Hi Folks! hope you're having a splendid week and that your Wednesday is filled with wonder!
Shout out to all the men and women who laid down their lives for our freedom, let’s not forget it so fast.
“ If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.”
Here is this week’s best stuff hot off the presses.
Numero Uno: This week's wonder’ings
Context is everything.
There were two reasons I switched my major from biology to literature two years into my undergrad. The first was just so that I could be part of the semester abroad program offered to the Lit Majors in Oxford England (who wouldn’t want to do that) and the second was because literature was one of the only subjects I could really relate to. Let me explain. I did not like writing essays, I was and, am still, terrible at spelling, and formatting, footnoting, knowing which genre is which, using run-on sentences, knowing what an adverb is, and all that sort of stuff… I did not choose my major for the iambic pentameters or the styles of literary critique. I stumbled my way through all of this stuff for the simple reason that I liked stories and they were the only thing that seemed to be actually relevant to my life.
In my second year of university, I took a course on Tolkien and Lewis from a guest professor from Italy who opened my eyes to the relevance of literature as something that we can really use in our own lives. He explained that through stories we can come to know ourselves, we can come to situate ourselves in the world and figure out where we are coming from and where we are going. In short, stories can give context to our lives, they can set a backdrop upon which we can move and make meaning.
Have you ever seen how they film certain movie scenes against a “green screen” so they can later change the background? Well, it can look pretty silly when you see them acting out the scene without the relevant backdrop, there is no context for what they are doing...Well, that’s kind of like our lives without context; without narratives and stories our lives can become a series of seemingly meaningless antics, without the right backdrop we don’t who we are, where we are, or why we are doing what we are doing. For me, Literature was not just a subject it was a lens through which to interpret life.
Are things going badly in your life? Maybe this is just a dark chapter. Do you not know where you are going? Maybe you are just early in the adventure. Have you fallen from grace or dramatically failed? Maybe you are the one who shows people that redemption is real.
Where ever you are in life there is great value in “mythologizing yourself”, and you probably do this already at some level without realizing it, and if not there is a simple exercise to start.
What are your favorite movies, stories, and books? Write them down. Why do you like them? Chances are you relate strongly to a character or characters in that story. Why do you relate to them? Write it down. What would it look like in your life if you emulated what you are drawn to in that character? Write it down, and then go do something about it.
Without context, we can become aimless, lost, and confused. But the context for your life is only one story away so go find it.
Numero Dos: My Weekly Creativity Tip/Challenge.
Ok, I am excited to be testing something out this week and I want to challenge you to join me. Starting this Friday, November 12th there are 50 days left in 2021. How has your year been? good? bad? It doesn’t matter because this challenge is going to make the rest of 2021 even better. I want to invite you to join “Spoke50” a daily video challenge for the remainder of the year.
Have you wanted to be more creative, wanted to progress on your ideas, wanted to build something, write something, talk about something, just do something different? Now is your chance. The rules are simple you must record and upload 1 five minute video per day to youtube.com. It can be about anything, the weather, a book you read, a podcast you liked, a funny thing that happened that day, something you want to learn about, food you ate… whatever. The goal is not to make good videos the goal is just to make and publish something consistently for 50 days, at the very least you will get over being self-conscious about being on camera and at best maybe you will get the first draft of your best selling book out of your head and into the world… there’s only one way to find out, stop being woke and started being spoke with the spoke50 challenge where we go from ideas to action and exercise those creative muscles with simple daily repetition. I am doing this whether or not anyone joins, but if this appeals to you respond to this email and I will invite you to the slack group where I will be sharing my videos each day as will you. The train is leaving the station this Friday, so time to get out of your comfort zone and make something happen.
One more thing, I am adding a little incentive for those who want in, we each put up 50 bucks, and each day you miss you lose a dollar. In the end, you get back a dollar for every video you made and the winner or winners get to split the remaining pot.
Numero Tres: A side hustle idea you can start today.
Short and sweet today. Tis’ The season go rake leaves. I have done my fair share of fall cleanups and it’s hard work but it can be good money. Throw up an ad on Kijiji, craigslist, marketplace, or any other site like this. And go rake some leaves, you should be able to do at least 30 bucks an hour and you can just bag the leaves and leave them at the location usually, so you only need a rake and some paper bags… for a few hundred extra dollars per week and some fresh air it’s not bad.
Numero Quatro: Person or Thing That Inspired Me This Week
In the spirit of Context, This week is Remembrance Day (or Veteran’s day)
Shout to my Grandpa John Corkery who served overseas in the heavy artillery unit in World War II, You were an example of gentle self-sacrifice and humble heroism, thanks.
Numero Cinco: Song I am loving right now
Awesome spin-off a timeless song. Got this one on repeat.
**Warning** You will feel high if you watch the video, to this point I have not hallucinated on any substance but I imagine it would be something like this video…
On that note, I am pretty interested in micro dosing and want to learn more about it, have you done it? I would be interested in your experience…
Enjoy.
Well folks that's all for this week's edition of the Society for a Wonder’ing mind. Where nothing is off-topic and we chase meaning, beauty, purpose, and profit wandering and wondering the whole time.
I love hearing from you guys, so if you have any thoughts let me know! Love it? Hate it? Can’t be bothered with it… let me know what you would like to hear more or less of and I’ll do my best!
Yours in context,
Ben