E. Jean Simpson's Blog: A & J PEI Treasures/E Jean Simpson, BEd, BA, MA, page 14
April 10, 2021
Entropy the Great Enemy of the Arts and Lifestyle?
Entropy the Great Enemy of the Arts and Lifestyle?
Welcome to our weekly A & J PEI Treasures/E Jean Simpson Author blog post/podcast. I’m E Jean Simpson the Indie Author portion and your host. Today I will talk about Entropy and how it may be the Enemy of the Arts and Lifestyle. Anton Chekhov was quoted as saying, "Only entropy comes easy." If you want to find out more, continue reading/listening.
The quote, in the beginning, makes it look like just an easy fact…letting things go is easier. As a child, in science, I learned entropy is the process by which things break down naturally at least for the short version. The longer version includes thermodynamics. We don’t need to go there for the purpose of this post. I’ll also stick with a straight forward example, no energy being put into upkeep of a house and the house falls apart or at least into disrepair. It seems to be logical. To further this expression, I notice that when one stops working on their art form, things disintegrate. It is important to spend time on artist endeavours or whatever hobby or skill you want to develop. If you do not, then the skill falls into disuse. It’s not like a little work wouldn’t help you to brush up on your skills but it will take extra work. Notice that you have to work on it more once it falls into disuse…it isn’t lost, unless you leave it go too long.
When one understands this concept, you can see where lack of work on something can cause it to fall into disrepair or disuse. This is why it is useful to do something associated with your artistic endeavours or your life interests. When we sit around and do not create in any way, things can disintegrate quickly as we fall into arguments, or create issues. I’ve worked in places where there was a forced stop to the workload. Some tried to do what they could…but in the end, until things were up and running, there was little that could be done. What happened from there was that people fell into gossip, bickering and it created a strange atmosphere. I’ve found many of the more busy locations to be far happier as far as work was concerned. I was always happier to be at least moderately busy and have many interests. It gives some structure to my days and some goals to work on.
So, where does entropy come in? Many people take a break. That is fine. Everyone needs breaks. However, when the break lasts and lasts and stuff isn’t happening that is when problems develop and the situation can disintegrate. If you are an artist of any sort, then practicing your art is imperative. For example, I find the blog post/podcast combination to be a good way to continue to practice with my writing and to maybe work on saying something that I think is worthwhile or hopefully interesting to pass along. It doesn’t always have to be long. In fact, most of my work is between 5-7 minutes for podcasts. In this age of instant gratification, it seems snippets work better than large volume works.
It’s also important to know that it could take me hours or it could take less time to construct one to podcast. What it does is it forces me to come up with a topic, do a write up, make it a podcast. It keeps me actively writing, thinking and makes me structure at least some of my time. I also work on e-books and on our other sites. My other sites keep me working on photographic endeavours. I also have other hobbies. These add structure and allows me to work out things in a way that works for me. I don’t suggest everyone do the same things. It depends on your particular interests and things you enjoy doing.
Generally, for many of those with creative temperaments, it is entropy that causes us to become depressed. We work at our art to keep some order to the chaos. It is the need to make order out of chaos that keeps many artists in the forefront of their field. This also is a way to keep ourselves productive in times when most are having a great deal of difficulty finding balance.
Entropy might be a natural state, but generally humans tend to need to make sense of the world around them. They need some kind of order in the chaos. It is the same for almost everyone. Artists of all sorts find that they can make sense of their world by working on perfecting their art. People organize their world. It is a part of human nature. When things fall apart or into entropy, they struggle to rebuild. So, though entropy is easy and it is natural…it’s been human destiny to attempt to structure their world. So, in effect, we fight entropy.
As Jason Silva pointed out,: "Death is not necessarily what gives meaning to life LIFE gives meaning to life, and what we do with life, which is to create knowledge like music, art, science. To this end, I believe intelligent life might be evolution's secret weapon: the ultimate hack that might help us transcend entropy."
So, be realistically unrealistic and understand that entropy has its place in the universe; however human endeavours have seemingly always tried to create structure and meaning in their life. We do this in various ways. It shows up in how we structure our lives and in the way we work on our art. We find ways to create and to structure our world around us. Therefore, entropy seems to be the great enemy of art and lifestyle. Though without it, we would not know beauty as we’d have nothing to compare it to. The world still continues to revolve with this strange dichotomy of bedfellows. We are a bit of both I think. This is just the beginning of a slow dance to attain balance.
Thank you for reading our blog post or listening to our podcast and your interest in A & J PEI Treasures!
“In Memory of Wayne Palmer 1947-2021”
You can find our Podcast on: https://anchor.fm/a--j-pei-treasures
Welcome to our weekly A & J PEI Treasures/E Jean Simpson Author blog post/podcast. I’m E Jean Simpson the Indie Author portion and your host. Today I will talk about Entropy and how it may be the Enemy of the Arts and Lifestyle. Anton Chekhov was quoted as saying, "Only entropy comes easy." If you want to find out more, continue reading/listening.
The quote, in the beginning, makes it look like just an easy fact…letting things go is easier. As a child, in science, I learned entropy is the process by which things break down naturally at least for the short version. The longer version includes thermodynamics. We don’t need to go there for the purpose of this post. I’ll also stick with a straight forward example, no energy being put into upkeep of a house and the house falls apart or at least into disrepair. It seems to be logical. To further this expression, I notice that when one stops working on their art form, things disintegrate. It is important to spend time on artist endeavours or whatever hobby or skill you want to develop. If you do not, then the skill falls into disuse. It’s not like a little work wouldn’t help you to brush up on your skills but it will take extra work. Notice that you have to work on it more once it falls into disuse…it isn’t lost, unless you leave it go too long.
When one understands this concept, you can see where lack of work on something can cause it to fall into disrepair or disuse. This is why it is useful to do something associated with your artistic endeavours or your life interests. When we sit around and do not create in any way, things can disintegrate quickly as we fall into arguments, or create issues. I’ve worked in places where there was a forced stop to the workload. Some tried to do what they could…but in the end, until things were up and running, there was little that could be done. What happened from there was that people fell into gossip, bickering and it created a strange atmosphere. I’ve found many of the more busy locations to be far happier as far as work was concerned. I was always happier to be at least moderately busy and have many interests. It gives some structure to my days and some goals to work on.
So, where does entropy come in? Many people take a break. That is fine. Everyone needs breaks. However, when the break lasts and lasts and stuff isn’t happening that is when problems develop and the situation can disintegrate. If you are an artist of any sort, then practicing your art is imperative. For example, I find the blog post/podcast combination to be a good way to continue to practice with my writing and to maybe work on saying something that I think is worthwhile or hopefully interesting to pass along. It doesn’t always have to be long. In fact, most of my work is between 5-7 minutes for podcasts. In this age of instant gratification, it seems snippets work better than large volume works.
