Tuesday, April 27, 2010

All Work and No Play

I'm reading a book called Play by Stuart Brown, MD. I started reading it for a project I'm working on and became intrigued, then fascinated, then stunned. I never realized how important play is one's health and vitality.

Consider this observation: "When we stop playing, we stop developing, and when that happens, the laws of entropy take over—things fall apart. Ultimately, we share the fate of the sea squirt and become vegetative, staying in one spot, not fulling interacting with the world, more plant than animal. When we stop playing, we start dying."

That is one sobering thought for a workaholic.

Friday, April 16, 2010

Rx: Get your body moving!

Sometimes, the most important lessons are right under your nose. I am reading a book called SPARK by John J. Ratey, MD with Eric Hagerman at the request of my client. According to Dr. Ratey, "the point of exercise is to build and condition the brain."

There are those who would add several other points. One of them is the physician I saw today about my back. Frankly, I was apprehensive. This was a neurosurgeon, and things are pretty messy back there. In fact, the last doctor I saw about the problem said, "If a surgeon took one look at this MRI he'd have you in the operating room in minutes." Very scary. Also, not so.

This surgeon did look at my MRI and spent considerable time explaining what was going on in my spine. It wasn't a pretty picture. His prescription? One hour of exercise a day. "You're going to have to work at this," he said. I was already convinced.

I wonder if he knows that I will building and conditioning my brain while I'm staving off back surgery.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Overnight success? I doubt it.

I'm always intrigued when I hear about someone who is an "overnight success." It seems they suddenly appeared on the scene or wrote a best seller and took the public by storm. Such stories make it sound like the person woke up that morning, leaped on stage and became an instant American Idol winner. Somehow, I doubt that. What about all the singing lessons or the hours and days spent staring at a blank computer screen, the false starts and rejections, the doubts and redoubled efforts? Few people are born stars; mostly, they work, practice, fail, try again, and, if they are very fortunate, eventually triumph.

Success doesn’t always come in one dramatic leap. Most of the time, it is incremental, one tiny step at a time. Then, one day they look up and think, “Wow, I made it!”

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

For the Love of Writing

Having a mission in life really helps the decision-making process. A mission is like a constitution. If I'm trying to decide whether to do something, and the choice contributes to my mission, it's a go. If it is in conflict with my mission, I forget it.

Let me be more specific. My personal mission is to help writers write. I believe everyone is a writer, whether he or she realizes it or not. So, a corollary to my mission is to help people move to the next level of their writing lives, whatever that may be. If I have a chance to teach a class in writing, I do it. If someone asks me to do something that has absolutely no relation to helping that person write or tell her story, I decline as gently as possible.

Tonight was the last session of my class in "Writing, Publishing, & Promoting a Nonfiction Book." As always, I loved teaching it and felt somewhat let down when it ended. All six students/potential authors want to take a follow-up class, which is truly gratifying and affirming. Who could ask for more?