Skip to main content

Warrior Wednesday - Aims

[caption id="attachment_11040" align="alignright" width="300"]sword Image created using Bitmoji[/caption]

I'm taking a self-directed literary course to improve a certain aspect of my writing. It brings up the continual battle between writers who want to portray the world realistically as it currently is versus writers who want to portray the world as they would like it to be. This has been going on for more than a century actually.

It's an idea that I think bleeds into everything else. It may even be one of the reasons why so many are quick to believe fake news over scary truths.

In terms of martial arts, the battle is often between those who practice more theoretical arts versus those who practice more sport style with competitions that regularly test your mettle, though not as they would have hundreds of years ago. In the old days, death was a common outcome for the weaker party.

Many of the writers I know hope to change the world by writing it as it could be. A problem I can see is that it can be hard for people to read something that is a blatant lie. For others, they love the chance to retreat from the horrors in their everyday. Many of the realistic works are more pessimistic than my own experience of the world, which can be helpful in promoting a feeling of gratefulness about where things are at versus how bad they could be.

I know a lot of people who wonder the point of learning a martial art that won't prepare you for a street fight. The thing is, most people I know doing the main art I do, didn't start there and many of us do other arts as well. I went to blue belt in karate and did some jiu-jitsu long before I found iaido. I'm planning to try taekwondo when I have the funds for that, because I think you need both hand-to-hand and some more theoretical arts to get everything you should from 'the way' today. It's a mistake to think that all people who do an art like iaido can't defend themselves.

Does focusing on how you would like something to be make it more likely for it to become reality? Sometimes. One of the often touted keys to success is visualizing where you want to be. The thing is, you can't just live in a dream world. You must take actions that will get you there. If I keep seeing how lovely my living room is going to look in my head and do nothing to move it from where it is to where I want it, it won't ever become that nice place I see in my head.

At the same time, changes take time for people to get used to. One can't just force things. Part of me would love someone to do one of those home makeovers in my condo. The rest would be wondering where all the paper and stuff I need to go through went because I know probably half of it needs to be digitized and kept rather than thrown out. Sometimes doing it yourself and going slowly is the way to get something done properly.

And many goals take a lot of time to achieve them. Some novels take a decade to write. Others a few months. Fitness goals can take a long time too. The body doesn't magically become fit overnight. I know my glutes suck right now. My quads are stronger than my glutes. This is causing an imbalance, which when combined with tight hip flexors means my posture is in trouble. Both of those things are because I sit a lot as a writer and office worker. I have a plan involving my soon to arrive space gym I backed on Kickstarter two years ago, taekwondo, and maybe a small piece of equipment like a stepper to reduce my seated time while watching the things I need to for my career and not taking up tons of space I don't have in my small condo.

All of that takes money I don't have to spare right now except the space gym, but I know what I will be working toward when I do have the funds. Having a direction is important.

I think that in everything one must decide who they want to be. For me, I prefer the balanced centrist path. I don't think it benefits me to create works which ignore reality, but I also don't think my place is to write stories so out of touch that they ignore important issues. I know only practicing a predominantly theory based martial art is never going to help me achieve the level of fitness I want and I know it won't help me pursue my other goals. How do I know? Years of karate followed by around a year of roller derby have put me in tune with my body. Hell, iaido was my cool-down exercise when I was doing roller derby. I'd work hard skating and using every muscle in my body for three hours, then do all the lunges and such that are inherent in iai right after.

Back to learning more about writing.

R~

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Under Siege

My city is under attack. I wish I was being facetious.  The so-called "freedom" convoy is here and so far this is what has transpired: 1. They parked on the war memorial. These people who call themselves patriots. This is where the Unknown Soldier rests. This is where Corporal Nathan Cirullo lost his life in October of 2014. The cars were towed, but who knows what actual repercussions they will face. 2. Later, when asked to move away from memorial, one stood and jumped on the tomb itself while others cheered.  3. Despite having port-a-potties provided for by the mayor, they've been defecating on Parliament Hill, in snowbanks, and on streets nearby.  4. Flags being flown include the Confederate flag of the United States, Trump flags, the Quebec equivalent to the Confederate flag, upside down Canada flags, regular Canada flags, Fuck Trudeau flags, libertarian flags, and ones adorned with swastikas. Yeah, this is totally about freedom rather than racism, white su

The Gauntlet That Was October

I had a lot of things happen in October. I watched Frankenstein in the cemetery with friends. I had tea with a friend. I started a new sport: curling. This is really fun and I'm enjoying the level of activity it provides and all the strategic elements. I'll do a separate post on it soon. Unfortunately, soon after my first game, I came down with Covid and so did the friend who I had tea with, so I think we both caught it at the place we went to. That wasn't fun. I already posted about that. I was fortunate to be free of it in time to attend Can-Con where I took in lots of panels, saw some of the wonderful writer community, bought many new books, and volunteered to help out in the rooms. The following weekend, I went to the livestream for Danielle Allard's new album release, followed by the in person release. As part of this, she has a 6 video series that releases every Sunday on her YouTube at 1:15 PM EDT. Video number 2, Falling Into Place, is one that I feel fortunate

December 2023 Holidays

The drive to North Bay was pretty smooth until I was 30 minutes away and ran out of windshield washer fluid. That was the first time that ever happened to me. Luckily, about 10-15 minutes later, there was one last gas station where I could fix that. Since it's my busy season, I worked the mornings and took the afternoons and evenings to spend with family and friends. My brother stopped by with a special gift, a new ornament for the tree. My mom loved ceramic Christmas trees, so it's a perfect way to keep her with us at Christmas. His friend, Fawn, helped him get it made. She has a YouTube channel you can check out here: https://youtube.com/@thethriftyfawn After that, I visited friends in the slightly rural part of Callander, Ontario. We were having a lovely time catching up and then the evening had a surprise in store. Someone in the area had hit a small deer with their vehicle. My friend's dad skinned and gutted it in around -20C (due to the windchill) weather.