Don’t wait for success, start ahead without it
Fortune Cookie
This is the second attempt for a blog prompt combination essay. The first was started in June however real life interrupted and that entry has been put on hold. These blog prompts were found on the July page created by life of lovely. They are interesting because they are insightful, sometimes answers to them could be quick and glib. However, with time and thought anyone could find out compelling things about themselves.
20. What do you need
This question annoyed me a little bit. Many of my needs are wants. The basics are covered for the time being. I won’t starve any time soon and there is a roof over my head. There is clean potable water. The machine I’m using to write this asinine paragraph is also still working. Need is defined as something that is essential or important.
After ranting about this blog prompt, it was decided that what was needed was a space to work without distractions or doubt.
There was a time where it was believed that work could be done anywhere. That was proven to be false. Work is one thing, creativity is another thing. Both are important, one is essential. Virginia Wolf’s a room of one’s own comes to mind or Lorraine Hansberry’s to be young gifted and black. The search continues for that space. In the meantime this essay.
21. Your Summer Playlist
My summer playlist is complicated. I listen to music from various distributors. Pandora, Spotify, Amazon and Google Music. Instead of a list of songs, I will try to list the performers and the songs that have moved to me listen and sometimes buy their whole albums.
- Andrew Belle; In My Viens(single), Black Bear, The Ladder, Dive Deep; The Enemy, Static Waves, Drought
- Sleep at Last; Atlas– Arctic, Saturn, Neptune
- Dawn Golden; Still Life– Last Train
- The 1975; The 1975/ I like it when you sleep…– Falling for you, Somebody Else
- James Arthur; James Arthur- Certain things, Impossible
- Rag’n’Bone Man – Human
- Jacob Banks – Chainsmoking
- Portugal, The man – Feel it
- Jaymes Young – Moondust
- Aquilo – Good Girl
For about 4 or 5 years, I only had 4 songs from Andrew Belle. I was introduced to In My Veins, while watching an episode of Castle. The main characters were getting married and realized they both really loved the song they were swaying to. I describe Belle’s music as laid back and mellow. I was able to continue with the stories I was working on while listening to these songs.
I made a station on my Pandora account to find music similar to Andrew Belle. The results are what is above. I’ve bought a song or an album from the top five. At first, I wanted to write about how I felt about each song but that is a little more difficult. I found these other songs and artists because of Andrew Belle. I was looking for ambient, go with the flow like songs that still had a beat. Drawn to love/like songs and break up songs. There were recommended by the Pandora music algorithm.
I realized that while compiling this list, many of the songs are performed by men and if I investigate it further I won’t be surprised if they are also European as well. James Arthur, The 1975’s are from the UK.
22. What inspires you
Inspiration can be found in many and unusual places. For this writer, it was found in music and other media that was read or watched. Recently this writer found the plays Romeo and Juliet and The Tempest inspiring two distinct stories. Another thing that inspires is hanging around people who are also creatives. Creativity like yawning is contagious. The desire to start a podcast was formed by listening to podcasts. The inspiration to write came reading stories and realizing the ones that were made up in the imagination were equally entertaining and worth sharing.
23. What do you want less off
Less negativity. Pessimism, doubt, and just ill feelings ooze into everything even while trying to keep things on a positive path. It happens to me when I am not writing. I have also been exposed to it many working (side jobs) environment, everyone is miserable and would rather be somewhere else. It is true that overall, the state of the world is precarious. However, the effectiveness and the desire to for positive change is based on how we feel and if the we feel nothing is worth it, then aren’t we only putting in half the effort.
24. What is holding you back
Myself. I am holding me back. I don’t know when I will be able to stop getting in my way. Every writer who talks about this states that their own doubts never leaves them, despite their success. Until then the Lit song My own worst enemy is on my all of time playlist.
25. A tiny step towards your dream
The tiny step toward my dream is this blog account and these essays. Being consistent is always a trial but writing with these questions in mind help. I have set up the JC Henry Universe on WordPress and Facebook. The plan is to continue on Twitter and other social media. The most important step is to always write. I sometimes forget and it not until I’m writing do I realize why I was feeling crappy.
More could be written on these prompts however there is a time concern and another blog essay to complete. For readers consider these questions in your own life, leave a comment, answer all or just one. Share them or don’t one of the most fun things in life is understanding yourself. In time will help in creating a better future.
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JC Henry Universe 