Trafton Crandall's Blog

Hello My Writing Warriors!

Happy Valentine’s Day.

I hope on this day where we celebrate love and passion that you are with your beloved and doing all that you can to enjoy life.

I’ve talked about passion before in a previous JFW! So on this Valentine’s Day, I thought that I would post one of my poems. Poetry is one of my passions and on Valentine’s Day we should all live with passion.

Enjoy!

When did America become a Bad Reality Show?

Son, let me tell you.

It wasn’t always this way.

Things didn’t always move at the speed of light.

Not so long ago, you could sell

fake unicorns or gnarly chapbooks full

of vampire poetry and make a living.

Not so long ago, da Vinci created a helicopter

out of wood and sold it through the world’s first

network marketing scheme.

Not so long ago, a sucker came along every minute.

The Gold Rush was On.

The Frontier was our Manna from Heaven, and we pushed West to Hawaii.

But Now? In this Economy?  You better come up with Plan B, C, X, Y, and Z

Or you risk spiritually starving to death in The America, Inc. which is one

nation under a groove of a Death Squad Social Darwinism.

Now, I see Scared Faces reading Self Help Books.

Houses made out of Straw.

Stick Mansions on the Shore, just in time for Hurricane Season.

Now, the iPhone God whispers day and night

Confounding our dreams with children who text while driving

Smashing the black BMW bought on credit into a telephone pole.

I believe in this Country. I love this land.

We took a wrong turn a while back.

The Good Guys don’t always win like in the Matinee Movie playing on Netflix.

Son, life passed me by.

I worked donkey jobs all my life and got chewed up and spitted out

like a stale stick of gum.

Son, it’s your time now.

Make it New. Make it Real.

Make it Right.

 

 

 

The post Poetry Wednesday appeared first on JFW!.

Hello My Writing Warriors!

Today I want to talk to you about the power of disruption and how to get noticed in this noisy, interconnected, warp eleven culture where even our best friend’s pet Maltese has a blog.

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Here is the reality. In the dizzying world of Silicon Valley there is a saying – Disrupt or be Disrupted. If you aren’t turning over somebody’s fruit cart then you aren’t trying hard enough.

If you are today’s flavor of the week, then it is only a matter of time until some young hoodwink comes along and raids your stash house.

If you aren’t upsetting someone with your writing then you aren’t speaking in your authentic voice. Haters are going to show up. That is rule numero uno, my writing warriors. Passion breeds followers, but it also attracts haters.

Don’t try to be all things to all people with your writing. No one ever got into the hall of fame by playing it safe.

Disrupt. Disrupt. Disrupt. Go for the throat. Bleed red on the page. Your fans and the universe will thank you for it.

Remember, my writing warriors. We get one chance at this life.  Attack the walls of Troy with the Achilles of your mighty heart.

Disrupt and strum and drang the hell out of the page. Aim for immortality and the gods will favor you.

Until Next Time My Writing Warriors!

TC

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Hello My Writing Warriors!

Friday is a magical day in our Western World. When I was working 9-5 in the corporate world, I always woke up on Friday eager as a beaver because I knew that I was going off into the weekend. I was going off into two days of rest and rejuvenation where I would be free from the tyranny of the clock and the demands of working for someone else.

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TGIF has become a short hand for all that is right and good in the world. It is a day when many adults are happy. Now, my question to you all is this. How can we take that spirit of play and fun on Friday and extend it into our lives and our writing?

It would be wonderful if life was a playground, 80% play and 20% work. How can we achieve this? How can we transform ourselves and our world so that all our days are Friday?

Maybe that is too ambitious a topic for a short JFW! Blog Post. Lol! Nonetheless, I will try with a good old fashioned top five list.

