My blog post A Positive End To A Shitty Week initiated several conversations in my house as well as online. One conversation happened via text message and went something like this:
“I love that blog post. I am on a mission to find JOY. Your picture grabbed me. So glad you listed to your gut and went. Love the JOY. That word is so powerful. Not so simple actually”.
This was just one of the conversations and it sparked so many thoughts.
My wife Jessica is fond of saying
“What you put out into the world is what you receive.”
This conversation happens frequently when I “Road Rage” while driving from point to point. When I am in a hurry or just frustrated with traffic, my raging doesn’t have any real effect. It simply makes me rage event more. If I put out rage, I get rage in return, the rage fuels itself. I contrast this with when Jess and I head out for leisurely “drives in the country. ” These drives have no real destination or schedule and I find my self at peace when on these trips. Road rage be gone! I have been using this technique when driving now. I try and drive with peace, calm and understanding. This makes my these trips more pleasant and calm for everyone involved.
There are more experiences that come to mind when thinking about what vibes I put out in the world. When I started as editor in chief of Code Magazine I tended to write my editorials with a good dose of snark. That was until my good friend and publisher Markus Egger IM’d me and made a recommendation that my editorials should take a more positive tone vs the snarky ones I was cranking out. I took this to heart and have written some 100+ editorials since, all the while trying to put positive energy into the world. What I have now is a legacy of positive material that is in the world permanently. Which leads me to another story that has stuck with me.
My friend Scott Hanselman has been blogging for 20+ years and one particular post has stuck with me: Don’t Give Bile A Permalink This post fits perfectly with my theme for this post and has some very valuable points of discussion. The blog post is lengthy and worth a read, but it’s the headline that stuck out the most. When writing (or posting online) do you want to leave a mark of negativity in the world (bile) or leave a positive mark? I am in the later category. I can say without reservation that Scott definitely walks his talk! If you read his posts, watch his videos or see him speak, you can see that he exerts positive energy into the world. His is an example to live by and a beautiful legacy
Now let’s contrast this with some of the other energies being put out into the world. There is an entire industry built around spreading rage into the world. This industry is 24-7-365 and is relentless in turning rage and anger into cash and clicks. I have good friends on social media that I must mute/ignore because their entire being is spreading rage and frustration via with memes, reposts and retweets. These items do nothing to move conversations forward or add positive energy into the world. These people are pissed for the sake of being pissed this is something that choose NOT to participate in. I choose to be positive. They have a choice too. Heck maybe they will read this and will reflect on what they put out into the world. One can only hope!
The last few weeks have been a time of reflection and introspection for me. I was feeling burned out and miserable and decided I needed to make some changes. One of these changes was to restart my dedication to doing Morning Pages . For one reason of another I stopped doing this regularly and this had a negative impact on my mentality. Not doing this was affecting my: work, life, and creativity. A few weeks back I began anew and the positivity that it brought for so long returned. One of the most positive affects was that it got me writing again which is something I greatly enjoy and sorely missed.
There are other behaviors I am reincorporating as well. One is to refocus on my health. I try and get a 1-3 mile walk in daily. Getting out of the house is good for my mental state even if its only for a short duration. I am always surprised at that. It works so I’ll keep on that 🙂
I am also focusing more of my energy on writing, both professionally and personally. I have been a writer for most of my life and when I am not writing I feel like a bit lost. I have lot to say in case you haven’t guessed. So I have been writing more and more. I have been blogging, writing articles, working on screenplays, and have just started on another book. This is not to toot my own horn but to illustrate how pursuing your own interests can bring joy to your own soul as well as others. Hopefully like this blog post.
I hope this post find you well as we wrap up 2022 and that maybe it brings you a small amount of joy. Or better yet that it brings you joy that you can share with the world. We can all use more!