It’s also important to know that it could take me hours or it could take less time to construct one to podcast. What it does is it forces me to come up with a topic, do a write up, make it a podcast. It keeps me actively writing, thinking and makes me structure at least some of my time. I also work on e-books and on our other sites. My other sites keep me working on photographic endeavours. I also have other hobbies. These add structure and allows me to work out things in a way that works for me. I don’t suggest everyone do the same things. It depends on your particular interests and things you enjoy doing.
Generally, for many of those with creative temperaments, it is entropy that causes us to become depressed. We work at our art to keep some order to the chaos. It is the need to make order out of chaos that keeps many artists in the forefront of their field. This also is a way to keep ourselves productive in times when most are having a great deal of difficulty finding balance.
Entropy might be a natural state, but generally humans tend to need to make sense of the world around them. They need some kind of order in the chaos. It is the same for almost everyone. Artists of all sorts find that they can make sense of their world by working on perfecting their art. People organize their world. It is a part of human nature. When things fall apart or into entropy, they struggle to rebuild. So, though entropy is easy and it is natural…it’s been human destiny to attempt to structure their world. So, in effect, we fight entropy.
As Jason Silva pointed out,: "Death is not necessarily what gives meaning to life LIFE gives meaning to life, and what we do with life, which is to create knowledge like music, art, science. To this end, I believe intelligent life might be evolution's secret weapon: the ultimate hack that might help us transcend entropy."
So, be realistically unrealistic and understand that entropy has its place in the universe; however human endeavours have seemingly always tried to create structure and meaning in their life. We do this in various ways. It shows up in how we structure our lives and in the way we work on our art. We find ways to create and to structure our world around us. Therefore, entropy seems to be the great enemy of art and lifestyle. Though without it, we would not know beauty as we’d have nothing to compare it to. The world still continues to revolve with this strange dichotomy of bedfellows. We are a bit of both I think. This is just the beginning of a slow dance to attain balance.
Thank you for reading our blog post or listening to our podcast and your interest in A & J PEI Treasures!
“In Memory of Wayne Palmer 1947-2021”
You can find our Podcast on: https://anchor.fm/a--j-pei-treasures
April 3, 2021
Integrity Essential to Authorship and Life
Hi and welcome to our weekly blog post/podcast. Today I want to discuss integrity and how it is essential to writing and life. To see my take on it, stay tuned and continue reading!
I saw something during the week that had me thinking more about integrity, honesty, and accuracy in reporting and writing. It was a news story that gave only half the story and it was the half that would elicit the most suspicions of the audience. At first it hit me as weird as it was controversial to begin with. So, distrust came in. Then I looked up the whole story and it was not what it seemed. Even the 'gossip' mongers had a reason in their articles. I'm still not entirely certain that there was an honest answer to the whole issue. So, what was the reason? Was it poor judgment? laziness? attempt to sway or gain readership??...who knows. It doesn't matter. For me, the important thing is that it got me on the road to thinking about the importance of integrity in one's work.
How important is integrity in one's work? Just try to be a sci-fi writer or any type of fiction writer and change a major point in your story line or fictional world that doesn't hold up under examination. Or be a non-fiction writer and attempt to pass off fiction as fact. Pick one that people have already accepted as part of the world or the world you created and see how your fans will react. I'm laying odds that they won't react well. So, it's important to keep the integrity of the story line. This is one form of integrity.
In journalism, integrity, honesty and accuracy should be a general expectation (at least theoretically). Journalistic integrity should not depend on what is popular or unpopular. They call journalism the 4th estate because it is their job to be the last bastion of truth...not the purveyors of half truth and rubbish. How are we to keep Government and institutions honest if we cannot trust the 4th estate?? The most important thing a journalist or writer can do is follow the information/story line, not what you want to find but what good research suggests you will find or should find. It's Ok to put a kink in the storyline, but it should have some ground to stand on...not just come out of nowhere. Now take this into other forms of writing and art...people trust the author and other artists to speak their truth. Opinion pieces are just that, opinion. When we read an actual news story, we want facts. We know that fiction is not the truth as such, but we need to keep integrity of the story...so that is a form of honesty. It is being authentic as an author. For that matter any artists wants to achieve being authentic in their art.
In life, if you are not honest with yourself and others, then people lose trust. Trust and integrity are at the heart of everyday conflict. It is part of why it is important not to present someone else's work as your own and why you need to do your own work and perfect your own art. It is how we develop morals and standards in any artistic endeavour and how we live our lives.
So, if everyone wonders what my take on integrity in any type of work is, I side with it being very important. As Douglas Adams said, " To give real service you must add something which cannot be bought or measured with money, and that is sincerity and integrity.” People have not picked this topic because they were bored. They said it because they know it will result in a better society and ultimately superior art work of all sorts.
Be realistically unrealistic, you cannot create true art, true authorship or a healthy life if you do not keep integrity and other ethical principles a part of your work and life. It is ingrained in the society that was created when we first came out with the first cave paintings, and continued on with all arts including journalism and moveable print. We cannot cheapen any of our artistic endeavours and end up with quality product.
You can find the Anchor Podcast of this blog post: https://anchor.fm/a--j-pei-treasures
Thanks for reading my blog post and for your interest in A & J PEI Treasures
I saw something during the week that had me thinking more about integrity, honesty, and accuracy in reporting and writing. It was a news story that gave only half the story and it was the half that would elicit the most suspicions of the audience. At first it hit me as weird as it was controversial to begin with. So, distrust came in. Then I looked up the whole story and it was not what it seemed. Even the 'gossip' mongers had a reason in their articles. I'm still not entirely certain that there was an honest answer to the whole issue. So, what was the reason? Was it poor judgment? laziness? attempt to sway or gain readership??...who knows. It doesn't matter. For me, the important thing is that it got me on the road to thinking about the importance of integrity in one's work.
How important is integrity in one's work? Just try to be a sci-fi writer or any type of fiction writer and change a major point in your story line or fictional world that doesn't hold up under examination. Or be a non-fiction writer and attempt to pass off fiction as fact. Pick one that people have already accepted as part of the world or the world you created and see how your fans will react. I'm laying odds that they won't react well. So, it's important to keep the integrity of the story line. This is one form of integrity.
In journalism, integrity, honesty and accuracy should be a general expectation (at least theoretically). Journalistic integrity should not depend on what is popular or unpopular. They call journalism the 4th estate because it is their job to be the last bastion of truth...not the purveyors of half truth and rubbish. How are we to keep Government and institutions honest if we cannot trust the 4th estate?? The most important thing a journalist or writer can do is follow the information/story line, not what you want to find but what good research suggests you will find or should find. It's Ok to put a kink in the storyline, but it should have some ground to stand on...not just come out of nowhere. Now take this into other forms of writing and art...people trust the author and other artists to speak their truth. Opinion pieces are just that, opinion. When we read an actual news story, we want facts. We know that fiction is not the truth as such, but we need to keep integrity of the story...so that is a form of honesty. It is being authentic as an author. For that matter any artists wants to achieve being authentic in their art.
