Taking Time Off
In two previous blurbs (Squandering Time and Staying Social) I argue for not wasting time but also not being a hermit. In this little nugget, I am going to talk about taking some damn time off. While life only gets messier as we grow old, I find it is important to not focus 100% on producing or driving towards the future you want. Nor is it good to focus 100% on the present and your social obligations. There needs to be a healthy blend of work and fun. But, there is a third dynamic that needs to be expressed: freedom. This is when you reboot, you avoid friends, you find a tree, and you just think/read/stare at clouds/let your brain cool. So, work hard, play hard, and then enter a state of nothingness for some time. Let your brain turn to mush and watch a dumb television show.
Read MoreHaiku – Writing in the Corner
A Petrified Vine
Suddenly, Aquamarine Light, Life
The Forest Breathes Anew
~Theodore Maestranzi
This Haiku took me way too long to write. At the coffee shop: I read, wrote a journal entry, wrote another haiku, and then got brain busted on this one. I knew what I wanted, and that was to focus on the color aquamarine, but I found it impossible to really drive to the heart of the haiku’s message since so many syllables were taken up by that single word. Each time I tried to write it, I found myself struggling and trying to increase the density of each word to fully cover what I was feeling. In the end, I like the way it ended up, but I wish I could share it with the person who inspired it.
Read MoreStaying Social
In a previous post about Squandering Time, I focus on how you have to leverage college to pursue a future of creativity (by not squandering your time). I discuss how if you sacrifice fun times that would be full of video games, television, beer, and pizza, you would be able to make huge strides towards a future with creativity (the example is me in my MBA program with writing).
However, an important thing I failed to discuss was the aspect of staying social. You see, I find that my social nature has been a striving aspect in my creativity process. I see mannerisms, things that make people human, and apply those to my stories. Without that influence, every single character would only be capable of mimmicking things that I do. By people watching, I am able to pick up on what a person does in a situation and apply it to my characters to produce a more realistic experience. Furthermore, the creative juices will explode in a social setting versus at home staring at a wall. So yes, don’t squander your time, but don’t isolate yourself so much that you fail to consume reality. Reality is necessary for any good writer.
Read MoreSquandering Time
Not everyone can go to college, but if you do, I suggest you try any and everything – not talking about drugs or sex here. I am talking about the abundance of time that spontaneously appears when you are in college. This is the one place stage in your life where you can literally stay up as late as you want and work on something/anything till you pass out from exhaustion. I started writing during my bachelors program as a joke. After I graduated and began the nine to five grind, I realized I wanted to do it fulltime. So I chose to go back to get my MBA so I could devote upwards of 40 hours a week into my writing (I accomplished that goal and now have 5 completed manuscripts in my back pocket). So, don’t squander your time…
Read MoreHaiku – Sippin Java in the Sun
Enticed by Pink Blossoms
Sunlight Warms the Bumblebee
Winter’s Over, Perhaps
~Theodore Maestranzi
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