Artistry With Words

More naps these days

So I was watching “America’s Got Talent” this past week . . . oops, before we get to that, we have this:

“Humans aren’t as good as we should be in our capacity to empathize with feelings and thoughts of others, be they humans or other animals on Earth. So maybe part of our formal education should be training in empathy. Imagine how different the world would be if, in fact, that were ‘reading, writing, arithmetic, empathy.” ‘ Neil deGrasse Tyson

So now, back to the show.  The last act of the night was some children’s choir from Detroit, Michigan.  It was a big choir, probably thirty kids of various ages, all lower-income, inner-city, underprivileged kids, all living in a dead-end part of a major U.S. city with very little hope for the future.

The choir director started the choir as a way of giving these kids something to do, something which would give them a sense of purpose, a sense of value, a distraction from the bleak existence they had been born into.  His mission was one of love, volunteer only, giving back in a way someone had given to him when he was a child.

The choir sang.  They sang beautifully, and then they were voted on to the next round and I swear, their reactions, well, about 4,000 people in that auditorium cried as did Bev and I.  I have no doubt most of those kids had never been on an airplane.  If I know anything about inner-city poverty, I’m willing to bet most of them had never been out of Detroit.  It is entirely possible that the trip to Hollywood, the performance, and the applause will be the highlight of their entire lives.

I’m telling you, it was impossible to watch that sequence and not feel elation for those kids.

That’s empathy, folks!  We need more of it, and as writers we need to call upon it to make our writing relatable and real.

TOTALLY UNRELATED

I was sitting down to continue working on my memoir, and the intro to a new “Shadow” book popped into my brain. I guess I’m now working on two books at once. I wish my muse would make up her mind!  LOL  “Shadows Across the Pond” is the working title.  I’m taking murder and mayhem over to Engliand.  Great fun!

Just some random thoughts on this Tuesday . . . have a great day unless you’ve made other plans.

Bill

“Helping writers to spread their wings and fly.”

Tags: writing tips

The heat slowly pushes northward, from the Simi Valley to the Redwoods, across the Rogue River to the Mighty Columbia, and finally to Olympia, capitol of Washington and home to new, and faded, dreamers.  Pushing the envelope, they say, record temps they say, an oddity for sure, clouds and heat, oppressive by mid-morning on this twelfth of June, a dog day afternoon approaching, thunder heads forming on the horizon, and time slows for us all.

Colors are muted in the heat.  Voices are quieter, movements slower, and chores cut short.  Children race through sprinklers or slide down sheets of plastic, road crews battle dust, visions of an iced cold one waiting at the end of their shift, and the elderly shed their coats and prepare for a game of chess in the park under spreading maples and elms.

Dogs call a postponement of all games, their tongues lagging, bees rejoice in the flowering berry bushes, hummingbirds are oblivious, wings beating furiously, and chickens head under the shed, not to be seen again until the cooling evening. Streets shimmer, wisps of white hang suspended from the heavens, and somewhere in the distance Mungo Jerry sings about summertime and women on his mind.

Memories of long ago, flip flops and drive-in movies, snow cones and sizzling burgers, bike rides with friends, all convinced the sun would never set on our multi-act play, “Help” by the Fab Four playing on  KJR, 950 on your dial but #1 in your hearts, long summer days, hot summer days, ball games and talking ‘bout girls, showing our plumage and not knowing a damned thing, clinging to a rapidly-fading innocence, hoping against hope, knowing it’s a fool’s game to do so, no chance at all of it all lasting.

Reminiscing plus a couple bucks will get you a cup of coffee, the truth of the matter, and yet the value of it is priceless as time grays the hair and shortens the stride.  We are the summation of those memories, walking, talking time machines, straight out of Jules Verne, with a few more miles of tread left on those tires, and memories can soothe us, keep us company when the summer fades and the shortened nights of winter wrap around us, stealing the heat needed for survival.  Those memories are peaceful now, their sharp edges worn smooth by time, and forgiveness, and they spread over me like my favorite toddler blanket of long ago.

Wishing for you all that same peacefulness!

Bill

“Helping writers to spread their wings and fly.”

Tags: writing tips

On the television news last night, they had a video of two guys who ran towards a burning car to pull out the woman driver.  They saved her life.

They ran TOWARDS a burning car.

There was also a story about Scot Peterson, the security cop in Florida who is going on trial for neglecting his duty during a mass shooting. He allegedly hid outside while the shootings occurred.

Two separate acts involving life and death situations. Two completely different reactions.

We are such complicated creatures!

In 1997 I was teaching middle school here in Olympia when one day we had a pretty sizable earthquake.  Light fixtures were swaying, desks toppled, you couldn’t stand up, that sort of earthquake, and it was scarier than hell.  I saw a student, who was outside on recess when the earthquake began, run into the school building to see if he could help someone.  I saw a teacher run outside screaming.

We are such complicated creatures!

Doing volunteer work in Louisiana, circa 1970, teaching the underprivileged how to read, I saw a “hanging tree” in New Iberia Parish.  You can guess why it was called “the hanging tree.”  I saw a group of black children walk unconcerned underneath that tree on the way to school.  Ten minutes later I saw a middle-aged white woman in a beautiful white gown step out of her car, kneel at the base of that tree, and say a prayer.

We are such complicated creatures!

Writers convey these things to their readers.  We make these scenes come alive for those who did not see them, or if it is fiction we present it in such a way that it seems real.  We give voice to the human condition,  and by doing so we form connections among us all.

Don’t you dare take for granted the abilities you’ve been given.

Bill

“Helping writers to spread their wings and fly.”

Tags: writing tips

“That which we are, we are.

One equal temper of heroic hearts,

Made weak by time and fate

But strong of will.

To strive, to seek, to find

And not to yield.”

I memorized those lines from “Ulysses,” the sprawling work by Tennyson, back in my college days.  They spoke to the younger version of me in 1969, and they speak to me today.

The human struggle we all face!

I was about two months removed from losing my father when I read those words.  “And not to yield” . . . my dad always told me growing up to never lose ground, that ground won should never be lost, to never retreat.  Tennyson’s words echoed the words of my dad, and even today they hold special meaning to me.

The human struggle we all face!

For me, as a creative writer, that is what writing is all about.  I seek to tap into that human condition, that human struggle, and give my readers something they can relate to.

For me, as a human being, that is what living is all about. I seek to tap into that human condition, that human struggle, and relate to others based on shared feelings and emotions.

We are all 95% similar and 5% different.

Why do we concentrate so hard on the differences?

Just random thoughts on a Friday morning.

Have a great week! I will leave you with more Tennyson:

“For ever and forever when I move.

How dull it is to pause, to make an end,

To rust unburnish’d, not to shine in use!”

Bill

“Helping writers to spread their wings and fly.”

Tags: writing tips