I’ve been trying to write more lately. The problem is that whenever I have a compelling thought or idea, I’m never near a computer or pad of paper. It would be really convenient if I could implant a chip in my brain that would record my compelling thoughts and ideas and transmit them to my laptop at home, where they would be typed up nice and grammatical in a word document. Unfortunately, I don’t think technology has quite evolved to level where this would be possible.
I mused to myself on the way to work today about whether or not listening to the theme music from Doogie Howser while I blog would help my creativity. In case you were living in Siberia during the early nineties, Doogie Howser was an American sitcom about a 16 year old genius who was a doctor. At the end of every episode, he would sit down in front of his computer and type a rather thoughtful, reflective journal entry about what had happened in that episode. It was kind of the “moral of the story” moment. I think I’m going to put “Doogie Howser: Season 1” in my Netflix queue and test out my theory. I predict that I will just end up watching “Doogie Howser: Season 1” and doing no writing at all.
Coincidentally, I was reading a book about writing the other night. Really, the book is about how to write a story, or live a story, that people will want to read. It said in the book that you should write everyday, even if you don’t feel like it. Even if you don’t feel like you have anything interesting to say. It’s like any other job. On days when you don’t feel like doing it, you have to do it anyway. This is how you succeeded in writing.
I agreed with this philosophy. I figured that if I wrote a few pages of my thoughts every day for a year, I might have enough interesting compositions at the end of said year to gather into a book. (Whether anyone would want to read, or for that matter pay to read, my book was another matter entirely.)
The next chance I got, I wrote a few paragraphs for my blog. I saved it as “day1.doc” and put it in a special folder named “365” (for the 365 days in a year). I was pretty proud of myself. This was two weeks ago. I have yet to get to day two. I’m easing into it.
It just seems like whenever I sit down in front of my computer to write, my mind is suddenly blank. Ten minutes before, I might have been mentally composing the funniest blog anyone has read, whereas a mere ten minutes later I sit staring at that cursed blinking cursor on my mockingly blank screen.
It’s hard to be interesting all the time, you know? I mean, I generally consider myself to be a rather boisterous, funny, interesting person. In case you didn’t know, It takes a lot of energy to be so interesting. Some days, if you are lucky enough to be a boisterous, funny, interesting person, you find that you don’t have the energy to be yourself. On these days, people usually ask you all day long: “What’s wrong with you. Are you feeling okay?” I’m fine, I think to myself. I just don’t have the energy to be me today. People always ask me these questions when I’m quiet. I usually tell them that considering how often people complain or joke about how loud and talkative I am, they should enjoy the silence while it lasts. They generally agree.
This has led me to wonder if there really are a lot more boisterous, funny, interesting people out there who are just too lazy or unmotivated to be boisterous, funny, and interesting. I went through a very long phase over the last year or two during which I was trying to make new friends and expand my non-existent social circle in Kansas City. Now, most people, if they are honest, generally try pretty hard to be interesting and cool when meeting new people or making new friends. This is especially true if you are interested in dating any of these new people or new friends. You want to be funny, cool, interesting, and charismatic. You're on your best behavior because you want these new people to think you're the coolest person they've ever met. You want to be that person everyone wants to be friends with and hang out with. Sadly, most of us never achieve such coolness, but certainly not for lack of trying. Annoyingly enough, most genuinely cool people don't really have to try that hard to be cool. Jerks.
Anyway, I was stuck in this "meeting new people" phase for a little too long. After a while, I'd lost my gumption. It takes effort to start up an interesting conversation and keep it going. Especially when the person you're talking to isn't that interesting. It takes effort to be funny and make people laugh. It takes a lot of effort to motivate yourself to go to social gathering after social gathering, even though you'd rather put your head through a wall than go to another get together where forty nine people ask you, "Where do you live here in town?" and "What do you do for a living." I hate these questions. They are the grown-up equivalent of "What's your major?" It especially annoying when it's very clear that they don't really care about or listen to your answer. I've thought about making up a different job whenever someone asks me questions like this.
Random Party Guest: So what do you do for a living?
Me: Uh, I'm a logger.
Random Party Guest: A logger? In Kansas?
Me: No, in Canada. I also have a pilot's licence so I log during the week and fly back to Kansas on the weekends.
Random Party Guest: Aren't you a little petite to be a logger?
Me: I can bench press a 40 year old oak tree.
Random Party Guest: *silence*
The other perk of making up random jobs is that you never see most of these people again anyway. I figure if they make the effort to talk to me again at a different get together, I might tell them what I actually do for a living. Although being a logger is a lot more interesting than being a customer service representative.
Luckily, I got my social mojo back. It randomly came back one day when I forced myself to have an animated conversation with one of the random party guests I'd met previously. We had an actual, interesting conversation for a good five minutes. I was pretty proud of myself. It didn't lead to a lifelong friendship, but it helped me reawaken the social dynamo inside.