In life, if you are not honest with yourself and others, then people lose trust. Trust and integrity are at the heart of everyday conflict. It is part of why it is important not to present someone else's work as your own and why you need to do your own work and perfect your own art. It is how we develop morals and standards in any artistic endeavour and how we live our lives.
So, if everyone wonders what my take on integrity in any type of work is, I side with it being very important. As Douglas Adams said, " To give real service you must add something which cannot be bought or measured with money, and that is sincerity and integrity.” People have not picked this topic because they were bored. They said it because they know it will result in a better society and ultimately superior art work of all sorts.
Be realistically unrealistic, you cannot create true art, true authorship or a healthy life if you do not keep integrity and other ethical principles a part of your work and life. It is ingrained in the society that was created when we first came out with the first cave paintings, and continued on with all arts including journalism and moveable print. We cannot cheapen any of our artistic endeavours and end up with quality product.
You can find the Anchor Podcast of this blog post: https://anchor.fm/a--j-pei-treasures
Thanks for reading my blog post and for your interest in A & J PEI Treasures
March 27, 2021
Good Intentions
Good Day and Welcome to our latest blog post/podcast. Today I want to talk about taking your good intentions and making them a reality. This is the main part of life and of getting any project off the ground. Keep reading to find out more.
One of the things I have been working on is getting my e-book ready to be released. At every step in writing an e-book, there is need for good intention and for that to be translated into correct action. It is a case of good intentions meeting action. Almost everything in life that you do with regard to any type of art is the meeting of good intention and correct action. One of the things you will find, in art as in life, you can't just rely on good intentions, you also have to take correct action. How different is this from life in general. Well, the short answer is it isn't.
My latest project, I have been working on getting it from editing to release. I know I am ready to get it into format when I have stopped finding things that need changing. It is actually a longer process than it sounds. I tend to be picky and go over and over with breaks between trying to make sure I have the wording acceptable and the ideas portrayed the way I want them to be. I give it to my husband to proof read. He's good at it, as he tends to find the major issues. I try to get it as perfectly ready as possible. Of course, it isn't perfect. But it's as perfect as I can make it. Nothing on earth is entirely perfect. It's part of the true artist's psyche to want to get as close to perfect as possible. It is also part of life that can make people unhappy. They know what is theoretically supposed to be good, but it does not connect perfectly with how they feel or think. It is part of the "life should be fair" fallacy that causes a lot of pain for people. Once you realize life isn't always fair and you can only get things as perfect as you can make it for yourself, you can move forward and not get stuck in wanting it to be perfect. You live your truth and move on.
When good intentions meet action, then wonderful things can happen. The problem is when good intentions stay just good intentions. It is the recipe for disaster or for failure or for not moving forward. People often have the good intentions to do something, but when they have no plan of action, no organized method of keeping track of things, they can get stuck. Worse, some will create havoc because of good intentions without planning for proper action.
We can see this happens very often in life. It is visible in the actions we see in the daily papers and daily life where we read about crimes, poor decisions. In fact, there are whole YouTube channels which thrive on showing good intentions disconnected from correct actions. There are times where people just shake their heads as there seems no logic. There seem a disconnect between between good intention and actions taken.
Be realistically unrealistic and know that you can only use the good intentions that you have and put them in action. You have to gather the information you have access to and make as informed a decision as you can for yourself. Understand that you can only make the decision for yourself and not for others. Suggestions can get made, but ultimately everyone must make their own decisions to act or not to act.
When there is a lot of varied information and it keeps changing, it becomes more difficult to put good intentions into action or to come up with a properly formed action for yourself. Sometimes you have to schedule yourself in order to get things done.
When writing, you have to make sure that you have your topic, your tools, your ideas and have some idea of the actions that you need to take, but more than that, you actually have to take action. As Cindy Gallop said, "The single largest pool of untapped resource in this world is human good intentions that never translate into action."
Remember it is important to take action, but not just any action. You must take correct action. You need to be able to decide what action is right for your project and you have to take those actions. Sometimes that means having to spend more time on a topic or work hard on things that you are not certain of. This is the case for everyone.
Writing and the arts in general are just a microcosm of life. Life lessons can be learned from writing and other arts if you look for them. It gives you a smaller world and yet larger world to work within. It shows the interconnectedness of all things in life.
You can find the podcast for this episode on Anchor with links to other podcast providers: https://anchor.fm/a--j-pei-treasures/...
Thanks for reading this blog post and for your interest in A & J PEI Treasures!
One of the things I have been working on is getting my e-book ready to be released. At every step in writing an e-book, there is need for good intention and for that to be translated into correct action. It is a case of good intentions meeting action. Almost everything in life that you do with regard to any type of art is the meeting of good intention and correct action. One of the things you will find, in art as in life, you can't just rely on good intentions, you also have to take correct action. How different is this from life in general. Well, the short answer is it isn't.
My latest project, I have been working on getting it from editing to release. I know I am ready to get it into format when I have stopped finding things that need changing. It is actually a longer process than it sounds. I tend to be picky and go over and over with breaks between trying to make sure I have the wording acceptable and the ideas portrayed the way I want them to be. I give it to my husband to proof read. He's good at it, as he tends to find the major issues. I try to get it as perfectly ready as possible. Of course, it isn't perfect. But it's as perfect as I can make it. Nothing on earth is entirely perfect. It's part of the true artist's psyche to want to get as close to perfect as possible. It is also part of life that can make people unhappy. They know what is theoretically supposed to be good, but it does not connect perfectly with how they feel or think. It is part of the "life should be fair" fallacy that causes a lot of pain for people. Once you realize life isn't always fair and you can only get things as perfect as you can make it for yourself, you can move forward and not get stuck in wanting it to be perfect. You live your truth and move on.
When good intentions meet action, then wonderful things can happen. The problem is when good intentions stay just good intentions. It is the recipe for disaster or for failure or for not moving forward. People often have the good intentions to do something, but when they have no plan of action, no organized method of keeping track of things, they can get stuck. Worse, some will create havoc because of good intentions without planning for proper action.
We can see this happens very often in life. It is visible in the actions we see in the daily papers and daily life where we read about crimes, poor decisions. In fact, there are whole YouTube channels which thrive on showing good intentions disconnected from correct actions. There are times where people just shake their heads as there seems no logic. There seem a disconnect between between good intention and actions taken.
Be realistically unrealistic and know that you can only use the good intentions that you have and put them in action. You have to gather the information you have access to and make as informed a decision as you can for yourself. Understand that you can only make the decision for yourself and not for others. Suggestions can get made, but ultimately everyone must make their own decisions to act or not to act.
