Be
Here Now!
There
is a lot of college I don’t remember, but the things that have stuck, I use
almost on a daily basis. One of these morsels of knowledge was from an
“Introduction to College” course, and the only thing I gleaned out of that
class was the statement: “Be Here Now!”
The
concept behind that statement was to focus your attention on the task at hand.
They wanted to make sure that all the former high school seniors who were
present college freshmen were able to focus on doing their coursework and
graduating; not quitting college.
I
was going to night school, and my attention had been focused because I was in
the Navy at the time. However, this phrase was something I could take with me.
I
will say this concept helps me when I am writing as well. Especially when it is
a beautiful spring day, and looking out my window: I have to remember that I am
a writer, and my “Here” is what I am working on, and later I can change that
location - as soon as I am done with my priorities.
In
my “Brick and Mortar” I have to remember to give all my attention to that
position as well. This can sometimes be a difficult task. I will say that to
keep my sanity - I do write between calls, before work and at lunch: Which
makes a 250 word post sometimes stretch out to take eight hours to write; when the phone
rings - I stop my writing and I focus on the call.
That
might seem to be mental gymnastics, but really it is easy enough to switch
gears. The only issue is when I am in the middle of a thought, and then I come
back, sometimes I cannot remember the thought. Oh well we all have crosses,
right?
Goals
I
guess this is a great time to talk about goals. When I was writing my first
novel, I had a daily goal of typing 2000 words.
I
would wake up at 2:00am, write on my book, and then go to work. I knew I needed
to finish the book, so I needed to be there at that time. I don’t recall ever
thinking, “I just want to go back to bed,” or “Maybe if I could just watch some
TV.” I had to be there, at that computer and work on that story.
So
today, I am blogging, and I have started a new project. When it is time for me
to work on my new project, or when I get an idea for the blog, I have to turn
off all the distractions and be there writing. Sometimes this is difficult, but
I know it is important.
What
distracts you? Is it television, the sun outside of your window, kids, a dirty
kitchen or your dog? Put your distractions behind you, and “Be Here Now!”