5 Ways to Bring the Spirit of Friday into every Day  

Live with a Noble Purpose. On Friday, most of us wake up with energy and excitement. We feel inspired like kids about to get out of school. If we have an animating purpose to our lives then that goes a long way towards bringing the excitement and energy of Friday to the rest of our lives. Examine your Purpose. Do you even have One? If you don’t then seriously think about getting one. It doesn’t have to be this Earth Shattering I’m Going to Wipe Out Poverty tomorrow thing. Perhaps your purpose is to care for an aging parent. Perhaps it is to be more kind to your spouse. Start small with purpose and build momentum.
Create your Mighty Mission. Wouldn’t it be cool to know that you were on a mission, that you had a reason for being here? I don’t subscribe to this chaotic, existential despair, God is Dead so who the hell Cares philosophy. I choose to believe that there is a greater good, a plan going on from a benevolent universe and that our lives have purpose. Part of that purpose is for us as human beings to make a difference in our lives and our community. We can do that by creating a mighty mission for ourselves. My Mighty Mission is to Inspire others to write because I believe that we all have infinite stories within us that are begging to be told, and that when we write those stories come into the world, and the world is a better place. What is your Mighty Mission? How would your life change for the better if you knew you were on a Mission? Create your Mighty Mission today and watch the spirit of Friday transform all your days.
Wake Up Early. This is an essential practice if we want to bring the Spirit of Friday into the rest of the days of the week. Getting up early has been espoused by everyone from the ancients to Ben Franklin to our modern day productivity gurus. I know from experience that when I get up early and spend time writing and in meditation that my day is going to be better. If you are looking for a book to read about morning practices and how to start your day off right then I highly Hal Elrod’s The Miracle Morning. This is a great book that has grown into a movement and rightly so. Check out this book and the Facebook Group. You won’t be sorry.
Journal. Since this is a writing blog, I would be remiss if I didn’t include one of my favorite practices for capturing the Spirit of Friday and that is writing in our journal. Use your journal for everything, but definitely include space in your writing for gratitude. I like to wake up early and write in my journal. The great artist and teacher Julia Cameron calls this practice Morning Pages. She teaches her students to write 3 pages of stream of consciousness longhand writing every morning. I believe in this practice and like to focus on gratitude. Don’t get me wrong. I do a fair amount of griping and venting in my morning pages, but I always close out with what I am happy and grateful for in my life. The Spirit of Friday is fun, excitement and anticipation, but at its core, Friday is about gratitude. Write down everything you are grateful for and review this list daily.
Get a Side Hustle. So many of us feel stuck in our dead end jobs. We feel trapped and beaten down by working for just a paycheck. Part of what makes the Spirit of Friday so magical is knowing that we are going to be going to be leaving the realm of working for someone else to do what we want to do if even it is only for two days. Part of extending the Spirit of Friday into our whole week is to be involved in our work. In this new age of Entrepreneurship and the Internet there really is no excuse not to have a side hustle. There are so many opportunities to turn your hobbies or interests into cash. Why not do what you love? Do you love driving around in the car and meeting new people. Drive for Uber or Lyft. Do you like dogs? Why not get paid for it and walk dogs for Rover. If you are interested in exploring the realm of the Side Hustle more extensively then I recommend another great book. It’s called Side Hustle by Chris Guillebeau.

Well there you have it my writing warriors. Life is too important and precious just to be happy on only one day. The Spirit of Friday can live through us and animate the rest of the week if we are just disciplined and focused enough.

What about you my writing warriors? Do you have any suggestions for how to live the Spirit of Friday? What do you do to make the rest of your week magical? Let me know in the comments.

Until Next Time, my writing warriors!

TC

 

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Hello My Writing Warriors!

Well, we are three weeks into this brave new year of 2018. How are we doing with our New Year’s Resolutions? Have we back slid? Are we ready to throw in the towel?

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I don’t know about you, but I have already begun to face the demons of the past with regards to fulfilling my goals. The awful specter of doubt and inertia has begun to creep in. I’m human and I face the same challenges you do when it comes to goal achievement. That’s why in this JFW! I want to talk about ways to dig down deep and power through that late January and early February slump where we give up on our resolutions.

This is usually the time of the year when our will power begins to fade and we give up on New Year’s Resolutions. The gym membership that seemed like such a good idea on January 1 is now mocking us. The diet that we promised ourselves we would go on is long forgotten. The goals and dreams we have for a better life evaporate like morning dew under the noon day sun.