When there is a lot of varied information and it keeps changing, it becomes more difficult to put good intentions into action or to come up with a properly formed action for yourself. Sometimes you have to schedule yourself in order to get things done.
When writing, you have to make sure that you have your topic, your tools, your ideas and have some idea of the actions that you need to take, but more than that, you actually have to take action. As Cindy Gallop said, "The single largest pool of untapped resource in this world is human good intentions that never translate into action."
Remember it is important to take action, but not just any action. You must take correct action. You need to be able to decide what action is right for your project and you have to take those actions. Sometimes that means having to spend more time on a topic or work hard on things that you are not certain of. This is the case for everyone.
Writing and the arts in general are just a microcosm of life. Life lessons can be learned from writing and other arts if you look for them. It gives you a smaller world and yet larger world to work within. It shows the interconnectedness of all things in life.
You can find the podcast for this episode on Anchor with links to other podcast providers: https://anchor.fm/a--j-pei-treasures/...
Thanks for reading this blog post and for your interest in A & J PEI Treasures!
March 20, 2021
One Single Question
Hi! This is our third blog post/podcast combination for the season and second live voice podcast. I’m pleased to be able to bring you a little slice of author life/world and some advice. I’m your host, E Jean Simpson, Author portion of A & J PEI Treasures. Welcome from the beautiful Island Province of Prince Edward Island Canada. Today, I am going to talk about how one question can change your whole understanding of things and maybe help you develop a goal worth working on.
I had seen a question from the local news on how things were different since the pandemic. They wanted to know how people’s priorities had changed. I decided to make a reply. It was how I was working on my several different projects (e-books, blog, websites) and such, pretty standard parts of my life that have opened up since COVID started. The question that came from the news agency was how this represents a change in my priorities? It took me a minute because I had not consciously determined why I was doing it other than I love writing and photography and wanted to share it with the world or whoever would listen…but there was more that I hadn’t verbalized or consciously thought of.
Then, like a bolt out of the blue, I realized something. The priorities for me had been about how not to be a victim of COVID or of life. Everyone is talking about getting back to normal and, in all this, with my pre-existing condition, I have had to scale back leaving the area. I understand that everyone has bad days … but it seems the comments online all center around being ‘trapped inside’ or ‘locked up’ and can’t wait for things to get back to normal. How it is traumatizing and depressing. At the same time, is back to normal really what we want to go back to….think about society and the disparities. Consider something like racism, it’s made the news quite a bit…do we want to go back to the way things were or do we want to come back as better, more improved human beings. As I continue, you will find the there are choices that we could make and that who we come back as is one of the choices we could be making right now. Not when this is all over, when things get better, but right here and right now. We can set our goals for the future. Have something to look forward to.
I suddenly realized, for me, it was part of my being determined not to be ‘locked up’. Not to feel ‘trapped’ and not to be victimized by my situation. William James is often quoted as saying, “The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.” It is one of the things that keeps life from getting out of control. It is valuable to work on. You see, since I started working on my e-books, photography and websites and blogs, I find myself noticing everything around me. The beauty of the birds, the flowers, the snowflakes, and the companion animals we have. The quiet of a snowy day, the water, the sunset and the myriad of things that make up our daily life. Not that I didn’t enjoy them before, but now I take the time to appreciate them. I write about them, I share them. It has given me some tranquility in a time when there is a lot of terrible things going on. It has allowed me to work on finding who I am without the hustle and bustle around me. Without the constant noise of society and the rat race which seems sometimes to be more rat and not a lot of race.
Please don’t get me wrong, it is normal to have bad days. Everyone has them. However, if it becomes the only focus to have things back to normal and how horrible things are right now, then one loses the moment and we live only in the future. If it is seen as an opportunity, then you try to find ways to improve and move forward. Is it fun, do I enjoy the situation? No, I don’t like the situation, but the situation isn’t there to be liked or disliked. It is there whether or not we like it. So, given the situations is what it is, we have to make a choice on how we want to cope with it. Yes, some day this situation will be over. I guess part of what we need to decide is who do we want to be by then and how do we want to get there? It doesn’t depend on being out and about, it depends on who you want to be when this is over. It depends on what you want the world in the future to look like. It isn’t going to change for the better if we just sit and wait for things to be over so we can go back to how things were.
I decided not be a victim of my situation. My body makes it necessary to stay safe and keep out of public as much as possible. Some are forced to do this more so than I. But, the question isn’t when will we get back to normal….maybe it needs to be do we want to get back to normal or do we want to create a better normal to get back to? For me, I have time to do my writing, photography and other tasks that I share. I can focus on my photography and writing and crafts and getting to be the best person I can be. Of course, I cannot change the world, but I can change who I am. If this helps to inspire others to look toward making a better future and putting their time to be productive and find better ways, then I have done a service. I have learned to be happy with myself and with my art and with striving to be a better version of myself daily. I continue to develop different things and run my websites. It isn’t a competition. It never was. I am an author, and I am me.
Be realistically unrealistic and know that you are enough. Learn to be the best you can be. Find hope in the snowflakes, snow banks, flowers, birds, animals and whatever the world has to offer. See the beauty around you and know that you can add to that. You can create a better world, but not if all you do is wait for the world to get back to normal….maybe we need to work on being better than normal…or at the very least better than we were yesterday.
It’s not about getting back to normal….normal wasn’t working for some of us. It’s about getting out of this situation a better, stronger and more improved person. Everyone can do this in one way or another. The choice is up to you. Available as an anchor Podcast at:
https://anchor.fm/a--j-pei-treasures/...
Thank you for reading my blog post and for your interest in A & J PEI Treasures!
I had seen a question from the local news on how things were different since the pandemic. They wanted to know how people’s priorities had changed. I decided to make a reply. It was how I was working on my several different projects (e-books, blog, websites) and such, pretty standard parts of my life that have opened up since COVID started. The question that came from the news agency was how this represents a change in my priorities? It took me a minute because I had not consciously determined why I was doing it other than I love writing and photography and wanted to share it with the world or whoever would listen…but there was more that I hadn’t verbalized or consciously thought of.
Then, like a bolt out of the blue, I realized something. The priorities for me had been about how not to be a victim of COVID or of life. Everyone is talking about getting back to normal and, in all this, with my pre-existing condition, I have had to scale back leaving the area. I understand that everyone has bad days … but it seems the comments online all center around being ‘trapped inside’ or ‘locked up’ and can’t wait for things to get back to normal. How it is traumatizing and depressing. At the same time, is back to normal really what we want to go back to….think about society and the disparities. Consider something like racism, it’s made the news quite a bit…do we want to go back to the way things were or do we want to come back as better, more improved human beings. As I continue, you will find the there are choices that we could make and that who we come back as is one of the choices we could be making right now. Not when this is all over, when things get better, but right here and right now. We can set our goals for the future. Have something to look forward to.
