I am a writer. When someone asks me how to be a writer, my response is simple: write. Just do it. Write something every day. Because the simple truth is that writers write: it is far better to have tons of "raw material" to sort through looking for your next (or first) best-seller than to sit there day after day feeling sorry for yourself for not having written that great novel. And, writing is like muscle tone; the more regularly one does it, the more easily it flows.
This truism is simple enough. But last night it occurred to me that the underlying philosophy hinted at by the above statement does apply more broadly than just with writing. Don't get me wrong: there are literally thousands of situations that people experience wherein careful pre-planning is appropriate before taking action. I mean, would anyone seriously suggest that a person who wants to be an airline pilot just "go for it" and start flying right away without any advance training?
That said, it seems to me that many people around me are infected with shit-or-get-off-the-pot-itis these days. I mean this in the nicest way possible, but... at some point, don't we need to get our collective asses in motion, squeeze out that collective turd, wipe our collective holes, flush, and get on with our collective lives? I'm all for thinking our way through issues, but seriously folks, how long is it going to take us to... reform our healthcare delivery system? Fix what's really ailing our economy? Run longer BART trains on the Richmond-Fremont line? Properly fund education? Commit to our sobriety? The list goes on and on.
I'm not sure what I intended this entry to be about when I started it over a day ago, and I'm not sure what it ended up being about now that I am drawing it to a close. But one thing I do know, is that I got it done.
Wipe and flush.
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