Let’s not let this happen to us. Here are three ways that we can dig down deep and keep on truckin’ with our goals and desires.

 Three Ways to Dig Down Deep

Review your Awesome Reasons Why: Remember, Why is more important than How. If you find yourself stumbling around in the dark and losing motivation for your goals then simply review why you set the goal in the first place. Let’s say that you set a goal to go to the gym and work out three days a week. If you find yourself flagging and losing steam as we all do at this time of year then write down at least ten awesome reasons why going to the gym will pay off for you. You want to make this list as compelling and vivid and juicy as possible. Come up with an awesome reasons why list and watch your motivation return.
Find a Buddy: Let’s face it, we are stronger when we go together. The myth of the lone cowboy is just that – a myth. It is my personal belief that we have taken this whole cult of the individual too far. We never would have gotten as far as a species if we hadn’t worked together. So my suggestion is to find a partner, a support group, a pal that will support you in your quest. If you want to start running again then find a running group. If you want to start writing a blog then join a writer’s community. Find your people. Find your tribe and watch your results take off.
Use Rituals to your Advantage: I know. Using the word ritual conjures up images of monks and priests and incense. It sounds too esoteric and strange, but it is my experience that we are only as strong as the rituals that we have in place in our lives. Think of rituals as sacred routines and practices that are set up for you to succeed. Let’s go back to our example of going to the gym three times a week. Here is how we could set up a ritual to ensure that we follow through. The night before we are scheduled to work out, we could set out our gym clothes by our bed and say a brief thanks to the Universe that we are healthy enough to go to the gym. We could create a special play list for the gym and play it when we feel down and unmotivated. Essentially, rituals and routines are here to help us go on automatic pilot when the going gets tough. Remember, habits will pull you through when the going gets tough. Create those rituals and you will be astounded as to how much more you get done.

Well, that’s all I have to say about that. What about you my writing warriors? Are you experiencing that dreaded late January early February slump. How are you dealing with it? Let me know in the comments.

Until next time My Writing Warriors!

TC

The post Motivation Monday: Dig Down Deep appeared first on JFW!.

Hello My Writing Warriors!

I hope you all had a tremendous MLK Day and are rested and relaxed and ready to live the dream that Dr. King so magnificently and powerfully articulated. Now is the time my writing warriors for us all to step up and go forth with our sword arm swinging and take this bull of a year by the horns and conquer. We can do it. I know we can.

Today in this JFW! I want to talk about an important subject and that is how to deal with the inevitable haters that spring forth whenever we put our work out to be judged.

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How do we deal with the vitriol and noxious attitude of the hater in this light speed, interconnected, warp eleven culture that we find ourselves in? How do we summon the courage to create when we know that the haters are lining up outside our door waiting to pounce? How do we, not just survive, but thrive as artists and creators in this brave new world?

First, we must know our enemy. To my mind there are only two species of Haters: The Troll and the Vampire. Let’s examine them both.

The Troll is the most common and abundant form of Hater. They can be found on every street corner, underneath every bridge, and in every dingy back alley. The Troll has multiplied by the thousands with the arrival of the internet. They’ve always been around, but now they have an outlet for their bile and hate. The troll is essentially a coward, but they can really get under your skin if you let them.

The troll lacks finesse, style or any grace in their hate. They usually use profanity in their attacks and reveal themselves to be child like and stupid. Feel sorry for the troll for they live a lonely and isolated existence.

The best tactic for dealing with the troll is to ignore them. Don’t strike back because the troll is looking for a response. They feed off of our discomfort and strife. Don’t let them grind you down.

The other species of hater is the vampire. The vampire is a tricky customer to deal with. Like the troll, they feed off of discomfort and strife, but unlike the troll, the vampire can be scary and dangerous. The vampire can usually be found in positions of authority and power. They are almost always professional critics of some sort and wield the power of pen ruthlessly to strike fear into the heart of many a creative artist. Many a writer who has taken up criticism has fallen to the dark side and become a vampire. Many an artist has fallen victim to their power.

