Yearly Archives: 2012

I Don’t Know

I listen to the news. I read the reports. I do the research. I talk to my friends and family. I read the work of the experts. I study the laws and re-read the documents.

The truth is, I don’t know.

I don’t know why far too many people do far too many horrible things to far too many more people. I don’t know if there is anything we can do to change it. I don’t know if the answer is more laws or less. More access or less. More treatment or less. Anything. In fact, I don’t know if making any change at all will make the problem, any problem, worse or better.

I don’t think you do either. I don’t think any of us, outside of any issue, really can. Even within there is perspective at play. Heck, we |arfdf|referrer|ybdhb
don’t see the perfectly visible sometimes when it is in plain sight because we are blinded by the action and the assumptions of pre-conceptions, assumptions, and opinions.

Opinions are not answers.

I don’t think we can even begin to tackle a problem, especially a big one, unless we are ready to confess all that we don’t know. Because believing that we know the solution means we don’t look for real answers — only validation.

When we don’t know we are willing to try things. If those things don’t work we are then more willing to admit we were wrong and try something else. Creativity starts with a blank slate. All filled cups start empty.

I will likely struggle at times but I’m making a conscious effort, today and going forward, to make “I don’t know” my sensible default in any discussion.

We have some difficult problems to solve ahead of us. We always have. I don’t know how to solve them . You don’t either. So, lets discuss our ideas. Know that neither of us is going to get it completely right. Know that we all are going to have gains and sacrifices. Let’s be open to trying some things out with the knowledge that we both seek a working solution.

Book List 2012

Books I’ve Read In 2012

I generally keep all of the books I read during the course of the year together on the same shelf. Since, with very few exceptions, I mainly read non-fiction, it gives me a pretty good snapshot of some of what I have learned or been interested in during the course of a year.

I happened to glance at that shelf today and thought to myself, “That is a rather fine collection”.

I then took a look at both the Kindle and iBooks and thought, “Wow, an even finer collection of book still! I should list these somewhere.”

I then took a mental inventory of all of the books I have borrowed and returned and thought, “Holy cow I have read a lot of books!”

Here, in no particular order, are the books I have read in 2012 (and I may even be missing a few):

Writing: Step One

Sit your butt, in a chair, and write. That’s it. That’s all there is. Take your hind-quarters and, with purpose, plant it in a seating utensil of your choosing. Preferably, with something to write with. That’s step one (Well, not really. There’s actually a whole lot that has to happen before that step but I’ll get to that later).

It sounds so easy, doesn’t it? Surprisingly, for most, that is the the hardest part of all. Because there are a whole host of things that keep us from taking that seemingly simple step. Here are some of the more common excuses which I’m going to express in the first person because I have battled all of them and lose more often than I win:

  1. I have something else to do.
  2. I don’t have anything to write about.
  3. I am not good enough.
  4. I am not talented enough.
  5. No one will read it anyway.

You know what those are? Lies and excuses and moot points. You know what those aren’t? Your butt, in a chair, writing.

OK, fine. You don’t like to write sitting. You’d rather stand like Hemingway or lay down like Capote. That’s fine. I don’t care. The point is just write. WRITE!

Look, don’t worry about what to write about. Just start writing the first thing that comes to your mind. Write about the wall color. Write about the dirt on the floor. Write about the crazy fantasy you are currently having about tracking me down and killing me in my sleep for even suggesting such insanity. I don’t care. The world does not care.

You know who should care? You. You have a hundred million stories just sitting there, inside of you, waiting to get out. How do I know? Because we all do. It’s called “living a life” and each moment is another chapter, another story. Look, it’s like this: If you don’t have a story to tell then you are not living a life worth telling stories about.

I write most stuff on my iPhone these days. The reasons? I always have it with me and it is the closest tool I have when the mood strikes and my butt is commanded to find a chair. I don’t think about the “right” tools or the “right” environment or the “right” time. The right tool is the one I have with me. The right environment is my butt in a chair. The right time is now.

Don’t worry about step two. Step two does not matter right now. The only thing that matters is you, writing, now. So, stop making excuses and start.