Lately I have been listening to a variety of podcasts. Listening to an episode here and there from a variety of podcasts has been great fun! One podcast in particular has been about creating art. My first suggestion is to write for an hour on a kernel of the art that I wish to create, something big. I am supposed to write this kernel in an hour.
I wanted to share this challenge. The suggestion was to do with it what I want just so that I share it, even with the birds. I share a lot with my readers and realized it has been awhile since I have written a challenge piece.
This piece is not meant to look pretty. It is a rough draft of an idea. It didn’t take too long for me to realize what that kernel would be about. I’ve this dream that I’ve been working on but continuously get stuck. It is a well known fact, to the point of at times being humorous, that writers blocks happen. In fact that is something that I have previously written about.
A Kernel in an Hour – Let it Begin
When your heart has had a dream since you were barely old enough to hold a pencil for more than a paragraph, you know it is inside of you. That dream never really went away. It has reshaped itself more than once.
As a child it seemed as though I was fearless. I was going to chase that dream down, do it and be happy. Moving into an adult life there are things that seem to get in the way. We have to fight just to chase it down, let alone do it or be happy. It is hard to be happy when you haven’t really made yourself to do it.
I write articles that tend to share a theme. I try to write different genres, and do. I have a couple of large pieces that I am working on that certainly aren’t the theme that this site seems to collect. Horror, drama, technical, mystery, fantasy and romance haven’t quite leaked into the chaos which you find in this site. Perhaps they should.
I enjoy the different genres that I get the opportunity to write. Yet it seems as though when I have something to get out of me that oozes a passion of mine, it finds its way here.
What is the Kernel?
So what is this kernel you are likely asking yourself. Well its simple. I want to write, I want to chase it, do it and dance in the joy of accomplishing a dream. More specifically I have found in this site the desire to help others through my pain, passion and of course the sensuality that is life.
To label this particular art ‘self help’ seems to smash it into a genre that is commonly made fun of and dismissed. I have felt this stigma for a very long time. Yet if I am to take and pick out a tiny kernel of my art that I wish to create, I must dismiss the stigma.
It is ironic that an individual must first help themselves before they can help others. I didn’t buy into that phrase for a very long time, I felt that people who were excellent at something were the ones that should teach and guide.
I now know that those people have worked to get where they are. They may have that natural talent, but there are things that they have to discipline themselves on to achieve the ability to teach and guide. I have found that I enjoy sharing things that I’ve learned and experienced. I often tell people that if even only once person reads my article then I am a fortunate individual hiding in my own little internet corner.
If one person can relate to or gain something from an article then I can do my happy dance having achieved a goal. For sometime I had measured my work on the ability it had to be successful. Slowly I learned that it didn’t have to be that way in order for my writing to be successful in my life. After all, isn’t it my dream that I am chasing first?
The First Step
The first step is to chase my dream and goals. For example writing this blip that I may never even read again just for the sake of creating the art that is stuck inside of me. Writing this piece just for the sake of practicing my art leads me to polishing that voice that I wrote about yesterday. Ignoring the stigma so that I can chase down what is mine rather than what I am told is mine.
Next, there is the ‘doing it’ phase. Again writing pieces like this to gain small accomplishments on a regular basis. I am often told that writing is good for my soul. It is calming and somehow freeing. Why not grab hold of those thoughts swimming around in my brain that drive me crazy and let them free?
Not quite finally, there is the ‘being happy’. All too often I have sat back and looked at what I have written and wanted to change it, or just delete it all together. I have wondered why I ever thought that the particular piece belonged in text to begin with. I can’t do my happy dance if I am stuck in that negative self talk.
Your Own Self Help
Sitting back and looking at the text and realizing that ‘hey, I did a thing’ is one step towards freeing your mind of the stress of writing. Looking at your work and appreciating the time, though and freedom it brought you is what delivers you to a happier state.
Success in a piece is relative to the person who creates. One individual can float in the sea of happiness because their piece was viewed by 15 people. Where someone with the same amount of joy is only reached when their work goes viral or sold to thousands of readers. It’s not for me to suggest an individuals bar for happiness. It is that uniqueness that makes each persons dream unique and beautiful.
So before I can help others, before I can even think that I am doing something good. I have to reach a point where I can teach myself positive self talk. Learning to teach yourself your own self-help requires you not to be ashamed of your efforts. Fight back by dreaming, doing and dancing.
My dream is to share and teach self help tools and experiences. I am doing. I am sharing something that I’ve yet to tell more than a few people. I am embracing it by writing, reading, listening and yes, plotting. I am dancing. I have been sharing the passion that I teach for years now. My positive thinking is that I know I am making steps to reach something that I have wanted since I was a child.
What is the kernel that you would write about? Any kind of art applies as well as life goals and a simple grocery list.