Make Lists to Achieve Your Goals

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I’m a filmmaker that specializes in sound. With each passing day, I’m moving closer and closer to my goal of writing and directing documentary films. How does one become a documentary filmmaker? They take the Werner Herzog Masterclass and follow his advice. 

“Read, read, read, read, read, read, read, read, read, read, read, read, read…if you don’t read, you will never be a filmmaker.”
― Werner Herzog

Daily I have a rigorous reading routine. Most of my books line the shelves of every vertical surface in my home. Begging to be opened and absorbed. To optimize my time, I listen to audiobooks. My local public library offers up to five free audiobooks per month and I take advantage of Audible’s five-dollar book deals and purchasing credits in bulk. 

I’ve slowly yet steadily increased the intensity of my audible reading goals by gradually increasing the playback speed. Currently I “read” or listen to books at double the speed. Occasionally I’ll miss a word or passage and I’ll rewind fifteen seconds and relisten. Point is I read a lot of books.

Reading is a neverending lifelong process. If you are a reader, you’ll never ever finish. 

For the most part, I only read non-fiction. Life is too short and interesting to waste time with fiction. Memoirs, self-development, philosophy, and nature are some of my favorite categories. 

So this is an article on lists. Why are you talking about books?

Possibly because I’m self-diagnosed with ADHD. Or possibly because my interests are vast. Or possibly because I suffer from CRS (Can’t Remember Shit), I make lists. Lists of every book I read. Lists of books I never finished. Amazon hosts lists of books I want. 

How does a self-diagnosed weirdo keep track of where he has been and where he is going? You guessed it. I make a damn list.

What are your goals? Do you know how to get there? If you are feeling stuck, lacking in ambition to reach your dreams and goals, make lists. The list can be incremental steps to the final goal.

Want to travel to Patagonia? Make a damn list. Make a huge list that feels overwhelming with detail. Let the anxiety build and then work to strike out just one item on the list. Found your passport? Check it off. Researched flights? Check that shit off. Ordered plane tickets, found someone to care for your orchids? Check. And on and on.

What does a pseudo-documentary filmmaker suffering from self-diagnosed ADHD, turned writer, turned self-help guide, turned philosopher know about the subject? I know how to make a list. And more importantly, I know how to take incremental steps to check items off and make progress. One step at a time.

Stop Sharpening Your Pencil

I once worked with an architect. We will call him The Ostrich. Why The Ostrich? Because he spends most of his day doing two things. Sharpening pencils and shoving his head in the sand. Stressed and anxious about his workload, he would wander around the office, sharpening pencils, grabbing clean writing pads, wiping down his desk, filling his water bottle. I’d say “dude, I wrote my task list, stared blankly at the page, found the easiest task, finished it, and crossed that shit off. And you, you are making sawdust.”

He couldn’t make a list. The idea of the list overwhelmed him. WTF? Isn’t the idea of life the journey and not the destination? Do I only want to read one more book? Write one more article? Make only one film. Hell no. Every day I’ll keep adding to my lists. I make lists of my tasks, and lists of my accomplishments. 

Far ahead in the distance is a sandy mountain. The sun is shining brightly. Will I ever get to the top? Possibly not. However, look at each footprint in the sand as a goal on your list. Take one step, now another. Give it a week, a month, a year. Now look back at that list like footprints in the sand. Do you see have far you’ve come? Now keep going.

My advice Make a damn list.

Stop Overthinking and Analysis Paralysis. It’s Time to Take Action.

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“If you can’t sleep, then get up and do something instead of lying there and worrying. It’s the worry that gets you, not the loss of sleep.” Dale Carnegie

Our bodies have a natural biological clock called Circadian Rhythm. This clock is prewired to follow a 24-hour cycle based on light and darkness. As night begins to fall our clock will release the hormone melatonin helping us fall asleep. 

