Tag: creativity

How I unwind

Today’s question is how do I unwind after a demanding day?

Believe it or not, I am under quite a bit of stress. I have people who count on me every day. Business processes would fail if I was unable to properly manage the resources for which I am responsible. Knowing this, coupled with my natural desire to keep things up and running, builds up a lot of stress inside me.

A lot of workplaces are also highly competitive, though it is often masked by nice mannerism. The battle is fought using office politics, subtle manipulation, and passive aggressive behavior. I believe it’s just the nature of people when they come together and there is some perceived prize that they think they can wriggle out of someone’s hands. In my opinion, this greatly magnifies the stress in a workplace.

I know a lot of this competitiveness stems from envy, but I have never been that envious of anyone. It’s simply not my vice, but I have other vices to make up for it. I mean, different vices call to different people. I think my lack of envy probably stems from the fact that I have never been all that competitive. I hope we all win! I can also be fairly successful without being vicious or filled with hate. My ability to succeed stems entirely from my own creativity, hard work, patience, and of course, the blessings of God.

I could write at lengths on details about why I’m stressed, but this question is about unwinding from that stress. There was a time when I didn’t really need a strategy for this, but these days I would be dragged down without doing something to recuperate. Below is a list of the things I use to unwind from the stress of the day. It’s not exhaustive, and I’m always looking for ways to destress (suggestions please!). Honestly, I sometimes fear that my life will be reduced to just doing coping methods all day, while lying in a fetal position, hoping life will leave me alone for a change. Just kidding! (maybe).

Sleep

I sleep a lot more these days. Not necessarily at night though. My sleep cycle seems to be eight or ten hours off. I really don’t start to feel awake until the sun is on its way down in the afternoon. That being said, without sleep, I will fall apart, so I take naps during the day to compensate. I take a brief one around noon, and another one when I first get home from work. It is actually surprising how much energy is restored to me from only a few minutes of shut eye. I feel like naps were once a lot more common, but after the industrial age the focus was on long hours of production. Sleep was considered lazy, but your body and mind need it desperately.

Walking

Since I moved to this city, I started walking around quite a bit. I like being out and about. There is usually something to see, and I am always meeting interesting new people. For instance, below is something I saw while walking home the other day. I also work in a building that is pretty big and spread out, so I walk quite a way indoors just to get to where I need to be. Walking is good exercise, which is important for your health, and also reduces stress.

Video of someone doing motorcycle stunts in the street.

Reading

I spend a lot of time reading, and I also like to listen to audiobooks while I’m walking around the city. I have had a scription to Audible for many years now. I used to use it while commuting, but now I mainly use it while walking. I still listen to it while driving, but it’s a really short commute to the office these days. In the past, I read a lot of self-help books. I think they helped to get me where I am today because they motivated me to keep going. Motivational and inspirational reading can help you feel better about life, which reduces stress.

Writing

I have always liked the idea of being a writer, but I don’t know that there was a good outlet for that in the past. I mean, I would start writing stories I had in mind as a kid, but then I would stall. Discovering blogging and self-publishing has opened up a new door for creativity. I have always felt like I should give something back to all those writers I read over the years. They helped me to believe in myself. They gave me hope.

Storms

I’ve mentioned this before, but the sound of rain and thunder calms me down. I feel like I am one with the spirit of the storm. If you are wondering, people who love the sound of rain are called pluviophiles. It’s a real thing.

There’s a special app I use to play rain and thunder sounds through my computer speakers. It is called Ambie, and you can get it in the Microsoft store for free. There is a lot of sounds you can mix together to get whatever ambient noise you want to hear, but I usually settle for the rain sounds. I often sleep with this on all night because it relaxes me.

There are also lots of YouTube channels that specialize in ambient rain and thunder sounds. I subscribe to a few of those. Below is an example of what I’m talking about.

Video of ambient storm sounds in a bedroom setting with a fireplace.

Music

I sometimes listen to music. Music has a profound way of changing my mood. Every song has a different effect on me, some energize me, some pull on my heart strings, some make me sad, and some inspire me to be creative. If I select just the right one, it can help to destress me from a long day.

I’m always open to suggestions if you have any. I often try new artists. Actually, I’m always looking for new things to try out, not just in music. It keeps life interesting.

