Tuesday, April 17, 2007
My Little Rock of Ages Past
Copyright 2007 by Donovan Baldwin
In 55 BC, Julius Caesar beheld the cliffs of Dover from the deck of a Roman ship in the English Channel. In 1982, I beheld the same sight from the deck of a ferry that held my car within its bowels.
I had problems with the subject of history all through school. It was so dry, so boring, so lifeless. It wasn't until I "grew up" and got to go wandering around the world that I began to see history in an entirely different light.
To me, "history" is not just treaties, or battles, or the names of famous men. For me, understanding, or at least feeling a kinship with history, means standing on the spot where those men have stood, seeing the sights that they saw, looking at the instruments they touched, the cup they drank from, the clothes they wore.
In the 1960's I was stationed at a U. S. military base in Bavaria at Bad Aibling, Germany. Almost every day, I walked over several insignificant flagstones set in the ground in a pathway beside one of the barracks. One day, one of my friends showed me some photos he had just printed at the post photography shop.
The post had been a Luftwaffe air base during World War II. When the allies had taken over the post in the 1940's at the end of the war, they had found several hundred negatives. Many of the negatives were still there, and the gentleman who ran the photo shop would help people print up photos. Several of the photos my friend showed me depicted Hitler reviewing the troops at the air base...standing on those insignificant flagstones in the dirt pathway!
To me, that was history.
Years later, a friend took me to the place in Nuremberg where Hitler held his huge rallies. I stood at the exact spot where he had stood, and took photos of my children playing there.
Whether it is Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, the White House, the White Cliffs of Dover, the labyrinth of corridors within the bowels of the aircraft carrier Lexington, or driving over Boulder Dam, history comes alive for me when I see what others have seen or the marks they left of their lives.
My love of history taken in this way does not end with the famous and the grandiose, however. In fact, when I recently went to see an exhibition on Queen Hatshepsut, I spent more time gazing at a wooden chair and wondering about the workman who had made it, than I spent on the wonders of the Queen. I spend several minutes looking at simple pots and tools while others ooh and aah over jewels and statues. Lost in reverie, I wonder more about the craftsmen who carved the statue than I do about the ruler it portrays. That's the man I would want to talk to!
Maybe I will get to touch history even a little more intimately. I just bought a little over seven acres of land in central Texas, near where the Comanche used to roam. It is undeveloped and includes a small hill with a commanding view of the surrounding countryside. I hope to learn a little more about rocks and artifacts, and scout through some of the overgrown cliff face that forms a portion of the land.
I'm still clearing trails through the brush on my land at the moment, but the other day, I picked up a rock of interesting appearance and stuck it in my pocket. That evening, safe and warm in my easy chair as a small storm blustered outside, I picked up the rock and began to examine it. As I turned it in my hand, it suddenly slipped into a comfortable position. There was a smooth spot for my thumb and each of my fingers found a perfect place to rest. As I looked at it in my hand, it reminded me of crude stone knives I had seen on the Discovery and History channels and in innumerable museums.
As I looked carefully at it, I realized that it more closely resembled stone scrapers that had been used to work the hides of animals. It looks as if spots have been chipped away, by man or by nature, to make the comfortable grooves that fit my fingers so well and to form the sharp edge that could have scraped a deer hide many years ago.
It is worn with time...perhaps with use as well?
I will probably never know, but I will have to learn a little more about rocks and artifacts, and roam around my little hill on the edge of Comanche country some more. In the meantime, my link to history...my rock of ages...sits on my desk beside my computer reminding me not only of the passage of history, but of the fact that I am only here within a pool of that huge river and that someday perhaps someone will wonder about something that I have touched or seen.
I am sure that my little rock of ages past is just an accident of nature, but wouldn't it be nice if...
About the Author:
Donovan Baldwin is a freelance writer living in Copperas Cove, Texas. He is a University of West Florida alumnus, a member of Mensa and the National Society of Newspaper Columnists, and is retired from the U. S. Army after 21 years of service. In his career, he has held many managerial and supervisory positions. However, his main pleasures have long been writing, nature, health, and fitness. In the last few years, he has been able to combine these pleasures by writing poetry and articles on subjects such as health, fitness, yoga, weight loss, the environment, global warming, happiness, self improvement, and life. He has a collection of articles on health, fitness, diet, and weight loss at http://nodiet4me.com/articledirectory/ .
---------------------------------------------
NOTE: You have full permission to reprint this
article within your website or newsletter as long
as you leave the article fully intact and include
the "About The Author" resource box. Thanks! :-)
---
In 55 BC, Julius Caesar beheld the cliffs of Dover from the deck of a Roman ship in the English Channel. In 1982, I beheld the same sight from the deck of a ferry that held my car within its bowels.
I had problems with the subject of history all through school. It was so dry, so boring, so lifeless. It wasn't until I "grew up" and got to go wandering around the world that I began to see history in an entirely different light.