We normally sleep through the night until around sunrise. Our bodies begin to release cortisol the fight or flight hormone beginning around 3 am. Your cortisol peaks mid-morning at around 9 am. If you are waking up at the onset of the cortisol rush you may have increased stress levels or underlying health issues.

For me, it’s anxiety and stress. I’ll awaken and acknowledge the fact that it’s not time to be awake. My breathing will have increased with short staccato breathes. My heart will be pumping faster as I enter overthinking mode. 

As I lie there the pounding on my minds gates gets louder and with a bang, the gates open and the thoughts come rushing in. My mind will begin to remind me of every unfinished project. Every possible issue and potentially disastrous outcome. I’ll just lie there, paralyzed by my thoughts and inaction.

My mental self stands there, arms held out as problem after problem, task after tasks, worry after worry are handed to me. I can’t make a move. Paralyzed like a deer caught in the headlights.

As I struggle to regain control, it was during these panicked moments I’d wonder about my capabilities and contemplate running away from my thoughts and challenges. My body was in fight or flight and I was thinking I’d run.

The Human Brain

The human brain is the most developed of any known animal species. Our brains consist of three basic parts. The reptilian brain handles primitive processing such as breathing, heart rate, hunger, sexuality, and procedural memory.

The old mammal brain handles emotion, motivation, and memory.

Lastly, the new mammal brain handles languages, improved reasoning, planning, and complex decision-making.

Shush!

I’ll silently yell at my thoughts. They won’t relent as they increase in intensity. Mental chaos ensues until I release my “shush” command silently. Focusing closely on my breathing, I’ll take in a purposefully slow intentional breath. My lungs begin to fill and my chest increases in volume. The oxygenated air reaching my extremities. Holding my breath for a moment until I’ll slowly release the air in a controlled exhale. 

My focus is purely on my breath as I’ll attempt to silence my mammalian brain functions. With each passing breathing cycle, the thoughts coming in feel diluted and powerless. With each controlled exhale the negative thoughts are released from my thought path.

Lying there, with focused meditative breath, I’d regain control of my thoughts. I used to just continue to lie there, hoping I’d fall back asleep. Wishing the circumstances of my thoughts and inability to make a move would miraculously fade away.

Get up and Take Action

For the past few months, I no longer just lie there and take the artillery fire of my thoughts. Jumping up out of bed, I’ll take action as I begin my daily routine. It may be journaling or writing an article. Followed by exercise, meditation, and breakfast while listening to an audiobook. 

I’ve retrained myself to take action during this natural period of cortisol rush. My creativity has increased as I complete tasks and get stuff done. I’m hardly anxious and my thought process is more defined and focused. 

What You Do Everyday Determines Who You Are

Daily Action Will Define You 

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If you are reading this, you’re probably a reader. Published an article on Medium, you’re actually a writer. Perform these activities daily and there won’t be a question. 

What we do as part of our daily routine defines who we are. It’s the actions that create our gains. 

Develop a Daily Routine

Something internally awakens me daily. It isn’t an alarm clock as I haven’t used one in years. For the longest time, I believed it was anxiety, but thru further analysis, I’ve determined its creative drive. 

My mind would race with ideas and plans to take action. Tasks I would perform or answers to outstanding issues. Frustration would build because I would just be lying there, nothing getting done. Pain without the gain.

So what did I do about it? I got up out of bed and took action. My eyes are hardly open as I turn on the computer and begin to write. The ideas flow like a raging river. Words become sentences, sentences become paragraphs. Concepts become stories. I’m a writer.

I’ll roll out the yoga mat and practice my daily yoga routine. Stretching and breathing my practice is impactful yet practical. I’d threatened myself for years I’d exercise as I overpaid for a gym service I never used. Now all I need is a mat and a clear space on any floor. A daily routine I can easily perform. I’m a yogi.

As I finish my yoga, already seated on the mat, I’ll begin a guided meditation. Thoughts and fears arrive in my mind. Concentrating on my breath I’ll inhale my fears and with a calm exhale let the fear float away. Focusing on the here and the now. I am enlightened.