I heard the one below from a remix I saw on Instagram. The post kind of called to me, so I looked up the song and artist. It’s new to me, because I don’t typically hear this type of music where I live. I kind of like it though. Maybe you will too.

A music video of Katie Melua singing Wonderful Life.

Alcohol

I was taught this was a bad thing growing up, but I sometimes think it is helpful for unwinding from a stressful day. In a previous book I read, it was mentioned that alcohol is an agent of myopia. That is to say, it numbs the mind in such a way that it can only focus on one thing at a time. This can be helpful when there are too many thoughts going through your head. Unfortunately, if that one thing is bad, it doesn’t help too much, so you have to be careful.

If you want to read more about the alcohol myopia theory I mentioned here, I suggest you read Malcolm Gladwell‘s Talking to Strangers. It’s non-fiction, but definitely an interesting read. I’ve actually read most of his books. They are all pretty thought provoking.

Friendship

I occasionally stumble upon some really awesome person who teaches me so much about life and opens my eyes to my own undiscovered self. I know those special people are sent by God at just the right time in your soul’s evolution. I owe some of them a debt I will never be able to repay. They literally saved my life. The love I have for them actually brings tears to my eyes just writing this. I wish they could remain with me for a lifetime, but there is a season to everything in this world. Only Heaven is forever, and I know I will see them there one day.

Family

I had a wonderful family. I often look back on memories of my dad and grandmother. They taught me that being good was important and that there was greater meaning to everything we do in life. They taught me about prayer and instilled a belief in a higher power. They laid the foundation to a persona that has withstood everything that life has thrown at it and even thrived. God rest their souls eternally.

There is also this thing I sometimes do when I wake up and don’t know if I can do this day. I just lay there and imagine my grandmother petting my head like she did when I was young and sick with fever. The affection that someone shows you in childhood lasts a lifetime. Till this day, I don’t think I could make it without her. It’s just a memory, but it has a profound power over reality.

Faith

The most powerful thing I have in my arsenal against everything the world can throw at me is my undying faith in almighty God. When I am at my lowest, I pray. I feel an uplifting power coming from it. It is sometimes even overwhelming, sending chills down my spine. I know his spirit is with me always. It is the one constant in my life since childhood, the one person who will never desert or forsake me, the one person who was with me in the beginning of my life and will still be there to greet me on the other side.

How do you unwind? How do you deal with stress at work? Have you ever had to deal with office politics? What vice is your weakness? Have you met any special people who get you through? Do memories change the present? Are you a pluviophile? Do you have any song suggestions? Let me know in the comments, and don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe!

Named after me

Today I am asked if I could have something named after me, what would it be?

People like having things named after them for some reason. I think it makes them feel like they are immortalized somehow, just by having a street or building named after them. I actually don’t buy into that idea. Roads and buildings are not eternal either, nothing in this world is. I also don’t really know those people. They might actually be terrible individuals and unworthy of remembering.

I also question what they really had to do with the thing that carries their name anyway. Did they build it themselves? This blog carries my name, and I wrote every line you read. That doesn’t seem so bad to me. If you breathed life into it yourself, then it makes since that it carries your name. It came from your soul. It is a part of you that you shared with others. I guess that’s what I would want to be named after me. The things that came from my soul. Anything else would just bragging about my good fortune.

What would you like to have named after you? Do you currently have something named after you? Are there other ways of being immortalized? Is there something you see every day that bears someone’s name? Do you put your heart and soul into anything? Let me know in the comments, and don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe!

Wish I could do more

Today’s prompt is what do I wish I could do more of every day? I think about this a lot. It sometimes feels like I am using all my time and energy up on things that just pay the bills. I suspect that’s true for most people, but I find it sad. Maybe it’s selfish, but I feel like it’s my life, and most of my time should be spent on self improvement and life enjoyment. When I do get a few days off, which is usually only during Spring Break, I thoroughly love it, and wish it would never end. Below are a few things I would like to do every day.

