Last weekend, Deb, Tara and I were part of a volunteer effort to clean up some lanes in Hamilton. Our lane wasn’t originally on the list, but it got added when Deb decided to volunteer. Our job was to set up a table and the organizers would bring some supplies. We would organize the volunteers…
Every morning for the last couple of months I’ve picked 5 things to be grateful for. Sometimes they repeat. I mean, the things we’re REALLY grateful for, we’re really grateful for! So why wouldn’t they repeat? Sometimes they’re big. Like being grateful for Deb, my wife. And Caileigh, Keaton, and Tara, my kids. Come to…
You will hear me refer to Resistance a lot in this blog. Steven Pressfield coined the term for that “intelligent, active, malign force” that works against us when we endeavour to create something. He defines it clearly in his book The War of Art and elaborates a bit more in his book Turning Pro. But…
One of the mantras I’ve been repeating for the past few weeks is “Progress not Perfection”. I’m sure it has been said by many people, but I most recently heard it from Marie Forleo. Whenever I’m getting beaten up by Resistance and I’m getting distracted from doing work, those three words give me hope. And…
After publishing yesterday’s post about writing a daily post for the next thirty days, I had a nagging feeling. Had I done this before? I searched my site and discovered that I had attempted this seven years ago, almost to the day! I had forgotten about that previous attempt. And it was unsuccessful. I made…
Seth Godin has suggested for years that people should write a daily blog. He says that “Even if no one reads your blog, the act of writing it is clarifying, motivating and (eventually) fun.” A daily blog? In the past few years, I haven’t even averaged a monthly blog! The thought of coming up with…
In February, my son announced that he was thinking of traveling through Mexico for a month. His plans weren’t firm yet but he was thinking of it. I tried to dissuade him from that idea. Canadian tourists get killed in Mexico, I told him. I had an irrational fear of Mexico. I wasn’t afraid of…
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about how long it took to write the first draft of a play I’m working on. I said it was an interesting question. I recently finished the second draft of the same play. How long did it take? It’s still an interesting question… I finished the first draft…
For almost three years my friend Mike and I would post our daily weight in the hopes of encouraging each other to lose weight. We didn’t diet, but just tried to be aware of our eating. In those 34 months, our weights went down and went up. Eventually, we started marking who had lost the…
“How long does it take you to write a draft of play?” she asked. Such an interesting question! How long does it take to create something? If I take a look at the play I’m currently working on, A Killing at the Cottage (AKATC), it took me 8 hours of writing to complete the first…
peter gruner 