I don’t collect favorites. I like reading, hiking, writing, swimming, playing, exercise, traveling, cooking… each in its due time for its due time.
PROMPT: Hobby or Pastime
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Category Archives: Writing
PROMPT: Relax
I usually don’t find it too difficult. I find reading and free writing conducive to relaxation. In cases in which I’m wound up, I move and / or exercise intensely. If I ever need to achieve relaxation expeditiously, I use Visama Vritti Pranayama or PMR (progressive muscle relaxation.)
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PROMPT: Blog
Why do you blog?
A quick and easy fix of creative output.
That said, by the original definition of “blog,” it could be argued that I don’t blog and never did much of it, as my posts are not of a journaling / thoughts on “X” variety and rarely have been.
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PROMPT: Blog – Change
Daily writing prompt
What change, big or small, would you like your blog to make in the world?
If I’m being entirely honest, everything that’s come out of this enterprise has been of selfish motive — even those activities that seem like they have broader purpose. For example, I started book reviewing because: a.) I found it disheartening how many books I read that I had virtually no recollection of a couple years down the line, and b.) because, while I felt I knew good writing when I read it, I couldn’t really say what it was that made it good or bad without taking a more analytical look into the matter. (And I was pretty sure good writing wouldn’t come to me osmotically — merely by reading good writing — if I didn’t understand why it was good writing.)
I started recording classic poems to get a better sense of the sound quality of well-crafted poetry (and to become more comfortable with the sound of my own voice.)
I guess the honest answer is that I hope to be smarter and more capable as a result of the practice. It is continuing education, a fostering of the Beginner’s Mind.
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PROMPT: Most Productive
When do you feel most productive?
When the internet is down.
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Five Wise Lines (March 2024)
We are pattern seekers, believers in a coherent world, in which regularities appear not by accident but as a result of mechanical causality or someone’s intention.
Daniel kahneman; Thinking, Fast and slow
If you win, do not boast of your victory; if you lose, do not be discouraged. When it is safe, do not become careless; when it is dangerous, do not fear. Simply continue down the path ahead.
Kanō Jigorō; Founder of Jūdō
A writer makes new life in the void, knocks on silence to make a sound, binds space and time on a sheet of silk and pours out a river from an inch-sized heart.
Lu Ji; Wen Fu (261 – 303)
The worst kind of Virtue never stops striving for Virtue, and so never achieves Virtue.
Laozi
Moonlight floods the whole sky from horizon to horizon. // How much it can fill your room depends on its windows.
Rumi
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PROMPT: Opening Sentence
You’re writing your autobiography. What’s your opening sentence?
“From humble beginnings would come humbling ends.”
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BOOKS: “Imagination: A Very Short Introduction” by Jennifer Anna Gosetti-Ferencei
Imagination: A Very Short Introduction by Jennifer Anna Gosetti-FerenceiMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
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This is a concise guide to the subject of imagination, the capacity to conceptualize that which does not exist in reality. Philosophy is the primary dimension through which the subject is investigated, though the insights of poets (particularly Romantics,) authors, and artists are frequently presented — in several cases, in detail. Also, the author does discuss ideas from other disciplines as relevant (e.g. psychology, anthropology, science.) This is notable, for example, in Chapter 2, which looks at early signs of imagination in the human record and the evolution of this capacity.
Philosophical views on imagination have varied to the greatest possible extent, from Plato’s belief that imagination represents untruths and is therefore dangerous to various views suggesting that imagination is a good thing, is fundamental to what it means to be human (e.g. to empathy,) and is inescapable for humans. This Plato against the world dispute is revisited in several places throughout the book. Besides those of Plato, the views of Kant, Nietzsche, Wittgenstein, and Sartre are particularly extensively examined.
Creative types will find the final chapter (Ch.6 “Creativity from invention to wonder”) the most engaging part of the book as it deals with what makes for creativity. The chapter discusses topics such as whether constraints help or hinder creativity? Take, for example, poetry: does free verse poetry produce more imaginative material, or — on the contrary — is rhymed and metered verse more innovative and novel. If you think you know the answer, you might be surprised by the arguments that have been put forth.
I enjoyed reading this book and found it thought-provoking and worthy of the time.
View all my reviews
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PROMPT: Playtime
Do you play in your daily life? What says “playtime” to you?
All the time. Free movement & free writing.
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PROMPT: Write Space
You get to build your perfect space for reading and writing. What’s it like?
Just a small, quiet room with a window for day and a light for the night. Minimalist. The less to distract, the better.
Tiger Riding for Beginners 