Arts

The Catnap Writer

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I wake up early, around 5 am, everyday.  If I went to bed late that only means that my focus and concentration suffers the next day – I feel as a zombie all day, and have trouble putting sentences together.  Cats jumping and playing around all nite long, only makes it worst.  The foggy feeling continues all day – and despite all the coffee – unless I imitate my feline friends and take a quick catnap.  It may be 15-20 minutes but it certainly makes a difference – I feel refreshed and my mind is a bit more clear.  It also helps me with energy levels.

For some, it may be difficult to take a quick 15 minute break of shut-eye, but resting your eyes by closing them and maybe closing the door to your office (or going to the restroom) may work, if you need that jolt of energy.  Even after you get home, you can benefit of those fifteen minutes if you need them.

For writers, especially if you have a crazy schedule and are balancing many projects at once, catnapping will work wonders.  It gives you that little extra jolt of energy to focus much better.

At one point, taking naps used to be a common thing in our society; we became busier and hurried, relinquishing this short pleasure.  Some cultures still use naps, and I bet you they live in a less cranky society.  The amount of daily noise in our lives has also intensify, making napping almost impossible.  If you live in a large city, then that might not be a problem, since you are used to sleep thru all kinds of noises.

My point to all this rambling is to use cat naps as a tool to help your focus and writing disposition, especially when you have deadlines, and may have gone to bed late at night.  A catnap on time may save a squiggly line.

The Book, the Movie, the Reader, and the Audience

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What is better, the book or the movie?  That is a question that we hear many times, specially when talking about a recent release.  However, there  is no real answer to that question.  Really, there is not.  This is why.

I have found that book lovers (including myself) enjoy reading the book, but love seeing the movie for these reasons –

  • You want to see the images in the movie and compare them to the images that you have stored in your mind after reading the book.
  • You want to re-live the book using other senses.
  • You want to see the interpretation of that book in film and how it compares to the book.  Did they get it right?
  • You want to put faces to the main characters in the book.  You probably may have cast some in your mind.
  • You watch the movie as an extension of the book.

There are many other reasons, as reading a book and watching the movie is a personal experience, one that each reader/movie goer makes as individual as their senses.  This is why there is no straight answer to that question.  For some the book is better than the movie, for others, the opposite may be true.  Some will hate both (although, if they hated the book I doubt they will go to see the movie).  And, for a few others, they will love both, and will keep re-reading and watching over and over.  I count myself in that last group – many times.

 

On this topic

http://jitterygt.wordpress.com/2011/01/24/the-book-or-story-is-always-better-than-the-movie/

How Keeping a Journal Helps Me Start the Day

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I used to keep daily or weekly diaries where I wrote some important events or marked things in the calendar; however it wasn’t until I read “The Artist Way” by Julia Cameron that I decided to keep a daily journal.  She calls it, “the morning pages” in her book.  It is a bit different from the type of journal I used to keep before.

I keep a journal, almost everyday.  Not everyone keeps one, and the ones who do, don’t do it the same way.  Writing a journal is personal.  Since I started to write a journal before I start my workday, I have found that it helps me start the day in the right mood and in the right mode.  For me, it is more than writing events; I hardly do so.  I use my journal to clear my mind of the things that are hovering inside it and that may interfere with my day.  Many times, writing this journal takes the form of a prayer, other times written reflections, questions, and many other times, I just ponder about something that seems to be in the back of my mind.

Writing a journal before I start my day helps me approach the day in a more positive way.  For me, there are no set number of pages to write.  I write as long as it takes me to feel that my mind is ready.  Sometimes I write one page, sometimes, more than three.  It is never the same.  It may take me five minutes or twenty.  Sometimes, I may write before I go to bed if I feel that I need to organize my thoughts or if I am looking for an answer to something.  Sometimes the enlightenment comes in a dream, or as soon as I wake up; sometimes as I am writing.

Keeping a journal allows me to feel closer to my Creator, many times.  It reinforces my direction and purpose.  It has also helped me resolve past issues that have lingered in my mind,without me knowing.

How you keep a journal is up to you – what works best for you.  For me, pen and paper works best.  Maybe for you, keeping one at your PC might work better.  However, I must do it before I start my day; it grounds me.  If you feel that you don’t have the time, even gifting five or ten minutes to yourself, early in the morning will be beneficial – or before you go to bed; whatever seems to work best for you .

I discovered my biggest road block by doing this, and I even didn’t know about it.

