Experiment 10

I was just thinking about something I’m calling “The What You Give/What You Get Inventory.”

I was thinking of it in terms of kids and helping them understand why they need to contribute both to the household and to the wider society.  But, as with every parenting tool, this is useful for most of us adults, too.  Stop and think about all the things that you receive: money, food, shelter, love, encouragement, understanding.  Then think about all that you give: time, money, love, encouragement, support, advice.  Are the two in balance?  Or do you give more than you take, making lives better with a kind word when someone isn’t having a great day?  Or are you a net drain on society, snarking at the barista when your latte isn’t just so?  Being mindful of our inventory might help some of us turn towards improving our balance.

Success!

Experiment 8

A week of daily blogging.  Wow.  Didn’t think it would be this hard.  Or this easy.  What else do I have to write about?  Not much I would think.  Although I must say that I continue to think about this as an opportunity to inspire and entertain.  It’s not easy, and I don’t expect many to read it, but I put it out there, and if it helps someone, then it’s all worth the effort.

I suppose that I think I’m pretty special, that I know things or see things in a different way to most people.  And, still in the “OMG I’m Awesome” vein, I am hopeful that I can write things that illuminate for people the way I see things, and that they can use that insight to improve their lives.  And, in the worst case, it allows me to get things off my chest, and pontificate a bit.  And who doesn’t like to pontificate.

Success!

Experiment 7

Life is really an experiment, but where is the control group?

The answer, there isn’t one.  I am in the out-of-control group.  Or is that the beyond-control group?

I like story fragments.  Fiction experiments.  Slices of experience, served up or not, sometimes left in the fridge, the writer hoping we’d forgotten that there might be something tasty and nourishing in there.  Of course, most of the fragments I get to read are mine. And I suppose it’s the story they tell about me that keeps them in the back of the fridge.  I don’t finish them.  And so I am embarrassed by their mere existence.  Not because it’s a big deal to have things unfinished in a notebook or on a computer somewhere, it’s the utter lack of finished or even substantially progressed things I have.  It’s not like I have a thousand fragments and a dozen published novels and three dozen short stories ( or forty-nine for that matter)… I have zero.  Need to puzzle some of these fragments together at some stage.  Sooner rather than later.  It’s not like it’s a life changing thing to not, but IT WOULD BE AN ACCOMPLISHMENT.

Success!

Experiment 6

So on to the whole thing that started me down the path to this blog:  Are You Trying To Kill Yourself?

I mean, are people trying to kill themselves or are they just incredibly good at putting themselves in harm’s way.  I’m not trying to kill myself, but at the same time, I eat too much, I eat the wrong things, I don’t sleep nearly enough, I don’t exercise enough (although I do whenever I have slept enough that it’s not overtraining, but NO EXCUSES!!), I often rush things, and at times I am not focussed enough while I’m driving.  Those are exactly the sorts of behaviours that lead us to substantially increase our chances of dying prematurely or suffering a catastrophic health event (an event which leads to a long-term and substantial reduction in our quality of life, think a heart attack, stroke, musculoskeletal injury, brain injury, eye injury, etc).

So, Am I Trying To Kill Myself?

Nope, I’m human.  I am aware that some of my behaviour puts my person at risk, and I make decisions about how best to minimize balance that risk.  Of course, the risks we take have a nebulous weight in our decision-making, as many of the consequences of our actions are either long-term (obesity, smoking) or low-probability (speeding, DUI, texting and driving, leaning off a ladder).  Either it hasn’t hurt us yet or we’ve gotten away with it in the past, or any number of other excuses our brain gives for why we can continue with risky behaviour.  So I guess with this train of thought, I am rethinking those risks that I take, and asking others to rethink the risks that they take.

Is It Worth It?

Is it worth destroying your life, those of your family, and those of your victim’s families, to not wait another 30 seconds until you’ve pulled the car over to read that text message?  Is it that important?

Is it worth growing prematurely old and breathless, ravaging your digestive tract, and stressing all the joints in your legs and back, by combining overindulgence at the dinner table (/breakfast table/lunch room/snack bar/muffin basket) with under-commitment at the gym/park/treadmill?

You have to decide.  My point with writing this is not to change the decisions you make, it’s to recast the factors you are weighing up.  Yes, I realize that there are a million cautionary tales in the media about this, but if I can convince one person to change in such a way that they avoid a premature end or years of living with consequences of one (or a series of) poor decision(s), then that is a victory for me.  The thing is, I don’t undertake this out of some great philanthropic mission beating in my heart, driving me to improve the world.  It is driven by a far more selfish impulse:

I am certain that the first person I convince to change will be ME.

Success!

Experiment 3

I was thinking today about how to write a short mystery. A 10 minute mystery, about 2000 words, with a separate solution, would be a great brain teaser, read it at morning coffee, roll it around in your head, bounce ideas off of your coworkers, read the solution at lunch.  Okay, maybe I’m projecting myself into too many people, but it’s worth a shot.

Success!

Experiment 2

Rules

Need to develop some simple rules to live and write by, to be revised as required.

1. Post every day
2. Write what you know
3. Write about things that matter (Remember “No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader”)
4. Write about them honestly, passionately, sensibly
5. Have fun!

Success!

Experiment 1

Posting.

Success!