Menna Van Praag's Blog, page 47
February 27, 2013
Day 58 of 99 Days
“Think before you speak is criticism’s motto; speak before you think, is creation’s motto.”
― E.M. Forster
If we all stopped thinking so much, we’d all be effortlessly brilliant. And a good deal happier into the bargain. I’m not overstating the fact, when I say “brilliant”, I truly believe it. We all have innate gifts, beautiful talents unique to us. But, if we spend our lives lost in thoughts – usually self-doubt and fear – then we’ll never express our brilliant selves. I used to think before I wrote and, of course, progress was painfully slow. Now I write first and think (edit) afterwards – a much more productive and fun way of writing and living!
Pic: Oscar is learning to clean – happy day! He loves sweeping most of all. Now he just needs to do the washing up and we’re good to go!
February 26, 2013
Day 57 of 99 Days
“Happiness isn’t what happens when you whistle along, pretending bad things don’t exist. Happiness is earned, like everything else. It’s achieved.”
― Marisa de los Santos, Love Walked In
Marisa is one of my favorite modern writers and I love this quote. It reminds me that happiness isn’t determined by good luck or chance. Of course when painful things happen, it’s harder to be happy. But many people manage it, those inspirational people who keep smiling despite circumstances that might flaw the rest of us. So, whenever life isn’t showing up the way you want it to, when your dreams still seem too far away, remember this quote, be grateful for all you have, and you’ll be on your way to achieving happiness again…
Pic: An unconventional & rather adorable shelving solution.
February 25, 2013
Day 56 of 99 Days
“The most important thing is not to think very much about oneself.”
― Virginia Woolf, A Writer’s Diary
As advice for living, this might be the very best so far. When you’re thinking about yourself (past, present or future) you’ll sink into stress, worry and fear before too long. For, no matter how lovely your life is, if you start analysing it you’ll find fault, you’ll criticise and compare, you’ll worry you’re doing it wrong. Such is the way of the mind. But, if you focus on what needs doing next, you’ll stop thinking and feel happy once more. If you don’t stop to take stock of your life but just keep living it, you’ll find everything working out wonderfully…
Pic: Apparently J.K. Rowling is the first person ever to fall off the Forbes Billionaire List from donating so much to charity. It makes me want to buy her books all over again!
February 24, 2013
Day 55 of 99 Days
“It is in our idleness, in our dreams, that the submerged truth sometimes makes its way to the surface.”
― Virginia Woolf
Since it’s Sunday, a special sleepy day, a lovely lazy day of pottering about, doing nothing particularly productive but just enjoying whatever life has to offer, this quote is especially apt. I used to hate doing nothing. I found it especially hard to take “time off” when I was in the midst of writing a book. But I’ve learnt that time doing nothing is time very well spent. Too much work wears you out, sapping the passion and power from your projects. Allowing yourself to dream will make you more magnificent and, more importantly still, happy.
Pic: More dreamy art by the beautiful Ella Wolfnoth. The Butterfly Jar. www.ellawolfnoth.com
February 23, 2013
Day 54 of 99 Days
“I remember I used to half believe and wholly play with fairies when I was a child. What heaven can be more real than to retain the spirit-world of childhood?”
― Beatrix Potter
I adore this quote. It reminds me of the magic in writing and life. I believed in fairies as a little girl. I believed in everything. Every morning was an unfolding of endlessly exciting possibility. Life had no limits. I never wanted to let that go which is why I write novels about enchanted houses and everlasting love. And, if you keep the “spirit-world of childhood” within you, it’ll see you through many a disappointment & difficulty. I still enjoy half believing in fairies, even now.
Pic: The Cottingley Fairies. In1917 two girls took pictures of fairies in their garden. They caused a sensation in England, Arthur Conan Doyle (author of Sherlock Holmes) writing a book about them, until they were exposed as a hoax decades later.
February 22, 2013
Day 53 of 99 Days
“You can write nothing of value unless you give yourself wholly to the theme. When you so give yourself you lose appetite and sleep, it cannot be helped.”
― Charlotte Brontë
On Valentine’s Day I finished the first edit of my new book, tentatively titled The Dress Shop of Dreams, two weeks ahead of schedule. I’d given myself the 28 Day challenge on February 1st, aiming to finish by the end of the month. But, as is so often the case once I get started on something, I only wanted to write and write until it was done.
Actually, I’d been putting it off for a while, I’m not sure why – procrastinating and getting involved in other things. But, once I decided to do it, gave my word to myself and sat down to begin the momentum of that commitment took over and all I wanted to do was write! It was easy, effortless and fun. And to think I was worrying about it before I got started. I find that’s often the case: when I’m thinking about a thing – anticipating it in the future – I feel nervous that it won’t work out. Yet, when I’m actually doing a thing – completely absorbed and not thinking at all – it’s invariably absolutely no problem at all and indeed much better than I could have imagined.