To me, "history" is not just treaties, or battles, or the names of famous men. For me, understanding, or at least feeling a kinship with history, means standing on the spot where those men have stood, seeing the sights that they saw, looking at the instruments they touched, the cup they drank from, the clothes they wore.
In the 1960's I was stationed at a U. S. military base in Bavaria at Bad Aibling, Germany. Almost every day, I walked over several insignificant flagstones set in the ground in a pathway beside one of the barracks. One day, one of my friends showed me some photos he had just printed at the post photography shop.
The post had been a Luftwaffe air base during World War II. When the allies had taken over the post in the 1940's at the end of the war, they had found several hundred negatives. Many of the negatives were still there, and the gentleman who ran the photo shop would help people print up photos. Several of the photos my friend showed me depicted Hitler reviewing the troops at the air base...standing on those insignificant flagstones in the dirt pathway!
To me, that was history.
Years later, a friend took me to the place in Nuremberg where Hitler held his huge rallies. I stood at the exact spot where he had stood, and took photos of my children playing there.
Whether it is Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, the White House, the White Cliffs of Dover, the labyrinth of corridors within the bowels of the aircraft carrier Lexington, or driving over Boulder Dam, history comes alive for me when I see what others have seen or the marks they left of their lives.
My love of history taken in this way does not end with the famous and the grandiose, however. In fact, when I recently went to see an exhibition on Queen Hatshepsut, I spent more time gazing at a wooden chair and wondering about the workman who had made it, than I spent on the wonders of the Queen. I spend several minutes looking at simple pots and tools while others ooh and aah over jewels and statues. Lost in reverie, I wonder more about the craftsmen who carved the statue than I do about the ruler it portrays. That's the man I would want to talk to!
Maybe I will get to touch history even a little more intimately. I just bought a little over seven acres of land in central Texas, near where the Comanche used to roam. It is undeveloped and includes a small hill with a commanding view of the surrounding countryside. I hope to learn a little more about rocks and artifacts, and scout through some of the overgrown cliff face that forms a portion of the land.
I'm still clearing trails through the brush on my land at the moment, but the other day, I picked up a rock of interesting appearance and stuck it in my pocket. That evening, safe and warm in my easy chair as a small storm blustered outside, I picked up the rock and began to examine it. As I turned it in my hand, it suddenly slipped into a comfortable position. There was a smooth spot for my thumb and each of my fingers found a perfect place to rest. As I looked at it in my hand, it reminded me of crude stone knives I had seen on the Discovery and History channels and in innumerable museums.
As I looked carefully at it, I realized that it more closely resembled stone scrapers that had been used to work the hides of animals. It looks as if spots have been chipped away, by man or by nature, to make the comfortable grooves that fit my fingers so well and to form the sharp edge that could have scraped a deer hide many years ago.
It is worn with time...perhaps with use as well?
I will probably never know, but I will have to learn a little more about rocks and artifacts, and roam around my little hill on the edge of Comanche country some more. In the meantime, my link to history...my rock of ages...sits on my desk beside my computer reminding me not only of the passage of history, but of the fact that I am only here within a pool of that huge river and that someday perhaps someone will wonder about something that I have touched or seen.
I am sure that my little rock of ages past is just an accident of nature, but wouldn't it be nice if...
About the Author:
Donovan Baldwin is a freelance writer living in Copperas Cove, Texas. He is a University of West Florida alumnus, a member of Mensa and the National Society of Newspaper Columnists, and is retired from the U. S. Army after 21 years of service. In his career, he has held many managerial and supervisory positions. However, his main pleasures have long been writing, nature, health, and fitness. In the last few years, he has been able to combine these pleasures by writing poetry and articles on subjects such as health, fitness, yoga, weight loss, the environment, global warming, happiness, self improvement, and life. He has a collection of articles on health, fitness, diet, and weight loss at http://nodiet4me.com/articledirectory/ .
---------------------------------------------
NOTE: You have full permission to reprint this
article within your website or newsletter as long
as you leave the article fully intact and include
the "About The Author" resource box. Thanks! :-)
---
Labels: article, article by Donovan Baldwin, donovan baldwin
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Can We Keep Her?
It was 1994. I had just gone through a divorce after several painful and tumultuous years that had resulted in my becoming distanced from my children...or them from me.
I had met and married a lady with two children...twin teenage daughters. She, and they, had been through their own trying period as mommy and daddy's marriage fell apart, and their father dealt them all blow after painful blow.
My new wife and I had agreed that I was not to even try to raise her children. She saw that as an unfair task to place on me considering my experiences, their experiences, and their ages...they were thirteen. We did agree that I was the adult male in the house and, with her, was a co-head of the house and would act as father in all such events.
That's how we got Diamond.
We had just moved into our first real home together after a few months in a small apartment. We found a house for rent just around the corner from the girls' grandmother. It was great because they had visited there many times, and had even lived with her for a while, so they had grown up with many of the kids in the neighborhood and knew many of the families.
