Category: Reflections

After an arduous week of work, it’s great to dine out on the weekend with friends or family. Once we’ve found a great restaurant, we know what we want on the menu and what we would like to try. We know what the service is like, as well as the quality of the food and what the prices are.

But to find a great restaurant is a process in itself. Sometimes when we show up at a restaurant we haven’t tried, the waiting time is long (isn’t it crazy when it’s an hour or more!) and who has time to wait that long to be seated?

We can search for restaurants online or hear about them through word of mouth. Reviews online can give us an indication as to what the service and food would be like. But we still need to go to the restaurant and try out the food to really know if it’s good. The experience can be a hit or a miss.

Trying out a restaurant is like taking a gamble on something. We don’t know the result until we try it. But that’s the at the expense of our wallet–and time.

But another question we might ask is if we really need to dine out or if we should dine in? This might depend on our budget, or if we prefer to cook at home. We might prefer to know know where the food came from, as well as how it was cooked.

The decision to dine in or dine out is one where we balance practicality and the yearning to eat outside our home. It’s great to be able to relax and socialize with friends or family at a restaurant if we’re feeling the need to get out of the house/apartment. Also, choosing the right place is important so that our experience isn’t spoiled by poor quality or service.

But it’s also great to eat at home, to put time and care into the preparation of the food we will eat. When we try a recipe for the first time and it turns out great (or maybe after multiple tries), it’s a wonderful sense of joy and accomplishment.

A motif in my book The Birnbaum Case (especially during the dream sequences) are the sounds of nature. By the sounds of nature, I mean the sounds of birds tweeting, critters crawling, grasshoppers chirping, leaves rustling, etc.

When I take walks outside, especially during the summer, these sounds create an ambiance where I become conscious of the diversity of life. They remind me that there are worlds, big and small, taking place behind the scenes, whether they be an insect colony or a bird’s nest.

Even the sound of running water or the grass and leaves rustling from the wind inspire me to extend my time walking. The sounds of nature are active, full of life, compared to the white noise of machines or the soft humming of the A/C vent.

When I’m outdoors, I feel that there is so much to explore and see that’s beyond my ability to grasp. When I look up close at leaves, branches or flowers, I find insects, strange patterns, and qualities that bear something profound and mysterious.

In contrast, when I’m driving on the road or walking inside of a building, I’m focused either on the signs, the music that’s playing (i.e. in the car), the people that are around me, or the architecture/interior design. Moreover, I’m focused on things I need to do or the places I need to go.

But when I’m outside, hearing the sounds of nature silences the noise of my busy world. I’m no longer in a hurry. I can be still and listen.

Which do you prefer? Which of these gets you ready for the day? 

Perhaps the question is more about needing caffeine or preferring a certain taste. 

Which of these jolts your nerves and sparks your creativity and productivity? 

Perhaps the need for caffeine is just a myth and all you need is a glass of cold water to start the day. 

Hmmmm . . .

I’m a coffee drinker—drink it almost every day unless I’m feeling ill. If I don’t get my coffee, I feel empty. It’s almost a necessity at this point—something I look forward to when I wake up. 

If I don’t get my cup of coffee, I feel like my day has been thrown for a loop. I won’t feel refreshed. Nothing seems right. My ability to function is off kilter.

It’s as if I’m going through a physiological reaction when I’m without coffee. I need it to satisfy my taste buds, my nervous system. And it’s not just having any kind of coffee. It has to be bold—dark. 

Decaf or medium just won’t do. Drinking those will feel like I took the wrong medicine. I’ll know because my nerves won’t be jolted, my mind won’t be as active. 

And the creamer has to be just right. It can’t be half and half or 2% or any of that nonsense. It has to be my preferred brand and flavor (sweet creamer). 

Once I have my cup of coffee (or two), my day will start off well. Even if I’m stuck in traffic or going through a rough morning, coffee will get me through it. The slow start won’t really matter so much, since I know I can sip it away. 

Summer is the season of travel and adventure and the outdoors. 

That season when we can spend all day hiking on trails and in the woods and explore nature up close in spite of bug bites and the blistering heat.

That time of year when the ocean waves draws us in, when the lake and rivers tempt us to jump in, and we don’t want to leave the cool waters. 

That time of year when we blast the A/C in our homes and cars and then go outside into the hot summer sun like there’s no tomorrow. 

That time of year when the birds and insects and critters roam freely from sunup until sundown, and when the greenery calls us to sightsee and relax in the shade as we delight in nature’s arms.   

Spring is the season when the flowers begin to bloom, when trees begin to sprout, when the insects come out to pollinate and get some fresh air. 

That time when allergy season is in full effect, causing our to eyes itch and our noses to run and sneeze. That time when we take Benadryl or Claritin as if our life depended on them. 

That time of year when the weather warms up, but when it’s also cold, and we’re not sure what to wear outside.

That time of year when we start our plans for the summer, when the weather gets warmer week after week, when there is so much promise in the days to come. 

That time of year when the insects and critters crawl out from their burrows, when they welcome the greenery once again.

Waking up early or late has relative meaning based on people’s schedule. Early for some people can be 7 a.m., while that time can be late for others if they need to wake up earlier (i.e. 6 a.m.). Thus, waking up early means before one is scheduled to wake up, and waking up late is after one is scheduled to wake up.

