tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8624302039838757491.post3922609029232165017..comments2024-03-29T01:34:01.092-06:00Comments on What Happened to the Wallflower: Dreams and Nightmares of the Stupidly OptimisticRae Oestreichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11102209066412105186noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8624302039838757491.post-3356744898621182972014-11-18T11:35:28.833-07:002014-11-18T11:35:28.833-07:00Thanks so much, Chris!Thanks so much, Chris!Rae Oestreichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11102209066412105186noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8624302039838757491.post-39940444612686619272014-11-16T15:26:46.006-07:002014-11-16T15:26:46.006-07:00Thank you thank you! Glad you liked it!
I write w...Thank you thank you! Glad you liked it!<br /><br />I write words and I read words to lose myself in the infinite within. It's a distinct pleasure which I am thrilled we share.<br /><br />I must say too that I am slightly jealous of your ease with grammar. Your writing flows like conversation, pivots like a twirling ballerina, and carries us along with emotion and imagery. I like it a lot!Christopherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16423688899751559332noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8624302039838757491.post-44565224953205017542014-11-14T20:55:50.807-07:002014-11-14T20:55:50.807-07:00"And you will have the last laugh on the joke..."And you will have the last laugh on the joker." Amen :)<br /><br />You are just downright poetic sometimes, Chris. It's really beautiful to read your words, partly because they're put together so well and partly because they're all true. Thank you :)<br /><br />Also: "Failure or success means nothing." This is so true; while it would be fantastic to succeed at this weird endeavor, I think a good majority of the satisfaction comes from simply doing and creating. For me, escaping from reality for a short time is worth all of the fears.Rae Oestreichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11102209066412105186noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8624302039838757491.post-65814774862861056922014-11-14T20:50:48.974-07:002014-11-14T20:50:48.974-07:00"As a writer we're expected to have this ..."As a writer we're expected to have this infinite pool of optimism from which to draw upon..."<br /><br />I completely agree with you on this, Brett. Mostly because, after awhile, it becomes easy to accept a rejection and move on, but that's all that the outside sees. Nobody sees how much it tears you up on the inside; and it is hard. To keep working, and moving forward. It's a challenge.<br /><br />And the comment about when people say "write if you enjoy it" is spot on, too. Because it's not just a hobby; it's not something most of us can just stop doing and be happy. And it's also not something that's always enjoyable, since half the time I'm banging my head against the wall in an effort to shake something out.<br /><br />I think one of the best parts, though, is the fact that none of us are alone. There's an incredible community out there where we can share these fears with each other and know that everyone else has had an experience that's similar, and seeing others work through it is downright inspirational.<br /><br />Thanks for reading and sharing!Rae Oestreichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11102209066412105186noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8624302039838757491.post-55091794901917297532014-11-14T01:40:52.715-07:002014-11-14T01:40:52.715-07:00Dear Rae,
A most interesting post.
I'll put ...Dear Rae,<br /><br />A most interesting post.<br /><br />I'll put on my guru hat, sit in the lotus position, and guide you through a little meditating first.<br /><br />Listen to this video while reading this post, as I listened to it while I wrote it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjEG808MfF4<br /><br />Empty your mind and let her voice fill your ears.<br /><br />Ready?<br /><br />Your happiness does not depend on your circumstance, what people think of you, whether they feel proud of you. <br /><br />Your happiness depends on how you see yourself. <br /><br />Your happiness does not depend on where you are, who you are with, who you are without, or where you are not.<br /><br />Your mind and your body live according to very ancient rules, rules millions of years in the making. <br /><br />Just as you cannot stop your skin from sweating when you are warm,<br /><br />Just as you cannot stop your muscles from shivering when you are cold,<br /><br />You cannot stop the mind from worrying. <br /><br />The mind, your mind, wants many things, many contradictory, many desultory, exquisite, and required things. <br /><br />You cannot be happy by making others happy. <br /><br />You cannot be happy by making yourself happy.<br /><br />You can only be happy by accepting you as you are.<br /><br />Without reserve, without hesitation, without second-thought.<br /><br />Embrace yourself. Know yourself. Accept yourself. <br /><br />There is no Good, no Bad, no Evil. <br /><br />There is no smart, no dumb, no strong, no weak.<br /><br />There is only you, complex life, emergent personhood from biological systems.<br /><br />There is only you. <br /><br />Failure or success means nothing.<br /><br />You are an organism among many, among a multitude, among an immensity.<br /><br />We see the stars in the sky as single points of light, faint, shimmering, easily eclipsed by brighter objects.<br /><br />Yet up close, each one would fill the sky with brilliant light. <br /><br />Up close, each one would consume the earth and all that is in it. <br /><br />Up close, each one is massive and complex and unfathomably powerful. <br /><br />Such we are as well. <br /><br />30 trillion cells in the human body means there are more objects in one human being than there are objects in our galaxy. <br /><br />They coordinate to form your body and your mind, and they form you. <br /><br />Realise you are you as you are, and you will be happy. <br /><br />Then, when your mind is in the place of calm, write, and your writing will shine to fill the mind of the reader with brilliant light.<br /><br />And you will have the last laugh on the joker.<br /><br />Christopherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16423688899751559332noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8624302039838757491.post-86352347058722581432014-11-13T14:50:36.634-07:002014-11-13T14:50:36.634-07:00I had written a reply, then Firefox crashed, so he...I had written a reply, then Firefox crashed, so here it is again.<br /><br />Very heartfelt and moving post, I think I could have written the exact same section for nightmares (except for the Joker bit. That *is* weird). <br /><br />As a writer we're expected to have this infinite pool of optimism from which to draw upon, to always shrug off the endless rejections (or simply expired queries), as though they're nothing. But each one of those hurts, and no matter how many times agents say it's 'not personal', to the writer on the receiving end, it feels pretty darn personal.<br /><br />And that pool gets shallower each time you take a sip. Five agents becomes ten agents, becomes twenty, becomes publishers too, and still you have to smile and say 'it doesn't bother me'. But there's always that fear under the surface that eventually you'll have to put that book aside and tell yourself the world wasn't ready for it, or whatever bull will get you to sleep at night, but the fear returns again and tells you that *every* book will be like this. Play the numbers, what makes you think you're one of the dozen or so that will get published this year?<br /><br />"Write if you enjoy it" is what outsiders say, as though it's some simple tap you turn on and off, and when it becomes tiresome you can just abandon the venture. It's part of who you are, and I don't write because I enjoy it (I do, mostly), I write to get published. A very clear goal in my mind. And yet, to this day, except for a handful of internet people who tell me I can write well, I have no official backing or promise of that goal becoming reality. That font of optimism is the only thing driving me onward, which is ironic because I call myself a realist (which is a fancy pessimist).<br /><br />So yes, I completely understand your fears and you're definitely not alone in having them, and I think most active writers would agree with it too.Brett Michael Orrhttp://brettmichaelorr.comnoreply@blogger.com