One of the families had a dog, and this dog had a litter of puppies. As my wife puts it, they were part Australian Shepherd and part fence-jumper. Some would say "Heinz 57".
I am sure that you have guessed what happened next! In marched the two of them carrying this little black bundle of fur. They went straight to their mom and asked the inevitable question, followed up by the inevitable selling point, "Can we keep her? They said we could have her. We'll take care of her. You won't have to do anything."
Shhh. I have to be careful how I handle this. Diamond's laying on the floor outside my office door looking at me.
My wife did what I guess was the right thing. She knew that the girls had still not accepted me completely, and not as someone who had a say-so over what they could do. She also knew what the eventual outcome of this was going to be, and she knew that I had a right to be involved. She told the girls, "I'm not sure about this. You'll have to ask Don."
The girls really wanted that dog, and they were ready to deal with the devil to get it, so they turned to me and gave me the same pitch. I knew that while this might not be a "make or break" situation in our relationship, what I did in the next few minutes was going to color the next few years in some way. This was the first real family decision that hinged on the girls' wants and needs, and I didn't want to blow it.
I was also falling for the puppy and could see my wife, who refused to admit to such emotions over animals, getting a "what a cute little thing" look on her face.
To stall for a minute, I asked what her name was. "She doesn't have one yet," they replied. As I looked her over and petted her a little, I noticed a small star of white among the coal black fur on the back of her neck. "That looks like a diamond", I said, and then I knew what to say next.
"Let's call her Diamond."
It took a second for that to seep in, but then they realized what that meant. She was going to be ours and she had a name.
She's got a little bit of arthritis now, but she is still the champion beggar of central Texas. She is the only dog I have ever known who taught herself to play dead so that she could be "revived" with treats. We have to spell in front of her, and my wife complains because the words are getting longer and she's having trouble catching them. The girls long ago taught Diamond to carry messages and small objects back and forth between family members. Although as she aged, she quit putting her toys away on command, she learned that she could barter for treats by picking up dropped objects such as the pieces of paper I tend to let fall around my desk. We had to stop her the day she tried to bring us the remote, however.
She is somewhat psychic and knows when we are about to go somewhere and might just take her along. When she realizes she is being left behind, she retreats to her "pouting spot" on the couch. If we are gone too long, she complains under her breath when we get back, and there is no way she can be enticed to go outside if she believes we might be bringing in people food.
She protects us diligently from all intruders including passing cars or helicopters that are a bit too loud, or kids playing a half a block away. She bravely and boldly attempts to terrify all visitors until they reach down to pet her, and the puppy of several years ago reappears, and they are friends for life...until the next time they come to the door.
The girls who were "going to take care of her"?
Oh, they live about 160 miles away. One is a new mother and has two cats and two dogs of her own, and her sister has two dogs. She recently got rid of her killer attack cat, but that's another story. They still love Diamond, and fuss over her when we come to visit and baby-sit her when we have to travel, but somehow she has become our dog...my wife's and mine.
I don't regret that. I am sure that everything would have turned out all right, but I think it all started to get a little easier for us to become a family the day we added Diamond to it.
You know what? She just got up and went into the bedroom. I bet she’s going to tell my wife I’ve been ignoring her. She’s long ago learned the fine art of going to Mommy if Daddy can’t be swayed.
About the Author
Donovan Baldwin is a Texas writer and a University of West Florida alumnus. He is a member of Mensa and is retired from the U. S. Army after 21 years of service. In his career, he has held many managerial and supervisory positions. However, his main pleasures have long been writing, nature, and fitness. In the last few years, he has been able to combine these pleasures by writing poetry and articles on subjects such as yoga, writing, nature, animals, the environment, global warming, happiness, self improvement, health, fitness, and weight loss. Pick up some free information on cats at http://cat-and-kitten.com/ . He has also collected several of his articles on health, fitness, diet, and weight loss at http://nodiet4me.com/articledirectory/ .
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Donovan_Baldwin
-----------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: You have full permission to reprint this
article within your website or newsletter as long
as you leave the article fully intact and include
the "About The Author" resource box. Thanks! :-)
---
I had met and married a lady with two children...twin teenage daughters. She, and they, had been through their own trying period as mommy and daddy's marriage fell apart, and their father dealt them all blow after painful blow.
My new wife and I had agreed that I was not to even try to raise her children. She saw that as an unfair task to place on me considering my experiences, their experiences, and their ages...they were thirteen. We did agree that I was the adult male in the house and, with her, was a co-head of the house and would act as father in all such events.
That's how we got Diamond.
We had just moved into our first real home together after a few months in a small apartment. We found a house for rent just around the corner from the girls' grandmother. It was great because they had visited there many times, and had even lived with her for a while, so they had grown up with many of the kids in the neighborhood and knew many of the families.
