Hi intelligent friend,
Coming to you live from Austin, Texas. Here is your weekly dose of Arman’s Antics, a list of things that I think would be useful to transfer from my brain to yours. No new subscribers to welcome this week (72 total). Is that a sign that my writing is plateauing? Or just a slow week? No worries, I’ll still be showing up every week and doing my thing. Will you consider making my day by forwarding this to one intelligent friend of your own?
What I’m reading
Bird by bird - Anne Lamott. One of the best books I’ve read this year. And that’s saying a lot because that puts my current book reader count at 83 for 2022.
One thing that has changed about my reading habit is my willingness to put down a book that doesn’t fascinate me. I don’t feel the need to struggle through an okay book when there are countless of incredible ones begging to be read instead. So I give you permission to open your window and toss out that bad book! But Bird by bird is one that you will want to keep.
Ready for a good cry? I’ll let Ms. Lamott take it away:
“Here is the best true story on giving I know, and it was told by Jack Kornfield of the Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre. An eight-year-old boy had a younger sister who was dying of leukemia, and he was told that without a blood transfusion she would die. His parents explained to him that his blood was probably compatible with hers, and if so, he could be the blood donor. They asked him if they could test his blood. He said sure. So they did and it was a good match. Then they asked if he would give his sister a pint of blood, that it could be her only chance of living. He said he would have to think about it overnight.
The next day he went to his parents and said he was willing to donate the blood. So they took him to the hospital where he was put on a gurney beside his six-year-old sister. Both of them were hooked up to IVs. A nurse withdrew a pint of blood from the boy, which was then put in the girl’s IV. The boy lay on his gurney in silence while the blood dripped into his sister, until the doctor came over to see how he was doing. Then the boy opened his eyes and asked, “How soon until I start to die?”
If that doesn’t warm your heart more than grandma’s home baked chocolate chip cookies, then I pity you.
What I’m doing to build the writing habit
I bought a physical calendar to hang on my office wall. So 1980’s right? Then I hunted through my junk drawer to find that sharpie I knew was hiding in there. Now I’m marking a big fat X for the days that I write.
As you can see, I haven’t been perfect but it’s funny how the simple act of drawing an X makes me want to keep the streak going. I learned this tip from the legendary Jerry Seinfeld who has been doing this for his comedy writing for years. It’s worked alright for him so I figured, why not? 🤷♂️
Morning routine I’m experimenting with
After returning home from Washington my sleep schedule was all kinds of messed up. The beauty was I was able to wake up without an alarm clock for the past week. I’m starting to believe that alarm clocks are horrible for us. But now I’m back to reality so unfortunately the alarm clock and I are getting reacquainted. I am waking up at 5:30 to: meditate, exercise, write, and read before “officially” starting my day. So far it has been working well. But I’m always tinkering to find what works better. Any recommendations?
Random thought
An entertaining flight attendant is a rare treat. Since I decided to book the cheapest flights I could find, I ended up having multiple layovers during my recent travels. One of the flight attendants on my flight home could have been a fantastic stand up comedian. She found a way to make the ultra-boring safety briefing really fun.
She said something along the lines of “In the unlikely event that Southwest Airlines becomes Southwest Cruiselines, grab the life vest under your seat.”
That was one of many lines that got me to reward her with an audible laugh. It’s such a pleasure to see someone injecting life into an otherwise boring task.
That’s all I’ve got for you today. What did you think? You gonna buy Bird by bird? I would advise that you do. Let me know if you think I should continue Arman’s Antics or if you think my time would be better used elsewhere. I’m on Twitter where I occasionally tweet something worth reading.
Have a Terrific Tuesday, intelligent friend!
Cheers,
Arman
love the calendar idea! I used this app (https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/dont-break-the-chain/id313567772) over the summer to build my writing habit, but it just wasn't the same.
I loved that quote from Bird By Bird, it’s such a great and self contained story in itself. I’m a little apprehensive about reading a story about sick children though, feels too real somehow, so I probably won’t pick it up.