Steven Barnes's Blog, page 38

How was last week?

How was last week?  Did you manage to keep positive for seven days, without going into negativity for more than two minutes at a time?  Yes?  GREAT!   Celebrate!  You have done something wonderful.  Now let’s go for two in a row!

 

The “Life Hacks” system is based on the notion of tiny shifts that make big changes.    And that means 5 minutes a day, for just seven days.   We’ve talked about breaking the unresourceful breathing patterns by using 60 seconds of deep, diaphragmatic breathing ever...

Would you fight harder to protect your “Child” than yourself?

(Note: I realize more every day that there are just a few basic things I learned from my wonderful teachers, that recur over and over.  Attempts to language things that cannot quite be put into words. The “Ancient Child” is one of those.  In a sense, the entire “Five Minute Life Hacks” system is just giving you different diagnostics for the integrity of the Child-Adult-Elder connection.   The following note deals with one of the moments I realized how critical this is.  I think it is pertinen...

Twitter went CRAZY about Tananarive and Jordan…

Hey, guys!   Last night Tananarive got avalanched with messages that director Jordan Peele (“Get Out”)   had name-checked her on the Stephen Colbert show.  We have a thirteen year old who needs to get to school by 8:20, which means we have to be up by 6:30, so we couldn’t stay up…

 

But recorded it and watched this morning.   Wow, was that fun!   Jordan talked about coming to Tananarive’s UCLA class the day she discussed “Get Out.” He called it a peak experience, and that the students asked b...

When does the “Golden Rule” go wrong?

I was on a thread noting the different rules men and women operate under.  That women will touch a man, and be familiar with him (note the waitresses in Hooters, or any Southern waitress calling you “honey” and touching your hand or shoulder) in ways that would be problematic for a man with a woman.  Heck, back in the day I had women who were really just acquaintances grab me and French-kiss me just for fun.

 

They KNEW they could get away with it.   They ASSUMED (and were correct) that the g...

Taking Action

Staying with the notion of having a perfect week, we stay with the “A” in M.A.G.I.C., which is “action.” What are the actions you have to take this week to make a substantive positive change, and have a positive experience?

 

What are the “chunks” of those actions you have to take TODAY to move in that direction?

 

If you lack clarity, and can’t figure out what you need to do, you probably haven’t taken the steps of:

 

Clearly deciding upon a goal Modeling the behavior and beliefs of others...

Politics, Philosophy, and UHC

One “Five Minute Life Hack” deals with the ability to avoid wasting time in pointless discussions.  One such tool is to grasp the difference between philosophy and politics.   The UHC discussion is one arena where this is a clear consideration. With the open admission that I have taken sides in this matter, here’s an exploration of the implications.

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Remember my comment that politics is the way we mobilize philosophy?   A corollary is that if you don’t have clarity on those underlying phi...

Working on the outline…

I’m working on the outline of my new novel, TRAVELER.  Very carefully, I’m allowing a few trusted friends to look at what I’m doing to give feedback. Here are some of the things I am examining:

Overall plot. Is it exciting, engaging, different? Characters. Are there at least three characters you’ve never seen before, or at least never seen in this combination? Thematics.  Can you “feel” the core thematic threads working through the different sequences?   Do they trigger an emotional reaction...

The Snowstorm that saved my life

Thirty years ago I was driving in central California and got caught in a freak snowstorm.  I could only see five feet in front of the car.  It was utterly terrifying, as I was driving on roads I didn’t know.  I could have died.

 

It saved my life.

 

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The “Seven Day Emotional Diet” notion is about deliberately setting out to have the best week of your life.  The happiest, most successful week in alignment with both your childhood dreams and ultimate values.

 

“Success is the progressive re...

I’d think the sky was falling, if…

NOTE: I have no solid answers here.  I’m not even sure I’m asking the right questions, or if I am, if they are of value. But our children’s lives are at stake.   It feels to me that there is a pattern that recurs between individuals and societies, between different groups defined by race, gender, and politics.    Its not surprising if I’m not smart enough or have enough data at my fingers to back this up and nail it down.  But the first thing for me to ask it: does it make sense? Am I thinkin...

Strike Like a Scorpion

For various reasons, I’ve said that LION’S BLOOD might well be the best book I’ll ever write. I wasn’t sure I’d ever be willing to invest that much of myself in a project again. That’s the old “more pain than pleasure” associated with an activity–you cannot do it. But…over the last couple of years I’ve noticed myself consciously thinking and lazily “researching” a restructuring and retelling and re-imagining my Emmy winning Outer Limits episode “A Stitch In Time.” Wondering what I would do wi...