Opening my eyes I notice my surroundings and my emotions. Refreshed and empowered, I’ll put on headphones and listen to an audiobook while making coffee and breakfast. I’m a reader.

Hopping into the shower, I’ll collect my thoughts. I’ve used my mind and body to create, take action and absorb. Now is the time to process. The water purifies my thoughts as I cleanse my mind. Building the thoughts in my mind I’ll theorize and make determinations. Asking myself questions and providing the answers. It’s this moment, absent from life’s distractions that I’ll think. I am a philosopher.

Ask Yourself Why

Why did I awaken? Because it was time to take action

Why did I write? Because I’m a writer with something to share.

Why did I practice yoga? Because I’m a yogi and must align my body with my mind. 

Why do I meditate? Because I’m enlightened and can align my fears and anxiety. 

Why do I read? Because I’m a reader, an autodidact with a quest for knowledge.

Why do I think and theorize? Because I’m a philosopher with a passion to comprehend.

Why I’m Not Special

I’m not special because everything I do is easy and impactful. I’ve made the determination this is who I am and who I want to be. Anyone can pick their daily routine that will determine who they are. It’s easy and timeless. 

I’m actually a filmmaker and use my daily routine to sharpen my tools. My biggest assets, my mind, and my body.

Ignoring Distractions To Regain Focus and Expand Creativity

“Be so busy improving yourself that you don’t have time to pay attention to anything or anyone that distracts you from your growth.” Anonymous

Photo by Michael Competielle

We Live In A World Of Static

As I step outside early in the morning I recognize the silence and serenity of the early morning. Distance traffic and air travel are at a minimum and the sounds of nature take over as birds are chirping and owls hooting off in the distance. One thing we have learned during the Coronavirus Pandemic is just how quiet the world is or better yet just how noisy our world was.

Remember those times when you would sit in a quiet library as you studied or silently read. What noise distracted you? A sneeze or cough? The squeak of a distance chair? When we are attempting to focus we also need to filter out the noises that disrupt our concentration.

Now let’s imagine we are going to study or read the same material in another environment such as a gym locker room or movie theater playing a Marvel squeal. How much of the room’s noise will distract your mind from absorbing the content you’re trying to obtain?

We live in a world of outside noise and the distraction is like static, hissing in our ears and reducing our abilities to focus and retain information.

How much will you learn with your head in a beehive?

Michael Competielle

How Often Are You Manipulated And Misdirected?

My iPhone quietly rests within a few feet of me at all times. A connection to the outside world, a wealth of information and connectivity. It’s ringtones and alerts silenced in an attempt to minimize distraction as I attempt to sleep, create, or learn.

As a creator of content, my mind struggles to rest as ideas and concepts twist and turn inside my mind like a Rubik’s cube. Complex concepts simplify themselves while I’m at rest, the power of the human brain. I’m always thinking, processing, and discovering.

Often during this precious time, I’ll pick up my phone and mindlessly doomscroll thru Facebook or emails allowing my brain to become distracted and triggered. A relative’s political rants or the barrage of marketing emails begins to fill my brains RAM with static and negative thoughts. How much trash can our mind take before we reach the saturation point? And why do our brains get hijacked during these disruptions?

We are continuously being marketed to. Advertisements blaring from televisions, billboards, inside blogs, and from people’s mouths to our ears. Everyone is always selling and we need to filter out the trash from the treasures.

Brain Plasticity Theory 

The human brain has the ability to change over our lifetime by forming new connections between our brain cells known as neurons. Plasticity is the ability to allow our brain to change with learning. 

But what happens when we stop thinking or even worse our thoughts are hijacked by the outside world? Our mood and focus modified and hindering our ability to maintain proper brain function. 

When we are told how to think or feel about a topic, situation, or product, we are being emotionally highjacked. It’s only through cognitive thinking and analysis that we can honestly make an evaluation.

