In the midst of a dating hiatus, I’m taking another hiatus … one from blogging.
Stephen King once said: “If you don’t have the time to read, you don’t have the time or the tools to write.” In other words, the best writers are typically those whom are well-read. This is a statement I agree with. As in all things, there are always exceptions to this rule. Although, I can’t say, even knowing a few of these writers, that my mind is changing. Just like an athlete who studies tapes to improve, or the student who follows a mentor to learn – if the goal is to be a better writer, the only way to get there is to read the work of great writers.
Luckily, reading is a favorite past time of mine. Every year I accumulate book after book for my summer reading list. Reading for pleasure is always reserved for the summer, and since school is in the cards for me for at least another four years … this is just the way it has to be. Why only the summer? Have you ever been an English major? Try being an English grad student. Reading is what you do. This past semester was one of the easiest reading semesters to date, and still I read 21 books and over 25 scholarly articles.
As this summer marks my twenty-fourth year of life, this 2011 edition of my summer reading list has a minimum requirement of twenty-four books. This is quite do-able since I’ve acquired approximately thirty books from January to May from Book Buyers, my favorite used bookstore in Plaza-Midwood. If you get some time check it out, beware of the cat.
And inside all that summer reading I’m working on my own passion project, hence the momentary break-up with blogging. If I feel compelled to blog, it’ll happen. But for now, it’s time I worked on a project that’s been spiraling in my mind for years.
My question for you is this: what is your passion project? To steal one remarkable tweet from my friend, Bobby DeMuro - what is the one thing you want to accomplish in the next 365 days?
It’s a fascinating concept; a goal like any other, a passion project is the rupture of the self. So I challenge you to embark upon your own passion project whether it’s writing a business plan, running a marathon, originating a charitable foundation, volunteering, writing a screenplay or a book, tackling photography, constructing the menu for a future restaurant endeavor, or merely creating something meaningful – what are you waiting for?
In e-mail conversation today with a friend, and classmate, he asserted that for too long his life had been lived in the form of a question, instead a statement. Like I do with all e-mails from my friends, I printed it out and read it in it’s tangible form. When I read this sentence I paused, re-read it, and with my pencil I drew a gray line beneath his words. I’ve been contemplating my own life ever since. It is so easy to live your life in question structure. Will you profit from a particular venture? Will you make ends meet? Will you get a call back? When will you know something? Will you be ok?
Questions are an inevitable part of life; they are the reoccurring, resurfacing influences surrounding our lives. However, do we allow ourselves to be dependent upon the answer - or do we answer our own questions? This is an observation my friend is ready to transform. And he will; I’m sure of it.
That idea that is pulsating through your body - engage it. No matter how simple, if you’re passionate about something it’s no longer mundane, it’s profound. You have the ability to change someone’s life, and then there’s the chance you’ll change your own along the way.
To everyone who reads anything I write, thank you. I can’t express how much it means to me. When the appropriate time, or blog, presents itself - I’ll write it. Until then, you can read me at Creative Loafing with Night Reviews or the occasional guest blogging appearance at Brittney Cason’s “Love, Brittney” blog. Happy creating everyone!
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