Why Creatives Fear Habit

November 11, 2015 by Scott Todnem

There are so many reasons why writers are the biggest procrastinators.

They tend to hide behind the excuse that writing is just a hobby. That way, they don’t have to invite criticism in. After all, it is just a hobby. And if it takes weeks, maybe even months, to get back to actually writing, then that’s okay, because hobbies don’t have to be habitual.

But what about if a writer courageously makes writing a habit, therefore earns the identification of being a writer?

James Joyce was Probably an HSP with ADD

April 19, 2015 by Scott Todnem

Stream of Consciousness Writing by the Sleep Deprived.

It’s that late already? I really meant to get in here sooner. Wait. I think my alarm clock is ten minutes faster than the clock on the microwave. I should check that. It is. I wonder how that happened. I bet it’s from trying to hit the alarm off in the morning, and missing, and then advancing the time ahead. I wonder how off the time would be if I didn’t change it back for over a year? 11:11 I always look at the time in palindromes. That’s a palindrome, right? Same forwards as backwards…

A Lesson in Graceful Confrontation

March 23, 2015 by Scott Todnem

"You're more of a freight train than an Indy car," my husband once mused. He has watched me do lots of things with intense determination and direct forward motion. I take a very head on, full out approach to pretty much anything I do in my life. I also approach issues with very little filter and try to be as honest and upfront as possible.

Well, in most situations.

Hearing the Right Noise

March 05, 2015 by Scott Todnem

I come into contact with hundreds of people a day. Some are familiar faces but mostly they’re not. Some are willing to share literally a months worth of personal news with you, most of which I’d rather not know. And still others are just polite to you; they say please and thank you and walk out the door.

If I had to choose one kind of person I prefer, I’d actually say it's those who share their life story with me, because it is so completely opposite of how I am. It might take a year of knowing me before you get really personal information out of me. But these people are willing to share things with you, willing to be vulnerable within their first interaction with you.

They don’t care what you’ll think, they don’t worry how you’ll react, they just speak.

Listening by Ear

March 03, 2015 by Scott Todnem

Yesterday morning my daughter's grandfather died from a very short and rapid fight with cancer. After school, we sat her down, and explained what happened. It's never fun as a parent to tell your child something that you know will hurt her, and unfortunately that's had to happen far too much for her in her short lifetime. When I hear her laugh, it reassures me that she isn't forgetting how to be a kid. After several bouts of crying, I did hear her silly little laugh again, and it made my heavy heart happy.

Resting in bed with her last night she turned to me and she said, "Don't you think it's funny how people say memories of people are supposed to make you happy, but people aren't always happy when the people are actually here?"

Cake & Responsibilities; A Delicate Balance

February 18, 2015 by Scott Todnem

If you made a list of things you enjoy doing, what would it consist of? How often do you do them? Why do you like those activities? Do you take time out of your schedule to do them? Or do you put them last on your agenda? Guilt insinuates that some of the things we enjoy doing that aren't "necessary" are things we should feel bad about participating in. But participating in things we enjoy is very crucial to having a balanced life.

If you don't have things that make you happy, even if they are small, what would life be like?

Human Oddities

February 18, 2015 by Scott Todnem

We didn’t have many books in my house when I was growing up, so I memorized every one of them. My favorite was the small, hardcover text my mother kept wedged between her bible and the Farmer’s Almanacon her nightstand. I was merely nine the first time I gawked at this oddity. With my mouth agape, I stared hypnotically into the eyes of the bearded lady adorning the cover, but my mother quickly snatched it out of my hands and told me that I didn’t need to read a “weird” book like that.

Well, telling me not to do something has always been a surefire way to get me to do something, and it became my secret mission to sneak into my mother’s room and ogle over the grotesque images found between the pages of that mysterious book whenever I could.

Opportunity Doesn't Knock

January 12, 2015 by Scott Todnem

Flawless adjustment to new situations has not historically been my most prized virtue. There are a few suspects as the cause of that, but whatever it may have been, the fear of the unknown caused severe anxiety in my daily life from a pretty young age. Fear had me flat out refusing to participate in new things and step outside the box, stunting the growth of my confidence and limiting my potential greatly. Looking back on it, I'm almost disappointed in my younger self, even though I managed it the best way I knew how.

In any situation, I wish I would have asked myself, What's the worst that can happen?

New Year's Plans

January 06, 2015 by Scott Todnem

“So what’s your plan?” Everyone, even strangers and advertisements, want to know my New Year’s Eve plan right now. All this pressure to have a plan has had my head spinning for about a week. I am not joking. Most people that know me understand that I’m not much of a planner. For some reason, however, people are often under the false impression that I am super organized and meticulous in everything I do.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Embrace Uncertainty

January 02, 2015 by Scott Todnem

By all accounts throughout history there have been people who have failed but never recovered or learned from their mistakes, while others saw it as a way to progress towards something more or different. You could argue these traits are a form of nature versus nurture in terms of how people deal with adversity in their lives, but I think it's in someone's environment that shapes how they deal with those situations. The questions that come to mind for me are "What were their surroundings like? What about their parents, schooling, etc."

Everyone deals with a fear of failure but its how you perceive this new endeavor can dramatically change how you adapt in the future.