How To Ignore Distractions

  • Unsubscribe from mailing lists that don’t interest you
  • Remove apps like Facebook from phones and tablets. 
  • Stop watching the news
  • Ignore and avoid people that distract or frustrate you
  • Prioritize yourself by making certain others don’t derail your directive or mood
  • When you are disrupted or triggered try to quickly regain focus

Get Great Sleep

So what exactly happens to our brain during sleep and why is it required? 

When we sleep our brain is cleared (the glymphatic system) of neurotoxic waste in our central nervous system. It is during this valuable sleep time we can incorporate our day’s thoughts and experiences into long term memory. Our glymphatic system is most active during sleep and why we feel refreshed when we awaken. Sleep affects our ability to learn, focus, be creative, problem-solve, and concentrate.

Don’t Hijack Your Day

When I wake up I used to grab my phone and read thru social media posts, emails and watch the morning news. I was starting my morning by altering my cleansed mind with trash and static. I’d quickly forget the connections I’d made while resting and feel overwhelmed and anxious. How can I create or focus on all the troubles of the world in my foreground?

By cleansing the decks of distraction and static I’m keeping my eye on the prize. Mornings are spent listening to audiobooks I’ve prechosen. The words guide can easily be connected to correlate to my present studies or content I’m creating. I’m in complete control of my mind and function as the primary gatekeeper by denying access to the static.

Writing 100 Articles In 100 Days. What Did I Learn?

Photo by Michael Competielle

“You never have to change anything you got up in the middle of the night to write.”

 — Saul Bellow

Today is day 100 of a 100-day writing challenge. The idea was to attempt to write 100 original articles with original photography and publish them. The topics and context we not of importance. In reality, honesty and self-reflection was the priority of this writing exercise. 

Never having written anything before I was presented with a challenge lacking in familiarity and comfort. What was I going to say and how was I planning to say it? 

Looking Inside Myself 

As I began to look inside myself I recognized I needed to find the voice. Being introspective of yourself and displaying your thoughts and emotions leaves you a feeling of exposure and nakedness. It was the warmth of connection and encouragement I received from my readers and writing partner that kept me on track and forthcoming.

Wild flurries of emotionalism flew out of me as I henpecked away word by word, sentence by sentence formulating subconscious thoughts into tangible content. 

When I was in my comfort zone was when I faded off into a meditative state tapping away words that came out of me like I was telling a best friend an innermost deep story. Hours later I’d reread what I’d written and often questioned who was the author, confident it clearly wasn’t me. I’d plagiarized my own words. Hacking into the databanks of my inner psyche. 

Time and Space

The best time to write was early in the morning. My dogs would be snoring, the outside world is relatively silent and I could immerse myself into this transcendent writing flow.

My photographs were my inspiration as I’d write based on the emotional impact I felt from the experiences of exploration into self-discovery. 

Researching my thoughts and looking for supporting content would leave me exploring rabbit holes of discovery as I learned more from becoming a writer than I had from being a reader. My mind an absorptive sponge ingesting and processing massive quantities of data. I forced myself to go out and find inspiration and everything I found became inspiring. 

Tapping away letter by letter I’d lose myself in the moment. Time would pass often quickly as I transported myself into another place in time. Gravity and it’s holding power diminished as I wrote and explored the outside world. I no longer walked on the ground but on a layer of air, slightly elevated above the surface of the world. Airy and light yet not quite floating. 

Time has become more precious than ever before as I respect every moment, recognizing time as our most priceless resource. My relationships with the outside world have felt a bit removed from those that don’t create or can not absorb. The nonreaders are the nonthinkers. Vessels of lifelessness missing the purpose of life and connection. 

Who Is This Crazy Guy?

My discoveries as I wrote in this meditative style yielded wildly varying articles that began to weave the fabric of my consciousness. Patterns of words and phrases were repeated from article to article with differences in meaning and relevance. Each philosophy and theory cumulatively assembling into an enlightened version of me.

As the articles were published new connections were made with friends that began to read my content. The highlight of the writing exercise was when a brilliant inspirational idol shared one of my better posts on Twiter.

