Friend-ly ride
So I rode the subway with David Schwimmer today. What a hoot. I’m looking at this guy talking to his friend and I’m thinking, “Could that possibly be him?” I tried not to stare, but just get close enough to hear him talk. When I did, I knew it was him beneath the baseball cap.
I ask myself, if I was a multi-millionaire, would I ride the subway? I don’t know if I would.
Kind of admirable.
About connecting
Sometimes there is a disconnect.
It rattles me.
Makes me ponder things, go within.
Then as if by design there is a connection from a whole different source.
I am relieved.
All feels right.
I value connection.
Sometimes maybe too much.
Connecting with self sets the tone for all the rest.
Value that.
Research respite
Let’s call this Really Cool Research Day. Oh man. So much work needed to be done on my book with regard to details and broad overview. I have spent a delightful afternoon writing and researching plot, character and other neat intricacies.
I am immersed. My ideas are good and increasingly clear. My plotline makes more sense. I am being more real in my writing.
The research took me on one of those incomparable Google journeys. Try it sometime. Start looking up some word or title or person and then see where it takes you. I can’t believe I’ve been sitting in the same cafe for hours when my computer has taken me to a sitcom from the 1960s, to a little-known actress from the late 19th century, to a Virginia Woolf classic, to the history and meaning of flowers, to a smart summary of super heroes, to a multi-layered thesaurus search.
I am in a world of my own creation. What a nice respite.
Goal-free?
There is a very provocative article in the November issue of O magazine, at least provocative from a life coaching standpoint. It’s titled, “Are Your Goals Holding You Back?” and it’s about a book coming out in December called Goal-Free Living.
I expected to be resistant to the story, maybe even rolling my eyes. After all, I set goals with clients all the time and the idea is to move them forward, not backward. But once I started reading I realized author Stephen Shapiro is talking about something I’ve been preaching and practicing for years.
“… when you focus on a goal, ‘you put blinders on. You lose your peripheral vision and miss out on all the great opportunities around you.’”
Of course that can happen. The idea is not to let it happen. What I try to explain to my clients is that they must have goals but stay open. For example, I would never be a life coach now if I had tunnel vision around my goals. I had never heard of life coaching, so how could it have been a goal? I stumbled on it and followed my gut. For that matter, I never set out to be a web producer, a TV producer or a sports writer; they were all opportunities that came about due to friends, colleagues, mentors who helped me see my gifts.
The point is that goals and peripheral vision can co-exist. In my view, that is the best possible way to live a meaningful, purposeful life.
A lesson learned
In The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron talks about how the 9-to-5 job can either, a.) shackle someone from creating or, b.) liberate someone so she can create.
I’m in a phase where I realize the latter is true for me. Giving little thought to how the bills will get paid — a common concern for freelancers and self-employed folk — makes for a whole lot more energy to devote to writing and cultivating ideas.
A day at a time. That’s how it has to go.
Warm and fuzzy
Today people from different areas of my life said and did things that made me feel special.
To hear you’re a good friend, a good editor, a good writer, a good co-worker, a good coach, all in one day. Well, not in so many words, but certainly in intent. Remarkable, really.
I feel abundant and very fortunate.
Eyes
I’m writing this without benefit of reading glasses. I had to give them up for 24 hours so the prescription can be updated (read: strengthened) in my existing frames.
It’s so strange how I’ve come to rely on those glasses. I feel naked without them. The words on the page and the screen are still readable, but I feel a little bit of a strain.
I’ll welcome back clarity tomorrow.
Love
I’ve been thinking about love a lot lately. The romantic kind.
I’m ready for its bliss, its complications, its glow, its work.
I don’t think I’ve been ready until right now.
Wow.
Visitation rites
I just spent the weekend at my parents’ house. Saw my siblings, my niece and nephew. Very relaxing. Very nurturing. It feels good to connect, check in, have dialogue.
I came home on the train, complete with an insulated bag filled with single-serving meals — chicken marsala, chicken cacciatore, beef barley soup, a homemade corn muffin. My freezer is filled with my mother’s love.
On the train, a two-hour ride each way, I wrote a section of my book, read the Sunday New York Times, wrote an essay on an idea I’ve had lately.
Now that’s a weekend.
Creative juices
The words came bursting out today. On the PATH train I was scribbling down my thoughts on whatever paper I could find in my purse. I haven’t had that feeling in a long time. Ideas. Crystallized images. What a rush.
Glory be.