The vampire possesses skill, cunning, and resolve. They will carve you up if you let them. The best way to deal with them is ignore them as well, but unfortunately there are times when you must respond and confront the vampire.

If the vampire attacks your good name then you must strike back. Understand this, the work is open game for criticism, but you the artist doing the work are important. If a vampire goes after you personally then put a stake through that bastard’s heart.

The iPhone is now ten years old and we have quickly come to realize (much to our shock and surprise) that maybe too much of something can be a dangerous thing. The smart phone in the wrong hands has given rise to a legion of haters.  However, there is no going back my dear writing warriors. The haters may be multiplying by the hour, but we must do our best to fight back and create. Success is the best revenge. It is the sweetest form of payback and the only one we should actively seek.

Well, that is all I have to say about haters. It is unfortunate that some of our fellow travelers on this magnificent planet have chosen the path of darkness, but that is the way the cookie crumbles sometimes. If life gives you lemons then you build a lemonade stand. If a hater crosses your path or darkens your doorstep then strengthen your resolve and just keep on writing. That is the path of the artist and the warrior.

Until next time my Writing Warriors!

TC

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Hello My Writing Warriors!

I want to talk about an important topic in our writing endeavors, and that is where we actually do our writing. The place that is ours. The place where we sit down and do the work .

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It is my belief that where we write is critical to our development as writers and artists. Location, just as in Real Estate, is crucial to writing. Having your own space where you can summon the muse and get down to business is what it’s all about.

Let’s talk about your writing space. Is it warm, friendly and inviting? I personally like to  write in the kitchen because the kitchen is a warm and inviting place of creation where our basic needs are met and fulfilled.

I wrote my first novel in the kitchen of my basement apartment in Astoria, Queens. It was during NanoWrimo of 2012, and that time is one of my fondest memories of being a writer. It was my first time going after the White Whale that is the novel, and I know that if I hadn’t set myself up to win by writing in a pleasing environment then I might not have won Nano that year.

Create a sacred space for yourself. Carve out a section of your house, apartment, or dorm room that is your space for writing.

Let’s say you are in a dorm room and only have a small desk. Create Beauty and employ Ritual. The Muse loves beauty. Put a flower in a vase whenever you start to write and play some classical music that speaks to your soul. Bach is great for this.

The point is to build a special place where you can summon the story gods, where you can interface with the Muse and hear her whispering to you. It is so important to treat ourselves as professionals. Treat yourself like a professional and you will become one. The battle is won in the mind, my writing warriors.

All right. Now there is a more advanced practice that takes some training and skill to pull off, but it is important that we talk about this because as you become a professional and your connection with the Muse becomes stronger then you will be open for business 24/7 and writing will become something that you can do anywhere.

It is important to have a writing ritual, to have a special place to retreat to that is ours and ours alone, but let’s not get hung up on location. The true writing warrior can summon the Muse on command and get down to business anyplace: a hospital waiting room, a busy airport, a greyhound bus terminal, anyplace.

Being adaptable and mobile is the way of the future, my writing warriors. We live in an amazing age when we can write on anything from an iPhone to a laptop to a simple legal pad using a fountain pen. Let’s focus on being a pure simple channel for the Universe to bring its stories through us. That is the goal.

All right. That’s all I’ve got to say about location. What about you, my writing warriors? Do you have a special place that you like to write in? Do you have a room of your own? Let me know in the comments.

Until Next Time my Writing Warriors!

TC

The post Location, Location, Location appeared first on JFW!.

Hello My Writing Warriors!

Good Morning, Happy Monday and a very Good New Year to you all. Can you believe that it is 2018? Man, it is hard for me to wrap my head around that year. It sounds like science fiction, and in many ways we are living in a world that science fiction predicted. I can’t wait to see what innovations and marvels the future holds. This is an incredible time to be alive.

Today my writing warriors, I want to talk about our goals for this great and noble year of 2018. Simply put, it is time for all of us to step up and live the adventure that is our lives.

