It feels as if my inspiration to do any sorts of writing has diminished a ridiculous amount recently. The only writing I have been doing is for school and the only writing I've put up on here has been for school, with the exception of my last post that was written during a flex block a week ago.
It's been a week since I've done any writing, but I don't mind really. I figure since I have not been inspired to do so, forcing myself to do so may not be a good thing. I don't think it would be a bad event though; for if I don't I may get out of the habit. Vortex B says he feels like he's missed part of his day if he doesn't get a chance to do some writing. I do not think I have been writing consistently enough, for long enough, to have that feeling. A few days of only verbal, non-recorded conversation, doesn't feel like a huge burden.
My last post was cut off due to flex ending. I had time to shove my point into it although the end felt a bit deflated. I didn't get a chance to expand on my point, though during my English class I had the chance to bring it up during the class discussion.. well the class's version of Spark Notes.
I think my English class may be illiterate, or atleast a large portion of it. We are given two weeks to read a bit more of one hundred pages of a book that has the dimensions of 6 by 18 cm, with a 8pt font (perhaps, just rough measurements and an estimate). The result was expected: half of the class, if not more, did not read anything. We were then given a week or so to read the next fifty pages. At the moment I'm one of five people who consistently read it when we are told we need to. How well you do in a class is a reflection of how much effort you put into it. I may not put much effort into it, but if I can maintain my high B (as of last time I checked) with very little effort I'm sure some of the most literary challenged individuals can hold onto their forty percent with hope of last second redemption?
Anyways, illiteracy aside, it turns out the point is not that great and a quick glance at what I had posted revealed a fairly transparent hesitation of what was to be explained. If anyone has any questions, just comment. I really wouldn't mind, I might even like the question no matter how basic or complex it appears.
Spark Notes, for anyone who doesn't know, is a website where you can get notes on books without needing to read it yourself. It's a great cheat sheet. Don't use it as a cheat sheet if you can. Read yourself, then study with it. Be literate. If you can read any of my regular length posts I trust you can read a book yourself. It just may take a little patience if the topic at hand does not interest you. I know that many people find my blogging to be dull.
Maybe my need to get some writing done will allow me to get into the habit of writing for leisure again. I think it probably won't, but hoping there is a chance won't hurt.
For now my topic consists of two documentaries we watched in Psychology class. One is called Man On Wire. It is a story of an individual who had a passion for wire walking. His actions eventually get him into trouble, but in the mean time he has a great time setting up various wire walks just because he could. No publicity, no payment, nothing more than the enjoyment of doing what he loved to. The second documentary is titled American Movie. It portrays the life of a film producer who is just unable to produce anything. Eventualy he does finish what he is working on, but it takes far longer than the time it should of and probably never made it to any top ten lists (well, for positive attributes at least).
In Man On Wire, the individual portrayed is simply amazing. He has spent hour on hours perfecting his art of walking on an incredibly small surface. I've heard, from several sources, that it takes around ten-thousand hours to master something. I think he has done so. Dedication. He must be so dedicated. Day in and day out training, it must sound incredibly boring. Repeating the same actions, movements, challenges ever day.
Though despite how challenging this would be, or not be after so much training, I do not think it would be a tedious action. An action is boring when it is not interesting. When you are interested in something, the time may fly by without a thought of it. Have you ever put your mind to doing something you enjoy for several hours? Lost track of time in a game, a book, a walk, anything? How many times have you done this? I'm sure it happens to everyone frequently, and this is why I do not think that ten-thousand hours would be a very hard accomplishment.
Imagine every time you got lost in time, practicing something, you were getting lost in the same event. Not the same event in time, but the same action at least. Imagine how much time you have no put towards this? Finding what this is for each individual may be difficult, but when one does find what they are looking for it may be hard to stop doing it. Once one finds a passion there is no telling how much time can be spent perfecting it with no tedious actions, even from a third persons observations it seems to be pointless.
What about focus? One of the topics we must look at is focus, but I see no reason to do this. Focus is a great topic; but not today. Not with the previous topic of dedication from the perspective I have examined it at. If you are dedicated to something and enjoying it, if you are participating with your passion, there is no reason to look for focus. It will find you, or something profound like that should occur. Focus is not something that must be found but rather something that must be realized. It may need to be refined, tuned, perhaps focus may need some mental focus to get to; but it is always there.
So many people are surrounded by stimulation in our society, at a constant amount. Looking for stimulation, even when you are asleep, is sometimes needed. How can you be focused when you are so stimulated. When the stray words of "how am I ever going to find the time to get this done" or words to the same effect great my ears, I would love to send out a long blurb about how the brain concentrates and focuses but few wish to hear my ramblings. That's why I post a few of them on the Internet. To sum up what I would like to say about those who cannot find the time or focus, I think this is what I should give as a default reply:
Do not look for focus. Do not look for time. Let it find you, or even better forget about it. Every time you think about the fact you are not focusing, you are now focusing on your lack of focus. Every time you think about the time, the urge to check the time will creep into the recess of your mind and pick away at your concentration until the elephant in your mind storms into the limelight of your mind and you have to check the time. Lock yourself in a small room, as clean and as empty as it can be. Turn away clocks, leave your electronics at the door, if you are one of the few who still wear a watch you can blend into the crowd for a few minutes. Leave behind all distractions and indications of time. Start working and finish when you are done. Don't stop. I believe time appears to go slower when you are alone or unstimulated. Though, you will get more done if you are working constantly and not worrying about time.
Focus is not needed to be found. If you are working within your passion it will not be a problem. The more difficult action may be to leave your focus. The concept of being in 'the zone' will be achieved when you are not trying to reach the mental state of intense focus.
Determination is also a futile concept when relating to passion. If you love something, the problem will not be determination. The problem will be inspiration to get something else done. The problem will be the fact that you do not wish to do anything else until you have to.
Determination may be considered the desire to get something finished, or even started. If you need determination, if you need to focus, if you need dedication, you have not found the passion you are looking for. Just remember old habits die hard, and if something hinders what you love if may be difficult to pull yourself away from it initially but once you look back at the event you will know it was worth it.
Many find determination, passion, but lack one key aspect. Focus. When you try to do something but loose interest in it, nothing will ever be finished. Nothing can be finished if the determination to finish it is nothing more than a foreign concept that could be imported into your physical vocabulary but it would be easier to just find some cheaper import free, pre-boxed and assembled ideas.
In American Movie, the film producer lacks the ability to finish anything he starts. When he starts the first project presented in the movie, he realizes he must first finish the first movie he starts. This is hard to do, for the desire to switch movies is strong. Focus is impossible for many to find when they lack the mental maturity to hang on to anything.
I have no intent on insulting the individual, however from what he says I think it is easy to see that he partied too hard in high school. Everyone loves a good social gathering, despite the negative after effects of many of them. There are open confessions of smoking too much marijuana and drinking too much. I wouldn't be surprised if there were other foreign substances that had worn away at the brain. Do I think all of these substances are terrible? Not at all. Some can be, though for the substances that are directly stated I think moderation is all that is needed.
When moderation is not present you can, to put it simply, fry your brain. The individual and a couple of his friends often lack the ability to comprehend what is happening. They cannot apply their ideas to reality, and their maturity is just not where it should be for an individual of their ages.
My over all opinion on this documentary was it was mediocre. I would expect to get some sort of information or thought provoking moments out of a documentary. This was more like a comedy. What I learned was simple: you need some huge score marks on a board if you intend on shoving someone's head through it.
Bugworlds =D
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