I walk out along a rocky promontory at the lake and sit in the early morning sun for just long enough to hear what's in my heart. I watch a tern dive, then lift, then dive low again, struggling with the quick flick of a silver bellied fish while the day becomes warm. The light is bright and golden and the dew is still fresh and the water smooth and green. I gather my arms around my knees, and listen. To the lake, to my breath, to my heart.
This is what it says:
Do just one single thing. Focus obsessively. Give myself time. Cultivate discipline for a single discipline. Acquire the muscle of repeated effort. Nurture sustained focus. Return, return, return to the thing that claims you first, foremost, irrationally. What causes the spark to flame up brightly? What makes you so alive you can't stop grinning? Go back to that. Trace back to that last moment like a tracking a wild animal. Trace moments like a heat-map until you find the pulse, the last instant when you felt exactly like you should be. Do that. Claim the words, the titles, the courage, the pseudonyms, the fiction, the probable pitfalls, the hours that seem decadent, the days that seem to short. Start simply. Fake whatever you haven't it until it begins to be real: confidence, boldness, daring, commitment, certainty.
Does this speak to you?
Do you know what I'm talking about?
What is it for you? What would you do if you could, if you knew how, if you had the discipline, the money, the confidence, the time?
What's stopping you? Really?
What would help you? I'm humming with ideas and I want your thoughts.
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