I'll admit, I'm partial to the saxophone. Even though I can't play worth a damn, I still have one, and am trying to learn. I would never subject anyone to my playing, except my neighbors and my teacher, but I found a few examples of good old sax playin'. Enjoy!
First up, President Clinton, seriously, he's pretty good.
Maybe you've read or heard about the Tsunami Ghost Ship that was floating around the pacific for the last year. According to the article it is now at the bottom of the Gulf of Alaska. I've talked about abandoned places recently, but just a couple of days ago I was suddenly inspired by the ghost ship events. I came up with a story idea. It just hit me like a ton of bricks, like so many other story ideas.
The amazement I felt as I saw the story unfold in my mind, developing, becoming layered, intricate, interesting and meaningful, made me feel great. That kind of inspiration doesn't always happen. When it does, for me at least, I'm filled with an awed sense of wonder. Really. The idea of constructing a world in my head, with characters, events, histories, feelings, emotions, life if you will, is truly awesome. It's quite fascinating where inspiration comes from and how unexpectedly it arrives.
You see, I've opened myself up to the idea that inspiration can and does come from the most amazing, or most mundane of things. Inspiration is all around us. We just have to learn how to recognize it. Sometimes, the full force of creative inspiration comes in the blink of an eye, other times, inspiration seems to be as rare as water in a parched desert. But if we learn to recognize where and how inspiration comes from, that oasis in the desert can become an ocean of ideas. I've found my next project, now all I have to do is write it. What about you?
How many times have you asked yourself “How can I motivate myself?” It’s a fair question; motivation is important and necessary to accomplishing your goals and mission in life. Without motivation, you just sit there on the couch. Without motivation, you wander, meander, and drift. Without motivation, there is nothing. So how do we get this mythical motivation? What causes the stirring emotions within us that fuel the drive and impulse of creativity, igniting the fires of motivation? Well, the answer is simple. It’s desire. Want. If you really have a true desire and want to attain something, someone, a job, a title, a goal, the championship, whatever, you NEED the desire to go after it.
Have you ever doubted your motivation while doing something? Ever thought maybe you were wasting your time? It might be that the desire to pursue that goal was waning. Maybe you didn’t really want what you thought you wanted. I’ve literally stopped what I was doing right in the middle because I knew my desire for it was just gone. I used to work as a diner cook a long time ago when I was in college. It was a fun job but hardly worth the headache. I gained the respect of pretty much everyone there, except One of the owners. He decided on night to chew me and a coworker out because he was in a bad mood. Well, we both quit right there. We told the guy we were done as soon as our shift was over. And we stuck to our convictions. See, the desire to be there was small, and the paycheck was the only real thing keeping us there. Once we were disrespected for no reason we realized there was no sufficient desire to stay. So, our motivation to leave grew exponentially.
Okay, so if you have the desire to accomplish your mission, your motivation will surge. If your desire wanes, your motivation will plummet. The real test is identifying your desire. So it comes down to one simple thing: What do you desire?
Changing times call for new experiences. I think Alexander's quote speaks to that fact. At its very core, I thin the meaning of this quote is telling us to at least try, make the attempt at doing. You don't have to be the first to try something, just don't be the last. If you have a mission in life, a purpose, or a passion, making the attempt at bringing it to life is important. Do not wait and let the world pass you by. The time is now!
Douglas Clark
-Head writer, The Inspiration Engine That may seem like a simple, even trite question to ask. If you give it more than a passing thought, the deeper meaning of it starts to shine through. What is really important? I mean the life-long stuff, the things that make you want to get out of bed in the morning, the stuff that gets your heart pumping, your body moving; those things.
I’m not talking about getting up and getting to work, paying the bills, or making sure you get the laundry done. The day-to-day minutia of life is important on a small scale, but there should and Must be a deeper meaning in your life (your Mission) to make it all worth it. Now it might come as no shock that a lot of people don’t have a mission, or what some might call Passion. They drift through life without any foundational drive or motivation. Is that you? I must admit, there have been times where I felt completely directionless, lost even. There have been times where I could see the path before me clear as day, and hated the direction it was leading me in. See, it’s not so much enough to have a passion and direction, but you must be willing and wanting to go down that road as well.