Of Vampires, Sex and Fear

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This morning, while reading the news, one piece caught my attention – a teenager that was arrested for breaking in and trying to assault a woman he did not know.  What was odd about this was that he pretended to be a vampire and was hissing and growling while trying to suck the woman’s blood.

Vampires used to be scary, freaky, and plain ugly.  Todays vampires are sexy, good-looking, and they even have feelings.  They still scare viewers but in a sexy way.  Fear and sexy or fear and sex have found common ground in today’s vampires.  The old-time Dracula or Nosferatu was hardly a hottie; he was meant to be repulsive and scary-looking, the total opposite of today’s vampire.  Today’s vampire is a dangerous potion to attract its victim – good looks, money, and mystery.

The evolution of the vampire has been a slow one, but one that was necessary to revive the creature’s appeal.  At one point, vampires were almost passe.  Thanks to some good writers they have been brought back in a different light; however, there is a constant in this evolution – if yesterday’s vamp was dangerous, today’s vamp is more so.  Nosferatu made you run away; Edward Cullen or Stephan Salvatore doesn’t necessarily do so.  Some fans may actually find themselves running towards them.  And that my friends, is the beauty of writing!

On Being Your Own Cheerleader

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Many times, people find themselves in a sea of uncertainty about their dreams and goals.  Many times, the uncertainty comes from outside sources – from the naysayers that have managed to bury the seed of doubt in the dreamer’s heart.  If you are a dreamer that is working hard towards the goal, it is up to you to toughen up and grow some roses in your heart – their thorns will suffocate the weed that is trying to grow from the seed that naysayers planted there.

Many times, you will have to be your own cheerleader, maybe even the only one.  When others fail you, you can always count on you.  But when you feel as if you have failed yourself, it is because you have let many weeds grow in the garden of your heart.  Start weeding out and you will find again your dream.

Shakespeare a Day 18

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“Can honour set-to a leg?  No.  Or an arm?  No.  Or take away the grief of a wound?  No.  Honour hath no skill in surgery, then?  No.  What is honour?  A word.  What is that word honour?  Air.” – King Henry IV, Part I

It is what it is.  A matter of the soul? the spirit? of love of the country? of the human condition?

Shakespeare a Day 17

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“This above all; to thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.” – Hamlet

True words, as it is hard to be false to the world when we are true to ourselves.  When we experience many back stabs in the course of our lives, we might tend to become a bit skeptical about trusting people; however, this is not the way to live fully, as it denies the essence of Love.  By being true to yourself and putting out the best of you, the ball ends up on the other’s court – even when you experience deceit, you are at peace with yourself.  In this world, the good and the bad coexists, and sometimes, wolves wear sheep’s attire – the only weapon against that is the satisfaction of being true to yourself.

Shakespeare a Day 16

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“Who steals my purse steals trash; ’tis something, nothing; ‘Twas mine; ’tis his, and has been slave to thousands; But he that filches from me my good name robs me of that which not enriches him, and makes me poor indeed.” – Othello, the Moor of Venice

What’s in a name?  Nothing – Everything.  Once you have been branded, that’s it.  After you lose everything, home, possessions, friends … you have your name, you have yourself.  The last thing you want to lose is that.

Today, many people have lost a lot with the economic meltdown, more will keep losing this year;  however, the last thing that will remain is your Spirit, much more than a branded name.  Today, I can say this (and many with me) – “Who steals my purse steals trash;”  however, no one can rob ME!

Shakespeare a Day 15

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“That death’s unnatural that kills for loving.” – Othello, the Moor of Venice

Love, such a short and simple word, and so much goes into it.  Most things we do during our days on Earth we do for Love – for love of someone, of something, for love of money, for love of success, for love of the planet, of its people, for love of material things … Whether that Love is right or wrong, in our minds, we do it just for Love.  Crimes of passion are said to be committed out of Love – love that has sickened and crossed the line towards death.  Even the denial of oneself for the pleasing of the loved one, is out of love.  All is done in the name of Love.  Love is pure, a higher essence; in our humanity, or twisted humanity, we corrupt it.

Today, think of it – what do you love?  why do you love?

Shakespeare a Day 14

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“Had all his hairs been lives, my great revenge had stomach for them all.” – Othello, The Moor of Venice

This line is full of emotion, vengeance and anger – both strong and powerful emotions that can take over the best of our humanity.  It only takes a moment for those emotions to undo the best in us.  As humans, we experience a ray of feelings and emotions that can shape our behavior; the real power rests in how we deal with them.

My favorite authors are the ones that can tell a good story but also let me feel the emotions through the words in the page.