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One of my teachers, that rascal Stuart Wilde, often said that life was never meant to be a struggle. I firmly believe that. Life was meant to be an adventure. Now, is the adventure going to be sunshine and lollipops all the time? Is it going to be lemonade and ice cream every time we step up to bat? Of course not. Life is difficult, demanding, and down right hard some times, but that is what makes the adventure so thrilling. You have to journey through the dark shadows of the valley to reach the glorious sun drenched mountain peaks of success.

So how do we live the adventure? How do we transcend our normal, ho hum, boring and drab existence if that is where find ourselves?

Okay. First Things First. We must understand that resolutions are a penny a pound, a dime a dozen. I have no use for New Years Resolutions. What I am about and what we all should be about my writing warriors is Goals.

In order to LTA all the time on this beautiful world, in this magnificent time that we find ourselves, we must have goals. Another one of my teachers, the inimitable Brian Tracy, said that Goals are the burning hot irons in the furnace of achievement. I’m all on board with that statement.

My writing Warriors, if you don’t have a clear, handwritten list of goals that you can reach out and review daily, or even hourly, then something is seriously wrong.

Your goals must be vivid and crystal clear to you. You must live and breathe your goals so that they are entwined in your DNA. Another one of my teachers, the great Jim Rohn, said that the difference between a life with goals and a life without goals is like the difference between a black and white silent movie from the 1920s and a 21st Century IMAX 3D Extravaganza at your local Movie Palace. Okay, I don’t think Jim said that. IMAX was a little bit beyond his time, but I’m sure that he would be happy with me using his good name if it got more people to set goals.

So that is ground zero of how to LTA – setting goals. In order for life to be an adventure we must set our sails and venture forth toward the horizon. The good news is that the horizon is always shifting. Once you achieve a goal, you can always just set another one. Life is Long, my writing warriors. Time is tricky and malleable. It’s a funny thing, Time. Our best scientists don’t really understand it, but for us here on the ground, the best thing we can do is to have clear, exciting, vibrant, goals.

So this is going to be a continuing series that I will present this year on how to Live The Adventure, but for now my writing warriors, let me know in the comments on how you plan to be more adventurous this year in your lives and your art.

Until Next Time my Writing Warriors!

 

TC

 

The post Motivation Monday: Live the Adventure Part One appeared first on JFW!.

Hello My Writing Warriors!

Happy New Year and Welcome to 2018. Let’s all try our best to make this year one for the ages. I know we can do it.

For my first JFW! of 2018, I thought that I would post one of my poems. Enjoy!

 

Cash Out

Listen Up.

The Prayer Tent slams past raucous midnight.

The Revival roars into Session.

 

The Master shouts a Sixth Great Awakening.

The OverSoul on an Electric Bolt Bus to Walden Pond where we can cash

all our Lotto tickets in the name of the Holy Spirit.

 

Thank Jehovah, Shiva and Allah, too

Cause you know the best thing about Jesus was the healthcare.

No Co-Pay when that man from Nazareth came to town.

 

But this ain’t about the Bible.

We’ve tried that scene. Damn dime store preachers slaved our money and our grace

and skipped town without a trace.

 

This is the Game.

Bottom of the Ninth:

 

I See Wall Street Titans dancing on the beach while Main Street Mom and Pops die within reach.

I See the Middle Class gasping for air while all their over medicated children spin the iOS Stare.

I See Millions locked behind Iron Bars of Debt holding Visa Envelopes with silken offers they regret.

I See Washington Politicians suffering for None but their own narrow ambitions.

I See a Robber Baron with red corn silk hair tweeting nonsense in the Oval Office Chair…

 

And it seems like half the City of Lost Angels starves to cover it up which is NOT FINE

by the Night Hawk because I nearly lost my goddamn nose trying to breath on this

polluted stinking mud ball which used to be so pure back when the Last Mohican Standing ran

the show but now Mother Ocean is a litter strewn McDonald’s Play Land, Fish swim

in plastic molecules of Prozac Happy Meals which come marked down cause every day

is Black Friday on the Internet so Step into my Sales Funnel said the Spider to the Fly.

