Do you Really Need to Clean the Bathroom?

Writers and procrastination go together - it's called "letting your subconscious mind work without you watching, while you do boring, dreary crap housework stuff".

I just made that up and pasted it to Facebook, so I claim the copyright on it. If someone steals my words and I see them on the internet, it’s still good though, ‘cos it’s always good to connect with other people. That is the reason why I write. It’s probably why most people write. If it was purely for the money, well, anyone who thinks you can easily make lots of money by writing I hate to say, you are wrong.

Only a few people make lots of money with their writing. Most of the people who make money from writing are already famous for other reasons. Publishers prefer to publish books written by already famous people because it saves them money on promoting the book. The fame does the work for them.

Famous people are probably the people who don’t have the procrastination issue that ordinary writers like me have. They have trainers and life coaches and managers keeping them focussed. They aren’t allowed to procrastinate because other people’s livelihoods depend on them doing stuff. They probably have half an hour wool-gathering time in their diary, and that’s when they do the chill out muddle-head think time that other, ordinary people do, when they are scrubbing the bathroom taps with a nail-brush.

We get side-tracked from the writing we’re meant to be doing, and just meander around a bit. That’s when the subconscious mind gets busy, but it isn’t the sort of thing that shows to onlookers. It doesn’t shoe to the person doing it either, not straightaway, but that’s where those amazing zany ideas come from that totally blow you away when you read what you’re written when the words just flow. That is when the daydreaming and the unnecessary housework thoughts bear fruit.

But, there is also the other side of the procrastination. Cleaning the bathroom and assorted make work jobs happen often for 'blocked' writers! A lot of the time, the silly curtain washing stuff and so on, is just because of fear. It can be a scary thing to write a novel, not knowing if anyone will ever want to read it. Not knowing if it will even be good enough for you to ever read again. Doing housework that doesn’t really need to be done is a way of hiding from your writing, even though the writing is what you should be doing.

You might tell yourself you have plenty of time to do it later, but as Charles Richard, a Canadian politician famously said, ‘Don't be fooled by the calendar. There are only as many days in the year as you make use of. One man gets only a week's value out of a year while another man gets a full year's value out of a week.

So, no matter what you do, you have your allotted number of days, and it is up to each person to make their best use of those days. If you can’t write unless the bathroom is spotless, well, so be it. But if you are just using the bathroom cleaning as an excuse for your fear, or perhaps laziness, get over it and get writing, that’s what I say!

Use the days you have, and use them to do what you really want to do. The thing that means the most to you should get the most effective time spent on it.

The Law of Attraction

I'm not talking her about how to get a new love, but something every bit as fundamental. The Law of Attraction is all about the idea that you get what you want, by not wanting it, but assuming you will get it.

That's a simplified version, but it covers the essentiallness of the idea. Look here for a more in depth explanation, and you will be amazed, as I was, at the sense of the whole thing.

I suspect that is how my dogs work. If they hear the crackling of plastic wrapping, they assume there is food there for them and they come rushing over to get it. It doesn't always work, but it works often enough for them to know the law works perfectly sometimes.

If they didn't rush over to get the food, they certainly wouldn't get whatever it is, and they might miss out on some ham, or cheese, or whatever it was in the wrapping. They have seen this proven often, and know it is true.

If you drag yourself around, lamenting your lack of money, money will certainly not come to you. If you walk around, expecting to get money, you could well get some. You might find money that's been dropped, or you may see an ad looking for what you want to sell.

The Law of Attraction means if you believe it, it can happen. I will never become a famous writer by complaining about my lack of success. If I get down and write more, my chances of making it as a writer are much greater.

Hold onto what you want, believe you will get it. That's the Law!

Singing in the Rain

Well, I'm not singing, but it sure is raining here. Not that long ago we had dust storms, now the season has well and truly broken. Everything has turned green, except for the deciduous trees, which are lovely Autumn colours.

I am not going out in the rain - I don't want to get a chill and end up susceptible to the bugs that are out there! Maybe I should be singing in the loungeroom though. A friend has reminded me via a study by "Chorus America" that Choral Singing is good for you!!! Everyone join a choir!