As time passed by day by day, articles were published and readership increased. Topics of creativity were well received as were articles on mindfulness.

As I wrote more and more my connection to my mind and soul was enriched. Self-discovery and self-awareness were constant topics I learned the most about myself.

During the hundred days, I found not only could I effectively write but it was simple to get lost inside my conscious. In the next 100 days, you’ll a new level of exploration and discovery. My connections to myself and my mind’s eye have nurtured my world of literary exploration.

How “Permitted Bootlegging” Revolutionized The World Of Innovation and Creativity

Photo by Michael Competielle

This is not a story written about Prohibition or distilling grain alcohol, this is a story about encouraging people to develop their pet projects into life-changing experiences. 

Most of everyone’s job has requirements that are often narrowly impossible to accomplish. Sales quotas and product yields are designed to increase exponentially based upon increasing profits while often disregarding relevance. Unnecessary stresses are placed on employees following rules and protocols and little thought is placed on innovating or creativity. 

Brainstorming and value engineering resources are often placed on solving existing problems leaving little time or energy to nurture ideas that could potentially rewrite the destiny of a company. 

Failing Quickly Yields Future Success

In 1968 3m scientist Dr. Spencer Silver was developing a super strong and sticky adhesive that quite honestly wasn’t very strong. In fact, the opposite happened when accidentally designed a low tack reusable adhesive. 

Silver felt that his adhesive had a special purpose and he, therefore, spent the next 5 years pitching the product to various 3m departments hoping someone would find a commercial use for the adhesive.

It wasn’t until 1974 when a 3m colleague Arthur Fry who had attended one of Silvers seminars that a potential use was conceived. Fry thought the adhesive would be perfect to use as a sticky yet removable bookmark for his hymn book.

Fry decided to further develop his concept by using 3m’s Permitted Bootleg policy. It was the availability of this policy that helped Fry and Silver to work together in secrecy on a pet project that would soon be the most innovative stationery and design product. 

It took 12 years from the accidental discovery by Silver and further developed with Fry until the commercial release in 1980 of the Post-it Note. Little yellow pads of paper held together with an adhesive that bonds well yet are removable and reusable. 

Encouraging Innovation Through Bootlegging

It’s companies that have developed a mindset that encourages creativity and free thinking that ultimately is most innovative. 3m, Hewlett-Packard, and Google are examples of companies that allow employees a certain percentage of time to work on their pet projects. 

The term ‘bootlegging’ is used because while the R&D happens on company time with company resources, the projects are usually kept in secrecy during this innovation development stage. It’s this acceptance of secrecy that innovation can be nurtured as this bootlegging period of developing is exercised without formalizing the project, sharing with managers and often breaks a companies rules and conventions.

It’s these risky scenarios where development can overcome obstacles. Teams have freedoms and liberties towards their projects creative process and the success of Permitted Bootlegging has yielded additional successes such as Gmail, Google News, and BMW’s 12 cylinder engine. 

It’s from these creative minds that we’ve learned to more innovative. Post-it notes are used by project teams to develop ideas, maintain goals and find solutions. By using permitted bootlegging and post-it notes to visualize your plan we can make great strides in designing our future while encouraged to take risks. 

The Best Articles I’ve Written Are The Ones That Nobody Reads

Photo by Michael Competielle

“There are people who make things happen, there are people who watch things happen, and there are people who wonder what happened. To be successful, you need to be a person who makes things happen.”

Jim Lovell

The world moves around me like a cosmic vat of fragmented debris. My mind requires stimulation and challenges to avoid death by boredom. Television and films have become stagnant of purpose and risk while auteurs struggle to exist.

Music venues have elevated ticket prices to audacious amounts while strangling artists’ abilities to remain lucrative and remain devoid of creativity or taking risks. Boring arena tours with overpriced meet and greets are the norm. Aging has been artists who are echoing their past to the allegiant fans stuck in a proverbial timewarp feels like a money subterfuge.

