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Friday, April 26, 2013

C is for COURAGE_You Cannot Create Without Courage

 
I am called Wolf Howl.
 
Soon you will hear my words on what two-leggeds
call Audio.
 

 But first, I would speak to you here, for you are DreamSinger's friends.

To create truly, you must have ...

Bravery
 
Woohitike—(wo-oh-hee-tee-keh)   Having or showing courage
 
 
 
Fortunately, most of us will not have to experience combat,
but we will have to cope with life’s challenges and overcome its obstacles.
 
Schoolyard bullies, rush hour traffic, injury,
illness, indifference, our own sense of inadequacy, unemployment, indecision, racial prejudice,
physical disability—
 
the list is practically endless.
 
There is a nearly constant assault on our sense of well-being and self-esteem,
not to mention an occasional or even frequent threat
of bodily harm.
 
Such is life.
 
 
 
We come and go, but the land is always here.
And the people who love it and understand it are the people who
value the rare fragile treasures
that are their friends and their dreams
who live upon it for such a short time.
 
Sometimes a neighbor whom we have disliked a lifetime for his arrogance and conceit
lets fall a single commonplace remark
that shows us another side,
another man, really;
a man uncertain, and puzzled, and in the dark like ourselves.
 
 
Bravery is an essential virtue because life demands it.
 
Whether it is cancer, a broken heart, a lost opportunity,
a withering rejection, an approaching hurricane,
a tough decision, or a dark alley,
 
life will continually throw challenges at us.
Any challenge is also an invitation, a standing invitation:
 
To learn, to grow, to become better.
 
Use those challenges to become a better writer.
 
 
 
 The Lakota hunter/warrior was always on the lookout for a mature ash tree
 that had been struck by lightning.
 
Such a tree had been dried and cured in an instant by the awesome power of lightning,
 
and any bows made from it were by far the strongest.
 
Lightning-struck ash trees were rare,
but they were preferred because they had suffered
ultimate adversity,
 
and ultimate adversity produces ultimate strength.
 
 
 
How much do you love to write?
 
Where there is great love, there are always miracles.
 
Trust in the miracle.
 
Trust in the lessons of your life.
 
There are some things you learn best in calm,
and some in storm.
 
You have endured both
and so you, too, will endure.
 
What is any art
but a mold to imprison for a moment
the shining elusive element
which is life itself-
 
life hurrying past us and running away,
too strong to stop, too sweet to lose.
 
Let your fiction grow out of the lessons beneath your pain.
 
Have the courage to endure that pain,
and you will produce great fiction.

8 comments:

  1. If there will be a fourth book from me, it will require a miracle.

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  2. Alex:
    Never challenge the Will behind the world ... He has a way of taking it up! :-)

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  3. I have courage in some things, if they mean enough to me. Courage to stand up for the underdog (a habit that got me into trouble on some occasions), but not enough to kill that protective instinct.

    Courage today can be daunting, when so many just want to destroy.

    What a writer needs (IMO) is courage to believe in one's self. At least that's important to me.

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  4. D.G.:
    You and I are much alike. In school, I would say, "Hey, pick on somebody your size" to a bully and the bully would snarl,"You look my size." And the fight would be on! Ouch!

    With the world all too eager to knock us down, it does take courage to continue to believe in ourselves.

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  5. I am enjoying "The Last Shaman"!

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  6. Susan:
    I hoped you would. It comes out in audio in a month or two or three. :-)

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  7. I tend to have this odd desire to push past my worst fears. It's almost a compulsion with me, like an OCD in opposite world. I'm terrified of public speaking, yet I took drama all four years of high school. I was even more terrified to make a fool of myself in front of people, yet I got up and danced in front of judges when I didn't know what I was doing. I'm not sure if that has helped me or hurt me in life, but they are definitely experiences I can draw from. :)

    #atozchallenge, Kristen's blog: kristenhead.blogspot.com

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  8. Kristen:
    That impulse comes and goes with me, depending on how horrid the last time was! But psychologists will tell you that the way to diminish your fear is to continually confront it! Ouch!!

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