Focus...

I can’t seem to find a point of focus for myself lately. I attempt to work on an assignment for a class or attempt readings in another and in the end accomplish nothing. I’m feeling as though I fail at every aspect of a course, at every aspect of this program; hell at every aspect of my life. No matter what I do I can not commit myself to anything. I sat down today to ready four chapters in a text book, I couldn’t even get through one before I found myself with my computer back in its home known as my lap. Everyone else seems to know what they are doing, where they are going, what they should be working on and how to go about getting it completed. I on the other hand, have accomplished nothing, completed nothing and am finding myself torn between work and school so vastly that I’m seriously considering dropping both and become a hobo. I could find myself a nice box to live in, write poems or blogs on the inside of it, using blood and feces as ink. An intriguing idea, though not in the least bit promising for a future career, I can keep myself focused on what I am writing now, why not what I have to do for my classes. I think my issue is that In order to be motivated I need a deadline for myself, I can never accomplish anything if I spread the work for it out over time, I simply need to sit myself down and complete something. I will do this tonight…Or right now. I shall got and read some of the chapters for one of the classes and feel as though I have accomplished something in life, even though I know our readings our useless as I have gotten through multiple class discussions or even debates on things I have not actually ready. Which reminds me I had to do some readings for my class that starts in 30 minutes… At last a focus; readings due now!

To Summarize, or not to Summarize

How does one summarize a summarizing exercise… I have no idea, and it is taking me an increasingly vast period of time to think of the best way to express the happenings of last week. Now logically this could be the conclusion as to why I, like many others in our class, was only capable of summarizing three articles in the time allotted to us. It is not a lack of motivation that limits my writing abilities but a slightly obsessive compulsive perfectionist issue I find myself faced with. I refuse to mark a piece of writing as completed unless it is something I am perfectly happy with. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, when you consider the horrific amount of assignments I did last year the day they were due, resulting in not so amazing marks as most of these were 3,000 page research essays. My thought process at the beginning of this year was that in an attempt to pull up my unsatisfying grades from last term I would actually commit myself to my studies, Maybe spending that extra time and effort this year would pay-off; Wrong. Putting in the extra effort will seemingly be useful, but I am finding that taking the extra time will not be a success, as in the newsroom deadlines jump out at you like a clown hiding in your closet. This particular exercise proved to be helpful in providing me with areas of interest that I need to work on, and helped me to discover that my ability to put out a 3,000 word essay in 30 minutes is indeed a useful trait in this industry. In the end I found the exercise to be an enjoyable experience, though it was somewhat frustrating that I didn’t get through more of the articles. I now have an idea in my head of what is expected of me; as previous to this I had no idea what to expect in Journalism school.

Have you ever heard a child utter the words ‘my dad could beat up your dad,’ followed by a retort of unorthodox sorts; ‘Yeah… well…My Dad is an alien!’ Unlikely and although we know little Jimmy is lying we can not punish him for wanting to express himself. “All kids tell stories,” “They are limited only by the boundaries of their vocabulary,” Professor Maxine Ruvinsky from McGill University stated within her lecture on the bicameral mind September 17 at Thompson Rivers University.
Story telling is a part of our nature, a part of our learning process, a part of our culture, yet it is ultimately a substantial part of the process leading to the development of the brain. Twenty years of brain research has brought us to the conclusion that the brain can be broken up into two separate hemispheres; the left, logical mathematical side, and the right, artistic design side. Writer Gabriele Lusser Rico’s book “Writing the Natural Way” goes on to say that these two sides need to work together in order for us to properly function.
Language is a vast part of our culture without the left hemisphere of our brains we would not be able to express ourselves, yet it is the raw nature of the right hemisphere that allows us to create a picture of what it is that needs to be expressed. In quoting Nom Chomsky, Ruvinsky stated that “Children learn language only by using it”, “No one, least of all the average mother, or father I would add, knows how to teach it to them.” It is our desire to express the stories or pictures in out heads that compels us to learn speech, to learn to express ourselves and in the end to learn to make use of the left side of the brain.

Writers block...

Writers block is a crutch used by many of us use to make up for a lack of concentration, a lack of commitment, a lack of motivation. Many artists require a muse to create, a writer is an artist what is stopping them from finding their muse, for most it is a mental contamination known as writers block. Some would consider it a disease others consider it an excuse for laziness; those people don’t understand that writing is in fact a mentally exhausting career, or in the opinion of many, a career at all. When a writer reaches the point at which their brain can no longer grasp the words they wish to express they often give up far too quickly, it is due to this abruptness to hault that many writers claim sickness in their head. Jason Zebahazy once said that “Writer's block is the greatest side effect of boredom,” a very true assumption in my opinion, as one can assume those who reach the point of writers block are no longer content with what they are writing. If you are interested in the piece at words will pour out, as blood and guts do from those dying in horror films. Interest is the key in overcoming boredom.
If a Baby learning to walk were to give up the first time they fall down, we would resultantly still be crawling around the earth on our hands and knees. The ability to overcome writers block is simple; Get up and try again. If we mentally stop ourselves from moving forward we are obviously going to be at a standstill, Consider this, stop your car at a light and turn it off; logically you are not going to be able to proceed when the light turns green. It is the responsibility of the writer to realize that there is nothing wrong in their head, there is no reason that the words are not coming, they are literate after all, or else they wouldn’t be in this career. In the very unluckily event that you are now saying to yourself, maybe I am illiterate that could explain why I can’t write, STOP! You are obviously quite capable of reading this article, therefore illiteracy is not your issue. If you are at a standstill, don’t give up, simply pick up your pen, or turn towards your keyboard and change the subject of your writing to something that interests you.

Searching for truth

Life is a mass of lies, no matter where you turn or who you come into contact with, you can never be certain whether you can trust them or not, or trust yourself for that matter. Seemingly this is a result of numerous failed marriages in the lives of both of my parents, or my own hideous attempts at soul searching. In either regard, Journalists set out to sort through the lies, through the deceit and get straight to the facts, exposing others while being able to express themselves at the same time. For this reason I am pursuing this lifestyle, attempting to shed light on the truth when there may very well no longer be any out there.

Along the way I anticipate being able to learn new things, whether it be about other people, cultures or even lifestyles. I expect that Interviewing from a journalistic perspective will get me to that point. Travel will be inevitable, an aspect I appreciate greatly within my life, which if opportunity arises I am certainly not one to pass it up. Yet I know that no matter where I end up in this world, or when I arrive, there will be a dumpster full of deceit for me to sort through.