I suddenly realized, for me, it was part of my being determined not to be ‘locked up’. Not to feel ‘trapped’ and not to be victimized by my situation. William James is often quoted as saying, “The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.” It is one of the things that keeps life from getting out of control. It is valuable to work on. You see, since I started working on my e-books, photography and websites and blogs, I find myself noticing everything around me. The beauty of the birds, the flowers, the snowflakes, and the companion animals we have. The quiet of a snowy day, the water, the sunset and the myriad of things that make up our daily life. Not that I didn’t enjoy them before, but now I take the time to appreciate them. I write about them, I share them. It has given me some tranquility in a time when there is a lot of terrible things going on. It has allowed me to work on finding who I am without the hustle and bustle around me. Without the constant noise of society and the rat race which seems sometimes to be more rat and not a lot of race.
Please don’t get me wrong, it is normal to have bad days. Everyone has them. However, if it becomes the only focus to have things back to normal and how horrible things are right now, then one loses the moment and we live only in the future. If it is seen as an opportunity, then you try to find ways to improve and move forward. Is it fun, do I enjoy the situation? No, I don’t like the situation, but the situation isn’t there to be liked or disliked. It is there whether or not we like it. So, given the situations is what it is, we have to make a choice on how we want to cope with it. Yes, some day this situation will be over. I guess part of what we need to decide is who do we want to be by then and how do we want to get there? It doesn’t depend on being out and about, it depends on who you want to be when this is over. It depends on what you want the world in the future to look like. It isn’t going to change for the better if we just sit and wait for things to be over so we can go back to how things were.
I decided not be a victim of my situation. My body makes it necessary to stay safe and keep out of public as much as possible. Some are forced to do this more so than I. But, the question isn’t when will we get back to normal….maybe it needs to be do we want to get back to normal or do we want to create a better normal to get back to? For me, I have time to do my writing, photography and other tasks that I share. I can focus on my photography and writing and crafts and getting to be the best person I can be. Of course, I cannot change the world, but I can change who I am. If this helps to inspire others to look toward making a better future and putting their time to be productive and find better ways, then I have done a service. I have learned to be happy with myself and with my art and with striving to be a better version of myself daily. I continue to develop different things and run my websites. It isn’t a competition. It never was. I am an author, and I am me.
Be realistically unrealistic and know that you are enough. Learn to be the best you can be. Find hope in the snowflakes, snow banks, flowers, birds, animals and whatever the world has to offer. See the beauty around you and know that you can add to that. You can create a better world, but not if all you do is wait for the world to get back to normal….maybe we need to work on being better than normal…or at the very least better than we were yesterday.
It’s not about getting back to normal….normal wasn’t working for some of us. It’s about getting out of this situation a better, stronger and more improved person. Everyone can do this in one way or another. The choice is up to you. Available as an anchor Podcast at:
https://anchor.fm/a--j-pei-treasures/...
Thank you for reading my blog post and for your interest in A & J PEI Treasures!
March 13, 2021
First Live Voice Podcast - Special Edition
Since I started my first podcast somewhere in the middle of my story, I thought I’d use this opportunity to do my first live voice podcast/blog post to tell you a bit about who I am and what is this A & J PEI Treasures that’s been running around since 2019.
Stay tuned and I’ll answer these questions for you!
I’m happy to now give people the option to either read my blog post via WordPress or GoodReads and now I am doing my own podcasts. This is my second podcast/blog post
As all good stories start, Once Upon a Time there was a husband and wife. We started out in Alberta living and working. We had visited PEI in our early marriage and found that we loved our visits there and always loved Prince Edward Island. So, when we decided to move back home permanently, we searched for some potential to get us near the water on Prince Edward Island. We happened along this place. It did need TLC. When we first moved in, there were even wires hanging from one of the lights. The color was a nice neutral grey. We were a little tired of neutrals, and likely could have gotten away without, but repainted. Blues, yellows, lavenders and white…making the place so much lighter and cheerier. There were a lot of renovations to floors, roof, etc.
So, our adventures moved us to our home location on the beautiful Island Province of Prince Edward Island. Our TLC is coming along very nicely.
Of course our story didn’t stop there, we’ve been working hard on renovations to the place. At the same time, I was captivated by the surrounding area, the birds, wildlife, flowers, sea creatures and pretty much everything and was taking pictures. January 2019, I decided, after much deliberation, on starting a Face Book Page for A & J PEI Treasures. I also opened a YouTube Channel. I did some upcycling on YouTube. I shared pictures of our area and our visits to other areas of the Island to try to show how lovely our home Province is.
Out of nowhere COVID hit. It was somewhat blindsiding. We both have lung issues and I also have a medical condition. So, this is where things take a twist. I was keeping busy with coloring and other things, but I felt the need to do something more.
I had always said that I should do a book or something. Someday if I had the time, I should do a book. Well, I guess it was suddenly someday. Of course, I also had no budget….which requires a lot of searching and thinking outside the box. My first e-book was an experiment. I took some of my photographs, added quotes and a chapter with some of my own short poems. I went through the process and actually got onto Amazon and Draft2Digital which allowed me to get into a lot of different formats. After that experience, I decided to think about what else I could do a book on. I remembered that I had a lot of beautiful pictures of the Rocky Mountains and that gave birth to my first full book called Rocky Mountain Memories. Soon others followed (Floral Photography: Hope for life and for the Future and From the Lens of my Camera: This and that and a Big Black Cat). I’m currently working on a children’s series called The Big Kid’s Magical Path series. I use pictures from our beautiful home Province. I have another writing projects that I’m working on. I have been working on perfecting my art. I see e-books as one particular art form. It is the form that I am working on becoming better. From that, I have moved to include GoodReads, WordPress, and of course this podcast.
A & J PEI Treasures now includes the husband and wife team and we have expanded to having Sam the Wonder Dog and Ramses the Great our cat. Though Sam came into our life shortly before moving to Prince Edward Island.
In the future, we hope to include not just renovations to our home, but crafts, somewhat eco-friendly wood crafts using pallets, upcycling and, of course continue our adventures which we will share with our followers.
So, Dear Readers, I didn’t start out to be a media person though I do enjoy computer work, but I realize that, in this new way of being, one has to wear a lot of hats and do a lot of different things because you can’t just be an author any more. I have developed a lot of skills and a lot of interesting experiences. I like to say that one should remain Realistically Unrealistic and realize that life doesn’t always end up the way you planned it, but you are the one that is responsible for your life. It isn’t always easy. But, if you keep moving forward and trying to be the best you can be, then you are a success.