Waking up early or late in the morning has a tremendous affect on our attitude for the rest of the day. For me, waking up early is a struggle, but once I’m awake, I have a lot more time in the day. I feel that there is less pressure to finish things, and I’m glad that I can get a head start. Overall, I start the day off positive.

When I wake up late, I’m more rested, but ironically, I have less time in the day to accomplish things. I’m more hasty in my work, rushing to get things done. And when it’s close to the afternoon, half the day is already over, and it’s a race to get anything finished. Overall, I start off the day feeling rested, but then become anxious when I realize how much there is to do.

I prefer waking up early because I like to get started on work and writing early in the morning. In the morning, it is quiet, and it’s easier to concentrate. After I drink coffee, I’m fully awake and ready to start the day. With an early start, I feel that I can get ahead in my work, and can relax and take my time with the rest of the day if I finish things early.

In the past, I mostly read on the couch, though I could read just about anywhere (even in the car). But more often than not, it had to be a place where I was comfortable and where I wouldn’t feel sore or achy after a long read. I would read for about a half hour or an hour, or until I finished a chapter or two. If I was really engaged in the book, I’d read for two hours or more or until I got hungry.

I couldn’t read with noise in the background. For example, if the TV were on or if there was music playing, I couldn’t concentrate in the least. The noise would distract me or grab my attention. The world that I was trying to create in my mind as I read would disintegrate into thin air. I needed silence to read.

For each person, there is a preference for a good place to read. For some, it might be at their bed or their desk. Some might even prefer to read outside, such as on a deck, porch, or even in the park.

More recently, as I was waiting for my car to be serviced, I finished a book on my iPad as I read underneath a tree. It was a calming and relaxing experience, since it felt nice to get some fresh air while I read.

I feel like I could read anywhere so long as I’m comfortable with where I’m reading at. Nowadays, I’ve been reading a lot more at my desk, since it’s also where I write from. I find that a really engaging books can pull me into a world that transcends time and space–and where I in turn, forget time and space as well.

When I take short breaks, I go outside for a walk to get fresh air or do something such as organize, clean, or exercise to get my mind off the thing that I’m struggling with. I do something where my mind is focused on something else aside from the story I’m writing so that I can get a new perspective on it when I return.

Once I do that, it’s as if I’m looking at the story from a new mindset. I’m suddenly able to fill in the gaps and clarify concepts. I might even get an epiphany that can change the course of the story and improve it.

It’s hard to take breaks sometimes because we want to finish what we’ve started. There’s a negative feeling associated with leaving something unfinished. It’s as if it’ll be worse off if we don’t finish it or that it won’t get done.

Perhaps it’s one of those things where we were taught from an early age that we had to finish our homework before we could take a break or get a reward (such as watching TV or going outside). If we say that we’re going to finish it later, the likelihood of us doing so will be curtailed by other things that come up throughout the day.

But with writing, taking a break can lead to creative inspiration and finding solutions. Writing requires a plethora of ideas, many of which won’t be used by the time the story/work is done (by work, I mean essay, letter, report, etc.).

In stepping away from a work, it lets new ideas formulate in a subconscious way. It’s as if we can see the whole picture again–the outline–the mind map–rather than a specific idea that we got hung up on.

There comes a point where something isn’t working and we can’t progress in our work. Instead of fixating on what we’re stuck on, we need to step away, to take a short break, so that we can see the other ideas that we unwittingly ignored.

When we return to our work, we might get that feeling of “why didn’t I think of that in the first place?” or “how could I have not seen that?” And the simple answer is that we’re not cognizant of the solutions/ideas until we stop what we’re doing and let them in.

Would it be possible to express a picture in one word? How about two? How might that look like in a picture? Does a picture of a letter, such as the letter “a”, represent a thousand words? How about a picture of a number such as “0”?

This phrase is certainly a commentary on the speculative imagination of the viewer–the gaps they fill in when they look at a picture. The story (or stories) they create to make sense of the image and bring it to life, since the image is undoubtedly static–frozen in time.

A scenic image of a landscape may conjure thousands of words that describe the season or the atmosphere of that environment, but the picture evokes emotions as well. And it’s hard to describe any emotion with just words when it’s something that’s not simply read, but felt and experienced.

Words and images essentially have different functions. Words require us to think abstractly or to use our imagination to perceive a reality that’s separate from the physical world. Images, however, are a visual representation of thoughts and emotions. They are perceived directly without the buffer of words.

Images can be manifestations of words, and words can be manifested as images via the mind or art. Whereas the former provides the visual experience, the other asks us to actively create it.

Compare reading a 1,000 word description/caption of a painting to observing the painting. It’s certainly not the same experience, and I think the quote misses the point when we observe a work of art. Although we can come up with a thousand words that describe or provide a narrative for the image, it’s how we respond to it–in a visceral sense–that cannot be summed up in words.

When I go to the library, I would find a book cover or title that I like, take it from the shelf, read a sentence or two in the first chapter, and if it really grabbed me, continue reading it. If it didn’t grab me, I would put it back, keep browsing, and then flip through another book that caught my attention. The process would repeat until I found something I’d be happy to check out.

It’s kind of finding a treasure chest that’s meant for you. I’m sure there are tons of books I’ve glanced at that didn’t interest me but would interest other people. But when you find a book that speaks to you, it’s like meeting a new friend. You’ve just got to search.