Those of
you who follow this blog know that I am constantly trying to find time to
write, whilst employed full-time as a scientist, and after that, busy with
running a home. Like most people, I try to find free time in the midst of all
the other things that just have to get
done. There’s always been something more important than my writing through
the years, especially when I was younger, so that I often ended up pushing it
aside in order to do something else that seemed more important at the time. During
the past four years I’ve written blog posts about prioritizing your soul’s dreams,
visions, inner goals, secret goals. I had to carve out time in the
evenings, several times a week, to write. Time for my blog, or to create a poem
or short story. I’m happy to say that finally, after several years of working
and writing in this way, I’ve put together a new collection of poems, called Remnants of the Spirit World, that I
sent off today to my colleague and friend Paloma who will work on formatting the book and designing the cover. When her creative work is done, I will be sending it
off for publication. I am nearly finished with my collection of short stories,
called Survivable Losses; these
stories have been tough for me to write, because I’ve had to face up to some of
the pain involved in writing them. They are not autobiographical, but some of
the themes are, in the sense that I’ve experienced, like many others, betrayal
and loss of love, as well as resignation to the things that just happen in life
that we are unable to change. Writing about them rips the scabs off the wounds
again; but I am glad for the experience of being able to feel pain in order to
write about it. And finally, I am nearly finished with my novella, called In the Halls of the Kings, a
mini-thriller about a female academic scientist who teams up with another female
academic to expose the dealings of a ruthless and potentially fraudulent
scientist. This too will hopefully find its way to publication before the end
of the year.
I’ve been an avid observer for most of my life, starting when I was about ten years old,
when I began to pay attention to what went on in my home and in the homes of
relatives and family friends. I became keenly aware of all that was not said, of body language, of what
people’s eyes said, and of superficial conversations that masked what was really going on
inside. I observed the nice and not-so-nice characters that peopled my life and
the life of my family. Recently, I read a quote that appealed to me ‘Be nice to
those around you; they may write about you’. Strangely enough, there’s a lot of
truth in this one. I don’t write directly about specific people in my life; my
works are fiction, but my characters can be modeled on the traits or
characteristics of some people I’ve met. I have fewer qualms about using the
traits and personalities of the not-so-nice people I know, because their motives
and desires are often so crystal clear—power, domination of others, prestige, and greed—often
all in one unsavory package.
Here are
some quotes to help you when you get stuck on the path of reaching your own
goals. Maybe being stuck takes the form of a creative mental block, or
procrastination, or lack of self confidence/belief in oneself. I know these
quotes have helped me. They’re hanging as magnets on my refrigerator—a gift
from Sonja, the niece of one of my closest friends, who visited us in Oslo five
years ago. I met Sonja for the first time then, and was immediately taken with
her spirit, energy and exuberant personality. She is a go-getter, an
adventurer, a life-tackler, and has already achieved much in her thirty odd
years here on this earth. In short, she is an inspiration.
- ‘Whether you succeed or not is irrelevant, there is no such thing. Making your unknown known is the important thing’. –Georgia O’Keefe
- ‘Go on working, freely and furiously, you will make progress’. –Paul Gauguin
- ‘The artist goes through states of fullness and emptiness, and that is all there is to the mystery of art’. –Pablo Picasso
