I see you World…and I know you see me “write” back. Sometimes I am overwhelmed by the stories I run into out here with the bits and bytes that float by from point A to point B. They just floor me. They either entertain me, touch me, inspire me, teach me, piss me off, or just plain give me a since of camaraderie to the world at large.
Some critics think it’s a colder world socially we live in because its become impersonal, or too sterile in the way we socialize with all the texting, blogging,facebooking, and twittering we do.
I have met people from just around the corner to halfway around the world that I would never have met without this little invention called the computer.
The current population of the world is approximately at 7 Billion and climbing at a net growth of 200,000 new people per day on this Earth…I say those numbers alone could make it a pretty impersonal world to start with. Now imagine if we didnt have computers to connect in some way to those 7 Billion. Imagine if the word computer wasn’t in the dictionary, and that this wonderous machine I’m now typing on didn’t exist.
I wouldn’t have met a funny witty honest little girl named Amna, from Pakistan who showed me the best and brightest is yet to be for the younger generation just now starting to take hold in this world
OR a guy named Seth from PA, USA who has faced adversity from the moment he was born which he continues to struggle with to this day but can still smile and find humor in life and inject that same feeling just by his very spirit and vitality into all his blogs on entertainment, life and love.
There is a woman who lives in Tasmania, who’s never known anything but her small little isolated world on a small island just south of Australia. She’s a writer named Megan Sayer who plans on fulfillng her lifelong dream of taking a trip to the United States and visit a dear friend that she met online through her blogging. She has many spoken and unspoken fears but she’s learning to face them head on and challenge herself on an almost daily basis.
There is a woman , a writer who blogs who goes by the name Stella Marr….who lives in New York City , who was stuck in a world of prostitution, violence, and outright slavery for ten years who climbed out and turned a corner in her life where so few don’t or can’t in that life. Now she inspires, informs, and sets the record straight about the misconceptions of sex trafficking of girls and women all across the world.
Then there’s Christian Mihai, a young writer in Romania, a young man with a passion and intelligence for all things. He’s driven, he’s creative, he’s inquisitive, he’s profound, he’s inspiring. He fuels me to be better, to think. Throw away my vanity and just be a student of life and learn my craft as a writer.
Finally, there’s Goregirl, what can I say about her. She knows what she loves and pursues it. An officiando on everything Horror if you couldn’te tell by her blog name. She’s a workhorse for her blogspost…constant, thorough, steadfast, and committed to her followers and her reviews. She has focus. Like an arrow being shot from a bow to hit dead center.
Stories of hardships,abuse,triumphant,being steadfast or driven in anything you love and believe in, showing courage against overwhelming odds. These are stories, these are lives which I recognize. These are people I wish to know. These are people I wish to be. These are people I admire. These are people I wish to write about.
I wanted to expand a little bit on the previous blog I wrote,regarding Write what you know. Yes, writer what you know of course…how could you not…
If you don’t it’s a pretty short fall to people, your readers, realizing you don’t know what the hell your talking about. BUT even if you have that base covered and you know what your talking about then you actually have to make what you say interesting. You can’t just spout the right words in the right order and make a sentence and hope that person on the receiving end of it all is interested in what your saying. Hey slap that kid in the back he’s dozing off. SLAP..thanks
I found out when I went to back to college and started studying literature and creative writing that people just dont know how boring they are to listen to when it comes to the written word.( it can carry over to normal conversation as well but not always) I can’t tell you how many times I sat around in a huddle with my writing group and we’d all take turns reading a particular writer’s story and then proceed to give our own critique of it.
I always hated critiquing people’s work because I have this thing in my mind that likes to leap out and wreak havoc on the poor soul who wrote it. Basically, that creature inside my head is honesty. What made it worst for me was that the three people before me, giving the guy their own opinion , who read the same exact boring going nowhere piece of crap story that I did, didn’t have the balls to step up and say “Hey buddy, see this part right here, yeah, I don’t get it..or could you be a little more descriptive..this isn’t a grocery list your writing here, hell a grocery list would have been more exciting…and look what you did there…what were you thinking?” SEE WHAT I DID? ..I totally just bombed this whole guy’s story and he thinks I’m a jerk.
Raise your hand if you have ever seen Amercian Idol, or some version of such a show. Stop me if I’m wrong but of the 70,000+ entrants maybe 200 have actual talent to go further. The rest of the 69,800 just have one thing…..courage. Now where do they get that courage from? From the same people like in my writing group who don’t know how to give an honest critique but instead pump them full of misguided praise, misinformation, or worse yet..just silence, leading the writer to think whatever hell they want to think. (which is usually oh I must be kinda good)
NOW here’s my point to all this blah blahing above. If those 69,800 others really really really really took a look at themseleves. Reviewed their talent in all the clarity of a microscope, you would see would them BE BETTER. Some might not be Idol material but they would BE better when they went up to that mic. Because they would KNOW themselves. KNOW what they need to work on, come prepared, work at their craft. But they delude themselves and will continue to delude while someone pats their hands and tells them what they want to hear.
