Author: MAÔ

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

How to decide what’s important

by MAÔ, posted in Pathfinding

I’ve been asked many times, in many different ways, when will I find what I’m looking for? I’m asked this because I’ve jumped from job to job, picking up gigs along the way. I’ve traveled overseas and down south. I’ve acquired a couple of degrees (along with some debt), and I’m still looking at getting my Ph.D.

I have a half-dozen or so irons in the fire, so to speak. There’s a radio program I put together; some film & video work I still do; this blog; three gigs right now, which I’ll have reduced to one for the summer; and a couple of creative projects in the pipeline.

And I know it’s too much.

In one of the Weekly Roundups, I mentioned this blog post on working Smarter, Not Harder. I’ve taken some of the advice I gleaned from the posting, including trying to flesh out my goals. These are have proven enormously elusive to me, at least over the past four years.

I’ve seen what can happen when you have a singular focus and move methodically towards the goal. I’ve experienced it, and I know it works. Only when it happened, it wasn’t how I’d imagined it, and I now select goals with a bit more reluctance.

So as I take my time to list out my goals, for the short-term and the long-term, I think it’s important to (as I often say) be mindful and honest about what it is you’re searching for – what it is you want in life.

Once that’s done, the next step will be pulling the top three to focus on, which may yet be more of a challenge.

Catching up

by MAÔ, posted in Writing

Again I have some posts sitting in Drafts that need some TLC before I push the Publish button. But I wanted to take a minute and reflect on how the creative process works for me.

I usually walk around every day with a pocket notebook and a pen. My current pen of choice is the Parker ’51 I purchased last year at the antique store. I write anything in the notebook, which includes lists, snippets of prose or poetry that comes to me, songs I like or books I may want to read.

But working my way from the back page forward, I’ll usually have a list of items that I want to look up. These include words or phrases (such as feedback loop or parsimonious); authors; artists; organizations; etc.

Many of these become posts eventually, or they sit in drafts. I don’t know that this matters to anyone, but it’s a glimpse into how I work these posts out a day at a time.

Recharge your batteries

by MAÔ, posted in Work

A lot of what I’ve been writing about over the past few weeks seems to have been on energy, streamlining your life, and putting the focus where it most matters.

But none of it means anything if you’re draining down your battery. You can go and go, get everything accomplished, but if you’re too tired to enjoy it, what’s the point?

So what reenergizes you? For me, it’s solitary times. It’s spending moments in contemplation away from the pull of anyone else’s agenda. Certainly, I like being of service, and helping where I can. But this can easily lead to burnout. (I mentioned Alex Strohl’s advice previously.)

There are times when drastic measures are needed. Complete revamping. But that’s not about recharging. It’s more of attempting an upgrade.

Table work

by MAÔ, posted in Acting

There’s a session in theatrical rehearsals where actors, the director, and design staff sit down and discuss the vision of the show. It’s not just about recitation, but about being visions to reality.

Life is a lot like that. If we have clear visions, we’re more apt to make them reality. We can sit down with them, till then over, discuss them, and try them out.

Clear visions set the standard for quality theatre, and can also be used to create quality life.

Weekly Rundown

by MAÔ, posted in Social

What I’m Reading: The Call of the Wild by Jack London. Picked it back up, and am just reading a chapter a night. Being a dog lover, it’s nice to read from the dog’s point of view, but also a bit sad given the context.

What I’m listening to: Camp Red Moon on Audible, from RL Stine and other authors. Fun fireside ghost stories, geared towards a younger audience. But I did grow up reading Goosebumps, so I don’t mind it at all.

What I’m spending time with: The Witcher III: Wild Hunt on Nintendo Switch. Started down the deep dive of the Witcher franchise last week, and wanted to give the game a go. Pretty good so far. I like the open-world environment, as well as multiple quests to accomplish. A little glitchy at times, which I heard is a flaw in the Nintendo conversion. But otherwise, a grade of A- so far.

What I’ve shared:

What you learn in silence

by MAÔ, posted in Inspiration

It’s easy to overlook to negatives of the steady stream of communications and modernity while focusing on the benefits. Instant communications. Live updates. Award shows…

We should keep in mind that the great ideas historically are born of silent moments. This data flow like we experience now has only been increasing in this way for the past few decades. It’s still unclear what our adaptation will look like.

So when inspiration is needed, seek the silence.

Decision capital

by MAÔ, posted in Advice

It takes currency to make decisions. And each day we’re only allotted so much of that currency. It’s important not to waste it on frivolous decisions. Utilize your natural energy moments (for many of us that’s early in the morning) to make those important decisions. Don’t check off a few emails, but rather make the yes-or-no sign-off on the important project.

When that capital is used up, that’s it for the day. The best thing you can do is get some rest and wait until tomorrow.

Reactive response

by MAÔ, posted in Inspiration

When we go through the day, we tend to live in reactive modes. Taking inputs, and responding.

Like I wrote yesterday, carving out time is one way to establish creative time. It’s because time spent outside of incessant noise is time spent with yourself.

Meditation and mindfulness will produce the same result, but only with practice.

Making time to create

by MAÔ, posted in Art

More often than not, when pressed for time we give up our own ambitions or creative work to make room for other things. The challenge, then, is to not push aside our creative work. Make time. Chisel it in stone into your calendar.

This is my time, for my creative work. It will not be altered.

Force yourself to work, and hold yourself accountable. That’s how to make meaningful projects come to life.