Welcome Kavindra of A Clear Path to Happy to join this blog. Check out her site for her wise words.
Also welcome James Oh! As there was no backlink I could locate James so all I could say is Thank You!
And then Caroline of The Zen in You has a new total girlie blog - Whimsical Whispers. Go check out her fantastic photos, as usual!
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Wreck This Journal - Week 2
The Journal has delivered me some problems this week. I was intructed to rip strips off the journal and to throw a page away.
Me: "What? Are you crazy? There's no way I'm going to tear a page from a journal."
The Voice: "Yes, you can!" Me: "Are you out of your mind? I've never, ever tear anything from a book or journal. This is ridiculous!"
The Voice: "Remember last week, you poured Chai Latte on a page. So how hard it is to tear it?"
Me: "Spill drinks on a page is different to throw a page away. It's like ... it's like ..."
The Voice: "It's like you're really destroying something."
Me: "Yeah, that's it. I just can't."
The Voice: "No you can!"
Me: "It's not right!"
The Voice: "Why you have to do things right? And what is right and what is wrong after all?"
Me: " ... "
The Voice: "You see, only you could decide if this is going to be right or wrong. So what if you're telling yourself that this is the rightest thing in the world to do?"
Me: " ... "
The Voice: "Come on! You can do it!"
Me: " ..."
The Voice: "I know you can. You're a brave woman!"
See below for end result.
Me: "What? Are you crazy? There's no way I'm going to tear a page from a journal."
The Voice: "Yes, you can!" Me: "Are you out of your mind? I've never, ever tear anything from a book or journal. This is ridiculous!"
The Voice: "Remember last week, you poured Chai Latte on a page. So how hard it is to tear it?"
Me: "Spill drinks on a page is different to throw a page away. It's like ... it's like ..."
The Voice: "It's like you're really destroying something."
Me: "Yeah, that's it. I just can't."
The Voice: "No you can!"
Me: "It's not right!"
The Voice: "Why you have to do things right? And what is right and what is wrong after all?"
Me: " ... "
The Voice: "You see, only you could decide if this is going to be right or wrong. So what if you're telling yourself that this is the rightest thing in the world to do?"
Me: " ... "
The Voice: "Come on! You can do it!"
Me: " ..."
The Voice: "I know you can. You're a brave woman!"
See below for end result.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Choosing
It is amazing how every day I have to learn about choosing all over again and again. The choosing I’m referring to is whether I choose to write or not. And if I choose to write, I also have to choose what I’m going to write.
After finishing STOS # 1 (draft), I had come up with a very rough writing schedule. Basically I’m to produce 200 words of STOS on a daily basis (5 or 6 days a week). So far, I’ve finished 3 stories of STOS. No bad!
By now, I’m expecting I should be very used to this 200 words daily writing routine. I’m expecting myself to feel at ease whenever I sit in front of my laptop. The answer is Yes and No. I did feel at ease sitting in front of the laptop. Whereas in before, I was like an animal circling the prey and wondered when was the best time to attack it. Now I would slide into my chair and turn on the machine gracefully.
Then comes the big No No. While waiting for the laptop to load up the document, my mind would start wandering off. It leaps to want to check the emails and all the fantastic blogs simultaneously. Or all of a sudden, the laundry is of paramount importance. I have to do it and I have to do it now or the human race will be perished. And As soon as my mind start grabbing the shopping list for luxurious gadgets like a wireless mouse covered in Swaroski crystals, I have to put a stop to it.
I’m back to choosing. I have to make a conscious decision if I’m to write today or to continue with a gadget list with more items like installing a 72 inches big screen TV in my bedroom.
Choosing has become an important part of my daily writing routine. It sets up the stage for the creative self to perform. And when I step on that stage, the other parts of choosing come in as well. Now I’m facing with the questions if I want to start a new story or to rewrite a finished draft. To go further, I’ll need to make all sorts of decisions / choosing while I’m in the middle of creating a story.
No matter how much choosing I need to do during the course of writing a story, the first choosing is the crucial one. No story will get written without my choosing to write over choosing to watch crap TV.
With this in mind, I’ve been feeling a wee bit uneasy when people say that to be a writer is not by choice. Maybe to them. Maybe they are born to be writers. But to me, I choose to be a writer because I want to. It is a choice that I make on a daily basis.
What about you, fellow creatives? Do you choose to become a writer, a painter? What makes you choose to write or paint or … ?
* STOS is a series of stories which based (loosely) on the same theme.
After finishing STOS # 1 (draft), I had come up with a very rough writing schedule. Basically I’m to produce 200 words of STOS on a daily basis (5 or 6 days a week). So far, I’ve finished 3 stories of STOS. No bad!
