I just finished reading a great book about the creative process, Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert (of Eat, Pray, Love fame). I found it quite inspirational, and think she does a great job demystifying the creative process.
She offers tips for overcoming fear, finding inspiration, giving yourself permission to start the work, being persistent, and trusting in the process. Here are a few quick excerpts:
You can have your 3-D or 4K big screen TV and Blu-Ray with surround sound… I’ll take this setup over that any day:
When I’m walking along the beach, I’m always amazed (and amazingly disappointed) by the number of people who have their ear buds in, either listening to music or chatting on their cell phones. They’re missing half the fun, because the sounds of the surf just can’t be beat.
Ditch the ear buds, buddy, and tune in to a much sweeter sound.
As I mentioned in a recent post, my Uncle Don passed away recently. His oldest child, my cousin Bob, was going through Uncle Don’s safe deposit box and found a copy of my father’s will, which he mailed to me.
It starts out this way:
I know my dad modified the boilerplate language of wills to add the phrase “and mindful of the uncertainty of this life”. I know because the will is dated November 20th, 1968. 11 days after my mom died of leukemia, less than six months after being diagnosed with it, at the age of 33. “Mindful of the uncertainly of this life” indeed. He was mindful of it for the rest of his years on earth, as he raised four kids by himself.
Today is my dad’s birthday. He would’ve been 85. I miss him every day. But I also smile at the fact that when he changed the wording of the will, he added “the uncertainty of this life” not “the uncertainty of life.” Because he was a believer. I am too.
Pop quiz:
Which of these activities helps more in the fight against global climate change:
A. taking public transportation to work every day.
B. Eating a vegan diet.
The answer is B, by a wide margin. This report is a real eye-opener. Check out this line from the summary:
Human consumption of meat and dairy products is a major driver of climate change. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with their production are estimated to account for over 14.5 per cent of the global total. This is more than the emissions produced from powering all the world’s road vehicles, trains, ships and aeroplanes combined.1
I’m not a vegan (for the record, I’m lacto-ovo, with shades of pescatarian), so I won’t preach too much. But it doesn’t have to be an all or nothing proposition. Just having one meatless day per week could help immensely. Check out these stats (Source):
If everyone went vegetarian just for one day, the U.S. would save:
If everyone went vegetarian just for one day, the U.S. would prevent:
So just for a day, skip the sirloin and have more salad. It’s better for the planet – and that’s no animal excrement.
My Uncle Don passed away recently, at the age of 92. Took a nap and never woke up. He had dementia, but physically was still strong as an ox. He even took a open-air plane ride less than a year ago.
If you read his obituary, you get a glimpse of what an amazing guy he was:
But that just scratches the surface. After my mother died at age 33 and my dad moved the family (4 kids under age 10) from Jersey City, New Jersey to the sticks of Arkansas, we spent several childhood summers living with my uncle and aunt in Houston. We didn’t think anything of it at the time, but in hindsight it was such an amazing sacrifice for Uncle Don – who had 5 kids of his own, mind you – to take on another brood of 4 from his wife’s brother for three months of every year. And he did so much more than provide room and board… it was in Houston under his tutelage that my siblings and I learned how to swim, and ride bikes. He took us to Astros games, to amusement parks, to ice cream parlors, and loved us as if we were his own kids. It gave us a sense of normalcy in a childhood that was otherwise anything but normal. And for that we’ll forever be grateful.
Rest in peace, Uncle Don.
I read a Q&A with comedian/author Greg Behrendt in CityBeat (a local alternative weekly) yesterday. I’m not familiar with Mr. Behrendt’s work, but the article mentioned that last year he was diagnosed with cancer and went through three rounds of chemo. And that battle gave him an interesting perspective on social media:
This may sound strange coming in a blog post, but I do agree with GB. Unplug from the interwebs and get out in the world more.
This morning while driving my youngest son to school, I heard this great song on the same subject from St. Vincent.
Favorite lyric:
If I can’t show it, if you can’t see me
What’s the point of doing anything?
And St. Vincent (a.k.a. Annie Clark) has some fantastic hair too.
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