I thought his advice on living life was fun. Many of us haven't experienced a lot. Now, we pretend to visit the world or fall in love by escaping our lives and watching films or fooling ourselves into thinking we have many friendships when all we do is chat on Facebook. How can we describe a sunset if we haven't seen one with our own eyes? I think this is great advice for our generation, as well as the upcoming generation. Although I like to think I'm lucky because I have travel a number of places, I wonder now if I gained the knowledge I should have from my experiences. If I truly opened up to the world the way I could have.
I laughed to see that my choice of profession was the "worst possible choice" (2) for writers to escape poverty. I never thought of myself as a writer first, so maybe I'm off the hook. :) One of my favorite pieces of advice was on page 3. He writes, "There is nothing more creative than loving somebody. And nothing will make you a better writer." We need to be vulnerable to life. Experience it. Loving someone can be bigger than a boyfriend of girlfriend. Love those around you. Love by spending time with the elderly. Love by cooking with an aunt. Love by traveling with a roommate. Love by writing letters to an old friend. Love by playing hide-and-go-seek with kids. Make moments. By allowing ourselves as humans to interact with one another and being vulnerable to the idea of creating relationships, we will grow in knowledge and experiences. I adored that advice and hopefully can act on it.
-Angela Payaban
I agree with you on the second paragraph you wrote. It is sad and true that our generation--and that of babies born in the early 2000s--is hooked and glued to the television. We escape our lives in any way possible. I, too, consider myself lucky to have traveled so many places! I love getting out there and doing things, and I'm glad this contributes to my being a writer.
ReplyDeleteI, too, chose the worst possible profession to pursue. But for my imaginative and sensitive mind, it is impossible to try to be something else. I tried the medical field and found it awful: cold, white, and smelling of formaldehyde. So, I will stick with my choice and use it as an opportunity to read, write, teach, and travel.
--Laura Strawn Ojeda
Angela, as usual, your post is the one I resonate with most. Life. Live it. I totally agree. Some of the best decisions I've made were because I chose to live life, which isn't always the safe or easy choice. Recently, Professor Fordham's assignment to live a story has been pacing my head. I think I haven't been doing that enough, and that's one of the most valuable pieces of advice–even if it was through an assignment. That's part of really living.
ReplyDeleteYour reflections on love, too. Out of all of us, I think you're the one most qualified to talk about this. You have the most authority on the subject, I'd say, as I look to you and what you do and how you treat people as strong evidences of the claims you make. Yes, love is part of writing. It's interesting that I haven't really thought of that before, even though it seems obvious.
-Alexander Hirata