One of the families had a dog, and this dog had a litter of puppies. As my wife puts it, they were part Australian Shepherd and part fence-jumper. Some would say "Heinz 57".
I am sure that you have guessed what happened next! In marched the two of them carrying this little black bundle of fur. They went straight to their mom and asked the inevitable question, followed up by the inevitable selling point, "Can we keep her? They said we could have her. We'll take care of her. You won't have to do anything."
Shhh. I have to be careful how I handle this. Diamond's laying on the floor outside my office door looking at me.
My wife did what I guess was the right thing. She knew that the girls had still not accepted me completely, and not as someone who had a say-so over what they could do. She also knew what the eventual outcome of this was going to be, and she knew that I had a right to be involved. She told the girls, "I'm not sure about this. You'll have to ask Don."
The girls really wanted that dog, and they were ready to deal with the devil to get it, so they turned to me and gave me the same pitch. I knew that while this might not be a "make or break" situation in our relationship, what I did in the next few minutes was going to color the next few years in some way. This was the first real family decision that hinged on the girls' wants and needs, and I didn't want to blow it.
I was also falling for the puppy and could see my wife, who refused to admit to such emotions over animals, getting a "what a cute little thing" look on her face.
To stall for a minute, I asked what her name was. "She doesn't have one yet," they replied. As I looked her over and petted her a little, I noticed a small star of white among the coal black fur on the back of her neck. "That looks like a diamond", I said, and then I knew what to say next.
"Let's call her Diamond."
It took a second for that to seep in, but then they realized what that meant. She was going to be ours and she had a name.
She's got a little bit of arthritis now, but she is still the champion beggar of central Texas. She is the only dog I have ever known who taught herself to play dead so that she could be "revived" with treats. We have to spell in front of her, and my wife complains because the words are getting longer and she's having trouble catching them. The girls long ago taught Diamond to carry messages and small objects back and forth between family members. Although as she aged, she quit putting her toys away on command, she learned that she could barter for treats by picking up dropped objects such as the pieces of paper I tend to let fall around my desk. We had to stop her the day she tried to bring us the remote, however.
She is somewhat psychic and knows when we are about to go somewhere and might just take her along. When she realizes she is being left behind, she retreats to her "pouting spot" on the couch. If we are gone too long, she complains under her breath when we get back, and there is no way she can be enticed to go outside if she believes we might be bringing in people food.
She protects us diligently from all intruders including passing cars or helicopters that are a bit too loud, or kids playing a half a block away. She bravely and boldly attempts to terrify all visitors until they reach down to pet her, and the puppy of several years ago reappears, and they are friends for life...until the next time they come to the door.
The girls who were "going to take care of her"?
Oh, they live about 160 miles away. One is a new mother and has two cats and two dogs of her own, and her sister has two dogs. She recently got rid of her killer attack cat, but that's another story. They still love Diamond, and fuss over her when we come to visit and baby-sit her when we have to travel, but somehow she has become our dog...my wife's and mine.
I don't regret that. I am sure that everything would have turned out all right, but I think it all started to get a little easier for us to become a family the day we added Diamond to it.
You know what? She just got up and went into the bedroom. I bet she’s going to tell my wife I’ve been ignoring her. She’s long ago learned the fine art of going to Mommy if Daddy can’t be swayed.
About the Author
Donovan Baldwin is a Texas writer and a University of West Florida alumnus. He is a member of Mensa and is retired from the U. S. Army after 21 years of service. In his career, he has held many managerial and supervisory positions. However, his main pleasures have long been writing, nature, and fitness. In the last few years, he has been able to combine these pleasures by writing poetry and articles on subjects such as yoga, writing, nature, animals, the environment, global warming, happiness, self improvement, health, fitness, and weight loss. Pick up some free information on cats at http://cat-and-kitten.com/ . He has also collected several of his articles on health, fitness, diet, and weight loss at http://nodiet4me.com/articledirectory/ .
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Donovan_Baldwin
-----------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: You have full permission to reprint this
article within your website or newsletter as long
as you leave the article fully intact and include
the "About The Author" resource box. Thanks! :-)
---
Labels: cat, cats, dog, dogs, pet, pets
Monday, April 09, 2007
4 Tips For Writers On How To Create Some Creativity
Copyright 2007 by Donovan Baldwin
Many people watching a writer at work probably wouldn't even realize that he or she was actually working. While the physical act of putting words on paper or into a computer is easy to recognize as "work" one of the hardest parts of any writer's task is not always coming up with the words to express an idea. For many of us, the most difficult part is coming up with an idea to write about!
While creativity is generally believed to be something that someone is born with, and maybe it is, everybody has some sort of creative streak within...no matter how well hidden. The trick is to find ways to tickle that creativity so that it produces at least the germ of an idea. Once many writers, and other artists, have that germ of an idea, the article, or statue, or poem, or painting will almost produce itself.
