My reading today from 365 Tao: Daily Meditations (by Deng Ming-Dao) featured a story about the author meeting a great, unnamed writer. At the time, the author of my meditation book was a novice writer, and he had a lot of questions for this much more experienced writer. As he tells it, "To most of my questions she would only answer, 'Yes.' She knew all the answers, and she knew all the exceptions, and she knew the best thing that an older person could tell a younger person was, 'Yes.' Yes, the affirmative. Yes, as in keep exploring. Yes, as in there are no ultimate answers."
What have you said "Yes" to lately?
Showing posts with label Taoism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Taoism. Show all posts
Monday, September 12, 2011
Tuesday, June 08, 2010
Friday, March 26, 2010
The Tao (and Flow) of Writing
Every morning while I'm getting ready, I like to read a page from 365 Tao. (You can find a podcast of the readings here.) Today's reading was about retrospective, how teachings that you have to struggle with in the beginning become automatic over time. I think that applies to many skills in life, including writing. The more you work at it, the better you become at using grammar correctly in your first draft or choosing the right words or dealing with larger issues. Taoists say that when things go this smoothly, one is in touch with Tao.
I think the Tao is another name for the "flow" state, when you're so immersed in what you're doing that it works like magic. I first noticed how writing got me into the flow state when I was in high school taking essay exams. I'd come into the classroom armed with a brain full of knowledge, a process of how to turn a thesis statement into an essay, pens, and a tissue to wrap around my left hand (so the ink wouldn't stain it). As soon as I read the question and figured out how to answer, off I'd go, not to resurface until I was done.
These days I have so many distractions it's hard for me to reach the flow state, especially since I have so little time to do it on my lunch break. I know surfing the net and playing Spider Solitaire don't help, but they've become a habit. Sometimes it helps to go somewhere, like the bookstore, with the specific intention to write. If I can set aside a large chunk of time, it's more effective.
What do you do to reach a flow state, whether that's in writing or some other activity? Do you feel that the flow state comes more frequently with practice? Please feel free to answer in the comments.
I actually have some fun personal things planned for this weekend; they may even make it to the blog. Enjoy your weekend!
I think the Tao is another name for the "flow" state, when you're so immersed in what you're doing that it works like magic. I first noticed how writing got me into the flow state when I was in high school taking essay exams. I'd come into the classroom armed with a brain full of knowledge, a process of how to turn a thesis statement into an essay, pens, and a tissue to wrap around my left hand (so the ink wouldn't stain it). As soon as I read the question and figured out how to answer, off I'd go, not to resurface until I was done.
These days I have so many distractions it's hard for me to reach the flow state, especially since I have so little time to do it on my lunch break. I know surfing the net and playing Spider Solitaire don't help, but they've become a habit. Sometimes it helps to go somewhere, like the bookstore, with the specific intention to write. If I can set aside a large chunk of time, it's more effective.
What do you do to reach a flow state, whether that's in writing or some other activity? Do you feel that the flow state comes more frequently with practice? Please feel free to answer in the comments.
I actually have some fun personal things planned for this weekend; they may even make it to the blog. Enjoy your weekend!
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
Thursday, January 01, 2009
New Year's Day
Another video appropriate for the day, this one by U2. As before, there's no embedding allowed, so you can find the video here.
We start the new year with January because Janus was the Roman god of beginnings and endings, looking backward and forward. Still, from a naturalistic perspective, it seems odd to start the new year at the beginning of winter. In my Season Lord trilogy, the country of Challen starts the new year with the first day of spring. Still, I did some extra cleaning around the house, worked out, and read a page from my 365 Tao book to get the new year started on the right note.
Many writers make a list of the projects they'd like to accomplish at the beginning of each year. Some of the projects on my list, such as getting Across Two Universes (formerly Lennon's Line) have been on there for far too long. It would be a big relief to get that one out the door to agents so I can move on to other projects.
On that note, I think I should finish this post and get back to doing something more productive. Have a happy 2009, everybody!
We start the new year with January because Janus was the Roman god of beginnings and endings, looking backward and forward. Still, from a naturalistic perspective, it seems odd to start the new year at the beginning of winter. In my Season Lord trilogy, the country of Challen starts the new year with the first day of spring. Still, I did some extra cleaning around the house, worked out, and read a page from my 365 Tao book to get the new year started on the right note.
Many writers make a list of the projects they'd like to accomplish at the beginning of each year. Some of the projects on my list, such as getting Across Two Universes (formerly Lennon's Line) have been on there for far too long. It would be a big relief to get that one out the door to agents so I can move on to other projects.
On that note, I think I should finish this post and get back to doing something more productive. Have a happy 2009, everybody!
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