Saturday – 24 January 2015
Yes, I skipped the Day 21-23 entries from the blogging challenge. Perhaps I’ll come back to them; perhaps not. After starting the challenge, I realized something: It’s not so much that I need an external source to inspire me to write, I just need to sit down and write. While I’ve enjoyed using their jumping off points, I no longer feel constrained to just writing about them.

Ironically, this post uses the “Day 23” and “Day 24” entries, as they dovetail nicely into each other. Go figure.

Day 23: Make a list of things that distract you. Every man deals with distractions, whether at work or at home. It could be the internet in general, it could be a specific website, it could even be something that’s actually beneficial, and yet distracts to some degree from something that’s important to you. Making a list creates awareness, and you can better slay those distraction dragons.

My distractions include, but are not limited to:

  • Books
  • Comic books
  • Gaming (board games, console/PC, miniatures, online)
  • Model railroading
  • Surfing the Internet
  • Watching television

Day 24: In modern times, men have become more spectators than doers; more consumers than creators. Yet one of the marks of a mature man is being someone who doesn’t just consume the culture around him, but actually helps create it. Think about all the ways you consume the world around you, and the time you spend doing it. Next, think about the ways you can reverse that, and start to actually be a creator. That’s an intimidating word to some, so come up with ways that you can get off the couch and do something productive instead of just mindlessly intaking.

Looking at the above list of distractions, I can immediately identify two items that can be turned into creative output:

  • Books (i.e.: “Reading”)
  • Surfing the Internet

I’ve been musing over my children’s book idea lately, trying to determine how best to make its story coherent and what age range I want to target.

As far as Internet surfing goes, I’ve made an effort – yes, it’s been slow and sporadic… but an effort, nonetheless – to get articles on the Pinstripes and Polos website and Pinterest boards. Who knows, I might even get a few things on Four-Color Coverage before it’s all said and done!

Namaste.