By now, I’m expecting I should be very used to this 200 words daily writing routine. I’m expecting myself to feel at ease whenever I sit in front of my laptop. The answer is Yes and No. I did feel at ease sitting in front of the laptop. Whereas in before, I was like an animal circling the prey and wondered when was the best time to attack it. Now I would slide into my chair and turn on the machine gracefully.
Then comes the big No No. While waiting for the laptop to load up the document, my mind would start wandering off. It leaps to want to check the emails and all the fantastic blogs simultaneously. Or all of a sudden, the laundry is of paramount importance. I have to do it and I have to do it now or the human race will be perished. And As soon as my mind start grabbing the shopping list for luxurious gadgets like a wireless mouse covered in Swaroski crystals, I have to put a stop to it.
I’m back to choosing. I have to make a conscious decision if I’m to write today or to continue with a gadget list with more items like installing a 72 inches big screen TV in my bedroom.
Choosing has become an important part of my daily writing routine. It sets up the stage for the creative self to perform. And when I step on that stage, the other parts of choosing come in as well. Now I’m facing with the questions if I want to start a new story or to rewrite a finished draft. To go further, I’ll need to make all sorts of decisions / choosing while I’m in the middle of creating a story.
No matter how much choosing I need to do during the course of writing a story, the first choosing is the crucial one. No story will get written without my choosing to write over choosing to watch crap TV.
With this in mind, I’ve been feeling a wee bit uneasy when people say that to be a writer is not by choice. Maybe to them. Maybe they are born to be writers. But to me, I choose to be a writer because I want to. It is a choice that I make on a daily basis.
What about you, fellow creatives? Do you choose to become a writer, a painter? What makes you choose to write or paint or … ?
* STOS is a series of stories which based (loosely) on the same theme.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Welcome Drab!
What a wonderful delight after almost a week's hibernation and found that another local artist had joined this blog! Drab is a Melbourne based Street Artist. Do check out his blog for his wonderful street art. I'm very lucky to be in the same city with Drab and could view his work live!
STOS # 3 Completed ...
Something rather intriguing happening while I was hibernating from writing for the last 5 days.
I didn’t consciously seeking out the reasons why I went into hiber-mode. But after the long weekend watching re-run of “Torchwood” Series 2, a UK Sci Fi TV series, I decided it was about time I got down to business. I picked up where I left off from the last writing of STOS # 3 and finished the story.
As I finished it, I felt a bit giddy and surreal. Giddy, obviously came from the sense of accomplish something. Surreal was about the way how I paused the writing machine for 5 days, and then pressed the play button as if nothing happened. I just sat down and wrote the ending of it.
Something came back to me when I tidied up the files of STOS # 3. I have been aware of one of the reasons which contributed to my feeling off-balance, creatively. But I didn’t want to acknowledge it back then.
While I was working on STOS # 3, I also started the revision of STOS # 1 as per my original schedule. I thought I would be able to handle 2 projects (at various stages) the same time. Though at a deeper level, I had my doubts. Up til now, I had never worked on 2 stories simultaneously. I wanted to believe that I could bring my work place management scheme to my creative calendar. The fact was the creative part of me was operating from an organic yet alien system. I chose to ignore it and force fed it with my work self. The result was: My creative self became confused and she froze up.
My fault lied in “demanding” my creative self to work on 2 stories the same time. I never asked her if she wanted to do it or not. I just threw the stories at her and expect her to get on with it. I ignored that working on a draft was very different to working on revision. The creative self will need to switch from one mode of creativity to another.
I should never force the creative self to do anything that she doesn’t want to. The essential thing is to accept that she has her limit. And it is only by allowing her time to grow and loving her unconditionally that she would achieve great things.
I’m sure eventually I would be able to work on several creative projects within the same time frame. But not now, not until when she is ready.
I didn’t consciously seeking out the reasons why I went into hiber-mode. But after the long weekend watching re-run of “Torchwood” Series 2, a UK Sci Fi TV series, I decided it was about time I got down to business. I picked up where I left off from the last writing of STOS # 3 and finished the story.
As I finished it, I felt a bit giddy and surreal. Giddy, obviously came from the sense of accomplish something. Surreal was about the way how I paused the writing machine for 5 days, and then pressed the play button as if nothing happened. I just sat down and wrote the ending of it.
Something came back to me when I tidied up the files of STOS # 3. I have been aware of one of the reasons which contributed to my feeling off-balance, creatively. But I didn’t want to acknowledge it back then.
While I was working on STOS # 3, I also started the revision of STOS # 1 as per my original schedule. I thought I would be able to handle 2 projects (at various stages) the same time. Though at a deeper level, I had my doubts. Up til now, I had never worked on 2 stories simultaneously. I wanted to believe that I could bring my work place management scheme to my creative calendar. The fact was the creative part of me was operating from an organic yet alien system. I chose to ignore it and force fed it with my work self. The result was: My creative self became confused and she froze up.
