Steven Barnes's Blog, page 15

Starting From Nothing

 

I really like simple tests, actions and standards.  That means I’m willing to put in hundreds of hours studying and testing to determine if there is a better, simpler way to do something.    It is NOT that they are absolute.  But they form a starting place.

 

For instance, I have students who are struggling for money, and while MAKING money with my art is something that I got very good at, and I even created a business from scratch coaching while in Atlanta, I didn’t have an answer if peopl...

On Politics, Philosophy, and Lifewriting

I grew up feeling that society had laid traps for me everywhere, such that pursuing any life path was going to be like pogo-sticking through a mine field.   My answer: get the clearest, most accurate maps of the minefield (live, society, human nature) that I could, and plan accordingly.  “What is true?” was critical, and I made the mistake of thinking that everyone did this.

 

I still remember the day I realized I was wrong.  I was in a conversation with a very politicized gentleman  (call hi...

Diversity and Appropriation

I must hear some version of this a dozen times a month:

“I am plain vanilla white American. But I want to tell stories that have never been told before, without stealing.  And I also don’t want people to hate me.”

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So…what we have here is someone who wants to write about a wider range of humanity than what he generally sees onscreen in in print.  But he also wants to be respectful of the concept called “cultural appropriation.”  This is admirable, and I can see how people get lost.  While I...

What if you aren’t an expert?

I’m jet-lagged from Dragoncon, but happy.  Did something I’ve never done before (Marshalled a parade), helped people with martial arts and writing issues, furthered my own writing, spread the news about the different products and services I offer, and saw old friends and made new ones.

 

This is all good.  On the way back, I picked up some emails from a  student who got into the “Earn 100k a Year in 25 Hours a week” program (www.diamondhour.com)  and asked some good questions.  Most centrally...

The Power of Story

“Lifewriting” is seeing yourself as a character in a story you are writing, the story of your own life.   Arguably the most important insight I’ve ever found, and an organizing principle for everything I’m doing.  I offer an example of its power.

 

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Like everyone else, I thought that my experiences and thoughts were me.  But when Tananarive’s mother was dying, and we had to move the family back to Atlanta, I discovered that I wasn’t nearly as balanced and centered as I’d hoped.   All my l...

Slaying the Dragon

Over the last couple of days, we had a chance to look at two different people: one who saved his life, and one who lost his life.  One woke up to the fact that he had to take new actions, the other became mired in his self-justifications and toxic self-image, and rode that avalanche all the way to the bottom, and literal death.

 

The differences are stark.

 

You have to have a clear view of something worth having, or something worth avoiding.  CLEAR.  If you stay in a fugue state, believing...

Memories of a friend

I had a dear friend named Otis.  Met him in college.  Funny, very smart, wide-ranging general knowledge, and no apparent knowledge of how to care for his body, whether a matter of hygiene, exercise, or carrying himself to satisfy his sexual needs with integrity.   He lived the life of the mind, ignoring the signals from his body.

 

Life gave him  a few wake-up calls,  including the collapse of his finances, such that he had to live in an abandoned apartment behind my house, running an extensi...

Clawing Out of the Pit

OMG!   Reader Edward Morris spoke of clawing his way out of a depression that almost ended his life.  And he was kind, and honest, and courageous enough to give us full particulars.  I want to give his response, and then analyze it in terms of the worldview LIFEWRITING supports:

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Edward Morris First, I did all the wrong things. I was with someone who was exploiting a disabled person and cheating on me and kind of a drug addict and just real evil. I listened to her and tried to follow that p...

A Life of Integrity

Living a life of integrity is hard work. Following the path of spiritual growth is hard work. Awakening and staying mindful in each moment requires constant honesty. It’s exhausting (though sometimes also exhilarating), but it expands through all your relations and creates a lasting legacy. The benefits of integrity and wisdom compound over time.

—Franz Metcalf and BJ Gallagher, “Mindful Work”

Watch The Grass, But Be The Wind

I asked readers what their most important task was in the last week, and whether they accomplished it.  Ross Murker, who is working with my company in the marketing department, had some great replies:

Ross:   Sat with some decisions – got a PERFECTLY timed aimed and angled metaphorical kick to my spiritual backside, and started actually DOING more things; re-engaging with Commuter University, practicing and testing marketing stuff, finishing items I said I’d do in more timely fashion…

Steve: ...