I think this kind of social dilemma re-enforces what the writer said in his book about writing. You have to write even when you don't feel like writing. Especially when you don't feel like writing. Making new friends is kind of like writing a good blog. You have to suffer through the boring stuff before you get to the good stuff. Suffering through the boring eventually pays off. Such is life.
I mused to myself on the way to work today about whether or not listening to the theme music from Doogie Howser while I blog would help my creativity. In case you were living in Siberia during the early nineties, Doogie Howser was an American sitcom about a 16 year old genius who was a doctor. At the end of every episode, he would sit down in front of his computer and type a rather thoughtful, reflective journal entry about what had happened in that episode. It was kind of the “moral of the story” moment. I think I’m going to put “Doogie Howser: Season 1” in my Netflix queue and test out my theory. I predict that I will just end up watching “Doogie Howser: Season 1” and doing no writing at all.
Coincidentally, I was reading a book about writing the other night. Really, the book is about how to write a story, or live a story, that people will want to read. It said in the book that you should write everyday, even if you don’t feel like it. Even if you don’t feel like you have anything interesting to say. It’s like any other job. On days when you don’t feel like doing it, you have to do it anyway. This is how you succeeded in writing.
I agreed with this philosophy. I figured that if I wrote a few pages of my thoughts every day for a year, I might have enough interesting compositions at the end of said year to gather into a book. (Whether anyone would want to read, or for that matter pay to read, my book was another matter entirely.)
The next chance I got, I wrote a few paragraphs for my blog. I saved it as “day1.doc” and put it in a special folder named “365” (for the 365 days in a year). I was pretty proud of myself. This was two weeks ago. I have yet to get to day two. I’m easing into it.
It just seems like whenever I sit down in front of my computer to write, my mind is suddenly blank. Ten minutes before, I might have been mentally composing the funniest blog anyone has read, whereas a mere ten minutes later I sit staring at that cursed blinking cursor on my mockingly blank screen.
It’s hard to be interesting all the time, you know? I mean, I generally consider myself to be a rather boisterous, funny, interesting person. In case you didn’t know, It takes a lot of energy to be so interesting. Some days, if you are lucky enough to be a boisterous, funny, interesting person, you find that you don’t have the energy to be yourself. On these days, people usually ask you all day long: “What’s wrong with you. Are you feeling okay?” I’m fine, I think to myself. I just don’t have the energy to be me today. People always ask me these questions when I’m quiet. I usually tell them that considering how often people complain or joke about how loud and talkative I am, they should enjoy the silence while it lasts. They generally agree.
This has led me to wonder if there really are a lot more boisterous, funny, interesting people out there who are just too lazy or unmotivated to be boisterous, funny, and interesting. I went through a very long phase over the last year or two during which I was trying to make new friends and expand my non-existent social circle in Kansas City. Now, most people, if they are honest, generally try pretty hard to be interesting and cool when meeting new people or making new friends. This is especially true if you are interested in dating any of these new people or new friends. You want to be funny, cool, interesting, and charismatic. You're on your best behavior because you want these new people to think you're the coolest person they've ever met. You want to be that person everyone wants to be friends with and hang out with. Sadly, most of us never achieve such coolness, but certainly not for lack of trying. Annoyingly enough, most genuinely cool people don't really have to try that hard to be cool. Jerks.
Anyway, I was stuck in this "meeting new people" phase for a little too long. After a while, I'd lost my gumption. It takes effort to start up an interesting conversation and keep it going. Especially when the person you're talking to isn't that interesting. It takes effort to be funny and make people laugh. It takes a lot of effort to motivate yourself to go to social gathering after social gathering, even though you'd rather put your head through a wall than go to another get together where forty nine people ask you, "Where do you live here in town?" and "What do you do for a living." I hate these questions. They are the grown-up equivalent of "What's your major?" It especially annoying when it's very clear that they don't really care about or listen to your answer. I've thought about making up a different job whenever someone asks me questions like this.
Random Party Guest: So what do you do for a living?
Me: Uh, I'm a logger.
Random Party Guest: A logger? In Kansas?
Me: No, in Canada. I also have a pilot's licence so I log during the week and fly back to Kansas on the weekends.
Random Party Guest: Aren't you a little petite to be a logger?
Me: I can bench press a 40 year old oak tree.
Random Party Guest: *silence*
The other perk of making up random jobs is that you never see most of these people again anyway. I figure if they make the effort to talk to me again at a different get together, I might tell them what I actually do for a living. Although being a logger is a lot more interesting than being a customer service representative.
Luckily, I got my social mojo back. It randomly came back one day when I forced myself to have an animated conversation with one of the random party guests I'd met previously. We had an actual, interesting conversation for a good five minutes. I was pretty proud of myself. It didn't lead to a lifelong friendship, but it helped me reawaken the social dynamo inside.
I think this kind of social dilemma re-enforces what the writer said in his book about writing. You have to write even when you don't feel like writing. Especially when you don't feel like writing. Making new friends is kind of like writing a good blog. You have to suffer through the boring stuff before you get to the good stuff. Suffering through the boring eventually pays off. Such is life.