How do you decide? Well, it has to be important to you; the whole thing, not just the end goal. To have meaning and value, the process of getting from your dream to your reality must be endurable and enjoyable, at least on some level. I’ve spent many a moment pondering what was important and what wasn’t. At the very foundation, I know it’s important to at least attempt to live up to my potential. Sometimes that can be hard, especially if at some point you realize you were reaching. Mistakes are worth it most of the time. But Only if you learn from them. When you do, you’ll start to realize what is really important!
Okay, so I grew up in the 1980s (yeah that may date me a little), but I'm not ready for the rocking chair just yet. By the way, the 1980s had some of the coolest, weirdest, and most amazing music ever. If you don't believe me, do some research, listen to some of the music and get back to me.
I thought it would be fun to put together a short play list of 80s music that I always liked, even if it was hard to admit to it. Anyway, here's a few of them. Enjoy!
(All rights reserved by original artists)
Take on Me, by A-Ha.
I always had a little crush on the girl in this video, plus I always thought it was wicked cool to travel to cartoon world.
James Bond kicks ass. This was the first Bond movie I ever saw in the theater. My dad took me and it was just awesome. This title song totally blew me away, especially the very begining.
This one was easy to admit liking. You couldn't turn on the radio for more than 6 minutes without hearing this one from Van Halen. In 1984, they totally Ruled Rock.
Life appears to be an ever changing and unpredictable thing. Finding a truly singular purpose that you can be proud of and strive for is truly a wonderful thing.
Also as an aside, I love light houses. This one was painted by Thomas Kinkade. Check out his work!
This is something I wrote a few months ago.It’s short and simple, but I think it sums up things rather well, at least for now…
All of my regrets, all my failures, all my successes and wins, everything I've ever said, felt, every relationship and friendship, my feelings, thoughts, actions, desires and dreams, my experiences and perceptions make my life what it is today.Although at times I might begrudge too harshly the negatives and underappreciate the positive, all of these things create the essence of who I am.If I tug at the loose strings of the tapestry of my life, it would unravel into the chaotic turmoil of the unknown. Who I am would be lost.In its place would be a void.Trite and fanciful fantasies of altering my life by rearranging my past only stands to cast shadow on my future...
Stories of survival against impossible odds, like this one, are amazing. I often wonder, if I were in such a situation, how would I handle it and how would I react. Sometimes there's just no way of knowing if we'll be courageous or cowardly, until the time arrives. For now, I'll imagine myself on the courageous side, and hope to live true to my dreams, until the end.
I've always had a slightly morbid fascination with old and abandoned things. Stories like this one are almost irresistible. There's something about seeing ships, houses, cars, and the like just sitting there, waiting for their oweners to come back, even though we know they never will. The possibilities about what happened, why the items were abandoned, and the story behind the story is too much for me to pass up.
People ask me all the time where my ideas come from for my short stories. Well letting my imagination wander when it comes to lost and abandoned things is a perfect answer. The possibilities of where a story can go are endless. There's something about everyday recognizable items seen in such disarray or disrepair that is simultaneously intriguing and distrubing. That's where the imagination comes into play. It's not so much that I enjoy seeing abandoned hospitals or haunting ghost ships, but the realization that at any time, the life we know can turn on a dime, disappear and never return is so stark and real. So true that is, if you've never heard the story of Centralia Pennsylvania, you might want to reconsider just how dramatically life can change.
To be sure, most of the things I've used as an example here are somewhat unsettling. However, look at the bigger picture here for a moment. With such turmoil and uncertainty in the world, such things make a great case for seizing the moment. Waiting another day, or putting things off can only do one thing: Waste time. Don't let that happen! You'll only regret it in more ways than one. Trust me. Just remember that inspiration and creativity can come from almost anywhere, even an abandoned house!
I thought I'd go a different route today and just post up a few videos that I liked, just for the hell of it. This first one is a little out there, but for those of you who have ever heard of Daft Punk, I'm sure it's a favorite.
Pretty crazy, that little robot dude is cool and scary at the same time.
This next one is a classic from the 1980s. If you remember hearing it on the radio you'll remember just how awesome it was to hear this song first the first time.
I love both of these songs even though they are totally different in comparison.
