Create distinction.

Create distinction.

Novel writing may be one of the most exhausting endeavors out there. Yet short spurts of wisdom are actually much more difficult. As William Faulkner said, the novelist is a failed short story writer, and a short story writer is a failed poet.

I would add tweets, status updates and short blog posts to that poem category as well.

Create distinction. Say something with passion and also with meaning. But be careful of too much passion, or the wrong type of passion, because you may create disorder or disagreement or disassociation.

Or let the genius speak through you as Elizabeth Gilbert so brilliantly shares in this TED Talk.

To create distinction, use careful words.

Some great thinking.

Signature of mediocrity is not unwillingness to change – it is chronic inconsistency.
~ Jim Collins

On the way to work, concentrate on the way – not the work.
~ Jim Rohn

God isn’t at work producing the circumstances you want. God is at work in bad circumstances producing the you He wants.
~ John Ortberg

In. Real. Life.

Penelope Trunk writes today:  “The blog is a conversation where I am useful to the reader in exchange for me having someone to talk to.”

I’m taking her advice. I hope I am useful in writing this, since there have been some days that I talk to myself. A lot. It causes me to feel introspective and sometimes very alone. Most of the time I enjoy the solitude of this sabbatical and I have the luxury of doing what I enjoy.

I love TED Talks and usually watch them daily. Today I stumbled upon a treasure – a poet named Billy Collins. He shared several of his poems that had been animated, for those who prefer to watch the poetry. I closed my eyes to just listen to the artistry. In doing so, I met him. Virtually, not ‘IRL’, but through his words.

But then some days, like today, I get to meet new people in person. Today I enjoyed lunch with a group of business women, in the ‘Connected Women of North Carolina’ group I have joined. Women gathering to meet like-minded women and to network. The buzzword of the year.

For some people, networking is simply about finding the next career opportunity. Millions of us in the U.S. are certainly doing that as we struggle to shrink the unemployment numbers. But sometimes, like today, it’s also just about meeting people. In. Real. Life.

First time out

For the 36th time now, I have moved. Usually within the midwest, sometimes it has been same city/state, different house. Other times and this time to a new state, searching for the new job, new friends, new normal. A decade ago I vowed I would never move again. Never say never.

But this thinking out loud is not really about me, per se, at least that’s not the plan. It will be more about life around me and how it morphs each day as I venture deeper into it. Anyone can comment on life as they perceive it. It is my goal to not just comment but to question, analyze and understand. Growth comes in the journey.

Please think along with me.