It’s All About Heart.

Billy Joel wrote It’s all about soul, which is one of my favorite songs, and the last chorus says: 

It's all about soul

It's all about joy that comes out of sorrow

It's all about soul

Who's standing now and who's standing tomorrow

You've got to be hard

Hard as the rock in that old rock 'n' roll song

But that's only part, you know in your heart

It's all about soul

I don't want to argue with one of the greats, and I think Billy Joel is one of the greats, but I believe it is all about heart.

Stripping yourself bare and standing in the spotlight and showing all of your faults - It’s all about heart. Creating a picture with words; holding what you know to be true and being not only true to yourself, but true to your readers as well - It’s all about heart.

In my previous blogs before I started this blog, I was concerned with only two things: 1) I wanted to make money; I was money driven and I was trying everything to get a paycheck from writing. 2) I wanted notoriety - I wanted people to flock to my sight, but they weren't coming, why? Because, I seemed to have forgotten it’s all about heart.

Looking back on that time, I can see I didn't have heart. My writing was so flat it only had one side. Sometimes when the motives are not right, it can seem fake and forced. When writing from your heart, it should be free and unrestrained.

“Who’s Standing Now and Who’s Standing Tomorrow”

I watched a lot of television when I was growing up, and we loved watching the TV show M*A*S*H. There was this one episode where Corporal Klinger was starting a newspaper. and he was able to get people to subscribe to his paper. One day, Colonel Potter asked Klinger where his paper was, and Klinger - excited - put the paper under the door. Colonel Potter used it to wipe his paint brush.

Klinger was not accepted as a writer and he folded up his newspaper enterprise and went back to being a corporal (this happened after his drag days).

I have noticed, some of the people I follow, especially the ones who needed some extra encouragement for their writing, no longer post in their blogs - this makes me sad.

It is sad, because these individuals took the time to explore the field of writing - they thought they loved writing and they really tried, but either it wasn't for them, or they became so discouraged that they folded up their tent in shame and walked into obscurity. 

How do we make it so we are standing tomorrow?

We need to write engaging articles from the heart. We need to dig in and hold on, because there is a story to be told. If you believe in your heart what you are writing - you have something special.

The point was that Klinger was not doing it out of heart, he wasn't even doing it out of duty; Klinger was doing it to be a “newspaper man.” If he poured his heart into his newspaper, and really had engaging articles, he would have been the newspaper man he wanted to be. What kind of blogger do you want to be? 

Write with heart, and you will be here on tomorrow’s tomorrow. 

Be Here Now!

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!”

Ghosts

I was sitting across the table from my grandfather at my Cousin Michael’s graduation. I was a year behind Michael, and my grandparents flew out for Michael’s big day. As we sat at this dinner, my grandfather looked at my father and said, “Thom is never going to grow up and do anything, he is going to be your greatest disappointment.” 

My father did not argue and I left the table.

My grandfather did not show up for my graduation, but in my mind his presence was not needed: I was the great failure in his eyes. A few years later my grandfather passed away.

I have been haunted by that ghost for almost 30 years. 

I was thinking about this on my bike ride to my “Brick and Mortar:” Evaluating my life as I usually do. I realized my grandfather made a prediction - even though he thought it an off handed comment. I made it his prophecy come true, but only for what he would deem a success. 

My grandfather built K-Marts across the country. He moved to city, built a K-Mart, and then moved to another city. He was a successful contractor - he had money, drove nice cars and was a feared and mostly respected boss. However, the love from people around him - including from his family - could not fill a thimble. He was a hard man, a disciplined man and focused like none I had ever seen before, but when it came to love: he was bankrupt.

I got married young, my wife and I have been married 28 years, and we have five wonderful children and two grandsons and a granddaughter on the way. I am greeted with a hug from each of my three oldest children (hugged sometimes from my two teenagers at home) and my grandkids smile when they say, “Hi Papa.” I might not have a lot of money, I might not have property and my resume might look like a who’s who of desperate employers; I have love.

I am a rich man, because of my blessings. I might not be the captain of industry or travel from town to town building shopping malls, but when people see me, they smile and say hello. 

What is important to you? What do you deem a success? Are you basing your life on what others have said, done or what they deem important?

When you can shed those shackles, you can really be free. If money is your greatest reward, and you have money - I am happy for you, because you have made it. If you define your success with something less tangible, than you are the only one that can evaluate your own worth. 

For those that say, ”hugs will not put bread on the table,” and “working as a writer when it is clinch time is tough,” and “when you have a deadline it is very hard, and a smile will not satiate your boss:” You are very right. I didn't say I didn’t work. Working is necessary; my life has work in it - just like everyone else. I know what drives me, But what drives you?

Never Give Up - Never, Never Give Up.

How many times as a writer do we just toss in the towel and walk away. We think “Nobody is going to look at my blog,” or “How can anybody even hear me, above a thousand voices?” I tell you, don’t give up.

My daughter was a big inspiration to me: when she was in school, her teacher told her not to be her worst critic. She would come home, and I would be writing or painting or playing music, and I would be saying “I am no good, I should just quit.” 

My daughter would put her hand on my shoulder and say, “Daddy, don’t be your worst critic.”

Well, I have to say, the criticism I have given my self has caused me to cap my pen, put my paints away and fold my music stand. I gave up on it all - why, because I didn’t think I was good enough.

Back in 2004, I was challenged by a co-worker to write a short story. He did not think I could write a short story in 24 hours. I came up with a story line, composed the story on my way home, sat down at my computer and wrote a 4800 word short story. Printed it out and took it to him the next day. I just wanted to prove him wrong, but it created a spark.

Two years later, I picked that story back up, and turned it into a novel. I worked really hard on the novel, and then I self-published it. I was in love with the book, and I had dreams of making it big as a novelist.  However, my book never sold. People I let read the book gave me feedback of: “Wow, you should donate this to a sleep center, because it could cure insomnia,” and “So did your third grader write this, you must be so proud.”

I was crushed. My book, my baby was being scorned. I was not going to be deterred, my first book was not well accepted, but I will try again. So I wrote more,(not publishing of course) and nothing ever was accepted. I then capped my pen, and decided to never write again. I gave up!

I tried again to write after I had brain surgery. What brought me back? Well I love writing, and I missed it. I never publicized the blog, so once again - I capped my pen. But I still missed writing. 

This last time, after taking test after test, I was pointed to writing and storytelling. So I started up again. This time, I have had over a thousand page views in a month (BTW Thanks for that), and I feel encouraged. I have also started another book - with my wife’s insistence, but the most important thing to remember – mistakes are learning opportunities; learning from your missteps in the past, will help you avoid them in the future.

I guess what I am saying is: We are artists, we do ink play, we paint with words, invoking thoughts are our canvas and words are powerful. We need to do what we do best, and when you stop; you silence your own voice. 

Quit smoking, quit doing drugs, quit drinking, quit bad relationships and bad jobs, but don’t quit writing. Never give up! Never, never give up your voice.