  1. Contemplation. I like to think about things. Sometimes I talk about those things to God in prayer. It helps me to make sense of life. I feel like this is the only way to give life any meaning. I guess this is what Socrates meant when he said “the unexamined life is not worth living.”
  2. Conversation. I like to talk to likeminded friends and sometimes even strangers. This helps me to understand everyone better. A good conversation can be very satisfying and sometimes even enlightening.
  3. Observation. I like to see and experience new things. This can include a variety of things, such as travel, art, music, food, nature, etc. Experiencing beauty makes me happy. It would also include people watching, which is always entertaining.
  4. Stories. The idea of having so much free time that I could just sit and read a book for as long as I wanted sounds pretty good to me. This would also include audiobooks, and movies. I especially like stories that make you consider something new.
  5. Writing. I like writing, which includes writing stories of my own or blogging. Good writing seems to be one of the longest lasting mediums for human creativity. Writing has survived for thousands of years and will continue to serve countless generations.
  6. Learning. I like to learn new things. Not all of the books I read are stories, many are non-fiction. I’ve read plenty of books over self-help, psychology, health, management, religion, finance, etc.
  7. Affection. Not going to lie, I would love to have more time for affection and romance. It’s hard to find the right person of course. There is nothing quite like the feeling of being in love, and having the time to spend with this special person.

What would you like to do more of every day? Do you feel like you don’t have enough time for yourself? Is there something you would add to the list? Let me know in the comments, and don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe!

Never surrender.

Today something triggered an old memory from my childhood. It’s one of those memories that just sticks in your head because it tells you something about who you really are inside. We believe we know ourselves, but it’s these odd moments in our lives that bring out the best and worst in us, and we actually discover our true colors.

It all started with basketball. I remember one time when I was a small kid, we were let out of school early so we could go over to the gym and watch a basketball scrimmage between some of the older boys. At that young age, what I saw was just a bunch of boys running back and forth on a court while trying to throw a big orange looking ball in a netted hoop. The goal of the game seemed to be getting the greatest number of balls in the hoop.

Their method of making the most shots seemed to be highly inefficient to me though. They kept blocking each other from making shots. If they just shared the ball back and forth, they could maximize the number of shots they made. They could easily earn more points than the scoreboard would allow in one game if they worked together, but they didn’t work together. It seemed like the real goal of the game was just to fight each other over the ball. I really didn’t understand that mindset.

As I saw more basketball games, I began to note that arguments would often emerge and people would yell at each other, especially at the referees. When rival teams from other towns came to play, the emotional flames seemed to leap even higher. Threats and insults would often be shouted, and sometimes even actual violence would emerge.

After taking all this into consideration, it seemed to me that it wasn’t actually worth it. Sports like this didn’t encourage good thoughts and positive emotions. It seemed more like war than a game, and it felt like kids were being trained to embrace bad emotions, like anger and hatred. I decided I didn’t really like sports at that point, but I didn’t dare say anything about it. I felt like I was the only person on earth like this, and what I wanted most was to be like everyone else.

Even though I didn’t like sports, it didn’t prevent me from having to play them. It seemed pushed on me. I remember one year I tried to take a different class last period. It was a class that allowed me to make things in a shop. Not enough people signed up for the class though, so they told me I would have to go back to the gym. This was very disappointing to me. Sports was considered more important than creativity and making things. I didn’t understand why.

During one of these gym classes, the defining moment that became burned into my mind forever happened. We had done lots of exercises like shooting the ball, dribbling the ball, moving up and down the court, etc. I didn’t really mind these exercises too much, but then the coach did something that I didn’t really like. He put me on the court with another player, who happened to be one of my cousins.

He wasn’t really my best cousin either. There was something about him that always made me a bit uneasy. I didn’t know what it was back then, but I later realized it was envy. I was very creative when I was young, and he hated that because he didn’t have any similar talent. I found this out because he once destroyed one of my creations and laughed about it. It felt like he was trying to make me angry, but it didn’t work. The act of creating was the enjoyable part for me, not the finished product.

When the coach put us out there, we were supposed to play each other like I had seen in the scrimmage. Basically, it was a one-on-one scrimmage. I was expected to dribble the ball down the court and try to make a basket while my cousin tried to stop me and steal the ball if possible. I found myself on the court squaring off against a kid who didn’t really like me that much in the first place. The fuel for the fire was in place now, and just waiting for the match to drop.

