Observations From Hadleyville: FOLLOW THROUGH

Monday, October 24, 2011

FOLLOW THROUGH

Long ago, I discovered that being at a retreat is much more exciting that coming home from a retreat.

At the retreat you are immersed in the people and program. Once you return home, real life takes precedence. The urgent demands of daily life tend to drown out the excitement of the mountain top. It is quite normal for the great experience to quickly fade into background static.

I have found that there is a way to hold on to that cozy campfire glow. It takes Follow Through. By that, I mean you must work on what you learned. Merely basking in pleasant memories is a sure path to losing the glow.

For example, I took two days to drive home from my writers retreat in Mew Mexico. I returned Saturday and immediately faced the onslaught of urgent real life I'd put off for a week. My family expected some attention. My congregation desired that their pastor show up and preach on Sunday. My body begged for a bit of sleep. Very well. These are not unreasonable wishes. However, Monday soon jumped up and demanded attention as well. The phone rang, my calendar chimed in, and prior commitments cleared their collective throats.

Follow Through. Despite the clamor of demands competing for my ADD attention (I used to be ADHD but the "H" is long gone), I decided to start a list. I prioritized the prior commitments and shoehorned in some Follow Through. Voila! I had a means of moving ahead with my retreat experience. The Follow Through is completing the items on the list while prioritizing the flood of new, urgent demands as they pop up like an everlasting game of Whack-A-Mole.

At this point I can say I've crossed off ONE item on my Follow Through list. I am writing this to make myself accountable to you, the blog follower.

More to follow.

2 comments:

The Navy Christian said...: You really are a gifted writer. Just saying. Anyway, I understand the predicament of life getting in the way. You've inspired me to get on my own writing adventure. Thank you, and keep up the good work!; October 24, 2011 at 7:34 PM
Eric said...: Good to hear you're following through. Agree with Dan about your writing -- you're a voice that needs to be heard.; October 25, 2011 at 10:09 AM

Post a Comment

QUASI-LEGAL DISCLAIMER

Don the Baptist considers himself to be both intellectually deep and extremely humorous. Don the Baptist assumes no responsibility for blog browsers who cannot tell the difference between the two. Blog browsers are advised to consider any "Observations from Hadleyville" content that makes no sense to be the result of a lack of intellect or sense of humor on the part of the blog browser and not that of the blogger. Don the Baptist is a non profit guy so don't bother suing Don the Baptist as it would be a waste of time and resources.

WORDS OF WISDOM FOR WRITERS

The secret of becoming a writer is that you have to write. You have to write a lot. You also have to finish what you write, even though no one wants it yet. If you don't learn to finish your work, no one will ever want to see it. The biggest mistake new writers make is carrying around copies of unfinished work to inflict on their friends.

I am sure it has been done with less, but you should be prepared to write and throw away a million words of finished material. By finished, I mean completed, done, ready to submit, and written as well as you know how at the time you wrote it.
-Jerry Pournelle

WHAT'S THIS HADLEYVILLE THING?

Those of you familiar with Mark Twain’s works might recognize my blog title. As Samuel Clemons grew older, he became increasingly disillusioned with humanity. Towards the end he began referring to the Damned Human Race; employing the secular and religious epithet at one stroke.

I find I’ve not reached that level of despair myself. I still believe in redemption and I still see signs of nobility even among we fallen, damned creatures. So, I could not bring myself to call this blog “On the Damned Human Race.” I do however, resonate with another of Clemmons stories; “The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg.” And viola, there you have it. “Observations From Hadleyville.”