Menna Van Praag's Blog, page 50
February 2, 2013
Day 33 of 99 Days
― E.M. Forster
When you’re embarking on or engaged in any life-changing endeavor it’s easy to get tunnel vision. I certainly suffered from this in the early days of writing novels. I was so desperate to finish and publish that I neglected people, those I knew and those ...
Day 33 of 99 Days
“Connect. Connect. Connect.”
― E.M. Forster
When you’re embarking on or engaged in any life-changing endeavor it’s easy to get tunnel vision. I certainly suffered from this in the early days of writing novels. I was so desperate to finish and publish that I neglected people, those I knew and those I didn’t. Needless to say I didn’t have much fun, nor did I get the results I wanted.
Fifteen years later, with my first work of literary fiction about to be published by Penguin, I look back and see the vital importance of connection. Magic happens when you connect. Sweet serendipities you couldn’t possibly have dreamt of, or hoped for, while stewing around in your own head. I’ve met random people in cafes, lifts and queues who have changed my life. Not to mention authors whose books I’ve read.
Whenever you’re feeling stuck, reach out to someone new, the sort of stranger who may change your life or simply brighten your day. Either way, life will get better once you step outside your own head.
Pic: King’s Parade – in whose cafes I’ve met many “beautiful strangers”.
February 1, 2013
Day 32 of 99 Days
“There is no going back in life. No return. No second chance.”
― Daphne du Maurier
Now, I don’t agree that we don’t get second chances. Most of the time we get one and, luckily, we often get many. But the point is that you can’t undo the ...
Day 32 of 99 Days
“There is no going back in life. No return. No second chance.”
― Daphne du Maurier
Now, I don’t agree that we don’t get second chances. Most of the time we get one and, luckily, we often get many. But the point is that you can’t undo the days. If you let them pass you by, if you postpone your dreams, if you wait until “the time is right” then you will waste your life soon enough.
A day disappears in an instant. A year is gone in a moment. A life is gone before you know it. Don’t put off what you want. Please. Don’t fool yourself into thinking you have forever. You don’t. None of us have. Your life is a finite, fleeting, precious gift. And, if you don’t absolutely love it now, then do whatever it takes until you do.
Pic: a sundial between King’s College & Clare College – a place to watch time ticking by on sunny days…
“There is no going back in life. No return. No second chance.”
― Daphne du Maurier
Now, I don’t agree that we don’t get second chances. Most of the time we get one and, luckily, we often get many. But the point is that you can’t undo the days. If you let them pass you by, if you postpone your dreams, if you wait until “the time is right” then you will waste your life soon enough.
A day disappears in an instant. A year is gone in a moment. A life is gone before you know it. Don’t put off what you want. Please. Don’t fool yourself into thinking you have forever. You don’t. None of us have. Your life is a finite, fleeting, precious gift. And, if you don’t absolutely love it now, then do whatever it takes until you do.
Pic: a sundial between King’s College & Clare College – a place to watch time ticking by on sunny days…
January 31, 2013
Day 30 of 99 Days
― George Eliot
Discipline is a dirty word for most of us, since we all hate being given orders, even if we’re giving orders to ourselves! But discipline is really no more than saying “yes” and, as e. e. ...
Day 31 of 99 Days
― E.M. Forster
I write a lot about courage but I do believe that too much can’t be said about courage! It’s really the center of everything. Our courage, or lack thereof, determines our whole lives. It takes courage (for most ...
Men, Money & Chocolate
Men, Money & Chocolate
Men, Money & Chocolate – the Slovenian Edition!
Day 31 of 99 Days
“Either life entails courage or it ceases to be life.”
― E.M. Forster
I write a lot about courage but I do believe that too much can’t be said about courage! It’s really the center of everything. Our courage, or lack thereof, determines our whole lives. It takes courage (for most of us, at least) to sit down and write – to believe that what we want to tell is worth telling. It takes courage to connect to strangers – and from that comes all sorts of life changing things.
It takes courage to persist despite all the disappointments that have worn down our spirits, to keep going for the life we dream of. Sometimes, it takes courage just to get out of bed in the morning! Remember this and praise yourself. You have courage, even if you don’t believe it. If you are really living, instead of merely surviving, then you are brave!
Pic: the rather splendid orange fridge I encountered on my visit to the Penguin offices in NYC. “O Clássico Dos Clássicos” translates from the Portuguese as “The Classic of the Classics”.
January 30, 2013
Day 29 of 99 Days
“Believe there is a great power silently working all things for good, behave yourself and never mind the rest.”
― Beatrix Potter
How much time do you waste time worrying about the future, about all the things that could go wrong, that might not work out, the disappointments/rejections/failures ...
