the 7-hour ritual is complete.
you know the one.
gather the clan. trek to the sacred grounds. seek out the life form that speaks to you. sacrifice it while the clan lays on hands. carefully, with fear and reverence, transport it to the shrine where it will spend one moon to transfer what remains of its life force. affix it with tiny replicas of ourselves and various other life forms, fractal patterns, and light.
a reminder that life thrives beautifully even in the dark and hopeless season.
surviving
clicking a mouse
typing on keys
making a model
building a wall
making a building
supporting society
curing disease
exploring space
exploring the mind
understanding reality
imagining realities
understanding imaginings
building mysteries
caretaking the planet
evolving
surviving
Even if we don’t acknowledge them (or even realize we have them), we all have dreams and goals and a destiny, that really, truly, will change the world. I know a lot of times “the world” in this context is our current sphere of influence, but I really believe our impact extends beyond what we know. That’s why it’s so easy for me to say, “THE way I’m changing the world is through my children.” That is, I’m giving them the best I possibly can. I teach them about life, help them learn to be powerful and own their choices, pursue their dreams and walk in their strengths, and I work really hard to provide a safe environment for them to happen in and from. But to what end? So they can spend their lives investing in their children alone? And so on? No, not *only*. Don’t get me wrong. Being a great parent is not only extremely difficult and uncomfortable and rewarding, but it is also more important than saving a starving child. What I’m saying is that no matter what noble goal I chase after, if I sacrifice my family to it, I will consider myself a failure. So where does that leave me? In a balancing act – difficult, but possible, and so very important. I must be true to who I am and obedient to God to walk in the gifts He’s given me. I must change the world, and not simply pass my responsibility for it to my kids. I know they will do greater things than what I do. What kind of parent would I be if I made it easy for them?
Well, I have officially failed at NaNoWriMo 2013. Of my target 50,000 words of my novel, I achieved a grand total of <drumroll> 1,838. I think it’s safe to say, I failed spectacularly. Sure, I have excuses, but none of them really matter, which I’m pretty sure is the exact definition of excuse. The point is that I set a goal that, while it was achievable for thousands of others, for me it was ridiculously impossible. I believe you should always have a few impossible goals in your life.
So now, I’m almost finished with the first chapter, and on track to finish the first draft of the book by the end of May. This will still prove, I’m sure, to be a monumental task, but far less impossible. Stay tuned, just don’t hold your breath.
That’s right. Three days remaining. I am participating in NaNoWriMo this year, hoping for a win. At the end of November I plan to have the first draft of my first novel complete. This is something I’ve been wanting to do for so long, and waiting to have the time to do it. Well, that never happens. It seems that in some cases Yoda was right. There is no try. All the try in the world has gotten me up to, but not past, the Prologue. Now I’m doing it. Hoping for encouragement, patience, and a steadfast hope that I can meet my goal – 50,000 words in one month. 1,667 per day. A complete story, even if it is a little rough. So, if you don’t hear from me much for the month of November, rest assured that I most likely *did* fall off the edge of this world, into one of my own creation.
I dropped off my son to preschool the other day (well, I do that every day, but this story is about the other day, and, well, moving along…). After he washed his hands he was having a hard time getting the paper towel from the dispenser to dry off. I offered to help him, but he insisted on doing it himself. One of the moms made the comment, “They think they’re so big at this age.” I didn’t say anything to her, but these are my thoughts:
Why tell him that he’s not big, and that there are things he can’t do?
There is no limit to what he can do, or who he can be.
Just because I’m ‘big’ doesn’t give me the right to make him little.
He is going to accomplish things simply because he was never informed by the learned that they were impossible.
Fifteen years ago today was a Sunday. Not just any Sunday. It was THE Sunday. I stepped out and boldly invited myself to a Superbowl party that my friend had been invited to. It seemed at the time to be an insignificant decision, but it was one that would completely change the direction of my life. That tends to happen when you meet The One. Despite her being annoyed at my audacity to just show up, by continuing to do so, within a few short months we were in love, a year later engaged, and in anther three, married. This has been an amazing journey, which I wouldn’t trade for anything. It really gets better every day. Here’s to the next 15.
Because the title ‘Blogging for Great Justice’ was not only misleading, but just a bit too epic. Speaking of epic, I have decided to write a novel. Well, I decided to do it about a year ago, but now I have actually started writing it. I don’t necessarily intend for it to actually be *epic*, but I do expect it to at least be grand in scale. If it turns out to be epic, then so be it.
My secondary decision is to blog about it, or just to blog in general. It takes me a long time to write. I’ve spent this past year relearning how to type, so that part isn’t too bad. I shudder at the thought of spending the entire time of writing a novel looking down at the keyboard. No, the slow process for me is creation. I’ve never considered myself a very good storyteller, and I’m not that great at being quick and thinking on the fly (what does that phrase even mean?). Couple that with a fair amount of perfectionism – yes, I’m working on that – and you’ve delved to entirely new depths of writer’s block.
So that brings me here, to this blog. I need the practice. I need to get stuff out and not worry about how it sounds and learn to revise it later. To me this is a very safe place to do just that. As for the storytelling thing – well, I’m just going to do my best, take it slow, and trust that I will get there. I have this concept for a story that I just can’t shake, and I really feel like it could be so much bigger and impact people more than I allow myself to believe I am capable of.
Now that I’ve built it up… I’m not ready to release any details yet, even the genre (I thought I would, but decided against it – that’s interesting). Perhaps in the future once I get the basic arc nailed down I will invite some beta readers to provide some feedback – after passing through a very stringent application process of course, that may or may not involve beer. .-)
Maybe in the meantime, for even Greater Practice, I will try my hand at some short stories and post them directly to the blog for all to enjoy.
They way I look at it – every single person has a purpose in this life that is unique to, and for, them and no other. Regardless of any (yes, any) circumstance, that purpose is possible and attainable, but it takes choosing. Deliberate choice can be hard. I love the line from “Where the Red Fern Grows” – “I don’t want character, I want a puppy.” The process of getting himself what he wanted was exactly what built that character.
Introduced Noah to the Fibonacci Sequence the other night.
“Here’s a pattern. Write the number 1, then make the next number the sum of the previous two.”
“But there is only one number.”
“So what’s one plus nothing?”
“Oh, ok.” 1 1 2 3 5 8 13 “Hey, this isn’t a pattern.”
“What’s the next number?”
“21.”
“If it’s not a pattern then how did you know?” <EvilGrin> He looks at me as if to say, “Smartypants.” So he goes to 144 and decides to stop because “this is gonna get big really fast.” <proud dad>
So then I have him draw a square. Then a square next to it.
“Now draw one here at this edge. Now at this edge. Now here. How many squares wide is this one?”
He writes a 1 in the first one, then in the second, then 2, 3.
“Five.”
“Are these numbers familiar?”
“No.”
“Draw another one.”
“8.”
“How about now?”
“Well, I’m 8, and Liam is 1.”
“Keep going.”
“13. 21. 34. 55.” !!! “Hey, that’s the same pattern! You’re tricky!”
.-D
Of course it lead to a nice little Google image search episode to see the original pattern and some examples of FibSeq in nature. Next I’ll show him some architectural applications of the Golden Ratio, then on to the Mandelbrot Set. Train a child up in the way he should go, and all that jazz. .-)
antman's blog 