Below are 4 tips on how to wake up the sleeping giant of creativity within and put it to work.
1. Yoga and Meditation - Alternative Routes to Creativity
Most people want to attack a problem head on. For the artist or writer, however, that approach often just creates another problem. Do the words, "writer's block" mean anything to you? Hmmm? It seems that the harder we try to attack the creativity problem the harder and thicker the wall becomes between the conscious mind and the ideas that may be lurking just on the other side.
Yoga, meditation, long walks and other such physically relaxing and sometimes demanding activities actually tend to dissolve the barriers and allow us to access the ideas that have been hiding behind them. To express it another way, think of ideas becoming frightened and curling up like porcupines when they know we are looking for them. When we appear to be ignoring them, they uncurl and expose themselves to our subconscious which in turn puts them on a fast elevator up to the conscious mind where they seem to appear out of nowhere.
2. Creativity Is Your Job - So Show Up For Work
Back in school, we were given study tips that often included this one; study at the same time and in the same place. That sounds a little like "showing up for work". Freelance writers in particular often fall prey to not having a place to go to and a time to be there. Obviously, if the idea comes at half past midnight, in the middle of your morning shower, or while having sex, that's when you should get it down. Okay, delay that last one a little bit.
On the whole, however, to produce a somewhat steady stream of creativity, not to mention the output which should result there from, it is important to prepare an "office", even if it is a table on your patio. That's where you show up and expect your creative muse to meet you. Dock its pay if it is late.
3. Ideas Are Everywhere - Be Prepared For Them
In this crazy business of writing, or painting, or sculpting, ideas are all around. The trick is to catch them and keep them. The chance comment of a friend, a sound bite on a TV news show, an obituary, the neighbor's new car, the local high school football team, your spouse's opinion on the TV sound bite, a paragraph in a chapter in a second hand book you bought for $2.99. These can all hold the germ of the idea that later becomes the article, the poem, the short story, or the book.
That's the good news.
The bad news is that once you catch on to this, you will find yourself with more ideas than you can remember or develop at any given moment. That's why you want to have a notebook, diary, or journal to jot down the basic idea and a quick development if that's available. You might also want to invest in a small recorder so that you can dictate ideas while driving or at other times that writing might be difficult. This is a great suggestion if you have ever awoken with a great idea in the middle of the night and found that you have completely forgotten it when you wake up in the morning.
4. Your Brain Is Already Full Of Ideas - Put Your Built-In Search Engine To Work
Your subconscious is a brown-noser. It just can't wait to show you what it's done for you while you were sleeping or busy with another problem. As you lay in bed at night waiting to fall asleep, tell it forcefully and directly to come up with some ideas while you're asleep. This is not 100% perfect, but it will produce fruit from time to time. Unfortunately, the ideas often appear in the middle of the night (see tip #3) although you will often awaken with a great idea.
By the way. Have you ever heard about great discoveries being made while people sleep? Many of these stories are true.
It often happens that concentrating on a problem and then letting go of it to work on other things often produces the same effect as "sleeping on it". More than one cognitive flash has come about after the thinker let go of the problem. During sleep, your brain is at work replenishing neurotransmitters that organize neural networks essential to remembering, learning, performance and problem solving, and this activity includes tracking down and organizing seemingly random pieces of data into ideas!
There you are! Four tips just like I promised.
Oh! Where did I get the idea for this article?
Well, I was reading some notes I had made about a year ago, and....
Donovan Baldwin is a Texas writer and a University of West Florida alumnus. He is a member of Mensa and is retired from the U. S. Army after 21 years of service. In his career, he has held many managerial and supervisory positions. However, his main pleasures have long been writing, nature, and fitness. In the last few years, he has been able to combine these pleasures by writing poetry and articles on subjects such as yoga, writing, nature, animals, the environment, global warming, happiness, self improvement, health, fitness, and weight loss. He has collected several of his articles on health and weight loss at http://nodiet4me.com/articledirectory/ .
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Donovan_Baldwin
-----------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: You have full permission to reprint this
article within your website or newsletter as long
as you leave the article fully intact and include
the "About The Author" resource box. Thanks! :-)
---
Many people watching a writer at work probably wouldn't even realize that he or she was actually working. While the physical act of putting words on paper or into a computer is easy to recognize as "work" one of the hardest parts of any writer's task is not always coming up with the words to express an idea. For many of us, the most difficult part is coming up with an idea to write about!
While creativity is generally believed to be something that someone is born with, and maybe it is, everybody has some sort of creative streak within...no matter how well hidden. The trick is to find ways to tickle that creativity so that it produces at least the germ of an idea. Once many writers, and other artists, have that germ of an idea, the article, or statue, or poem, or painting will almost produce itself.
Below are 4 tips on how to wake up the sleeping giant of creativity within and put it to work.