So, if you’ve been putting something off, give yourself a gift and begin doing it today. I predict you’ll be pleasantly surprised by how much fun you have…
Pic: Page One of The Dress Shop of Dreams
February 21, 2013
Day 52 of 99 Days
“So long as you write what you wish to write, that is all that matters; and whether it matters for ages or only for hours, nobody can say.”
― Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own
There are two reasons to write/sing/act/paint/be whatever you wish. Firstly, and most importantly, because it will make you happy. Secondly, because it’s impossible to guess the market and know what will make you successful.
William Goldman, the great screenwriter (if you haven’t seen The Princess Bride or Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid, please do so asap!) famously said of Hollywood that “nobody knows anything”. People try to analysis the hits, to create formulas and predictions, but they can’t. Big budget films fail, little films unexpectedly capture the hearts of milllions and nobody saw it coming. So, please yourself first and then see what happens…
Pic: an oldie from last summer of O and I sitting on my writing chair. It always make me smile so I’m sharing it with you.
February 20, 2013
Day 51 of 99 Days
“Sometimes our greatest gifts grow from what we are not given.”
Erica Bauermister
Today’s quote is in honor of one of my favorite authors, Erica Bauermister. Her gorgeous new book: The Lost Art of Mixing is out now. I recommend it most highly! This is a quote from an article she wrote about her father, a brilliant but emotionally distant man. She longed to connect with him and found a way through the written word. At the end she writes: “I am a writer. It was a gift from my father.”
That line brings tears to my eyes. Probably because it’s so close to my own experience, my own heart. That great gifts can come from hard conditions is a wonderful thing, one of the beautiful nuances of our complex, colorful world. Reading Erica’s quote reminds me not to judge my circumstances, not to despair at life’s challenges. And, of course, a hopeful, optimistic perspective is a gift in itself.
To read Erica’s article: www.psychologytoday.com/blog/one-true-thing/201301/erica-bauermeister-finding-my-father
February 19, 2013
Day 50 of 99 Days
“I was seven when Maureen O’Sullivan said, ‘What are you going to be when you grow up?’ and I said, ‘I’m going to be an actress.’”
Vivien Leigh
I love this quote. Self-belief, tenacity, talent and courage all rolled into one. I so much admire someone having a dream so young and, with such determination, making it come true so spectacularly. Her levels of self-belief and tenacity are beautiful demonstrated in the story of how Leigh bagged one of her most famous roles as Scarlett O’Hara in Gone With the Wind.
The producer, David Selznick, spent two years searching for the right actress for the role. Every one wanted it and Leigh didn’t seem to be in with a chance. Selznick had deemed Leigh “too British” to play the role and said that he had “no enthusiasm for Leigh.” But this didn’t stop Vivien. She flew out to LA to convince him he was wrong. On the voyage across the Atlantic Leigh rehearsed and rehearsed. When she came to meet Selznick she dressed the part. She wowed him so greatly, from the first moment he met her, that Selznick later wrote” “her tests showed she could act the part right down to the ground but I’ll never recover from that first look.”
Today, take inspiration from Vivien. Whatever it is you want, don’t give up. No matter the odds against you, don’t give up. Believe in yourself. Be courageous. And don’t give up!
February 18, 2013
Day 49 of 99 Days
“You ask me why I do not write something…. I think one’s feelings waste themselves in words, they ought all to be distilled into actions and into actions which bring results.”
― Florence Nightingale
If you simply want to write (paint/sing/act…) purely for the sake and sense of it, then you can ignore today’s quote. But, if you want to get paid for your art too then you’ll find Florence’s words very apt.
Of course you need to spend a good deal of time honing your skills. It’s said, in terms of writing, that you need to write a million words before you find your true voice. If you put yourself and your work out into the world before it’s ready you’ll only get disappointed and discouraged. BUT, that being said, there comes a point when it’s simply easier and safer to hide inside with your computer than putting your head above the parapet and stepping out into the big, scary world.
I used to be terrified of calling agents. I needed to eat vast quantities of chocolate, and have a friend to hold my hand, before I could even pick up the phone. So, for years, I didn’t do it. I just wrote emails and those, as we all know, are easy to ignore. As my courage grew I was amazed that, once I got chatting to agents they were often happy to chat back. One particular phone call changed my life. And not in the way you might think – more on that another day… Self-publishing my first little book was the scariest thing I ever did in my life, involving as it did, a great many courageous actions in the form of visiting bookshops and begging them to sell my book. But then a publisher picked it up and, so far, it’s been translated into 25 languages. They told me outright that my successes self-publishing the book was a major factor in them deciding to publish it.
So, as I wrote in that little book, Men, Money & Chocolate, talent and self-belief alone is not enough, you need to “take courageous steps in the direction of your dreams.” Words are not enough. You must take action!
Pic: O walking in the garden today – learning to walk is our very first great courageous action. After that, everything else should be easy!
