I’ve
always been told that one can be optimistic or pessimistic. But sometimes you can be both or at least
what I call a realist with optimism. You
can be hopeful, dream big, and choose to see the good in life and others BUT
you must also acknowledge certain realities:
·
We
all die.
·
Most
of life is filled with taxes, chores, obligations, errands.
·
The
odds usually are not in your favor – not at the casino, nor the lottery, nor
the big things in life.
·
We
live too often in fear, anger and loneliness – and not more in happiness,
laughter, and love.
·
Life
just doesn’t seem fair or make sense all of the time.
The
pessimist assumes the worst – and often finds it. The optimist blacks out the negatives and
pursues the positives, often falling short but feeling better about things than
others. So where does the reality of it
really fall into place?
We
each operate under our own standards – of what we value, like, and find worth
pursuing. At some point we reflect back
and wonder why we didn’t get all that we wanted, why others disappointed us,
and why life’s cruelties crept into our world.
Even those who are considered successful by one measure, may fall short
by others. Sometimes it seems the trick
to living life is to do so with no expectations, minimal obligations, and to
demand little of others.
But
we want more from life than to just get by, to merely avoid pain or avoid a
problem. We want to experience joy,
perhaps travel, accumulate things, have new experiences, and to expose
ourselves to amazing ideas.
Perhaps
this is where books come in. They can
self-medicate us.
Writing
books is an unbridled pleasure and the act of creating one is addictive and
contagious. As writers, we give a gift
to others while we get to experience pure ecstasy.
Reading
books is also a wonderful pleasure. We
can experience life safely and get exposed to the harsh realities of life without
paying a price, taking a risk, or experiencing pain. We can also see worlds of possibility, ones
that don’t yet exist but in the imagination of other writers. We can live in
their world without losing the one we really live in.
Can books,
collectively or even singularly, help us understand the true meaning of
life? Can any book provide the wisdom,
information and theories that we need in order to straddle a life that’s worth living?
Books
allow us a convenient escape but can they lead us to take action and build a
real world out of the imagined one? Let’s dream together – and wake up
together.
“The difference
between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between
lightning and a lightning bug.”
--Mark
Twain
“I don’t think
writers are comfortable in each other’s presence. We can talk, of course, for five minutes or
so, but I don’t think we want to socialize.”
--Joseph
Heller
“The good writing of
any age has always been the product of someone’s neurosis.”
--William
Styron
“This is what I find
most encouraging about the writing trades:
They allow lunatics to seem saner than some.”
--Kurt
Vonnegut
DON”T MISS THESE!!!
Should
all authors invest in book marketing or book publicity?
Yes, this is how you get your book reviewed
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Do you
think like a book marketer?
How
should authors sell themselves?
The keys
to great book marketing
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Authors Can Capture The Media’s Attention
Big Marketing Lessons From My All-Time
Top 10 Blog Posts
Enjoy New 2018 Author Book Marketing
& PR Toolkit -- 7th annual edition just released
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