1. Yoga and Meditation - Alternative Routes to Creativity
Most people want to attack a problem head on. For the artist or writer, however, that approach often just creates another problem. Do the words, "writer's block" mean anything to you? Hmmm? It seems that the harder we try to attack the creativity problem the harder and thicker the wall becomes between the conscious mind and the ideas that may be lurking just on the other side.
Yoga, meditation, long walks and other such physically relaxing and sometimes demanding activities actually tend to dissolve the barriers and allow us to access the ideas that have been hiding behind them. To express it another way, think of ideas becoming frightened and curling up like porcupines when they know we are looking for them. When we appear to be ignoring them, they uncurl and expose themselves to our subconscious which in turn puts them on a fast elevator up to the conscious mind where they seem to appear out of nowhere.
2. Creativity Is Your Job - So Show Up For Work
Back in school, we were given study tips that often included this one; study at the same time and in the same place. That sounds a little like "showing up for work". Freelance writers in particular often fall prey to not having a place to go to and a time to be there. Obviously, if the idea comes at half past midnight, in the middle of your morning shower, or while having sex, that's when you should get it down. Okay, delay that last one a little bit.
On the whole, however, to produce a somewhat steady stream of creativity, not to mention the output which should result there from, it is important to prepare an "office", even if it is a table on your patio. That's where you show up and expect your creative muse to meet you. Dock its pay if it is late.
3. Ideas Are Everywhere - Be Prepared For Them
In this crazy business of writing, or painting, or sculpting, ideas are all around. The trick is to catch them and keep them. The chance comment of a friend, a sound bite on a TV news show, an obituary, the neighbor's new car, the local high school football team, your spouse's opinion on the TV sound bite, a paragraph in a chapter in a second hand book you bought for $2.99. These can all hold the germ of the idea that later becomes the article, the poem, the short story, or the book.
That's the good news.
The bad news is that once you catch on to this, you will find yourself with more ideas than you can remember or develop at any given moment. That's why you want to have a notebook, diary, or journal to jot down the basic idea and a quick development if that's available. You might also want to invest in a small recorder so that you can dictate ideas while driving or at other times that writing might be difficult. This is a great suggestion if you have ever awoken with a great idea in the middle of the night and found that you have completely forgotten it when you wake up in the morning.
4. Your Brain Is Already Full Of Ideas - Put Your Built-In Search Engine To Work
Your subconscious is a brown-noser. It just can't wait to show you what it's done for you while you were sleeping or busy with another problem. As you lay in bed at night waiting to fall asleep, tell it forcefully and directly to come up with some ideas while you're asleep. This is not 100% perfect, but it will produce fruit from time to time. Unfortunately, the ideas often appear in the middle of the night (see tip #3) although you will often awaken with a great idea.
By the way. Have you ever heard about great discoveries being made while people sleep? Many of these stories are true.
It often happens that concentrating on a problem and then letting go of it to work on other things often produces the same effect as "sleeping on it". More than one cognitive flash has come about after the thinker let go of the problem. During sleep, your brain is at work replenishing neurotransmitters that organize neural networks essential to remembering, learning, performance and problem solving, and this activity includes tracking down and organizing seemingly random pieces of data into ideas!
There you are! Four tips just like I promised.
Oh! Where did I get the idea for this article?
Well, I was reading some notes I had made about a year ago, and....
Donovan Baldwin is a Texas writer and a University of West Florida alumnus. He is a member of Mensa and is retired from the U. S. Army after 21 years of service. In his career, he has held many managerial and supervisory positions. However, his main pleasures have long been writing, nature, and fitness. In the last few years, he has been able to combine these pleasures by writing poetry and articles on subjects such as yoga, writing, nature, animals, the environment, global warming, happiness, self improvement, health, fitness, and weight loss. He has collected several of his articles on health and weight loss at http://nodiet4me.com/articledirectory/ .
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Donovan_Baldwin
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Labels: articles, creativity, writing, writing articles
Sunday, April 08, 2007
How And Why To Find New Friends
Copyright 2007 by Donovan Baldwin
If you are someone wishing you could find new friends, I have some good news for you, even though the fact that you are reading this means that you might not agree with me.
There are millions of people who would really love to be your friend!
I am assuming that when I use the term "friend", we both understand that a wide range of relationships may be encompassed. You may find a thousand acquaintances, five hundred close acquaintances, one hundred friends, ten close friends and one love of your life. Or, you may find twenty acquaintances, fifteen close acquaintances, five friends, no close friends and no love of your life. The results will depend on time, the pool of contacts you are diving into, your particular goals, luck, and other factors often, at least momentarily, beyond your control...such as time and place.
Many people who are seeking friends actually limit their opportunities to come in contact with these people and join with them in friendship because they are not following one or more of the following tips.