My fault lied in “demanding” my creative self to work on 2 stories the same time. I never asked her if she wanted to do it or not. I just threw the stories at her and expect her to get on with it. I ignored that working on a draft was very different to working on revision. The creative self will need to switch from one mode of creativity to another.
I should never force the creative self to do anything that she doesn’t want to. The essential thing is to accept that she has her limit. And it is only by allowing her time to grow and loving her unconditionally that she would achieve great things.
I’m sure eventually I would be able to work on several creative projects within the same time frame. But not now, not until when she is ready.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Wreck This Journal - Week 1
As much as I’m still feeling off balance (creatively), I started the “Wreck This Journal” project.
Thanks for Jamie Ridler’s week 1 vlogging, she encouraged all participants to let go the constraints which we usually associated with keeping a journal - like the copy has to be tidy and pristine. She reminded us this journal craved to be “destroyed”.
I have to say that I like keeping my books and writing materials clean and tidy. I don’t like mess. So I felt a bit nervous when I discovered one of the tasks was to “crack the spine”. How could I crack the spine of a new book? But I remembered Jamie’s reminder. Hence I took a deep breath and did it. Amazing things followed – Burn one of the pages … easy! Spill coffee on it … piece of cake! Poke holes … no problem!
Thanks for Jamie Ridler’s week 1 vlogging, she encouraged all participants to let go the constraints which we usually associated with keeping a journal - like the copy has to be tidy and pristine. She reminded us this journal craved to be “destroyed”.
I have to say that I like keeping my books and writing materials clean and tidy. I don’t like mess. So I felt a bit nervous when I discovered one of the tasks was to “crack the spine”. How could I crack the spine of a new book? But I remembered Jamie’s reminder. Hence I took a deep breath and did it. Amazing things followed – Burn one of the pages … easy! Spill coffee on it … piece of cake! Poke holes … no problem!
But the most enjoyable part for me is to number the pages. Instead of doing it chronically, I used random numbers and words.
This is fun and surely made this cold Saturday afternoon a lot brighter!
I’m posting some of the pages I’ve done so far, enjoy!
Monday, June 1, 2009
Low Level Irritants
I try to avoid writing post which is all about negative things. And if I’m to write about negative things, I always try to provide a positive solution at the end. But sorry, not this post!
Lately, I found myself going through the motion on lots of occasions. I don’t like these feelings and have been wrecking my brain trying to understand the whys. So far all I could gather is various irritants. I’m listing them below hoping that either it will make some senses to myself and / or fellow creatives are able to pick up some threads here.
Honestly, I’m very lost, very stressed and beating up myself big time!
The Low Level Irritants
- STOS # 3 (draft) ongoing – no satisfaction after finishing the daily writing task
- STOS # 1 (re-write) – only managed to make some notes for rewriting. No actual re-writing done yet.
- Internet Explorer muck up blogging
- Limit access of internet facility due to new workplace internet usage policy.
- As winter sets in, my chronic neck pain is playing up, which means that I'm having low grade pain 24/7.
Can I blame the dark gloomy winter messing up both my body and mind?
All in all, I feel like the equilibrium I used to have is out of wack. I’m off centre. I’m off balance.
I’m sorry if this post is full of nonsense. Anyway, if you don’t see me in the next couple of days, don’t be alarm. I’m trying to get, if not all then at least half or even just 1/3 of my mojo back!
Til then, take care my fellow creatives …
Lately, I found myself going through the motion on lots of occasions. I don’t like these feelings and have been wrecking my brain trying to understand the whys. So far all I could gather is various irritants. I’m listing them below hoping that either it will make some senses to myself and / or fellow creatives are able to pick up some threads here.
Honestly, I’m very lost, very stressed and beating up myself big time!
The Low Level Irritants
- STOS # 3 (draft) ongoing – no satisfaction after finishing the daily writing task
- STOS # 1 (re-write) – only managed to make some notes for rewriting. No actual re-writing done yet.
- Internet Explorer muck up blogging
- Limit access of internet facility due to new workplace internet usage policy.
- As winter sets in, my chronic neck pain is playing up, which means that I'm having low grade pain 24/7.
Can I blame the dark gloomy winter messing up both my body and mind?
All in all, I feel like the equilibrium I used to have is out of wack. I’m off centre. I’m off balance.
I’m sorry if this post is full of nonsense. Anyway, if you don’t see me in the next couple of days, don’t be alarm. I’m trying to get, if not all then at least half or even just 1/3 of my mojo back!
Til then, take care my fellow creatives …
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