, or a German philosopher, echo through time. If it is important, you will find a way to complete the task. When similar themes repeat across authors and transcend centuries of evolution, it behooves us to notice the pattern and determine our course of action. We need to find the purpose which ignites our will and reduces our excuses to a pile of ashes.

What do you consider impossible?

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

When I was in school, the teachers taught facts, drilled them into our heads, and tested how well we remembered them. I believed the hype. I joined the debate team. Winning required developing a strong case for your position, defending it with irrefutable evidence, and showing the fallacy and ill-logical conclusions presented by the opposing team. Easy-peasy. Facts win. Until they change.

Pluto used to be a planet, once there were only four oceans, Mount Everest may not be the tallest mountain, and the Brontosaurus never existed. Facts represent the best knowledge we currently have. History is full of examples of things humans once considered being “facts” that we no longer believe. Leaches anyone?

Basing decisions on irrefutable facts is like walking on shifting sand. It becomes an exercise in futility that only delays action. It the face of changing facts, what are us mere mortals supposed to do? I am opting for grabbing hold of my dream and running with it.

What facts are stopping you from pursuing your dreams?

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

I am a total failure—when consuming podcasts or taking part in virtual conference calls. I have good intentions. But ten to fifteen minutes into the audio program, I discover I have zoned out. My mind has wandered. I don’t have a clue what the last individual said, and I pray the presenter won’t ask me a probing question. If it is a recording, I rewind only to experience the phenomenon happen again. I never noticed zoning out during in-person meetings.

It made me wonder if it was the host’s delivery, their cadence, or the sound of their voice? Perhaps it was the subject? I researched the art of active listening and studied the meditation trick of returning my focus to the call. After some experimentation, I discovered similar mental inattentiveness with podcasts, audiobooks, and online meetings. Music and movies also have this effect, though to a lesser extent. Maybe it is my learning style. Visual information engages my attention, and I remember the facts better than if I hear them.

As the listener, it is a miserable struggle that leaves me with intense feelings of wasted time. My solution is taking detailed notes. The process reminds me of college lecture halls without the final exam. My professors delivered talks with the express intent of delivering specific material within a structured setting. Many work calls do not fit those criteria. It is a change, a challenge, and I am working to adapt.

How do you best consume content?

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

As writers, we carefully craft our character’s stories. We study them and construct their current situation, their identity, their wants, and desires. Based on their flaws, their needs, and we plot their story arc.  We help the protagonist overcome their struggles and move them to their story’s conclusion.

Every day we make decisions that frame and influence our future. We allow events to unfold, reacting to circumstances and forces seemingly beyond our command. If we have the power to control fictional characters, what is stopping us from deliberately constructing our own lives? I believe when we are honest with ourselves and look deeper than our superficial reactions, we discover our capacity to write our own narratives. The trick is to be self-aware. Consider your vision. We all want to a fairytale existence, but we must construct a detailed picture, structure a potential path toward our ideal, and be willing to pivot as we gain insight.

If 2020 has shown us anything, it is that no one owns a crystal ball. We can generate plans and set a course, but we don’t know what obstacles lie ahead. How we respond, and the corrections we adopt, defines our deliberate intentions to persevere and create a better life.

What steps are you taking to improve your life?

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

As a child, I stared at the moon, marveling at the various shapes which illuminated the night sky. The full round globe and the shiny sliver of a crescent, the shape-shifting planet held my attention. I could not fathom how the sphere projected it’s varying forms. Then something extraordinary happened. A teacher created a demonstration using a basketball, a tennis ball, and a flashlight. Mind blown, my relationship with that celestial body changed forever.

It led me to question everything in my life. Which of my perceptions were wrong? Which were keeping secrets? How had I been so blind? The crisis hit me hard, and I had to do something. I decided I would work on developing my observation skills, and I examined my world. I read books, essays, and journals, then I asked questions and questioned the answers.

Even now, I still question conclusions others declare as facts and read voraciously across countless subjects. I expose myself to alternate hypotheses and compare them to my assumptions. I stare at the moon, marveling at the vastness of our universe.

What has stretched your mind?