You can find my podcast at: https://anchor.fm/a--j-pei-treasures/...
Thank you for reading the blog post of my podcast and for your interest in A & J PEI Treasures!
Stay tuned and I’ll answer these questions for you!
I’m happy to now give people the option to either read my blog post via WordPress or GoodReads and now I am doing my own podcasts. This is my second podcast/blog post
As all good stories start, Once Upon a Time there was a husband and wife. We started out in Alberta living and working. We had visited PEI in our early marriage and found that we loved our visits there and always loved Prince Edward Island. So, when we decided to move back home permanently, we searched for some potential to get us near the water on Prince Edward Island. We happened along this place. It did need TLC. When we first moved in, there were even wires hanging from one of the lights. The color was a nice neutral grey. We were a little tired of neutrals, and likely could have gotten away without, but repainted. Blues, yellows, lavenders and white…making the place so much lighter and cheerier. There were a lot of renovations to floors, roof, etc.
So, our adventures moved us to our home location on the beautiful Island Province of Prince Edward Island. Our TLC is coming along very nicely.
Of course our story didn’t stop there, we’ve been working hard on renovations to the place. At the same time, I was captivated by the surrounding area, the birds, wildlife, flowers, sea creatures and pretty much everything and was taking pictures. January 2019, I decided, after much deliberation, on starting a Face Book Page for A & J PEI Treasures. I also opened a YouTube Channel. I did some upcycling on YouTube. I shared pictures of our area and our visits to other areas of the Island to try to show how lovely our home Province is.
Out of nowhere COVID hit. It was somewhat blindsiding. We both have lung issues and I also have a medical condition. So, this is where things take a twist. I was keeping busy with coloring and other things, but I felt the need to do something more.
I had always said that I should do a book or something. Someday if I had the time, I should do a book. Well, I guess it was suddenly someday. Of course, I also had no budget….which requires a lot of searching and thinking outside the box. My first e-book was an experiment. I took some of my photographs, added quotes and a chapter with some of my own short poems. I went through the process and actually got onto Amazon and Draft2Digital which allowed me to get into a lot of different formats. After that experience, I decided to think about what else I could do a book on. I remembered that I had a lot of beautiful pictures of the Rocky Mountains and that gave birth to my first full book called Rocky Mountain Memories. Soon others followed (Floral Photography: Hope for life and for the Future and From the Lens of my Camera: This and that and a Big Black Cat). I’m currently working on a children’s series called The Big Kid’s Magical Path series. I use pictures from our beautiful home Province. I have another writing projects that I’m working on. I have been working on perfecting my art. I see e-books as one particular art form. It is the form that I am working on becoming better. From that, I have moved to include GoodReads, WordPress, and of course this podcast.
A & J PEI Treasures now includes the husband and wife team and we have expanded to having Sam the Wonder Dog and Ramses the Great our cat. Though Sam came into our life shortly before moving to Prince Edward Island.
In the future, we hope to include not just renovations to our home, but crafts, somewhat eco-friendly wood crafts using pallets, upcycling and, of course continue our adventures which we will share with our followers.
So, Dear Readers, I didn’t start out to be a media person though I do enjoy computer work, but I realize that, in this new way of being, one has to wear a lot of hats and do a lot of different things because you can’t just be an author any more. I have developed a lot of skills and a lot of interesting experiences. I like to say that one should remain Realistically Unrealistic and realize that life doesn’t always end up the way you planned it, but you are the one that is responsible for your life. It isn’t always easy. But, if you keep moving forward and trying to be the best you can be, then you are a success.
You can find my podcast at: https://anchor.fm/a--j-pei-treasures/...
Thank you for reading the blog post of my podcast and for your interest in A & J PEI Treasures!
March 6, 2021
Creative Endeavours
The one thing I have learned over time is that any creative endeavours take a lot more work than people think about. For example, the artists of any sort has to come up with the idea. Has to come up with the material, and has to put it in their format of choice. It doesn't even stop there with some arts.
With authors especially, it's not just getting it down on paper or virtual paper, but it's also getting it checked over. Once I get the whole project done, I give it to my proof reader. Not only does he proof read, but he picks fault with everything that doesn't make sense or doesn't show as well as it should. I'm grateful for this (though it isn't a lot of fun at the time) as it makes sure that I don't have a lot of nonsense going out to readers.
I know that there are those who say, don't get just anyone to do this (proofreading). Don't use your Auntie, don't use family, don't use your old school teacher who thought you were a great student...give this duty to some specialist. My take on this is that you are leaving out people who might be able to give you valuable insight. See, these people aren't just family, friends etc., they are part of the general public and are a good example of the reading public. Your old teacher will catch almost every grammatical mistake and spelling error (she's made a livelihood out of doing this). Ok, Mom and Auntie might just be thrilled to see you doing something ... and it doesn't hurt to make them happy. All jokes aside, my point is that the less grammatical and spelling errors the more likely you will have a good product. It's great to give it to professionals to view it, but try to present your best possible work to them. Don't discount friends and family as they might ask a question that will lead to a better product and they may catch those same errors.
As I sat, with coffee in hand, thinking of what I wanted to write, I thought it would be a good time to thank all those people out there that help us to achieve our art form and who support us in our adventures to become the best possible artist we can be. Be Realistically Unrealistic and know that you can't be the best you can be without a lot of people helping and a lot of work.
Any e-book that I release, once it is finished takes about another month of editing, reworking and checking. They don't get released until I am satisfied that I have done the best I can do with the particular book. It's important that you remember that your art is more than just what you see and it's more than just one person. It takes a lot more effort and help from other people to become your best version of yourself as an author or any type of artist.
Thanks for reading my blog! Thanks for your interest in A & J PEI Treasures!
With authors especially, it's not just getting it down on paper or virtual paper, but it's also getting it checked over. Once I get the whole project done, I give it to my proof reader. Not only does he proof read, but he picks fault with everything that doesn't make sense or doesn't show as well as it should. I'm grateful for this (though it isn't a lot of fun at the time) as it makes sure that I don't have a lot of nonsense going out to readers.
I know that there are those who say, don't get just anyone to do this (proofreading). Don't use your Auntie, don't use family, don't use your old school teacher who thought you were a great student...give this duty to some specialist. My take on this is that you are leaving out people who might be able to give you valuable insight. See, these people aren't just family, friends etc., they are part of the general public and are a good example of the reading public. Your old teacher will catch almost every grammatical mistake and spelling error (she's made a livelihood out of doing this). Ok, Mom and Auntie might just be thrilled to see you doing something ... and it doesn't hurt to make them happy. All jokes aside, my point is that the less grammatical and spelling errors the more likely you will have a good product. It's great to give it to professionals to view it, but try to present your best possible work to them. Don't discount friends and family as they might ask a question that will lead to a better product and they may catch those same errors.
