One Neat Trick

I’ve been busy writing lately, working on outlining a novel while doing another comb through of one I thought was done. Writing new poems and editing older ones that sat a while to cool off. Submitting things looms on the horizon, but I’m quite happy just creating at the moment. Along with knitting, spinning yarn, and doing some printmaking. And baking, lots of baking. The usual ADHD life. I stumbled across an interesting video on YouTube that validated Doing All Things, as opposed to those that command ‘stick to one thing and one thing only’. What a dull life that would be. All my interests feed each other to some degree. I also found on YouTube a plethora of writing and art advice, which all seems to be titled with words and phrases like

Don’t! Bad! Worst! Forget about that! Stop Doing This! How to Draft/Edit/Write the Correct Way. The Only Whatever You’ll Ever Need. This One Thing Will Solve All Your Problems… etc.

No wonder writers are neurotic. They buy into the idea if you just watch the video, read the article, do all the things, your writing will miraculously become a best seller. Not that there isn’t some good advice sprinkled throughout. I know the titles are to grab attention and make you watch/read but boy can they make you feel called out. Am I doing this? Am I not doing that? Why did I ever decide to write in the first place? So I’ve become picky about which videos I watch, and fill my feed with art, fiber crafts, Corgi videos, and cooking videos, and pared down the writing ones to people I think offer good information without all the hype. Ones that say, You Can Do It!

Can you do it?

Maybe it has to do with all the negativity the country is going through. It’s much easier to be negative than positive it seems. It’s why I backed away from social media, it’s a cesspool of negativity. Making art, spinning/knitting/weaving, baking, feeding squirrels—all make me feel positive. Doing everything helps the positivity bleed over into my writing. It helps me adapt the mindset of “Hey, I like this. Let’s do more.” Heck it’s good for overall positivity also.

Then again, so is squirrel watching. Be more like the squirrels. Search through the dinner pan for your favorite nut. Call out to your friends that lunch is served. Tell off the dog from the top of a chain link fence. Scatter doves left and right as you race toward the food bowl. Above all, don’t let anyone tell you to stop being you. You’ll get where you are going, in your own way and in your own time. My ‘One Neat Trick’.