Many thanks to Angus for that. The study, here, has found various health benefits as well as benefits to the greater community.

My friend is showing this information around because he is a choral director and wants people to join up. When I remember how much fun I had in the school choir at Primary School, I am tempted to join Angus and the others. Even though I am certainly not a good singer, I know I would enjoy singing with the others.

The only reason I would begin going to church, I think, might be for the singing. I know that having a baby to sing to was one of the most fun parts for me in being a mother. Of course, now that my son is fifteen, he tells me to shut up if I begin singing a nursery favourite. I can sing my head off if he's not here though!

I found myself singing under my breath this morning, a snazzy little tune about a chuffaluffa steam train chugging along a track. I was a bit wobbly with the words, but I had a good time anyway. I heartily recommend a good sing-a-long with friends to cheer you all up.

Creative Writing - Good for Your Health

"By recording your dreams and goals on paper, you set in motion the process of becoming the person you most want to be." -Mark Victor Hansen

How do you find your way toward Good Health?

There are many ways to move toward good health. There are also many different kinds of health. The most obvious type of health is physical health. Creative Writing can help you figure out ways that you can improve your physical health, maybe not directly, but indirectly - you can write lists of the different aspects of physical health that you can work on, such as exercise, nutrition, finding time.

Spiritual good health is certainly helped by using Creative Writing. You can explore you own spiritual beliefs with your writing, using poetry, essays, stories. Many people write their way to good Spiritual health through their journalling, which is a non-threatening and non-judgmental way of exploring your ideas.


Emotional good health is also helped with journal writing. Working your way through issues that are causing emotional strife can lead you to solve these problems, and so show you better ideas for your emotional health.

If you follow Mark Victor Hansen's idea of recording you dream and goals, you will be putting in place plans that can solve so many issues that have been causing you trouble.

Once you start getting your thoughts down on paper for yourself, you are on your way to overall good health. If you keep a journal, those thoughts will always be there to show you what you've been doing wrong, how you worked out ideas to make things better, and the good results of your work.

Begin a journal today, and you will be on your Personal Path to Better Health.

Frittery Will Get You Nowhere

Do you ever find yourself frittering away your time, going from one thing to the next without ever achieving a thing? Well if that is how your days go, welcome to the lives of so many others.

In the modern age, there are so many things available for us to choose from – hobbies, so many different hobbies!, movies, books, sports, courses, radio, TV, restaurants, family, friends. There is barely time to get through the morning paper, get to work, shop, get home, watch TV, eat, housework, visit family and friends.

It’s no wonder our heads are in a whirl trying to sift through the clouds of should do this, must do that, have to do, and so on.

“Know what you want to do, hold the thought firmly, and do every day what should be done, and every sunset will see you that much nearer the goal.” Elbert Hubbard

Elbert Hubbard was born in 1856 in America. He did many different things in his early life, but went on to set up the Roycroft Arts and Crafts community, which was a hub for many of the great and creative people of his time. This group included writers, philosophers and free thinkers.

Elbert focussed his main energies on this group, publishing a great many works of biography, history and great thought.

Elbert didn’t fritter his time, he maintained his focus on the things that matter to him, right to the very end of his life in 1915, when he and his second wife, Alice, both died when the boat they were on, the Lusitania was torpedoed and sunk by a German U-20. So ended a great thinker.

You can take something from this life. Elbert Hubbard accomplished much, because he didn’t get distracted by the little things in life that didn’t help him achieve his goals. His idea of holding to what must be done, every single day, to achieve what you most want to achieve.

Elbert Hubbard is remembered now through many pithy quotes, that relate to life now in the 21st century as much as they did last century and the century before, when he lived.

What is it you most want from your life? Hold to that thing, work toward it every single day, and every day will bring you closer to what you most desire.

Whether your desired thing is good health, a happy family life, publication of a book, a career in acting, hold to that thought, and work toward it. The skimpy, time-wasting items in life will seem less important then, and you will be able to focus on the main goal of your life.