Stripper anthems and rapper idioms are proven profit makers exacerbating the dumbification of our floundering society. Venues are serving corporate conglomerate beers, soft drinks, and processed foods to aid in declining the health of the patrons while posting adverts for medical centers and pharmaceuticals to help pay the bills.

Why I Suck

I’ve no desire to follow the masses. I’m currently fighting with my blog’s AI SEO algorithms telling me my article currently sucks. I’d guess the algorithm was written by tracking the top 1,000 keywords utilized by top publication rags a clickbait.

As I ponder my future as a successful writer I’m researching some titles I feel are sheerly brilliant that could titillate the herd.

  • 7 Ways Gordon Ramsey Can Teach You Emotional Intelligence
  • How Lindsay Lohan Excels at Defensive Driving Skills
  • How Vanilla Ice Can Teach You To Understand Copyright Laws and Write a Hit Song
  • 9 Ways to Find Love…Again By Studying Zsa Zsa Gabor
  • and the list goes on

Save The Brain Cells

As I work to keep the neurons of my brain enriched by stimulating it with art, well-articulated literature and scientific studies I’ve recognized our societies lacking in autodidacticism. It’s doubtful I’ll gain much traction with this quintessential diatribe of creative expression but I’m certain every time I reread it I’ll giggle to myself on how profound exercising the brain really is. And the fact many will need a dictionary to fucking read it.

Maximizing Your Creativity By Economizing Your Day

Photo by Michael Competielle

How do you know you’ve maximized your day and economized projects to succeed? By prioritizing our day based on establishing small achievable goals while focusing on completing them we can see progress quickly. Morning seems to be a moment in my day where I can be productive and creative optimizing my limited time.

Writing has become easier when I have planned my thoughts prior to even opening my computer. Being I write based on my life experiences, I make sure I document all of them with photographs. When I’m writing about my experiences words begin to follow as I’m describing my recollection of stored details.

To obtain inspiration I love stepping outside into city life to enter into culturally diverse environments. Most cities’ density and mixed uses forsters a culmination of cultural heritage that inspires inspiration. Walking and interacting with diversity help define differences and expands our knowledge.

People watching and focusing on their details

Mornings in a city is a brilliant time to people watch. Window seats in coffeehouses is a favored spot as you can view people candidly observing their body language and movement. As we pay attention to finite details and memorizing them we build attention to details. What makes brilliant writing? Attention to detail and perspective.

When we have clarity and focus on details stored in our memory banks, writing becomes easier. We no longer have to struggle to find words and descriptors to expressive ourselves. As we optimize our writing time while getting into our flow, fully-fledged concepts become paragraphs of precise descriptive narration.

Morning writing lessens environmental influences as we haven’t yet stepped into the outside world. Our thoughts and words are yet to be tainted by the complexities of our day. Allocating morning time towards writing, the compressed availability of free time places pressure on clear and concise phrasing.

Who Wrote This Shit

When I get into my zone, words materialize a rapid pace with fluidity. Minor typos and proper punctuation matter less than getting the words out as if I’m telling a friend a story. Once I get close to what I feel is the end of the article, I’ll reread it to determine how well to flows. When I know I’m writing well the sentences read well. If I’m on track I’ll read the article and question the identity of the author.

It’s in those moments when I’m most creative and thorough that rereading the text makes me question who the author was. It’s that inner voice who comes out and tells the most engaging stories in the briefest amount of time. The economy of time and focusing on small goals have expanded the amount of content I can write about while detail in a focused moment.

Reimagining Landscapes With A Cacophony of Soundscapes

Photo by Michael Competielle

“The final question will be: is the soundscape of the world an indeterminate composition over which we have no control, or are we its composers and performers, responsible for giving it form and beauty?” 

― R. Murray Schafer, The Soundscape: Our Sonic Environment and the Tuning of the World

As my writing exercise is winding down my experiences from the experiment has charged my creativity. The next 100 day series of challenges is moving into compositional sound recording with the added element of composing to an image and creating visual soundscapes.