As I sat, with coffee in hand, thinking of what I wanted to write, I thought it would be a good time to thank all those people out there that help us to achieve our art form and who support us in our adventures to become the best possible artist we can be. Be Realistically Unrealistic and know that you can't be the best you can be without a lot of people helping and a lot of work.
Any e-book that I release, once it is finished takes about another month of editing, reworking and checking. They don't get released until I am satisfied that I have done the best I can do with the particular book. It's important that you remember that your art is more than just what you see and it's more than just one person. It takes a lot more effort and help from other people to become your best version of yourself as an author or any type of artist.
Thanks for reading my blog! Thanks for your interest in A & J PEI Treasures!
February 27, 2021
Writing is Your Life
The one thing that people who are dedicated writers often say is that they need to write. It isn't just a gig or a one night thing. They have written in one form or another long term. They have read since childhood. Writing is something they do. It projects their experiences or different realities onto a canvas much like an artist paints what they see or a photographer snaps the world around them. The author paints a verbal canvas for others to see what they want to see in the world. They paint other worlds that open new vistas into the literary universe. Above all, writers/authors create the possibility of a different reality or realities different from our own every day circumstances.
Artists, photographers, authors etc. are all creators. They feel the need to create. Whether or not they are popular is subjective. In a world where there are all sorts of things online, popularity has become even more subjective. The most recent real life experience I have that resulted in this conclusion is; I had gone into a blog post of a famous author on a particular forum. Much to my surprise, this author's blog had very few likes at least comparable to her status. Perhaps she keeps more than one forum. What I have learned from this is if you are writing to get likes and follows, you may find yourself disappointed. Be Unrealistically Realistic and know that if you write, you may not get a huge following, you can't be of interest to everyone. On the other side, you may just reach one person and they might be inspired by your thoughts. It might lead them down a path they might not have thought existed. Be willing to put your ideas out there because you need to and because you hope that they will inspire some.
The goal of writing is to inform, entertain, enlighten and make people think. If this is why you are writing, then you will be successful and you will be true to yourself. This is the path to success. You may not be #1 best seller...there are few who are. You are putting ideas out in the universe and enlarging on the ideas out there. You may inspire others or make them think. You may improve upon your art and find yourself in a world you never dreamed could exist.
Written word has been used to inspire and create awe from it's earliest inception. As time has gone by, books have become more affordable and now everyone can select books from an ever growing eclectic ocean of information. When you find your niche, you will know.
Thank you for reading my blog post and for your interest in A & J PEI Treasures!
Artists, photographers, authors etc. are all creators. They feel the need to create. Whether or not they are popular is subjective. In a world where there are all sorts of things online, popularity has become even more subjective. The most recent real life experience I have that resulted in this conclusion is; I had gone into a blog post of a famous author on a particular forum. Much to my surprise, this author's blog had very few likes at least comparable to her status. Perhaps she keeps more than one forum. What I have learned from this is if you are writing to get likes and follows, you may find yourself disappointed. Be Unrealistically Realistic and know that if you write, you may not get a huge following, you can't be of interest to everyone. On the other side, you may just reach one person and they might be inspired by your thoughts. It might lead them down a path they might not have thought existed. Be willing to put your ideas out there because you need to and because you hope that they will inspire some.
The goal of writing is to inform, entertain, enlighten and make people think. If this is why you are writing, then you will be successful and you will be true to yourself. This is the path to success. You may not be #1 best seller...there are few who are. You are putting ideas out in the universe and enlarging on the ideas out there. You may inspire others or make them think. You may improve upon your art and find yourself in a world you never dreamed could exist.
Written word has been used to inspire and create awe from it's earliest inception. As time has gone by, books have become more affordable and now everyone can select books from an ever growing eclectic ocean of information. When you find your niche, you will know.
Thank you for reading my blog post and for your interest in A & J PEI Treasures!
February 20, 2021
E-books...More than Merely Words
I make no secret that I see the e-book format as an art form in and of itself. It's not just words on a page or haphazard works and neither is any type of authorship. It is planning, perseverance, dedication and trying to perfect your work. People who are serious about any art form will pursue their art. An artist or author will take pride in their art form. They will put everything they have into what they create.
There will be those who think it is a joke or will doubt their ability to progress to having a readership. There are always people who will be critics. The trick is to continue despite lack of interest, lack of popularity. Those are the tough days when you are working on becoming. No one starts out with a following or people interested in their work. Family may show some interest, but it is only your own work and your own progress that will get you a wider audience. For some it never happens. The bottom line for any artist is that they create because they must. It is their life breath. Whether they create while working, create when retired, or create when underemployed, they create.
Another group are those who create to supplement income. I see it often. They have a website with courses that they charge for, they put out an e-book to try to garner more customers. It is a form of creation. Perhaps they have a talent for writing. Most often they come to understand it is not a get rich quick method. Some it is a giveaway to get traffic to their sites. These tend not to be long term though some do tend to turn toward the art form as it awakens something in their lives.
When it is your art form, you put every effort into putting forth something unusual, something beautiful, something that feeds your soul and those of others. It is important on that basis, to work toward being the best you can be. Proofreading is imperative. Putting up work that is as professional as possible is imperative. I have found that control over every aspect and the transfer of my e-books into EPUB has made it possible for me to create a better e-book. As I go forward, I find myself learning more and doing more. I might not be everything that I could be yet, but I keep working on it.
Be Realistically Unrealistic and do the best quality work you can do and continue to learn and improve. In life, no matter what you do, this will improve your chances of being successful.
Thank you for reading my blog post and for your interest in A & J PEI Treasures!
There will be those who think it is a joke or will doubt their ability to progress to having a readership. There are always people who will be critics. The trick is to continue despite lack of interest, lack of popularity. Those are the tough days when you are working on becoming. No one starts out with a following or people interested in their work. Family may show some interest, but it is only your own work and your own progress that will get you a wider audience. For some it never happens. The bottom line for any artist is that they create because they must. It is their life breath. Whether they create while working, create when retired, or create when underemployed, they create.
Another group are those who create to supplement income. I see it often. They have a website with courses that they charge for, they put out an e-book to try to garner more customers. It is a form of creation. Perhaps they have a talent for writing. Most often they come to understand it is not a get rich quick method. Some it is a giveaway to get traffic to their sites. These tend not to be long term though some do tend to turn toward the art form as it awakens something in their lives.
When it is your art form, you put every effort into putting forth something unusual, something beautiful, something that feeds your soul and those of others. It is important on that basis, to work toward being the best you can be. Proofreading is imperative. Putting up work that is as professional as possible is imperative. I have found that control over every aspect and the transfer of my e-books into EPUB has made it possible for me to create a better e-book. As I go forward, I find myself learning more and doing more. I might not be everything that I could be yet, but I keep working on it.
