Day One
The mood of the day is one of sombre reflection. It is overcast and chilly, with intermittent light rainfall.
I've just returned from an afternoon walk, sat down in my favorite chair and mindlessly reached for the remote control and the laptop computer... when all of a sudden I think "NO!" and put everything aside...
It's working!
I just sit quietly and Breathe, and think of nothing but Breathing, and then think of Smiling. (
BreatheSmileRepeat.com)
Breathing and smiling is certainly better for me than robotically watching some random videos for hours. Screen time is addictive. The precious Now evaporates in the delusion of escape. Screen addiction is the great disease of the 21st century.
I am certain of one thing in this world: whatever we do right after Breathing and Smiling will be Good.
Enough philosophy for the moment, if possible... Let me get to the point of this writing.
The point of this writing is to write.
To write is to be alive.
I like to experiment with ideas, and how to express them in writing.
To write is to set an idea into life,
to birth it into the pantheon of thoughts that have found their way into writing.
To write is to seek immortality.
To write is to create my legacy.
To write is to leave some mark that says
"FastMikie" Was Here.
To write is to discover my better self.
This is Day One, in a fresh, new journal. Most previous journals were written on paper, except for the Biplane adventure, and the years of shooting pool. I'm looking forward to keeping this one going longer than those other paper journals. They were many, and short lived. This digital reality is an exponential improvement from the previous 5 centuries of publishing. We are so blessed with the ease of publishing that the sheer volume of the written word is its own worst enemy. My writing is just noise, a trivial percentage, too little to make any difference. A lone cry in the wilderness. A message in a bottle set upon an endless and capricious sea.
I write to exist.
Day One is the beginning of a new writing.
Tomorrow is the first day "back to work" after the long New Year holiday weekend. Time to get serious. Dig in, get real.
It's an arbitrary date for an idea.
We celebrate the idea of a new beginning,
hope for something better,
to evolve,
to get a do-over.
Who hasn't wished for a do-over?!
This journal chronicles the do over, the re-invention/discovery of self.
What is the value of a do over if we don't do something different.
This writing then, is actually doing something different.
It has been a long time since doing any real writing, so I'm due to get back into it.
I've been on vacation for long enough.
I'm well rested.
All of this is stream of consciousness stuff of course, but there will be other writing (see below) that is more structured. I eschew many rules for this writing. Eschew is such a fun word.
This writing must evolve, it is an experiment in progress.
BreathSmileRepeat.com is a compact ritual that takes so little time, and can even be done without attracting any attention. It is a secret weapon, an unfair advantage, the secret to a life of health and happiness. It is an ideal ritual before starting some other focused activity. It centers your being and charges it with positive energy that will carry through to the new activity itself.
Imagine: with a few moments of focused BreatheSmileRepeat you have the superpower to greatly improve the payoff from any focused activity (sales, customer support, management, writing, art...).
BreatheSmileRepeat.com
This needs to be built into an invincible habit.
The Mother of All Habits.
That's a good resolution for the New Year!
Day One can come for anyone at any time.
at any moment of our choosing
Magical.
Fearful. The great unknown ahead.
Fear is the disease, action is the cure.
The future evolves from what we actually do, right Now.
The present is the only reality.
Breathe.
Smile.
Repeat.
Then do the next Most Important Thing.
Repeat.