When the game started, I had the ball and began dribbling it around, deciding how I would proceed down the court. I expected him to try and block me and get in my way. That didn’t bother me too much though. What bothered me was the look he was giving me. There was something awful possessing him! He was right up in my face! He didn’t look like someone who was simply carrying out an objective of blocking my progress. He looked at me like I was an enemy. His face was full of hatred! It wasn’t just a game anymore.

At this point, I felt like I had two possible choices I could take. I could allow the demon of competition to enter my soul and wear the same ugly hate face my cousin was wearing, or I could tell this nasty spirit that I refuse to play games with it. I grabbed the ball in my hand and tossed it right at my opponent. He was dumbfounded at first but was soon rushing down the court to make a goal. I didn’t pursue or try to stop him.

At this point, something really crazy happened. The demon become so infuriated that it leaped right out of my cousin and into the coach. He rushed out on to the court full steam and got right up in my face, just like my cousin had done, me being just an unimposing schoolboy mind you. His face was beet red, and he was screaming at me, what the hell are you doing, Ken! You gave the other team the ball!

I was looking at him directly in the eyes at this point, because he was bent down and our faces were only about nose length apart, but I don’t remember feeling scared at all. It just seemed odd that a grown man could be so easily overtaken with this wicked fury. It’s like neither of them had any protection against it. After a moment, when it became apparent that his anger wasn’t arousing the least bit of emotion from me, he pointed to the bleachers and said, go sit down! Of course, that suited me perfectly.

I don’t really have any regrets about my choice that day. I was the one who was perfectly calm while they were possessed by negative emotions. Staying calm is a characteristic I have always tried to embody, but I still have to guard myself from these temptations trying to infiltrate my soul. In reality, there is only one battle going on, and it is entirely spiritual. Another thing I can take away from that day is that sometimes giving up is the only way to never surrender.

Note: This isn’t meant to be a rant against game playing. It is about how envy and competitiveness often lead to anger and hatred.

Do you have anger management advice? Has there been a time when giving up was your best option? Have any advice on dealing with envious people? Do you think there is a spiritual battle going on around you? Let me know in the comments, and don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe!

My favorite subject in school.

When I was very young, I spent a lot of my time using my hands. As a result, I grew very dexterous, which allowed me to develop a proficiency with arts and crafts. I’m not sure if being good at something makes you like it, or if liking something causes you to practice it until you become good. Either way, I grew to like arts and crafts very much, and ended up being one of the better artists at my grade school. For this reason, I would say art was my favorite subject back then.

It might be a little odd, but I also liked science about as much as art. Some people don’t think they go together, but I felt like they worked together pretty well. Science satisfied my curiosity and helped me understand the materials around me, and that knowledge could then be applied to create things artistically. I believe these two subjects are extremely synergistic.

Honestly though, what I liked most about science was chemistry, because as a kid I thought chemical reactions were fascinating. Unfortunately, those experiments sometimes got me in trouble. I would say I might have been a little on the dangerous side growing up. I knew how to make all sorts of things that kids shouldn’t know how to create, since I spent half my time reading encyclopedias. I’ll leave my experiments to your imagination for the time being.

Another science related subject that I liked was electricity and electronics. As a result, I was always wiring things together to make them light up or transmit signals. I created working telegraphs, telephones, and radios out of spare parts. I also loved taking toys and electronics apart to see how they worked. This interest gradually led me to computer hardware and software programming, which eventually turned into a career.

What was your favorite subject in school? Are you an artist? Do you like science? Did you ever have a chemistry set or electronics set? Can you program computers? Let me know in the comments, and please remember to like, share, and subscribe!

How lazy days make me feel.

Honestly, I don’t know how to be lazy. I mean, not really. In my view of the world, life is roughly divided into three segments of time. The hours you are demanded to work at a job to pay the bills, or else starve, the hours you spend resting, so you don’t fall ill from exhaustion, and the hours you spend doing productive tasks that you hope will someday get you out of the rat race and help you find a life of real meaning. Basically, in my off hours, if I’m not totally exhausted, I endeavor to complete some personal project or creative work that I have been working on in my spare time.

