There have been so many dreams, aspirations, plans and intentions. In my life I have met so many great people, like you and me, who have been imagining their future, preparing the boat, planning the course. The complaint is always the same: if I only had more time, I would learn to play the piano, I would start writing a book, create a family tree or start a new project. This desire is bouncing all over the canyon walls of our busy lives—loud and clear but strangely dismissed.
Now most of us, those who are not fighting on the frontlines of this epidemic, are staying at home and wondering what to do with our time! Of course, there is the madness of TV watching as if the next news item will bring us some sort of relief. No, it won’t, even when things get better. This is the business of bad news and there will be always bad news because that’s what keeps us watching. The addiction is real.
Then there is Netflix and the plethora of other streaming services. I see FB posts of people watching and re-watching the same series for hours, days, weeks… No, I am not judging them at all. Especially in times like this we want to be taken somewhere else to a different world. What is strange, however, is that instead of creating our own reality and taking ourselves THERE we allow total strangers to pull us along in the sea of fake being. We behave as if we’ve stopped living, scared of the pandemic and reduced to human manikins transfixed by a reality of shadows.
Maybe this is the time to reset our lives and muster enough courage to push the START button, firmly and decisively. I remember when I sat down at my desk and wrote the first words of my first book. I remember when I called my friend to help me with my first website. This first step takes the most out of us. It is simple, yet so hard to take. Once you’ve done it, you will become addicted to BEING and ACTING on a daily basis. Yes, you have lots to give to the world. Don’t tell me you are not good enough. Don’t tell me you need money. Don’t tell me you don’t know if this is a good idea. Don’t tell me anything now. Just act, my friend. I know you and I am confident that whatever you decide to pursue will be amazing. You say “tomorrow,” but what if there is no tomorrow, only now!
Over the last few years I’ve embarked on numerous projects, some incredibly successful, others not so much. I don’t regret any of them. Each gave me a push to try something new, to reach out to new people, to create and fail, to create and succeed. Instead of spending time in front of the TV listening to the messengers of doom-and-gloom, reset your life and use this time to start the thing you’ve dreamt of all your life. This is the time, my friend. This is the time!
2020 © OLI Publishing Inc. All rights reserved.
it’s nice to read it all
Thank you
Wise words Olaf – again! Sure I will follow your advice. Take care.
Thank you so much my friend!
Well said, Olaf. Great post! Thank goodness photography is one thing we can still do.
You are so right. It helps us to stay normal and sane. Stay well my friend.
I really enjoy reading your blog Olaf. I signed up after seeing your presentation at the Port Moody Photography group. It’s perfect that you call yourself a visual poet. This post was inspiring.
Thank you so much Denise. It means a lot. Please stay safe.
How truly inspiring your writing is today Olaf. Thanks for bringing a sense of hope in this time of great uncertainty. With your own testimony of how you have pushed and are still pushing that reset button, you are stirring our inner determination to go after our dreams. Hope is key here. You are living proof of someone who walks his talk. Thanks so much for sharing yourself with the world!
Thank you so much Madeleine!