Writing Our Stories.

In my last post, I've said that I've read two amazing books last week and that I would write about them.

I’ve read Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert and If You Feel Too Much by Jamie Tworkowski. The overly sensitive person that I am, I ended up shedding a tear or two while reading both the books. The books were so truthful that I could not help talking about them all the week. Every person I met and everywhere I went, I talked about these books.

I love Elizabeth Gilbert. Call it serendipity or my idea to feel better, I have always read her when I was hitting rock bottom. I remember reading Eat, Pray, Love when I was in college, but it was just a good book. A book that I liked and that was all about it. But the first time I ever had a major breakdown, I picked Eat, Pray, Love again. This time it wasn't just a good book, it was a voice that was talking to me, reminding me that there is hope. I read it once. Twice. I felt better. I watched her TED talks and I read more though I still haven't finished reading The Signature of All Things. When I got to know about Big Magic, I knew I had to read it. Funnily, I read it when I was going through another breakdown, and this time, it was liberating. I read it on my way to work, and I read it before I fell asleep. I read it during breaks, and I read it at every opportunity I could find. I understood it. Loved it. Talked about it. And secretly, I found my lost courage from it.

You know there are instances when you find mentors just around you. And sometimes you don't. Sometimes they are in your city. Sometimes you meet them every day. In my case, it is different. In spite of the miles of distance between Hyderabad and New Jersey, Elizabeth is my mentor, though she is absolutely unaware of existence.

Thank you for writing this book, Elizabeth! I needed it. Just the way I needed Eat, Pray, Love. I've learned so much from it and I know there is so much more to learn. I will live my life with stubborn gladness and it is a promise I've made to myself this year.

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Jamie Tworkowski's If You Feel Too Much has made me realize that there are people like me. That there are people who waltz their way through pain and emerge stronger. That there are people who never give up despite what happens to them. That people struggle and fight.

I have been following 'To Write Love on Her Arms' for a quite bit of time now and I honestly believe that what Jamie has been doing for people is wonderful. When someone told me that Jamie wrote a book and that I must read it, I was a little apprehensive. I thought I did not need a book that would make me sad. Funnily again, this book was anything but sad. It has beautiful stories and every story teaches you something.

Jamie has always been a strong advocate of urging people to not to give up on their story. And this is amazing because we are all carrying so many stories inside us but we either give up or never talk about them. It is time we do. It is time we write our own stories. Live our own stories.

P.S. Elizabeth Gilbert, you rock my world.

Journey from Corporate Slavery To Creative Culture

“That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.” 
― Ray Bradbury, Zen in the Art of Writing

Hello!

It has been two weeks since I joined my new job as a writer and I am safely assuming that it is a good amount of period to write down some of my thoughts.

So far, so good.

In some of my previous posts, I have unabashedly mentioned that I have gotten the much coveted freedom from the corporate slavery - a job that I pretty much did because I had no choice. And I sucked at it. 

Sure, it did pay some of my utterly useless bills (Things without which I could have definitely survived. Say The Body Shop and Lush?) but waking up to go to work every morning seemed like an incorrigible task. The best part about that job was going home. Because writing and reading happened in the evenings.

Last night, I had an inane urge to write something but I was too tired to sit in front of my laptop, or notebook, or you know, my newly aquired typewriter. I am sure I forgot that writing is a full time occupation now. So, here am I, writing down some random thoughts while listening to Clint Mansell.

1. Being busy is something very new to me. It keeps my mind away from some horrid thoughts. I do not overthink or smother my life with many complications.

2. While a corporate company has hundreds of people doing the same thing that you do, a creative culture job has very few people who do what you do. And it is a rare thing, you know? Too many different people at a same place. 

3. My new job definitely does not give me a lot of time to fool around. But my knowledge process and learning starts at ground zero. It is a good thing, you know? I get to learn so many new things and see such different people or write in various styles. 

4. These Hyderabad auto drivers are such a pain, I tell you. They want 300 to go everywhere. Hein? Even when the destination is generally around the corner, they want to be paid (Read loot) royally. 

Their excuse: Traffic.

But you know what? Sometimes, you board an auto with a driver who might divulge some details about our city and its politicians. Hear them out, they tell you the real time news.

5. The locality in which my office is located has too many adorable dogs.

And Di Bella coffee shop. Hee hee! (How I love that place and their waffles.)

6. The Monday morning blues have vanished into thin air.

7. While a creative culture has a lot of pros, it has its cons too. You cannot want to write all the time. But you got to. 

You are getting paid for writing, you fool.

8. Above everything, you will have that love-hate relationship with your first job. Just like that ex boyfriend of yours.

It is good as long as it lasts. But when it is over, it is done and dusted. It is time to move on to bigger and better things that shall bring happiness and creativity back into your lives.

And believe me, anything that kills your happiness and creativity does not really last longer even if it shines brighter than a diamond today.

9. Who said writers get paid nuts and that writing for writers is an easy job?

Bring that fellow to me. I will slipper him.

Finally, I am done explaining what I have felt in the past fourteen days.

You know someone truly said it right. When you do a job that you love, it cannot be called a job. It is fun.

On that note, I am off to read a book. Adios!

Five Dream Jobs! :D

“My job is to scream cockle-doodle-doo. Don't blame me if the sun doesn't rise.” 

― Janet Skeslien Charles, Moonlight in Odessa

9-5 jobs! How many of us are already warming up to this idea? The famous myth says that 9-5 jobs kill creativity, wreck your social life, ruin your friendships and relationships. Well, it is a myth. At least, in my case. 

I digress.

So, we all have an image of these oh-so-perfect jobs in our mind and in many cases, the moolah doesn't matter. Right? Hey, I am talking about the 'not-very-ambitious, creativity is all' lot here. You invest bankers are doing just fabulous. I am talking about us, the non-serious, goofy people. 

On an unrelated note, I imagined eight dream jobs but I didn't want the post to be very lengthy (and boring). So, I cut them down to five. 

*Drumroll*

1) The Foodie: Seriously, how many of us have this on our list? I mean getting paid for eating food is the best job ever. Everytime I watch "Highway On My Plate" and "The Foodie" on the television, I cannot fathom why I don't find such stimulating (Yes, I used stimulating because I don't want to come across as a glutton. Idiocy, I know) jobs.

They don't just eat a lot. They get to travel a lot as well. Gee! 

2) Travel Writer: They say traveling is the only thing that makes you rich. Word! Travel writers have such wonderful experiences, don't they? They eat different cuisines, meet new people, listen to fascinating stories, take beautiful pictures, make the less fortunate one jealous, and like an icing on the cake, they get to write in beautiful locations. Awesome!

3) Book Reviewer: Imagine locking yourself up in a room full of wonderful books. Yay! Could there be a better job?

4) The Dreamer: Okay now, dreaming isn't a simple job, okay? It is a rather painful job to remember and recollect your dreams. Wouldn't it be lovely if we get paid for dreaming? I know, I know, it is SO Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. 

I would jump and scream in joy if my boss says, "Sleep for the whole month, dream, send me a report of your dreams, and you'll get paid." 

What can I say? He would be the best boss ever, my friend.

5) Movie Critic: If there is one job where money wouldn't really matter to me, it is this. I would watch four movies and a few episodes from a sitcom everyday and a lot more for this job. (Does this sound like a career objective in a C.V? Oops!) 

This, indeed, is a dream job. Call me a stereotype, but I would watch Indian movies and only those movies starring Jude Law (Say, a current obsession? It will wear off in a week.)

Like Confucius said, "Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life", I will shed tears of joy if I do any of these jobs. 

Oh, I actually have three more dream jobs. But I will come up with another post soon. 

So, what are your dream jobs? 

So What Makes Us a Better Writer?

“No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader.” 

― Robert Frost

Truth to be told, we do not have any rules to turn into better (or say, awesome) writers overnight. But how I wish we had, you know, drink some magic potion and voila! You are a better writer. Unfortunately, it does not work out like that. Sigh! 

So, this is how it all started, I look at my old (like, really old blog-posts) and go, eww! And the current posts seem to be doing better than the previous ones. And well, it works for all of us, nay? We keep getting better with every post/article. Though we do not have any rules, there are some practices that we can adopt. For instance, here we go:

1) Read a lot:

Reading is such an inspiration, isn't it? We all learn a lot from reading. You know, whenever we  write, we must take sometime to read a good book before that. The books by your favourite writer, perhaps? I read Austen, Ruskin Bond, or some random articles by Manu Joseph and oh boy, do they help me or do they help me? ;-)

2) Experience:

One must experience everything they do. I say, feel everything you do, feel the aroma and the taste of the food you eat, feel the places you visit, feel the emotions, the pain you go through and all. And put down those feelings on paper. The exact feelings!

3) Write everyday:

One of the best practices of writing is to write everyday. We should make it a habit to write five hundred words a day. The more, the better!

4) Meet different people:

Every person has a story to tell. Meet different people, communicate with them, share a tale or two and analyze everything. You have so many different stories now. And if you think this is plagiarizing, let me just tell you one thing-SHUT UP!

5) Imagine a lot:

Imagination is the driving force behind everything. Be it art or creativity, imagination is everything. At some point of time, we need to let go of our thought and surrender ourselves to the power and senses of imagination and you know what? It works all the time. Perfectly at that. 

6) Coffee, my love:

No coffee, no creativity! Repeat. No coffee, no creativity.

Your brain so works well when you drain down some coffee into your system.

7) And what about movies?

Of course, movies add so much. Yes, the crappy ones too. They teach you what a bad story is. But honestly, no story is bad. Every story is meant to be told.

And the good movies, your favourite movies inspire you SO much. No, really!

Now, I am done and if you guys have any ideas, do share them. Ciao!