The Face of Humanity

On March 19, 1945, Hitler laid out a scorched earth decree to destroy the cultural heritage of Europe after he determined he could no longer win the war. This revenge on humanity was entitled the Nero Decree, and were it not for the Monument's Men working within the military, a lot more things would have been destroyed by the bloodthirsty bastards who had held more and more parts of Europe prisoner as they advanced into the form that the Allies combined together to fight and destroy.

Sadly, we lose a lot of the great works that made humanity what it was. Other works were stolen from their owners, who were later killed in concentration camps. This was the ugliness and effects of war. Fortunately, much of the culture that we fought to preserve, in both individual freedoms and liberties, as well as creative and theological pursuits lives on.

Also, somehow, in this war and the great war before it, Notre Dame stood strong and went on.

There's a story that is told in the movie Before Sunset, which Ethan Hawke tells Julie Delpy, where he remarks on how one man was left to the task of pushing the button that would demolish the cathedral at Notre Dame, which had been wired with explosives. He couldn't do it. It was just too beautiful. The same thing happened all over Paris at other monuments.

It (and they) was (were) just too beautiful.

The liberation of Paris did leave Notre Dame safe, but in the end, it would be a series of renovation plans and funding attempts that began in 2017, which would bring the building to its knees (at least it seems to be at this time - an act of terror would just be doubly unthinkable). Unfortunately, the universe is filled with chaotic instances where things happen and slip away. Such is the nature of the universe. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.

There were many moments in its 800 year history that Notre Dame had a wondrous, beautiful history. Obviously, April 15, 2019, was not one of them. Fortunately, items were rescued while others were previously removed for safe keeping. Who knew that taking down the Apostles would save them from the fate of the spire? The fire could have done more damage. The bell towers and main halls could have been totally consumed. Fortunately, they stand.

I have seen the images and videos of the fires. I watched the video posts back to back to back of the spires falling. I cried real tears and choked up to what this moment was, several times. I'm done watching the fire. What's done is done. It's time to focus on the future.

Out of these cinders, we need to find meaning.

With that, it's hard to put emotion for "things" into an expression of understanding them as something that is more human than material, but to understand why so many people hurt it's important to do just that. We have to understand why we weep for this place as we would a person, since that's what we're doing. In this, it has to be more than a symbol.

Yes, no human being died in this fire (or was reported dead when I wrote this). If anyone suffered injuries, it was done in fighting the fire or saving relics, which included the Crown of Thorns, a Nail of Christ, a fragment of the True Cross, and tombs of holy figures, as well as many priceless works of art.

Who would risk their lives for art? What exists in a creation that makes it stand apart? Is it the talent that it took to create the perfection of the effort? Is it the faith in the mind that willed the hands to create a representation of what the mind saw as meaningful? Is it the technological mastery of tools and skills to just create the work? Is it by sheer virtue of age and time passed, the years that something has stood through the erosive forces of life to still be visible to the eye, maybe a little more faded than in times past, but still here nonetheless? Or is it the theological depiction of stories from 2,000 years ago, which still reverberate in our selves?

Or is it all of the above, or perhaps even none of the above, something else altogether?

I've never been to Notre Dame. Because it was saved, at least in part, someday I will be able to. It won't be the same, but it will still be. As with other versions of the cathedral, parts will be changed, fixed, or removed. New parts will be added. Nevertheless and most importantly, the spirit of Notre Dame will be there, just as it was when people risked their lives to pull items out of there.

Notre Dame is its history, but its also the created art of The Hunchback, which Victor Hugo gave to the world. This was the same Hunchback that our local Lancaster, Pennsylvania, theater, the Fulton, brought to life last year. In it, the 100+ person cast took Hunchback over the top. To our absolute awe, it included a huge choir behind 5 huge bells and a 3-level almost 30-foot bell tower. I know that's hardly the real thing, but something in the power of that story had seen the real thing and felt touched by it enough to make it "real." 

Someone else's inspirations from the actual building made this version of the tale a created work that somehow paralleled human history to represent the meaning of who we are and want to be as a people, fighting injustice, standing for love, and the power to be in spite of life's cruel hand (the power to find ability, even in disability). 

As with all successful art, something inspired a message, which was communicated so vividly and powerfully that the viewer would truly receive that inspiration. Thus, in that moment that they opened the set up to its full size and full cast, something radiated out to the audience and made that musical so much more than just a regular night of entertainment. 

When you feel that expression, you just know. You get it, but you can't put a name on it. You just let it flow through you. I'd like to call it the face of humanity providing the meaning of life.

