A peek inside…

I was writing at the coffee shop recently.  Sharing my opinions and observations has been part of my weekly routine since 2009.  At the coffee shop I was reminded of a topic I first wrote about in 2015.  I thought it would be fun to reshare it today. 

From the beginning I have been conscious on how long it takes me to say what I have to say – or better said – I worry about the impatience of my readers. 

I posted recently about “throwing more words at it” (see Land the Plane).  Since I know I can be verbose when I write my blogs I pay attention to exactly how many words it takes to express myself.  Let me offer you a peek inside… 

600.  The number of words that comprise my posts is 600 – exactly.  Not 599; not 601; each blog must be 600 words.  Truth be told I bang out an initial draft on a particular topic in less than an hour.  Then I typically spend 6-7 more hours editing; re-writing; word-smithing; eliminating words until (A) I like the piece, (B) I think there’s a chance you will enjoy it too, and (C) it is exactly 600 words.  Welcome to my world. (LOL!) 

OK we’re 208 words in, still reading?  I like sharing my personal experiences and observations of this thing we’re engaged in called “life”.  It’s not for self-promotion and certainly not for monetary gain (I haven’t figured out how to peddle these pieces… yet).  I do wonder sometimes whether I’m being read, and if so why: 

People who read me seem to be divided into four groups; Twenty-five percent like me for the right reasons; 25 percent like me for the wrong reasons; 25 percent hate me for the right reasons.  It's the last 25 percent that worries me. 

Robert Frost 

It’s all good, though.  Writing is my way of “thinking out loud”.  I like to pose situations to my readers. Then you can:

·         Read about it briefly (600 words briefly)

·         Quickly decide if it’s of interest

·         And if it is, allow you to observe my thoughts so you can;

o   Determine if I am a blithering idiot offering nothing more than a little comic relief in your day

o   Make you feel good that if I was able to make a living being as inept as you believe I am, there is hope for you

o   Invoke you’re knowledge and experience with the situations I write about helping you to come to the conclusion, “Nice try Gary, that’s not how it works; what you should have done was thus and so…”

o   And as a result provide you the service of reinforcing in your mind what not to do in certain circumstances, which is of equal value 

Sometimes, I might even offer sound advice based on something my wife refers to as common sense and good judgment.  My wife would say I don’t have much of the former, but I believe I have learned where good judgement originates: 

Good judgement comes from experience.  Experience comes from bad judgement. 

Unknown Sage 

Of course, I hope my readers don’t take my judgements too seriously: 

Do not condemn the judgment of another because it differs from your own.  You may both be wrong. 

Dandemis 

So there you have it; for better or worse; a 600 word peek inside the process and the paradigm behind these little ditties.  I hope you enjoyed. 

GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.