Be Realistically Unrealistic and do the best quality work you can do and continue to learn and improve. In life, no matter what you do, this will improve your chances of being successful.
Thank you for reading my blog post and for your interest in A & J PEI Treasures!
February 13, 2021
Author life
This week was productive. I've spent some time on my writing projects. The one thing I find is that any time sitting and working will end up with something happening. I have made some headway with two of my three projects. The third I will have to rework as it isn't going to fit the audience the way it is. I looked at it after my break from writing and realized it wouldn't be appropriate in the form I have it in. Better to figure that out at the start than after it is finished.
I also worked on a non-writing project. It's always good to have something else to work on and I have a variety of hobbies and crafts that I do. One of the things I do is upcycling. This past week, I had to do some mending and since I had all the stuff out for sewing, I upcycled a lovely plain shirt I had that I found a bit too short ... adding lace and a bottom border. It will be available to view on my Facebook page later on in the day. https://www.facebook.com/AandJPEITrea...
Each person has their own recipe for success. What works for one person might not work for another. For me, having some time during the week that I work on my projects gives me a stable time to work on things. I don't always use it for projects. Sometimes I have to do housework or other things. I know that there is a time that I can sit and just think and work on things. I tend to be the multi-tasker who prefers to have more than one project to work on at a time. If this is your method of working on things, then use it. The one proviso is that you must finish your projects. Just starting a project is not enough, you must actually, at some point, finish the project. Not always as easy as it sounds and if you find it hard to work on multiple projects at the same time, then it is likely not a recipe for your success.
Always remember to be Realistically Unrealistic and have more than one thing that you work on if that method works for you. It helps you to have a consistently scheduled work period. If you try to set aside a bit of time every day to work on a project, it will become a habit and a habit will help you to be more productive. As the quote attributed to Aristotle says, "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit" Always work toward being your best self. It is not a competition being an author, an artist or a professional. Your only competition should be yourself. You should only be trying to be better than you were the day before. All else is fake competition. Unless you're on a sports team which presupposes competition and even then, it is a matter of trying to attain excellence. Of course this is just my opinion and might not fit for everyone.
Thanks for reading my blog post and for your interest in A & J PEI Treasures!
I also worked on a non-writing project. It's always good to have something else to work on and I have a variety of hobbies and crafts that I do. One of the things I do is upcycling. This past week, I had to do some mending and since I had all the stuff out for sewing, I upcycled a lovely plain shirt I had that I found a bit too short ... adding lace and a bottom border. It will be available to view on my Facebook page later on in the day. https://www.facebook.com/AandJPEITrea...
Each person has their own recipe for success. What works for one person might not work for another. For me, having some time during the week that I work on my projects gives me a stable time to work on things. I don't always use it for projects. Sometimes I have to do housework or other things. I know that there is a time that I can sit and just think and work on things. I tend to be the multi-tasker who prefers to have more than one project to work on at a time. If this is your method of working on things, then use it. The one proviso is that you must finish your projects. Just starting a project is not enough, you must actually, at some point, finish the project. Not always as easy as it sounds and if you find it hard to work on multiple projects at the same time, then it is likely not a recipe for your success.
Always remember to be Realistically Unrealistic and have more than one thing that you work on if that method works for you. It helps you to have a consistently scheduled work period. If you try to set aside a bit of time every day to work on a project, it will become a habit and a habit will help you to be more productive. As the quote attributed to Aristotle says, "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit" Always work toward being your best self. It is not a competition being an author, an artist or a professional. Your only competition should be yourself. You should only be trying to be better than you were the day before. All else is fake competition. Unless you're on a sports team which presupposes competition and even then, it is a matter of trying to attain excellence. Of course this is just my opinion and might not fit for everyone.
Thanks for reading my blog post and for your interest in A & J PEI Treasures!
February 6, 2021
Back in the Virtual Saddle
The past week, I've been back to working on my e-books. It feels right to be back to writing. I have a few projects I'm working on. One is a longer term project...in other words, it won't be as fast to get out. The other projects are underway. They change as you move forward.
What changes you say? With time, new ideas, new thoughts, and a fresh look at it. All these things can help you improve as an author. After a break, you can look at your work and see if you need to change the direction slightly (which will happen on one project) or continue how you were going (with the other). It gives you a fresh view on things.
Some observations I have made is that every genre can have it's fans. This leaves room for many different genres because everyone has different tastes in reading. There is definitely something for everyone in the vast ocean of e-books. This makes it even more important to treat it as an art form. It is not a competition, it is an attempt to create literary art using a modern format. It is imperative that we try to keep our work clean as possible and not full of errors and to be true to ourselves. In this, we keep the art form fluid and constantly changing and improving. If authors of e-books want to be taken seriously, we need to also take ourselves seriously. If we see it only as a way to make a quick buck, then we'll be sadly disappointed. If we see it as a way of furthering the art form, then we will work toward success.
Always be unrealistically realistic and know you're not going to get rich from doing e-books. Know that you are working to further a new art form and it needs to be done well to be taken seriously. Doing this puts us on the path toward creating beautiful artwork. Anything else and we just throw words on a virtual page with no respect for the words or the virtual page. If e-book artists want to be taken seriously, they need to treat it as artwork and treat it with respect.
Thanks for reading my blog post and for your interest in A & J PEI Treasures!
What changes you say? With time, new ideas, new thoughts, and a fresh look at it. All these things can help you improve as an author. After a break, you can look at your work and see if you need to change the direction slightly (which will happen on one project) or continue how you were going (with the other). It gives you a fresh view on things.
Some observations I have made is that every genre can have it's fans. This leaves room for many different genres because everyone has different tastes in reading. There is definitely something for everyone in the vast ocean of e-books. This makes it even more important to treat it as an art form. It is not a competition, it is an attempt to create literary art using a modern format. It is imperative that we try to keep our work clean as possible and not full of errors and to be true to ourselves. In this, we keep the art form fluid and constantly changing and improving. If authors of e-books want to be taken seriously, we need to also take ourselves seriously. If we see it only as a way to make a quick buck, then we'll be sadly disappointed. If we see it as a way of furthering the art form, then we will work toward success.
Always be unrealistically realistic and know you're not going to get rich from doing e-books. Know that you are working to further a new art form and it needs to be done well to be taken seriously. Doing this puts us on the path toward creating beautiful artwork. Anything else and we just throw words on a virtual page with no respect for the words or the virtual page. If e-book artists want to be taken seriously, they need to treat it as artwork and treat it with respect.
Thanks for reading my blog post and for your interest in A & J PEI Treasures!
A & J PEI Treasures/E Jean Simpson, BEd, BA, MA
A & J PEI Treasures is located on Prince Edward Island, Canada. We are a husband and wife team and our companion animals. There are a number of things that drew us to the Island…one of which was the n
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