I soooooo want people to tell me whats wrong with my work it hurts. (yes I occasionally would like adulation from my adoring fans…bring it)
I want to get better…but I want to get better. For real better.
So as a writer I will always try to be true, to myself and not short change myself. I will do my best not to lie to myself…the truth will set you free they say. (will somebody get me out of this straight jacket)
People always say in writing, write what you know, write what you know. First, I am not sure what I know . There are a lot things bouncing around up there that I’m not even privy to until my hands hit the keyboard or the ink sticks to the paper.
I know a few things . I know I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer but neither am I the dullest. I don’t hail from a major college like Harvard, Yale, or MIT, but I do know how to enquire, to investigate , to search and use the tools at my disposal. I have not traveled the world over experiencing and knowing wonderous places and cultures but I do know I can daydream like nobody’s business and that gets me there just fine.
I do know one thing very well; at least I think I like to think I know. And that’s people. One such people is my wife. (and yes that was on purpose)
For anyone who follows me on here you know that I mentioned that my wife underwent a major surgery back in Mid-July. Since I have known her my wife has been a very strong woman; in willpower and spirit anyways, unfortunately her body just doesn’t always want to agree with her at times it seems.
I will not wax on to much on how this is her fourth ambdominal surgery in the last twenty years, and that each surgery is very invasive and painful for her, with each having a long recovery time. She is without a doubt one of the strongest women I know. She could be Wonder Woman’s twin sister with blonde hair as far as I’m concerned (especially in the chest area) but I digress.
I just wanted to relay that sprinkled throughout our life and time together, I found how truly strong and courageous she is. Each heroic moment from her has inspired me to this day in my l writing for what I want any strong person I write about to be like and exemplify.
This type of character is a no-brainer for me. This character lives with me everyday and I am happy she has chosen this seat next to me on this magical train called life to take us to wherever we wish to go.
She is but one character in my life that I look to for inspiration but she is by far the most important. She anchors it all down.
Love this picture cuz it fits my wife perfectly..:)
And this one below…I loves me some Wonder Woman what I can say…
As you can see above I received a pleasant surprise from one of my followers and fellow bloggers over at Lily Wright of The Arcade of Arts and Arcana. She so graciously thought me worthy of such a distinction and for that I so graciously thank her most heartily. If she were standing next to me at this very moment I would take her hand in mind and kiss it ever gently as in olden times as to show my honest affection and appreciation for my work. .
But seriously it is much appreciated to be thought of as inspiring. Thank you again Lily. Many people on here in the blogosphere inspire me as well which leads me also to want give out some awards myself to some others who I have found inspired me, entertained me greatly, and made me maybe even perhaps get my eyes just a little watery….just a little mind you. Those awards will be forthcoming in a future blog very soon.
I was told as part of good Award etiquette I should share SEVEN things about myself you might not know…….hmmmmm..now the mind begans to wonder…what should I reveal about myself that is new…yet interesting…perhaps even funny for some things…endearing maybe? Perhaps even cool. Well here goes nothing and something.
SEVENS THINGS ABOUT ME THAT YOU MAY THINK IS REALLY COOL OR NOT GIVE A DAMN ABOUT:
First, I have a Black Belt in Shorin Ryu Okinawan Karate; I have studied Martial Arts since the age of fourteen. I went into it originally for recreation but find the discipline of it relaxing and meditative as I perform the various katas…plus i can break boards and pull out your still beating heart from your chest and show it to you….just kidding I don’t break that many boards.
Second, I have been married for almost 17yrs to the same woman and have been with her for 23yrs. We have had our ups and downs in our relationship but we have gotten through it all and we are each others best friends. I love her madly.
Third, I have FIVE Cats and a bird. Names from oldest to youngest: Abby, Bailey, Mowgli, Zelda,Puffy Ceasar, and the bird’s name is Buddy ( a Cockatiel). I wish to figure them as a tax write off but have yet to figure out how. Anybody got any ideas let me know.
Fourth, After ten years of college with a education I didn’t really want and fourteen years in a job that numbs my brain I finally figured out I wanted to be a writer. I think I knew deep down that I did, I just was either too afraid, lazy or too dim-witted to do anything about it until these last few years. I hope to make up for all those lost years. Just IMAGINE all the poems, stories,novels, that I could have written over the years!
Fifth, I really do believe there is magic in the world. You just have to change your perception to the world around you to notice it.
Sixth, From the age of eight to eighteen I lived in approx 20 different places (one time in a tent) …so I appreciate the little things and it takes a lot to rattle me you might say because I lived a crazy life growing up.
Seventh, I want madly to have people see that I am sincere. I want to inspire them to be better than they think they can be. I want to show myself that I can make you believe in magic to.
Hope you learned something new about me (kinda had to if you read all of this). I will continue to write and always forge ahead no matter the odds to try and get published . Look for more excerpts, short stories and poems here. Check out my old posts for some of my work…it is sure to entertain. Thanks again!
Ain't no rest for the Wicked - Philip Wardlow - The real and the sensual sides to life in all its facets.. 