I’ve always thought our dog, Myles, has a wise look about him. His full name is Doctor Myles Spencer, because for some reason it seems to fit him when we got him a few years ago. He’s my official mascot for this year’s Wisdom Quest.
Recently I turned off the blog and all of my social media pages, save for Twitter, so I could clear out some mental space. I’m hoping that was a wise thing to do… just turn everything off for a while. Ever wish you could pull the plug completely and never go back? 🙂
The second part of my quest for wisdom this year involves scheduling music creation sessions. I’m not there yet with a regular schedule, but I’m taking some steps in the right direction. Sometimes I like to look back before heading forward. I’m one of those guys who uses the past to provide perspective for what might be coming. Speaking of the past, I rearranged the Music page to include all the work I did on my joint album with Jason Rekker, called Distance.
I’ve been listening to these songs, and you can, too if you like. I’ll provide download links in the not-too-distant future, as well, because I’m not holding out hope of making any money off of them. Hearing my own youth and immaturity as a writer and singer in these songs is motivation for me to push myself to do better.
Following up on my first goal for the year, having a focused approach to writing, with set goals, I’ve decided on a few things:
- I’m going to write at least once per week, if not more, on this blog. Many times in setting goals, I go too far and set myself up for failure. If I’m going to stick with it, I need something attainable. Ever hear of S.M.A.R.T. goals?
- Even if it isn’t earth-shakingly profound, I’m still going to write. I mean, isn’t that part of it? How shall I improve I do not practice? It doesn’t matter if a particular blog post isn’t going to win me the Pulitzer. That will probably never happen to me, anyway! So why waste too much time thinking about it? Just write! Right?!
- Reading is part of writing, so I’m going to weave these two goals together. My reading goals are now set, as well, so I intend to improve as a writer by observing the writing of others, and to write about my observations in return. These goals will assist each other.
That’s it for now! In my next Wisdom Quest post, I will be writing about my 3rd goal for 2012, establish more regular reading habits.
– Chad