The exploration of finding content in which to use to make a connection of our sense of sight and hearing is nothing new. From the days of theater or musicals through talkie films and modern-day media, sound to visuals has gelled together well. We have learned to feel a connection to a character’s emotions by using sounds of music to stage the scene as we are lured into the content.

Our minds can make connections to our emotions independently to our conscious thoughts bringing us to a place where we are immersed into the body of others, feeling what they are feeling. The spoken word isn’t required to toy with sadness or despair. Often a single reverberant piano note will bring us to a place where we feel pain and suffering.

There are many, many nouns for the act of looking — a glance, a glimpse, a peep — but there’s no noun for the act of listening. In general, we don’t think primarily about sound. So I have a different perspective on the world; I can construct soundscapes that have an effect on people, but they don’t know why. It’s a sort of subterfuge -Walter March

Hearing Emotion

The classical composers recognized by varying the connections of musical notes compositions could envoke emotion. By altering the individual notes in a phrase or chord, alters the feeling of the composition as our feelings are along for the ride. 

When we actively participate in focused listening we begin to hear the subtle nuances in sounds. Winds and rain have tonality that can paint a visual painting that takes us to that place. Rolling waves, babbling brooks to crashing waterfalls are all movements of water, however, they all have a unique audible sound that paints the picture. 

Whimsical sounds will place us in a happier mood unlike the dissonance felt from fingernails on a chalkboard. The subtle nuance of sounds of we listen closely is meditative and educational.

Intellectuals favor instrumental music as it will allow the imaginations under the wild as we define space and time. Our minds will listen for the clues and begin to develop a spatial perspective. 

Wind and leaves mean trees. A Forest? Moving water could identity a creek, stream or an ocean. The timber and intensity of the sounds become our clues. Crashing water could be oceans waves or a waterfall. 

As we listen to sounds intently we begin to spark our brain to make connections to the visual. Like an expressionist painter, we paint shapes and colors as we build the landscape from the elements of the soundscape. Our minds make the connection as we visualize the scene like reading brilliant literature. 

Be Yourself, The Rest Will Follow

Photo by Michael Competielle

“The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.”

 —  Friedrich Nietzsche

It’s lonely in here. My mind races with thoughts and concepts I struggle to explain. Creative ideas take a number hoping to be next in line, a sold-out show it’s standing room only.

A sense of belonging could be warm and comforting if the connection were real and the dialogue reciprocal. It’s the few that understand, those who bend light and medium to create the imaginative. The grandiose experience. 

We feel they are odd, strange and disconnected. Yet it appears we are all engaged with the electronic impulses that energize our flow. Colors and sounds, molten and dark. The embers of creativity fueled by inspiration. Words become paintings and noise becomes art. As we reimagine this dismal place a stomping ground of self-expression.

The rhythm of prose a collection of exacting words, painting the foreground of our creativity. Crazy, wacky, odd and weird, we find solace in our medium. Our emotions left on the canvas as we nakedly shy away, bizarre and antisocial.

Crowds praise and encourage us while we secretly cower in fear. Not to be judged only to be misunderstood.

“ Art and life really are the same, and both can only be about a spiritual journey, a path towards a re-union with a supreme creator, with god, with the divine; and this is true no matter how unlikely, how strange, how unorthodox, one’s particular life path might appear to one’s self or others at any given moment.”

Genesis P-Orridge

We chose who we are and represent ourselves often poorly. Not feeling complete within ourselves we need to express ourselves outwardly. The sounds of our creativity speak volumes in our minds yet sound hollow to the ears of the status quo.

What aspect do others understand we do not know. However, our intellect and judgment is only encouraged by those who understand. 

Trivial matters pain me as I lose irreplaceable time. Infuriated as I see the wasted days fade, filed as history. Tomorrow I shall overcome, stepping out into the light and embrace my struggle to be the only thing that matters. Me.