This is the same type of feeling when I walked into the Sistine Chapel in January for the first time and just cried at the beauty of something so overpowering and holy. I remember feeling that same way at the Grand Canyon, too. I just stood there looking for words and only uttering "wow." Yet at the Sistine Chapel, I didn't know what to say or where to start. There was just so much effort and inspired traces of lives in there. 

What's a person to say or do when confronted with huge swaths of theological history and life meaning at once?

The Sistine Chapel is Michelangelo and some other painters, too (Boticelli among them). We don't often think of them, but they're "on the soundtrack," too (so to speak). So is Daniele da Volterra, though his work is more of a "crime" to the purity of what certain authorities deemed "impure." For these other people, we don't think of this as their greatest hit, but for Michelangelo, we do... no matter how much he resisted coming back for the encore. Now, together with the work of the original artists who worked without fig leafs, this is his life's meaning. Daniele da Volterra's brush can't hide this reality from us.

Thinking of the supernatural connection between man and the divine, something is happening at the Sistine Chapel. As I said, I can't explain what it is or define it by name, but when you see it, you just know. 

And it's thinking about my time there that I know why I cried for Notre Dame, and why I would cry for the things we saw in Greece, Italy, or hundreds of other locations, if they were to fall as did the Buddahs of Bamiyan or any of the other artifactss that are currently being lost to war and looting. It's why the Monument's Men risked their lives before George Clooney was alive to make a movie about their attempts to recover stolen art from the Nazis. That spirit, portrayed in the book of the same name, is why he was inspired to make such a powerful visual statement.

It's why I get upset at graffiti in national parks or drunken parties littering in pristine or simply removed natural surroundings. It's why history and culture matters, whether it's mine or someone else's. It's why I'm thankful for people like the Bad Ass Librarians of Timbuktu. 

This is why we fight for the face of humanity, even if it's not a person, per se.

To a throwaway culture, you don't get a second chance to save a priceless artifact.

Obviously, we didn't throw away Notre Dame, but many of you are like me. You planned to see it way too late. You thought it would always be there. Now it isn't. Why did you wait? If you could have gone, why didn't you?

I think about this now and reflect on our ability to go places and see and do things that will transform us into someone else. I think of a place in Utah and tell myself and the universe, just hang on for one more year. I'm coming.

We spend our time and money on things we value, so why not these things as soon as we can? We live our lives knowing that we have plenty of opportunities to see and do things, but then life happens and we don't ever make it there (I'm so glad my wife saw Notre Dame years ago and many of her family members saw it last year). We get too old. We aren't physically or financially able. It's like in the movie Up, with the adventure book. We define our life by our dreams, and yes, like in the movie, we adjust. But what about the things we should have done, but never did and so we regret what we missed out on?

For some of us, we know we could have done better with managing our hours. Here, it's the time wasters. For other people, it's the poor priorities. For still others, like me and many of the people who come to this site, things like Parkinson's happen. That's me. 

But it doesn't have to be.

We (I included) can live out loud and make the most of the time we can do. Godzilla can rage any minute. King Kong might join him. What are we waiting for? Someday, we will be old men and women with our memories. Will they be good ones? Will we do what we can to use our days? 

Can we follow our dreams to our Notre Dames, no matter what or where they are?

Because somehow in finding these heavenly connections to other worlds, the inspired products of the muse, we experience life's ultimate meaning. We become inspired to our own creativity and ultimate meaning. 

To see this destroyed, whether by a random accident or a deliberate action, we witness the destruction of a part of everything that touched it. Whether it's man's hand on a created work or God's hands on a natural place, something dies. At Notre Dame, a lot of parts of a lot of ghostly forms went up in smoke today. They'll never exist again as their face of humanity drifts away, hoping to be replaced with someone else's life meaning and purpose.

It's up to us and the actions brought on by our tears to recognize the beautiful and to preserve the past / present / future by creating it. No act of destruction can ever advance humanity near the same way as a creating one can.

+++

POSTSCRIPT

Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.

Should a person (people) be feeling guilty for ACCIDENTALLY causing this fire at Notre Dame, I hope said person (people can find peace and forgiveness in this moment. I can't even fathom what a burden this could be on a person's mind, especially if it was an accident. In the end, the art is divine, but forgiveness and the ability to make amends are pretty important to. 

We owe that to humanity.