1. Go where your new friends are to be found.
2. To find a friend, be a friend.
3. Friends keep in touch and show they care.
As you read the above, you will notice one common thread. All of those statements imply action or effort of some sort. How many of us in high school had the "friend" who never seemed to have many friends and often complained that..."nobody likes me"? Thinking back from a slightly more mature viewpoint, how many times do we realize how often that particular person never went anywhere, never did anything to be a part of the group, and often stood on the sidelines taking potshots at those who were having a good time with their friends?
I know that I personally fit into that category. I was in the U. S. Army before I realized that I wasn't "popular" in high school because I fit precisely into that category. I can see now how many times people tried to include me in their activities and circles as I wandered in and out of these events and passing relationships trying hard to show everybody that I was just fine without them!
However, this sort of behavior is not limited just to high school. Sadly, I saw my father follow this same path throughout most of his working life and into retirement (although he WAS careful not to mock other peoples' beliefs)...where he died several years before he should have in a state of self-imposed isolation with the belief that nobody liked him or cared if he lived or died.
Who needs friends?
Over the years, several studies have shown a strong correlation between one's length of life and level of health, and the structure of their social network, i.e. the friends and acquaintances with whom they remain actively linked. In fact, sites such as Dr. Thomas Perls' "Life Expectancy Calculator" (www.livingto100.com), are including questions about the size and strength of an individual's personal network of family and acquaintances as part of the process they use to estimate life expectancy.
Okay, so where are your friends to be found?
Well, that is one to answer for yourself. Many people try to find "friends" in bars. However, while chance encounters in alcoholically fueled environments certainly accounts for some true lasting friendships, genuine friendship is often better based on shared interests and activities. Getting smashed regularly might not be the best way to search for someone you can trust and rely on...no matter how much fun they are at the moment. If you are religious, go to church regularly. If you are athletic, join an exercise group or sign up for a gym membership. If you are a stamp collector, join a stamp collecting club. Even if you do not find someone within that group who really excites you, those people of similar tastes and life views may have friends who would love to have you as a new friend. The key here is to circulate, but circulate within spheres where you are likely to find people with similar (not necessarily the exact same) interests and attitudes.
Somebody has to take the first step.
If you meet someone that you would like to be friends with, that should mean that this potential relationship is valuable enough for you to invest a little personal effort. That person may be sitting at home wondering why YOU don't call! When I attended my 20th high school reunion, I learned of two girls who had once had crushes on me while I had sat at home never contacting them or anyone else because I was sure that they didn't like me!
Okay, so your feelings get hurt, or you find yourself with a friend that you wish you had never hooked up with. Well, there's not much I can tell you except that is a normal part of life and is likely to occur whether you are actively seeking friends or not. However, no matter how much it may hurt or upset you at the moment, it definitely does NOT define your worth or value, and it will fade in time unless you choose to keep it up front with genuinely important things.
Take the first step. It doesn't have to be a declaration of undying friendship or a date. Include the person in an activity that you think they might be interested in. Sometimes just the invitation is enough. Call or send a card on their birthday. Yes, make the effort to learn their birthday. If you are in a used book store, just go whole hog and spend the $2.99 to pick up a used copy of the book they said they wanted to read. Even if they have bought the book new in the meantime, the thought will be important to them. If not, they probably are not someone you would want for a friend anyway.
Do not let true friends "fall by the wayside".
"No man is an Island", said John Donne. When we let friends drift away, we are allowing a part of our "island" of self to erode. True, not every friend or acquaintance is going to maintain the same level of importance in our lives as we and they change, move, ripen, or sour. However, it doesn't hurt to drop a line, an email, or to make a quick phone call just to keep in touch. Their friendship was valuable to us at one time and will probably retain a value throughout our lives, You never know when the guy you used to go on business trips with turns out to be the one who shows up to help you through a particularly difficult period in your life.
I don't know about you, but simply from a selfish point of view, better health and a longer, more enjoyable life are good enough reasons for me to go out and make some new friends or renew old friendships.
Donovan Baldwin is a Texas writer and a University of West Florida alumnus. He is a member of Mensa and is retired from the U. S. Army after 21 years of service. In his career, he has held many managerial and supervisory positions. However, his main pleasures have long been writing, nature, and fitness. In the last few years, he has been able to combine these pleasures by writing poetry and articles on subjects such as yoga, writing, nature, animals, the environment, global warming, happiness, self improvement, health, fitness, and weight loss. He has collected several of his articles on health, fitness, diet, and weight loss at http://nodiet4me.com/articledirectory/ .
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Donovan_Baldwin
If you are someone wishing you could find new friends, I have some good news for you, even though the fact that you are reading this means that you might not agree with me.
There are millions of people who would really love to be your friend!
I am assuming that when I use the term "friend", we both understand that a wide range of relationships may be encompassed. You may find a thousand acquaintances, five hundred close acquaintances, one hundred friends, ten close friends and one love of your life. Or, you may find twenty acquaintances, fifteen close acquaintances, five friends, no close friends and no love of your life. The results will depend on time, the pool of contacts you are diving into, your particular goals, luck, and other factors often, at least momentarily, beyond your control...such as time and place.
