Monday, September 30, 2019

When you get a handle on a daily routine, one day at a time you'll be ready for writing.

Surviving a day requires a strategy, a master plan, and it requires good health. It helps that you write, especially poetry. To write poetry you need to start reading poetry and reading about poetry. You'll be inspired. Good writing starts with a healthy body and mind.

Start with deep breathing when you awake, drinking two glasses of warm water 45 minutes before breakfast, eating meals that contain NO white or processed bread, pasta, biscuits, pastry and NO fast foods at breakfast time. Keep your intake of chemicals reduced all day, in fact. This will help steady your emotions, calm your nerves, and regulate your metabolism. Eating the right foods, especially at the start of your day takes some effort, but it makes a HUGE difference. Coffee is okay, without sugar, and a good breakfast has a nice balance of protein and carbohydrates. I like a product that I'm not paid to recommend. It has 25 grams of protein. Eggs don't have nearly as much protein, but some people prefer them for breakfast. I suggest organic eggs because if my eggs are NOT organic, I have sinus issues and feel shaky all day. Shaking like a leaf, how can you function, how can you stay sober, how can you provide good customer service without smoking, vaping, drugging or drinking?


If you want to have a great day, start with a good breakfast.Then catch no more than 5 minutes of NEWS; it's too depressing. Find 5 -10 minutes for meditation or silent words of gratitude and 10 minutes of walking three times a week. Find an ideal time to do 5 minutes of writing EVERY day you can. Increase to 20 minutes slowly, one day at a time. Create a writing routine that is easy to follow and choose a place where it's easy to be writing. Start with brief writings, and follow this routine every day. You will see your life circumstances start to improve, ONE DAY AT A TIME, which is not an eternity; it's only 24 hours. 


Let tomorrow come, but it's only about surviving one day--today. When you get a handle on a daily routine, one day at a time you'll be ready for writing. I like starting with poetry because poetry demands FOCUS, and it forces me out of my comfort zone. No matter how you feel, poetry requires your very best effort, every time. It does not care who you are or what problems are brewing; its only concern is that you let the poem be itself. This requires concentration and it requires your full attention. Poetry requires letting go of anything that interrupts the out-flow of a good poem. It takes your mind off of YOU. 


Poetry uplifts and inspires, offers a different perspective than the one you're hanging on to or that's hanging on to you. Once you write a master plan for how you will conduct your life day to day, and once you eliminate processed foods and find at least 10 minutes of walking or exercise, you will be ready to write, not just anything, but something meaningful. Maybe it will be poetic--or not, but it will be your best and that is as good as it gets.