 

Cut.

Let’s Try it one more time with Feeling.

Here’s the Message that Stands Vibrant and Strong like

a Blood Red Bill Board, a Flaming Sword on the Vegas Strip:

Get Healed. Now.

Now, Motherfuckers!

Resurrect yourself because Coffee is for Closers and it’s like the old time Prophecy says…

 

We’re the Ones we’ve been waiting for.

 

Who Else?

Who Else?

Who?

The post Poetry Wednesday appeared first on JFW! .

Hello my Writing Warriors!

I’m happy to say that I am back on the scene after having a wonderful Christmas Vacation in Virginia visiting my Mom and Step Dad. I feel rested, relaxed and focused. Hooray!

The weather is relatively cold here in the Sunshine State and this has put me in a reflective mood and since this will be my second to last blog post of 2017 and this one will be a long one because I’ve been quiet over the holiday season, but it is time to tackle a very important topic – how to be in a long term, lasting, loving relationship with a writer.

All right. First things first. As writing warriors we are sworn to a higher duty and most of us find ourselves married to the muse before we even come of age and are even able to be in a relationship with another person. The muse, the muse, the goddamn fucking muse. That bitch never shuts up, never stops talking, never quits badgering us. You see, as writers, we are open for business 24/7 – 365 days a year, especially if we have done the work on ourselves. If we have done the work then the flood gates open, and the muse, sometimes a bunch of muses, show up and demand that they be heard. As a result the poor significant other of the writer feels left out and abandoned. That’s on the positive side. The flip side of the coin and an even worse place to find yourself in is to be with a blocked writer. If you are with a blocked writer then you’d better watch your back Jack, because being with a blocked writer is a sorry state of affairs to be in.

A blocked writer is usually an angry, withdrawn, neurotic wreck and self medicating their ass off with their poison of choice: alcohol, drugs, extreme sports, shark diving, etc. You want to suffer? Sign up for a tour of duty with a blocked writer. I guarantee you pain and misery.

So what is the answer? If you are the significant other of the writer, how do you stay sane and thrive? How do you love someone who is devoted to their art, because essentially you are in a relationship (a damn three way) with the writer and their muse.

Understand this.

For a professional writer, the work is very, very, very important. Our writing time is sacred to us. Essentially, we are on a mission. Leaving behind a body of work and making our mark on the Universe is the goal that all writers strive for. Immortality can be ours for the taking if we are only good enough and since the stakes have only gotten higher for writers with the advent of new technology, our work can essentially be preserved forever in the electronic ether of the Internet and in this wonderful new era we can publish, find an audience, leave a legacy, change the world and work every day until we shuffle off this mortal coil. It’s a great time to be a writer. The damn gatekeepers and petty bureaucrats are going bye bye and good fucking riddance to them… Oh well, I digress.

How do I describe being a writer to someone who is not one? Well, I will try since you must always seek first to understand if you are to have any hope of creating happiness in a relationship with your beloved writer.

To be a writer is to be in love with the unseen, the unknown, the invisible. Writers deal with the eternal void, venture into nothing and bring back gifts and healing for the tribe. All successful writers must go on a hero’s journey and cross the night sea of doubt and despair, facing dragons and all sorts of demons of the soul.

All successful writers must go where there is no path and to do this requires great courage, stamina, and belief in oneself. You must understand that a professional writer, a true writer, will be working until the day they die. Stephen King was in the hospital after almost being killed by some yahoo in a van and he started writing in long hand just two weeks after almost losing his life. That is a writer. That is what you are going to be dealing with. I personally believe that Mr. King would have killed himself through drugs or alcohol a long time ago if it wasn’t for the love of his dear wife Tabby who is also a writer and understands the journey.

So, in closing, I want to impress upon you the cold hard reality of being in a relationship with a writer. You must learn to share your writer with the muse. You must learn to not criticize your writer when they are distant or staring off into space. William Faulkner divorced his first wife because she couldn’t understand that his staring out the window was a form of thinking, a way of gathering ideas. You must learn to do so many things. Hey, at least you won’t be bored.

