So while we are all stuck at home, don’t forget to go start your car every couple of days if you’re someone who was driving daily. Let it run for a bit. Last thing you want is a dead car if you need to move quickly.
Rich dad poor dad
Once upon a time I read Rich Dad Poor Dad which despite the financial advice being very outdated I recommend giving a read to if simply for one principal he talks about “pay yourself first”. Now being a poor writerly type I am that’s rarely applied to me in the money sense but I do try to put it to use each day in a different way.
While we are all stuck at home in whatever capacities we are I use this for taking care of myself. I pay myself first before working for others. This means I put my work out before all. It’s too easy for me to sit down at the computer and get lose at the rabbit hole of work, so first thing every day is a work out.
In these times I highly recommend it, you’ll be surprised how much working out can improve your stay at home experience.
Ten years
It’s been ten years since I first started working on The Primal Age Chronicles. That’s roughly 1/3 of my life. In two more years it could have a high school diploma. This chair has been with me since the beginning.
It’s weird at this moment. After a year away my characters are quiet. I don’t hear them and they aren’t speaking to me. I’m struggling to feel what they feel, and am mildly worried.
But I’ll keep putting words on the page and seeing how long it takes for them to return from their neglect.
Perspective
Remember to keep perspective in times like these. A year ago I wrecked my car and spent months laid up in bed. No tv. No reading. No computer. No working out.
This morning I went for a five mile jog on my treadmill while watching a movie followed by playing with my dog and now writing this on a screen.
I’m not trying to discredit what anyone else is going through at this time. I understand the worries of being without hourly income, or being stuck at home in a bad situation so I’m not trying to say this is all rainbows and sunshine.
Just keep in mind there are positives to every day, quarantine or not.
Clean your bathtub
So you need something to do to pass your down time? Clean your bathtub. That will allow you to store another few gallons of water in a quarantine. Boiling is recommended.
It’s okay to be afraid
I just wanted to remind everyone in times like these it is okay to be afraid. To be afraid for yourself and to be afraid for others is okay. But acting out of fear is not okay. Acting out of fear is panic and is far more dangerous than any situation. Take a moment, a deep breathe even, process that fear, then find a logical forward motion to commit to.
Coming together
It’s easy to watch the news or social media and see the bad in this situation. And I’m not talking about the obvious bad that Covid-19 is, but the bad in us as humans. Fist fights over toilet paper and what now. But the news always writes the negative and history will write the positive.
The positive is what I look for in all of this. I have haven’t ever seen the world galvanized like this in my life. I can remember 9/11 as a kid and how patriotic we were for a while after but I’ve never seen it on the global front.
History will remember that. It will remember the Chinese medical staff heading to help in Italy. It’ll remember the countless people who have been getting groceries for elderly relatives and neighbors. The amount of classes and content being given away for free to make this solitude a little more bearable. Even the amount of FaceTime hours logged between friends, families and even strangers to make this confinement better.
When you’re letting the news fill you with the negative remember the positive, and if you can’t remember the positive, then it’s time to be the positive.
I guess this means I’m back
So, here we are and here I am. Stay tuned.
So to clarify everyone keeps asking me about the Primal Age and Covid and I’ve reached my John Wick point. If you don’t get the reference here’s a link to help.
What this means is I’ll be returning to daily posts.
I’m about to be a nonfiction writer
Take that one star review that said no one would be dumb enough…
#foamers #theprimalagechronicles
Some days you just have to remember
It’s been a long…I’m not sure what time frame works. The car accident was back in March, for those of you following I’m recovering well.
But of late I’ve been working on some projects(back to my roots with some screenplays, still need more brain capacity before returning to the primal age). Tonight it was about 9pm when I sat down to write. With the full time jobs and part time jobs I like to be in bed at a decent hour these days. And I really really really didn’t want to sit down and write.
There’s projects needing done and deadlines looming, but I wasn’t feeling it.
So I did something I hadn’t done in 7 years. I listened to my old prewriting playlist. As that went through I found my way back to that writer version of me.
I can’t promise my words were anything of legacy or legend tonight, but by taking a few minutes to remember who I am I was able to hit my page count.
So, if you’re out there tonight, feeling stressed or tired, thinking more about your mortgage than your goals, take a moment and remember who you are.
Justin Kassab 