This is honestly what I feel like we are here to do, squeeze in enough time to complete the great work in spite of all the demands placed on us. The great work will never be something that someone assigns to you at your job. The job might be the owner’s great work, but not yours. For these reasons, I see my lazy days as being completely unproductive if I don’t do something that is going to contribute to the real reason I am here.

That being said, there are some days where I do just rest. It’s not because I really want to do that, but because I need the rest so badly that my health will suffer if I don’t just relax and do nothing. I don’t consider these days to be lazy days at all. They are actually days that are required for recuperation and healing. Unfortunately, it also seems like I need more and more of these days each year. At the rate I’m going, I’m not going to accomplish anything important in this lifetime. Que Sera, Sera.

How do you feel about lazy days? Do you feel like they are a waste of time? How much do you think days of rest improve your health? Do you believe in the concept of a great work? What is our true purpose? How do we escape the rat race? Are you feeling lazy today? Let us know all about it in the comments! Thanks for being here, and please remember to like, share, and subscribe!

The principles that define how I live.

When I think about how I want to live, a few ideas come to mind. I think they are sort of how I see my life and lifestyle. I do know there is a difference between principles and practices. Sometimes I don’t always have the time, energy, or money to live out my principles to the maximum, but they are what I strive to attain. Below are a few things that come to mind.

  1. Respect. I strive to respect others, and I expect them to do the same. I can tolerate a lot, but I still respect this quality in people and hope to embody it. It is a challenge for me, because I am a little too witty, and I can be very sarcastic. I can also rant with with the best of them if disturbed. That just makes me more stressed out though.
  2. Kindness. I think this is in tune with respect. As you might have guessed, I am a fairly empathic person. I believe that treating people with respect and kindness greatly improves their quality of life.
  3. Understanding. I have spent a lot of my life studying and thinking about deep subjects. I have a fairly high intelligence and have had a voracious appetite for knowledge throughout most of my life. I seek to truly understand everyone.
  4. Beauty. I like being surrounded by beautiful things. Nice clothes, clean and nicely decorated home, etc. I also like the arts and natural beauty. I can’t deny that physical beauty has an effect on me, but I try to not let it interfere with my judgement.
  5. Creativity. There has always been a little bit of creativity at work inside me. As a child, I was artistic. Creativity also came out in my computer programming. Even right now, I am pursuing the creativity of writing. It goes with the love of beauty.
  6. Elegance. I lean toward having a refined taste. Refinement, grace, and beauty in movement, appearance, and manners is something that calls to me. I don’t see myself as a snob, nor do I like snobbery, but I do like elegance.
  7. Sophistication. I like the idea of being sophisticated. I don’t know if I meet the mark, but I think I aim for the target. I like know about the world in general, and it’s many people and cultures.
  8. Quality. I like things that don’t look cheap, or break, or wear out easily. I sort of respect this about heirlooms or antiques. I don’t own a lot of them, but I like that some things were made to last. I wish more things were made to high standards.
  9. Minimalism. I wouldn’t say I like an empty house, but I don’t like too much. If there is clutter everywhere, it make me uneasy. It’s about having just the right things and not a lot of things that you don’t use. I’m ok with things of beauty of course.
  10. Cleanliness. I like things to be clean and tidy. I know it takes a lot of energy to keep everything clean, but minimalism helps. Of course, this also goes along with personal hygiene. I try not to judge, but it’s really a must if you are around people.

What do you think of my choices? What would you add? Let me know in the comments, and please remember to like, share, and subscribe!

My favorite artists.

I don’t have too much to say about my favorite artists. I spent many hours sketching pictures when I was young, and art was my favorite subject in elementary school. This caused me to develop a love for drawing and other creative art forms, and also caused me to have a great respect for artists and their craft. I like the works of the well-known masters, like Michealangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci, Vincent van Gogh, Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso, etc. Oddly, I’ve actually been looking around at art lately, since my walls are pretty bare, so perhaps this is a very timely prompt.

Who are you favorite artists? Are you an artist yourself? What sort of art do you like most? Do you have a lot of art in your home? Any suggestions when buying art? Let me know in the comments, and don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe!

My favorite pastime.

