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Once upon a time I read Rich Dad Poor Dad which despite the financial advice being very outdated I recommend giving a read to if simply for one principal he talks about “pay yourself first”.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.
Survival Tip #283
Yeah bet you thought you were done with these! Not so fast.
The thing about writing post-apocalyptic stories is you look to find how far you can push a character and have them still hold onto their humanity. In my series there are two ways it can go…a character can go primal, losing their humanity, or they can become primed finding their end of the world self.
In my younger years I thought this was something that only existed in works of fiction. The older I’ve become the more I see it was a real world trait. The decisions people are faced with every day can change the course of their life.
So this tip is know your line before you get to it.
Nada compliment or a compliment
“You’re a bridge. Women date you and they go from where they are to where they need to be” sort of a more poetic version of good luck chuck I suppose. True or false I’m not quite sure, insult or not, I’m also not sure. But it is a statement I take some pride in as I try to think it means I have a positive difference in the lives of those I date and help them find their way to the people they need to be for the right person(that or I’m such a horrendous partner that after me they will settle for anything)
Justin Kassab 