Author: MAÔ

Maybe yesterday sounded a bit unhinged. But I was in a good mood, and having fun writing, and thinking about the pile of things that I need to get done once I finish writing, and how there’s never enough time, or if I have the time, my energy is failing, or if I’m fortunate to have both, then something else draws my attention away.

(Apologies to my 5th-8th grade English teachers for this runon sentence.)

So, I just wrote what I was thinking. As I was thinking it.

It’s been a while, but I once wrote about Ira Glass’s quote:

“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”

I had an interesting experience recently, where it occured to me to ask myself, “What are you doing?”

The scary thing is, I mostly have no idea.

A lot of the time, I just wing it. When it comes to work, art, getting things done, trying to build and maintain relationships.

All of it.

I’m not sure if there is a guidebook for living life (that would be one hell of a big book), but if there was, who’d have time to read it?

I spend a lot of time talking to beginning filmmakers about how, a) there are a lot of ways to get a film made and, b) just because someone has done it, doesn’t mean they knew what they were doing!

And I think that sums it up. Most of us, we have no clue. We just go through the motions, every day, trying not to get found out that we don’t know as much as others think we know.

But none of us really know. You know?

It’s been said my mind is a steel trap. Not by me, mind you. But, others have said as much.

I’m sadly not able to live up to that moniker. I forget, and while it brings me joy to reread books or rewatch movies, I sometimes think that it would be nice to never forget.

That aside (and maybe later I’ll write about Jorge Luis Borges’s short story Funes the Memorious), I can be surprised. 

I opened a book I was given at one my graduations, though I don’t know which. A Book of Graduate Wisdom, full of quotes for the next stage in my life. On the inside cover, in my sloppy handwriting, I had written florilegium.

While I don’t recall writing it, its meaning at least came back to me.

“A florilegium (plural florilegia) was a compilation of excerpts or sententia from other writings and is an offshoot of the commonplacing tradition.”

Over these past six months, I’d say that finding time to write was the challenging part of not doing it.

But that’s not wholly true. Yes, I’m busier than I’ve been in quite some time. Consistently so. But, there’s always time.

A number of writers wake before sunrise, and get their writing in. Someone like Maya Angelou had a hotel room – a getaway where she could sit and write in office hours.

We don’t all have that luxury, but finding time to do something can always be explained away.

Making time to do something, though, is something we can all do.

Well that’s out of the way. Nearly a week back in writing, and still finding my flow.

Write. Or do nothing. This was advice that popped up again recently. I’d heard it years ago, from a certain author who’s found himself out of the good graces of many of his fans.

And, I wonder, wandering as I do from topic to topic, can we separate the art from the artist? Does a person of low moral character deserve to have their art enjoyed?

That’s a topic for another post I guess.

250 years. Give or take some signatures.

But 250 years of America.

It’s impossible to consider the good without the bad – though some try. Like anything, America has stumbled on its way here.

Even still, and in spite of certain current circumstances, there is an innate pride in being American today. Moreso than past independence days. Today feels momentous.

Let freedom ring.

I’m having difficulty believing the first half of 2026 is over. With some context, I suppose it makes sense.

I’ve been across the country and back, down to Arizona, over to Florida, up to Massachusetts, and across to DC. Not to mention Texas, and all the states I’d crossed to get there.

It’s been busy.

Someone told me recently to get rest, take of yourself. And that’s excellent advice!

One thing about me is, I’m an avid fan of the written word. I spend much of time in film, production, and design.

But I like to sit and read a book.

And they pile up. Not a problem, but at some point, you might have to accept that you have more books than you’ll ever finish.

Not that it would stop me from trying.

It’s difficult to carve out time, but to not do so means something is structurally imbalanced.

A lot of what I do is sorting out timing for one thing or another – how do I make time, what should I be spending time on, and what is it I want to complete.

It feels like that’s probably the case for everyone – we all have a lot that we’re trying to accomplish,

This is just one of my things.

The world seems… Well, pretty messed up.

Some of us are doing great. Many of us are doing okay. A lot of people are doing badly.

So, should I say something? Should I say anything?

This is the question I think we all grapple with. What makes sense for me may not make sense for someone else.

I’m not always sure it makes sense for me.

Still, we’re left with this opportunity every day. To use what we’re given, in ways that feel right for us. At times, we have to do things that don’t feel right. Bills have to be paid, and not all of us are fortunate enough to love what we do.

And we show up regardless.

I guess, in all of this, it’s important to just be a bit kinder to everyone, and to yourself.