Tag: writing

Let it loose

The truth is like a lion. You don’t have to defend it. Let it loose. It will defend itself. — Saint Augustine

The best quotes are like riddles. They’re clever enough to surprise you and simple enough to understand. They offer wisdom and sometimes even require it. If they’re really good, they lie to tell you the truth. Great ideas aren’t often black and white, but a thinker has to exaggerate in order to teach an idea quickly.

One person might make an interesting statement. People agree with it, and it becomes popular. It will later be criticized for leaving out important details. It’s hard to describe something without simplifying it. Simple maps are useful because they leave out most of the details. An explanation is another way of giving directions. It’s best when it’s short and sweet.

I write for the same reason I workout. It’s good exercise. It takes strength to tell the truth, and sometimes skill to describe it. You can’t tame the lion, if you’re afraid to write it.

Seeing Yourself

A goal properly set is halfway reached. — Zig Ziglar

I’m not entirely sure what this quote means, but I liked it instantly. This blog is a gym for me and I said I’d come around more than I have. You workout because you want to feel strong, and if you do it often enough it becomes true. I’m not sure what I’m working out, but maybe people will notice and let me know.

I just realized something earlier this week that makes sense now that I’m writing. Listening to someone speak let’s you know how they see themselves. You can hear it. In much the same way blogging helps you find your own voice. It gets stronger as it gets clearer. The less you sound like other people, the more you sound like yourself.

I’m not completely satisfied with my voice so far. I thought I’d be a lot funnier. I can admit I mostly write because I want to say something original. But when you think about it, it’s a hopeless mission. Rearranging words everyone knows into ideas no one has heard. Thousands of articles and blogs are printed every day.

But if it was easy it wouldn’t be worth it.

Not Quite Picasso

You have to have an idea of what you are going to do, but it should be a vague idea. — Pablo Picasso

If blogging were a relationship, we’d be at the point where we know we like each other, but we can’t come up with an excuse to talk. I’ve been thinking of what to say all week. It all sounded boring. So instead I wanted to take a picture (thousand words and all that)… I have no camera.

I’ve been in this situation before. We usually end up meeting on accident and talking about whatever is going on around us. Nothing is really going on right now though. Except I do have theory I came up with today.

Things get good, then boring, then creative.

  • Cameras take clear pictures nowadays, but people prefer filters. Maybe HD pics were cool but they got boring.
  • Picasso was an artist who learned to paint perfect portraits around the time photographs were becoming popular. Realistic paintings were good, but they got boring.
It seems obvious, but it makes me wonder about things that haven’t even gotten good enough to be boring.

If this blog were a real date, I never would have talked about this theory. I know better than that. I would have asked a lot more questions, haha. But I’m already too comfortable. Once my blog and I get past this awkwardness we’ll try to build something meaningful. For now we’ll just think about each other and hardly say anything.

Foolish and stupid

If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid. — Epictetus

I’m trying to get the first few blog posts out of my system, but it’s hard to break the ice with yourself. I always start off pretty quiet, but I don’t always end that way. I like writing because when you talk to someone, you can only communicate as much as they can understand. So you might end up in a few different kinds of conversations. You’re speaking to someone who lets you talk, or you let them talk, or you both keep it conversational.

When you write, there’s a chance that someone somewhere knows what you mean. So even though you might feel like an idiot writing to people who probably aren’t listening, it’s possible that feeling foolish and stupid might go to good use.

And even if no one reads, at least your writing gets better.