Many people who are seeking friends actually limit their opportunities to come in contact with these people and join with them in friendship because they are not following one or more of the following tips.
1. Go where your new friends are to be found.
2. To find a friend, be a friend.
3. Friends keep in touch and show they care.
As you read the above, you will notice one common thread. All of those statements imply action or effort of some sort. How many of us in high school had the "friend" who never seemed to have many friends and often complained that..."nobody likes me"? Thinking back from a slightly more mature viewpoint, how many times do we realize how often that particular person never went anywhere, never did anything to be a part of the group, and often stood on the sidelines taking potshots at those who were having a good time with their friends?
I know that I personally fit into that category. I was in the U. S. Army before I realized that I wasn't "popular" in high school because I fit precisely into that category. I can see now how many times people tried to include me in their activities and circles as I wandered in and out of these events and passing relationships trying hard to show everybody that I was just fine without them!
However, this sort of behavior is not limited just to high school. Sadly, I saw my father follow this same path throughout most of his working life and into retirement (although he WAS careful not to mock other peoples' beliefs)...where he died several years before he should have in a state of self-imposed isolation with the belief that nobody liked him or cared if he lived or died.
Who needs friends?
Over the years, several studies have shown a strong correlation between one's length of life and level of health, and the structure of their social network, i.e. the friends and acquaintances with whom they remain actively linked. In fact, sites such as Dr. Thomas Perls' "Life Expectancy Calculator" (www.livingto100.com), are including questions about the size and strength of an individual's personal network of family and acquaintances as part of the process they use to estimate life expectancy.
Okay, so where are your friends to be found?
Well, that is one to answer for yourself. Many people try to find "friends" in bars. However, while chance encounters in alcoholically fueled environments certainly accounts for some true lasting friendships, genuine friendship is often better based on shared interests and activities. Getting smashed regularly might not be the best way to search for someone you can trust and rely on...no matter how much fun they are at the moment. If you are religious, go to church regularly. If you are athletic, join an exercise group or sign up for a gym membership. If you are a stamp collector, join a stamp collecting club. Even if you do not find someone within that group who really excites you, those people of similar tastes and life views may have friends who would love to have you as a new friend. The key here is to circulate, but circulate within spheres where you are likely to find people with similar (not necessarily the exact same) interests and attitudes.
Somebody has to take the first step.
If you meet someone that you would like to be friends with, that should mean that this potential relationship is valuable enough for you to invest a little personal effort. That person may be sitting at home wondering why YOU don't call! When I attended my 20th high school reunion, I learned of two girls who had once had crushes on me while I had sat at home never contacting them or anyone else because I was sure that they didn't like me!
Okay, so your feelings get hurt, or you find yourself with a friend that you wish you had never hooked up with. Well, there's not much I can tell you except that is a normal part of life and is likely to occur whether you are actively seeking friends or not. However, no matter how much it may hurt or upset you at the moment, it definitely does NOT define your worth or value, and it will fade in time unless you choose to keep it up front with genuinely important things.
Take the first step. It doesn't have to be a declaration of undying friendship or a date. Include the person in an activity that you think they might be interested in. Sometimes just the invitation is enough. Call or send a card on their birthday. Yes, make the effort to learn their birthday. If you are in a used book store, just go whole hog and spend the $2.99 to pick up a used copy of the book they said they wanted to read. Even if they have bought the book new in the meantime, the thought will be important to them. If not, they probably are not someone you would want for a friend anyway.
Do not let true friends "fall by the wayside".
"No man is an Island", said John Donne. When we let friends drift away, we are allowing a part of our "island" of self to erode. True, not every friend or acquaintance is going to maintain the same level of importance in our lives as we and they change, move, ripen, or sour. However, it doesn't hurt to drop a line, an email, or to make a quick phone call just to keep in touch. Their friendship was valuable to us at one time and will probably retain a value throughout our lives, You never know when the guy you used to go on business trips with turns out to be the one who shows up to help you through a particularly difficult period in your life.
I don't know about you, but simply from a selfish point of view, better health and a longer, more enjoyable life are good enough reasons for me to go out and make some new friends or renew old friendships.
Donovan Baldwin is a Texas writer and a University of West Florida alumnus. He is a member of Mensa and is retired from the U. S. Army after 21 years of service. In his career, he has held many managerial and supervisory positions. However, his main pleasures have long been writing, nature, and fitness. In the last few years, he has been able to combine these pleasures by writing poetry and articles on subjects such as yoga, writing, nature, animals, the environment, global warming, happiness, self improvement, health, fitness, and weight loss. He has collected several of his articles on health, fitness, diet, and weight loss at http://nodiet4me.com/articledirectory/ .
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Donovan_Baldwin
Labels: friends, friendship
