Author: MAÔ

Well, isn’t it just a roller coaster of writing lately? It finally seems that Grammarly is working, and I hope it’ll remain functioning this time.

What may have had an effect is that I needed a new computer. My previous Macbook was whirling down to its last legs. I purchased it early in 2018, and while it was still a workhorse, it was showing its age. Slowing down; cooling noisily; intermittently needing to shut down or restart.

So, at the end of the year, I pulled the trigger – just in time to write it off 2022’s taxes. I only recently started using it regularly though, after transferring everything over that I needed.

So, new year, new computer, new dedication to writing. And an interface that (for now) works just like I want it to.

Was at an LA premiere a few weeks ago, and the writer/director of the film was talking about his process. It included doing a lot of thinking about the project – months and months worth. During that time, he’d take notes and make short drafts. Then he’d outline the whole thing.

By the time he got to writing the screenplays initial draft, it was almost all there, missing only dialogue elements.

Each of us has a way of doing things that works for us. The best thing we can do is learn how we like to work, and make tweaks to our routine so that if frees us to create in our best possible way.

Some mornings I sit down to write, and I wonder what this blog is. I don’t personally find my life as interesting as others. Not to say that I don’t have interesting moments, but I don’t envision this forum as a place to talk solely about myself.

My interests are pretty varied. Film/cinema; Japanese culture; books; some music; some theatre; a smattering of philosophy, art, history, economics, and politics. Basically, I like learning.

So when I write, I’m usually writing about something that interests me. And, I’m practicing writing. That’s the important part – to find your voice as a writer. Probably the thing I’ve struggled with the most over the years.

Maybe one day this whole thing will turn into something else. But for now, it’s a place on the internet where you can see what it is I’m curious about that day.

There’s a lounge between gates A and B that I sometimes rest at during layovers. In fact, I’ve written several posts from the benches there. However, I occasionally forget that I had ever been there in the first place. On my most recent layover at that airport, it occurred to me that I fly a lot. 

This new year may see me flying less, though I’m not entirely sure of that. I have at least three trips planned, and could end up with a couple other gigs that require travel. Either way, I thought I’d include some thoughts on flights, airports, and airlines as the year moves forward. 

For Charleston, there was a piano player in the atrium where you could sit in white rocking chairs and listen to him play. The lounge that I worked from was nice, though the pumped in top 40 mix of pop and country was a bit distracting. There are a couple of sofas, and I listened to some held-over flight crew snoring away as they napped on one. 

It’s easy navigable, and the airlines seemed to be laid out well for connections. All in all, I like a layover in Charlotte. Maybe almost as much as I like the Toronto airport.

“If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.”

A saying that has been passed down forever, at least so it seems. But it’s solid advice. If it works, it works. Why try and change it?

Does the argument hold water though?

Yes, the mousetrap worked. But people still wanted to build a better one. The horse and buggy was a great method of getting around. Till someone invented the automobile. You could do calculations by hand, but why not use a calculator?

Just because something isn’t broken doesn’t mean that an improvement in its functioning couldn’t make the world a better place.

When was the last time you spent a day just enjoying yourself?

I was thinking of this over the holidays. Many days are spent just going through the motions. If you have a regular job, you’re probably spending days off catching up on things that need to get done around the house or helping out, or even just spacing out and losing the time altogether.

But what about a presence of mind and active enjoyment of an entire day? For me, I honestly couldn’t tell you the last time that I spent the day that way. So that’s something I will be doing this coming weekend. It’s my last weekend before filming starts, so I think it’ll be important to do that for myself.

It’s at this time of year that I like to take stock of all the aspects of my life – Health, Relationships, Personal, Career, Spiritual/Personal, Family & Friends, and Money. The Wheel of Life, developed by Paul J. Meyer in the 1960s.

Beyond just assigning a value to each of those fields, though, I find it helpful to really dig into the dirt of it. Evaluate my budget. Reach out to people I haven’t spoken with in a while. Look at my career trajectory and see if I need any fine-tuning.

It’s easy to get off course, especially if you’re only diving in once a year (or less). So it’s important to really be honest with yourself.

The problem with a new year carrying so much weight – or for us to assign so much weight to them – is that any faltering is just seen as an overall failure. Another broken resolution.

Yes, the new year comes only once every twelve months. But each day is a new day to start over. To reinvent yourself. And so if you falter today, tomorrow’s a day you can succeed.

The consistent struggle I engage in daily is the battle of stuff. What I identify most with is a collector. I collect things, and as my interests expand, so do my collections. And number of collections.

Sometimes I feel jealous of minimalists. I have a brother who is able to keep an immaculate house. A friend of mine can let go of things just as easily getting his hair cut, and so his apartment is always in flux – new things in, and older things out, even if they aren’t really old at all.

In this post-Christmas season, I think many of us deal with new items in the house. And while of course it’s good to let go if you can, it’s also important to hold onto things that make you happy.

Don Miguel Ruiz wrote a book called The Four Agreements. I was gifted this book about seven years ago, and it was one of several things that got me through a tough time. But I always come back to the four agreements you make with yourself:

• Be impeccable with your word
• Don’t take anything personally
• Don’t make assumptions
• Always do your best

Whether or not I think about these things, I always carry them with me. And that last one, always do your best, is a call to action each and every day. Your best may change from day to day. You might not have as much to give today as you did yesterday. But still do your best.

That’s why each morning is a new baseline for your life, and you can make anything happen. One day at a time.