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

I will not lie. I can sleep in some amazing situations. For eight weeks, my commute involved a seventeen-seat prop plane where amidst rumbling engines, choppy weather, and non-reclining seats the sandman often found me before takeoff. Family members have recounted window-rattling, house-shaking thunderstorms that woke everyone in the household except for yours truly. Commuter trains, picnic tables, the cab of a pickup truck, a 100-year-old barn, a tent pitched on rocky terrain, and a 24-foot boat anchored in the middle of a lake, top the unusual places where I slept like a baby.

Why then, do I find it so difficult to fall asleep in my bed? I’ve read the list of helpful tips. I dimmed the lights, turned the temperature to the meat locker setting, removed clocks from my view, drank chamomile tea, played soft music, and practiced relaxation techniques without success. Taking a bath, exercising, reading, or scribbling brief notes to clear my mind, only drives any hope of slumber from my night.

The only option left was to Invent a coping mechanism. My rule is if I haven’t nodded off within 20 minutes, I get up and do something. Normally that translates to writing, editing, preparing graphics, scheduling posts, or other administrative work. The only light in my neighborhood is the one in my window. Anxiety evaporates during my bonus time, and I work happily until sleep calls my name.

Do you experience sleepless nights?

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

I believe Santa Claus is real, true love exists, people are basically good, and that magic is everywhere around us. I believe Kevin Costner’s “I believe” speech from Bull Durham is a classic movie moment. I believe we are living at an amazing point in history, that dreams are to be nurtured, not dismissed, and I believe human beings have not yet realized their full potential.

There are huge benefits to having a strong belief system. It helps you remain positive, dispel negative thoughts, and allows you to build an unshakeable self-confidence. A strong sense of self lets criticism feel less personal, less critical, and you can consider the merits from an unbiased view. 

Being able to separate emotions from facts lets you take calculated risks while realizing failing is part of the process. The ability to access risk makes you open to change, inspires you to act, and makes you more productive. Taking action means you are more likely to win, succeed, and achieve your goals. By making your dreams come true you just might inspire others. Or maybe it is a matter of faith. Like Doris Walker says in the movie Miracle on 34th Street, “Faith is believing in things when common sense tells you not to.”

What do you believe in?

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Weekends are for catching up on laundry, cleaning floors, grocery shopping, running errands, cutting the grass, and washing the dishes. These projects keep me moving, my hands are busy, and oxygen floods through my bloodstream. Our brains depend on the stuff more than any other part of the body. Oxygenated blood fuels our neurons, and studies suggest that blasts of oxygen can help improve cognitive functions.

Then I discovered a 2014 study from Florida State University, which suggests hand washing dishes can encourage feelings of mindfulness and wellbeing. Who needs a spa day? There is soothing warm water, scented suds, and the pretty patterns on my cups and plates. After reading that the study participants reported a 27 percent decrease in nervousness and a 25 percent increase in mental stimulation after washing the dishes, I am considering adding candles, mood lighting, and soft music.

Simple tasks occupy the inner critic that stifles our shy creative side, leaving us free to contemplate grand plans and conjure amazing stories. My notebooks bear grass stains, water droplets, and spaghetti sauce splatters that attest to the dire need to record and capture those ideas before they disappear into the ether. And I love the by-product — a clean house.

Where do your best ideas originate?

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

I recently came across a reference to “close reading”. Timothy Shanahan defines close reading as “intensive analysis of a text to come to terms with what it says, how it says it, and what it means.” Intrigued, I began a little research which led me down a rabbit hole of New Criticism, literary theory, American literary criticism, and reader-response theory.  It got me to thinking, which is what I believe is the point of reading, and by extension, writing solidifies thinking.

The concepts seemed natural as if someone had trained me in the processes while I was unaware. Reading more, I recalled my fifth-grade teacher instructing us on how to read for comprehension. In high school, an AP English teacher had us parse entire poems. We dissected each stanza into its components, identified them grammatically, and wrote papers to explain the inflections and syntactical relationships used by the poet. Once finished, we wrote more papers on the same poems describing how they made us feel. It embedded those works in my memory.

When I read, I hear the author’s voice echoing in my head. Their thoughts and feelings expand my universe and touch my heart, forever changing who I am.

Does your reading change your perspective?

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer