Yes!  I finally managed to do it.  It is early in the morning, and I have woken up specifically to write.  Granted, I’m supposed to be writing a novel not a blog, but I’m writing.  It’s time to get myself in a habit.  I know I can do this, and be hard core and get this baby done, but it’s kind of like training for a marathon or deciding to lose 10 pounds or going to rehab (according to TV), I have to get mentally prepared to commit because it ain’t going to be easy.  I’m getting there…

Anyway, it’s been 2 weeks since my last blog post.  Let’s say I was on vacation that whole time.  Before I left, I spent a lot of time talking about other people’s accomplishments and advice, so today I will get back to discussing this random process that I’m supposed to be documenting—blogging. Well noveling, but let me explain…

If you follow this blog at all or have seen me recently, then you know that I’ve been much more productive blogging then actually making moves on my ultimate goal…or so I thought.  I originally decided to blog to ensure that I was doing some non-legal writing on a regular basis, but it is actually helping the creative process in unexpected ways.  You see, as research, I’ve been living my life.  And since beginning this blog, I’ve found the conversations that I have with acquaintances, colleagues and people who I haven’t seen in a while have changed.  Now, when I have a few minutes to catch up after running into them in a coffee shop or a conference room, many who have read my blog have surprising and amazingly begun to discuss their passions with me.  Literally, I’ve found 3 or 4 other friends who are writing books on the side (or “writing” like me, but the goal is there nevertheless), and even more who have said that they would like to one day.  Others have told me about how they have set time daily to practice a language they’ve always loved or are taking acting classes to create balance with their work life.  The most shocking part about these interactions?  Most of these people are lawyers.  Who knew they could be so interesting?  Maybe law school and the bar sucks the life out of us, and then once we start working again we have to do what we can to get it back.

Anyway, I find these interactions inspiring for several reasons.  First, it encourages me to continue to pursue the goal.  Every time I post a blog entry or think seriously about this project I get this crazy anxiety.  But then I tell myself, “no, this is a good idea, people who do big things find a way to keep going through feelings like this.”  And hearing nice feedback and experiencing new interactions certainly makes this self pep talk more convincing.  Second, of course being exposed to completely different sides of people is a welcomed reminder that humans (all of us, even the ones that appear to be very, very simple) are complex beings.  These interactions are being embbeded into my subconscious and will ultimately make my characters have more depth, I know it.

So, what passion are you pursuing on the side? I’d love to hear about it…Hollaa!