Author: MAÔ

Wandering around, exploring the Divine, figuring life out. No guarantees, no promises. Just day by day, an inner and outer journey.

Finding inspiration

by MAÔ, posted in Art

Something I heard long ago was about a songwriter who would frequently hear tunes  while driving. Like, original tunes, only in the mind. And it was frustrating, because while driving it’s hard to write down music (this was before cell phones and inexpensive voice recorders, but you get the idea).

The moral was, train your inspiration to come when you’re ready for it. Not when it’s convenient for your muse.

Somewhere in Stephen King’s On Writing, or perhaps in one of the interviews he’s given about writing, he says that the way he writes is to start at the same time every morning, write the same number of hours, take the same breaks. His inspiration comes during that time.

Certainly he may get ideas while showering, or taking out the trash. Notebooks and recorders are handy in that way. But mostly he puts ideas to paper during that time when he’s set down to write.

Thankfully, we are never lacking in ideas. Good, bad, indifferent, we think things up every day. Many aren’t original. Some are. Of the original, many are terrible. Some aren’t.

As Seth Godin says, ““If you put enough bad ideas into the world, sooner or later your brain will wake up, and good ideas will come.”

I thought of this because as I was waking up two mornings ago, I heard a whole song. An original song. I got as much of it down as I could, as I was just waking up and fumbling with the recorder. I unfortunately haven’t trained my muse in the same way.

Hidden costs

by MAÔ, posted in Advice

We’re aware of how much something costs. But what we forget about are things like what has to be given up to purchase, or what space will be taken up by the purchase, or transportation costs, and a great deal many other things.

It’s impossible to foresee every opportunity cost to an item, but there are major ones we should be mindful of.

  1. How many hours of work does this one purchase equal?
  2. If we didn’t purchase, what would we do with this money?
  3. What purpose is this purchase serving?

That last one is where hidden costs can really creep up. Is it a necessity? Or a want? Or just frivolous spending. Think about it, before spending your hard-earned money.

Go and do

by MAÔ, posted in Travel

The world is vast, and the corners we carve out for ourselves are so small.

Go see, do, taste, and try. Find the places that speak to you. That make your heart sing.

meet someone new, or show your places to your loved ones. But do not sit quiet and contented in one spot – not until you’ve tried places outside of your comfort zone.

Weekly Rundown

by MAÔ, posted in Social, Writing

Yes, I think that has stuck. I like it. It’s kind of like my weekly check-in, but with less introspection. Just things that have caught my attention.

What I’m reading: Monsters Among Us: An Exploration of Otherworldly Bigfoots, Wolfmen, Portals, Phantoms, and Odd Phenomena by Linda S. Godfrey. I wanted to get one more seasonal read in before November. Well, what to say. Do you believe in spirit creatures, possessions, skin walkers, UFOs, or otherworldly portals? Or not? Either way, an interesting book broken down in case studies. 

Additionally, if you check out the @WerewolfReports bot on Twitter, you can keep updated on odd werewolf sightings… If you believe in that kind of thing.

What I’m listening to: Lore, from Aaron Mahnke. Specifically the Trick or Treat episodes from 2016 and 2017. But, listen to whatever you feel like. Or, watch the video series on Amazon Prime Video!

What I’m spending time with: Switching over my recording from Audacity to GarageBand. I host a radio show twice a week, which is prerecorded and aired on 107.1 WZEA. Until recently I had used Audacity. However, since updating the MacBook, my microphones don’t work for recording. There’s a cumbersome workaround, but I’d rather have a simple time making my episodes. So I’ve been looking at the GarageBand recording platform. It seems that there used to be a Podcast recording option, since removed, but it works fairly well. I’ll give it a try, and either continue on it, or switch back when the new update for Audacity comes out.

Other things of interest this week:

  • This article from Vice on what the absence of humanity would look like on Earth. It’s something similar to what I’ve been contemplating, like in Because one day we die. What do we individually leave behind? And, what as a species will be left?
  • Seth Godin on his late friend Lionel Poilane, who owned a bakery in Paris, Poilane’s  daughter Apollonia’s new book.
  • Looking to the future, my friend and I are planning a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail. Doubtful it will be next year, because I’m looking to do some fun work over the summer, prime hiking time. So the possible start is March 18, 2021. We’ll see how our plans go between now and then.
  • Maria Popova on Thirteen Years of Brain Pickings. A great website, with great weekly emails.
  • Another listen: Marketplace’s Conversations from the Corner Office with Walking Dead Content Director Scott Gimple.

Sugar Rush

by MAÔ, posted in Holidays, Writing

Halloween. The candy is out, and the houses are decorated with pumpkins, cobwebs, and other scary paraphernalia.

I do love this time of year. It’s October, and that’s a great time of year for me. Busy. But great.

As you unwrap the candies and snack away, waiting for trick-or-treaters, or watch scary movies to celebrate, I hope you remember what it was like when you were young. When monsters were real, and magic lurked behind everything you didn’t understand.

I think there’s joy in living life that way, which is why we get to be envious of youth.

Happy Halloween.

Gratitude

by MAÔ, posted in Social, Writing

I have trouble keeping with the habit of gratitude. Actually, building habits in general is challenging for me. I believe for most people. Too easy to be distracted, or too many things of interest.

I’ve been good with my yoga practice, and with writing on the blog. Not so good with morning journaling. This year was exceptionally sporadic in the morning journaling.

Gratitude is another one. I’ll go for a few weeks, then fall off. But every time I start, there are consistent elements that pop up. And maybe it’s because I write gratitude statements first thing in the morning, but that first list always has one thing: coffee.

So as I drink my coffee, know that I am extremely grateful to the Dominicans who picked these beans; to the roasters (one day I will roast my own); and to the companies that made the Ninja coffeepot, the mug, and the creamer. I couldn’t see myself starting the day without them.

Pursuit

by MAÔ, posted in Mountain

It’s easy to be distracted. To fall off the bandwagon. Because pursuit is hard work.

It’s hard to maintain laser focus. To devote precious time to a specific activity.

We can’t be sure it’ll pan out. Sometimes we jump ship before reaching the goal, just because it’s difficult.

But imagine what finishing would look like. That’s what successful people do. They see it through to fruition.

Yes, sometimes they too will fail. Hard. Public, epic fails that make everyone cringe.

But not completing the pursuit is the only sure way to not succeed. Yes, you may not fail. You just won’t be…

In fact, the true successes are those who have doggedly pursued their interest in spite of failure.

Art, democratized

by MAÔ, posted in Art

The process and product of art is democratized, thanks in large part to the internet. While industrialized creative endeavors fought against the innovations, the movement has progressed regardless.

Now it’s easier than ever to find your audience, identify common needs, and create a tribe. The most important thing, then, is to start.

O Appalachia

by MAÔ, posted in Travel

I’ve been kicking over the idea of hiking the Appalachian Trail for some time. Though I’m not certain next year will be when I through-hike, I believe I’ll do at least a portion of it in 2020.

Hiking as a vegetarian will be something new for me, and I’ve been exploring some different recipes that I could try, include heavy-Indian-influenced cuisine. As I keep exploring the new cooking methods and backpacking prep, I’ll likely include more and more posts on the subject.