Now I’m not saying that you need to put with childish bullshit or be some shrinking violet that rolls over and accepts all heaps of abuse from the delicate writing genius. I’m not saying that at all. Someday in another JFW! I will write about what writers need to do to stay healthy and present in their relationships. I believe that you can have your art and your beloved. You can be happy. It is possible if you do the work.

Well, there you have it. This was a longer JFW! than I usually do but let’s face it, relationships are complex and tricky. They really are more art than science.

I would love to hear your thoughts. What do you think about this topic? Are you a writer? Are you in a relationship with a writer? Let me know in the comments!

Until Next Time my Writing Warriors!

TC

 

 

The post Relationships and the Writer or How to be with a Writer and Not Lose Your F@!#ing Mind appeared first on JFW! .

Hello My Writing Warriors!

I’m currently writing this from the guest bedroom at my Mom and Step Dad’s house in Stuart’s Draft, Virginia.

I grew up in the Shenandoah Valley in the town of Staunton. This is my childhood home, and I dearly love coming back to Virginia for the Holidays.

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Christmas was my favorite holiday as a kid, and although the Yuletide Season has worn on me a little as an adult (who doesn’t get frazzled by the non stop shopping madness and consumer orgy that Christmas as devolved into) I still love the holiday season, the magic of Christmas Eve and the reverence of Christmas Day.

I’m glad to be on vacation. I’m glad that this turbulent difficult year of 2017 is coming to a close. I will be honest with you, my writing warriors, much of 2017 sucked a fat knob for yours truly. I had some highlights, there were some good moments, some islands of happiness and achievement, but I didn’t clear the bar on many of my goals. I will do a formal Goal Breakdown and Review of 2017 in an upcoming JFW!, but for right now, I will just say that I’m glad that 2017 is going bye bye.

What I realized as I was on my flight from  Orlando to Richmond, apart from the fact that I’m running out of money (that’s another blog post that I will get to some where down the line), but since this is JFW!,  I wanted to give you guys some sage medicine about writing and how travel is so important for us not just as writers but human beings.

In the last few days as I was making preparations for my vacation, it came to my attention that I haven’t been out of the state of Florida in almost three years. Other than a December 2015 trip to Miami Beach to see my Mom and sisters Vanessa and Victoria, I’ve been land locked in Florida since February of 2015. This lack of travel definitely caused a lot of my depression that I so frequently do battle with and it carried over into my work as a writer, entrepreneur, and student.

We live in such an amazing time, my writing warriors, a time when travel is available to all. The richness of the world, the great banquet of other countries, other lands, other peoples, this is available to us for the first time in recorded history.

I’ve said it before, and I will say it again until I’m blue like the great lord Shiva in the face (because repetition is the mother skill of mastery)that 90% of this writing game is half mental, and we have to always be on our brain game if we are to rock the page and leave our mark. Put simply, travel is a powerful tonic for the mind, a potent anti-oxidant that combats the spiritual malaise that sets in like a creeping fog from our 9-5 Industrial Era Corporate Life that has set everything to a time sheet and a clock on the wall.

If your writing is going no where. If you are suffering a dry spell of the soul and it’s bleeding over onto the page. If your work sucks and the weekly Artist Date ain’t cutting it then sometimes you have to do something drastic and that is when the tonic of travel will come through for you in a big way.

I’ve only been out of Florida for a day and a half but already I can feel my strength returning. It’s like there was a wound on my soul for so long and it is finally lifting, and I can see the sun emerging through the clouds. I know it sounds cheesy, but hey, a little cheese in moderation never hurt anyone.

So in closing my writing warriors, I leave you with this. If you are stuck. If you are washed up. If you feel like the writing KGB is on its way to your house to snatch your laptop so that you don’t inflict anymore crap on the world then its time to travel.

Until Next Time my Writing Warriors!

TC

 

 

 

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