A pastime is something you do for fun that isn’t work. I honestly don’t have as much time as I would like for pastimes. Usually, when I get home from work, I’m kind of mentally exhausted. Very often I will simply lay down and take a brief nap. Short naps can usually help me to rejuvenate enough to actually think straight for a few more hours before bedtime. Really the weekends are my best shot for a pastime though.

I guess the thing that fits the category of pastime the most for me would be reading and writing. I spend a lot of time doing that, but I don’t know that it’s always productive because a lot of the reading is spent on social media. I think that’s a pastime for a lot of people, but I sometimes wonder if it isn’t just a waste of time. To me, the most productive time is spent reading actual books and doing actual writing, like I do on this blog.

Another pastime I have is walking downtown. It’s nice having bars, restaurants, coffee shops, and stores within walking distance of where I live. That’s a luxury I have never had before in my life and it’s wonderful. There’s even two comedy clubs and a movie theater, and live music playing every weekend. It’s very addictive I must admit, and also quite expensive. I’ve actually been trying to cut back on some of that, partly to save money, but also because I don’t think it is a very productive use of time either.

I do a lot of thinking also. Sometimes I will brew a pot of tea in my teapot and just sit and ponder life. Sometimes it’s pleasant, but very often I get stuck on something depressing or worrisome. It’s really the tea that’s positive come to think of it, and not the thinking. Contemplating life probably isn’t the best pastime.

What’s a pastime or hobby that you have? Do you spend too much time on social media? Do you think social media is a waste of time? Do you have ways of rejuvenating yourself or giving yourself more energy? Do you take naps also? What do you do to relax and put your mind at ease? Let us know in the comments, and don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe!

The skill I would like to learn.

I think I’ve spent quite a bit of my life learning new skills. For some reason, I was always trying to absorb one more thing. Even now, I find focusing on learning as a way of coping with life. The problem is, I’ve tried quite a lot of things already, and I’m just not as motivated as I used to be. It might also be that I found some things to be more interesting than skill acquisition, and it’s easy to become distracted.

One of the skills I’m working on right now is writing. I think writing well would be a great skill to have, but it is very challenging. I’m currently reading a few books on the subject actually, trying to develop more skills in that area. I’m also getting lots of writing practice with this blog, which is great! Ultimately, I would like to complete a novella or novelette. I feel like that’s a doable goal, because they don’t have a huge wordcount. The wordcount of a novella is somewhere between 17,500 and 40,000 words, and a novelette is even smaller with around 7,700 to 17,500 words. Maybe if I’m successful, I will move on to a larger writing project, like a full novel or something. Hopefully, I will get better and better, and eventually get there someday.

I’m reading this series of books over writing a novel. I started with the first one and kind of liked it, so I just kept going. It’s really cool when someone creates a series like this. Listing the first couple of books in the series below. I’ve already finished reading them both. I’m pretty happy with the content, very informative.

Outlining Your Novel: Map Your Way to Success

Can Outlining Help You Write a Better Story?

Writers often look upon outlines with fear and trembling. But when properly understood and correctly wielded, the outline is one of the most powerful weapons in a writer’s arsenal.
Outlining Your Novel: Map Your Way to Success will:

  • Help you choose the right type of outline for you
  • Guide you in brainstorming plot ideas
  • Aid you in discovering your characters
  • Show you how to structure your scenes
  • Explain how to format your finished outline
  • Instruct you in how to use your outline
  • Reveal the benefits
  • Dispel the misconceptions

Includes exclusive interviews with ten respected authors, answering important questions about outlining.

Structuring Your Novel: Essential Keys for Writing an Outstanding Story

Is Structure the Hidden Foundation of All Successful Stories?

Why do some stories work and others don’t? The answer is structure. In this award-winning guide from the author of the acclaimed Outlining Your Novel, you will learn the universal underpinnings that guarantee powerful plot and character arcs. An understanding of proper story and scene structure will show you how to perfectly time your story’s major events and will provide you with an unerring standard against which to evaluate your novel’s pacing and progression.

Includes exclusive interviews with ten respected authors, answering important questions about outlining.

Have you mastered a lot of skills? Do you constantly seek out new skills? What skill would you like to learn? How do you stay motivated? Have you ever wanted to write a novel? Let us know in the comments, and please like, share, and subscribe!