Marcus Lopes's Blog, page 43

Just Hold On

Written Thursday, 22 May 2015, in Miami, FL
It is hot and humid, and fluffy white clouds are scattered among the robin’s-egg blue sky. It is a beautiful day. That being said, I’m not one for the heat. Actually, it’s the humidity that I have a difficult time dealing with. It drains my energy, leaves me feeling lethargic, unmotivated. I don’t feel like doing anything. That’s when I realize I have to just hold on.
For me, life as a writer, an artist, has a lot to do with “just holding on.” On the...

Know Thyself

“Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice; take each man’s censure, but reserve thy judgment. […] This above all: to thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.” – Polonius, Hamlet, Act I, Scene III
As a writer, as an artist, it is an axiom that I take to heart: Know thyself.
Last week I wrote about being in a hinterland, which was in steep contrast to the week before that felt magical, shored up my confidence and renewed my faith...

Middle Ground

Do you remember the last time you had one of those weeks where everything moved along seamlessly? There was a natural ebb and flow to life, almost as if you were floating on a cloud. You felt unstoppable. That was me last week. I stayed focused and worked daily on the synopsis for my novel. Most of the time I felt like I was writing uphill, but I was determined to get this particular piece of writing done. Showing up at the page day after day, and despite my frustrations, I completed the syn...

Momentum

I sound like a broken record, but I have to say it, again: Time passes quickly! April is nearly over. Spring is doing its best to displace winter. I can tell because the days are longer. With the fluctuating temperatures, one day we have the heat on, the air conditioning the next. Running the Martin Goodman Trail along Lake Ontario, the shadflies have hatched, and I try not to swallow any when I run through a cloud of them hovering over the trail. Believe me, they don’t taste that good!
I fin...

Forward Motion

This week the days have been bright and balmy. After a long, hard winter, days like these make it difficult to focus because I want to be outside basking in the warm April sun when I need to work. From my writing room window I see the dog walkers passing with their pack of dogs, and the runners sprinting down the street. For the most part, winter jackets have been shelved. Runners sport skimpy running gear. This says spring has sprung, and that winter is finally behind us une fois pour toute...

The "D" Word: Doubt

It is a grey, wet and chilly day. While this is “officially” spring, winter is in the air. There’s a risk of freezing rain! On a day like today, it’s easy to let myself slip into despair, to let doubt rule the day. For the past few weeks I have been working on the rewrite of a novella, and I am nearing the end of that process. It’s no surprise, then, that doubt is trying to rear its ugly head. It’s trying to throw me off my game, instil a sense of worry that I may not be on the right path. Do...

Staying Focused

Lately it’s been raining more than snowing, and warmer. The days are growing longer. The sun shines brightly. Most of the snow has melted, revealing the greenish-brown grass. Walking down the street I notice that people are smiling more. On this first day of April, the collective hope is that the cold, bitter winter we endured is finally behind us.
One of my biggest challenges is staying focused. On my days off (when I’m away from my day job), I want to spend my time working on my creative pr...

Weather the Storm

Here in Toronto, it’s been a long, bitterly cold winter. The frigid temperatures, attributed by meteorologists to the “Siberian Express,” together with an infection that manifested in mid-February, sidelined me when it came to running. First, I wasn’t brave enough to run outside when it was -25C or colder. Second, the illness took away my strength and energy. Occasionally, I went to the gym in my building but nothing beats running outside.
So ten days again, after about seven weeks of not run...

Hold Fast, Hold Strong

My hope for 2015 is that it will be my Year of Selfishness. I want to acknowledge what it is that I want to achieve and have the courage to go after it. It means that I must be willing to put myself first, which I’ve discovered is sometimes difficult to do. I don’t want to let down my partner, friends or family. I don’t want them to feel like I’ve abandoned them. But if I’m not being true to who I am, or if I’m not feeling like I’m moving confidently in the direction of my dreams, how can I...

Deep Freeze

February is about to draw to a close. It has been a month of extreme cold warnings here in Toronto. And while winter is my second favourite season behind autumn, I am eager for spring to send winter packing. Maybe that’s because of how difficult the past ten days have been. Ten days ago I was tackled by one of the most debilitating migraine episodes I’ve ever experience, and immediately sidelined. I was unable to do any of the things that I loved to do. I suffered in agony for three days, ho...