Congratulations Chloe and Halee on Your Life Choices OR Strong Women (People) Choose to Live Life No Fear and Journey to Greatness

"We should go forth on the shortest walk, perchance, in the spirit of undying adventure, never to return, prepared to send back our embalmed hearts only as relics to our desolate kingdoms. If you are ready to leave father and mother, and brother and sister, and wife and child and friends, and never see them again—if you have paid your debts, and made your will, and settled all your affairs, and are a free man—then you are ready for a walk." THOREAU

It was roughly 10 years ago on Memorial Day weekend 2008 that I met my future nieces Chloe and Halee for the first time. Since that point, much has changed in both of their lives. Chloe went from our flower girl to going hiking with me at Glen Onoko waterfalls world to spending this summer, the summer between 11^th and 12^th grade in her northern Ohio life, as an intern in a veterinary clinic in Georgia. Halee went from a smiley gymnast to James Madison University in Virginia, where she discovered her passion of helping other people and participating in more extreme outdoor pursuits. In September, she truly leaves her Ohio roots and her standardized future for the world of Cameroon in Africa, to work with the Peace Corps for 27 months.

As a middle-aged uncle, I couldn’t be more proud of these young women seizing the bull by the horns to live life full on.

In life, I have encountered many young gals who took their opportunities and chose to be great. I think of my student Ashley, who spent a decade doing missionary / medical work in Guatemala. I think of another gal I taught last semester who worked selling merchandise with the Ice Capades. While that doesn’t sound exotic, think about it like this. She got to travel North American to experience a continent and meet new people. Pretty cool for a “routine” job, methinks.

Additionally, I knew many professional young women who went into the Air Force, completed basic training, and went on to be leaders in their fields. They took the opportunity to be great, and they ran with it for Air Force success. There are too many of these women to name only a few.

Then there were others who found the Air Force wasn’t for them. After it was over, they went on to do other things. I think of my friend “Jude,” whose multicultural background of being from multinational parents (English and American) opened her perspective up to be who she was meant to be. Now, she travels here, there, and everywhere for her job. Too cool!

Maybe they had concerns and fears, but they put them aside to be something more. Much of their success was in different locations far from their birthplace. Some of them had a birthplace, but were military “brats.” They went where they were meant to be. Here, I think of Nicki and Sky, who I met in a pediatrics clinic outside Woodbridge, England. At this point, their parents’ lives exist in post-Air Force days, but for Nicki, her opportunities are changing as her own family moves from Alaska to the southwest so she can change her career. Sky is now a professional in Montana, a place that looks nothing like Ipswich, England.

Other young girls have grown to be strong role models as women. My wife is 2 weeks away from starting a new job in education’s support world. Twelve years ago, she moved 8 hours to Pennsylvania to start a new life here. Today, we have been married almost 9 years, and her strength as the hardest-working woman I know (and best caregiver) has allowed her to be stronger than she ever knew she could be in tough situations. My mom and sister also grew with their life’s opportunities and challenges (as did my other family). Heather’s sisters grew with their challenges as well. Additionally, opportunities and moves and desire made them who they are. Heather’s sister Stephanie, for instance, recently moved from Toledo to Elkins, Georgia, to raise her daughters after her husband Steve retired there. New places can be scary, as can being away from family, but through it all, she continues to fulfill her life’s goal of making sure her kids can be in the right place to fulfill their talents.

The point is that life seems to offer people the standard. Granted, there is nothing wrong with staying in the same location all of our lives, but what if we have the chance to do more, why not? 

Additionally, heroes are generally sports stars or entertainers. When they’re historic figures, we usually look for the extreme, like Malala taking headshots for fighting for a woman’s right to be educated.

But it doesn’t have to be that way (though she's a next-level awesome person to follow).

In my life, I went into the Air Force looking to be stationed at bases no further than about 5 hours from home. I wanted to be close to old friends. I got Dover, Delaware. Then, a gal asked me to trade it for Bentwaters, England. She wanted to be with her husband. I told her I’d think about it. I had no overseas bases on my list. I had no clue where it was. One hour later, I took the opportunity. 

I never looked back.

Had I not taken it, I would have never met a lot of great people I still stay in touch with. Here, I think of Will and Heidi, whose Florida family is pretty much my extended family. Here, I also think of Trudy, who I shared a life with before and after the Air Force. Her family, my British family, opened their lives to me, both during and after our time together. Had it not been for our time together at the “College of Bury St. Edmunds,” I wouldn’t have come back to America to teach. I wouldn’t have grown into a better person (eventually), so I could get it right with my wife, which is where I was always meant to end up. I’m sure Trudy finds that our time made her life with her husband and sons possible, too. After all, that's where she was always meant to be.

The point is that opportunities come for everyone, regardless of gender. I watch movies like A Walk in the Woods and think about how Bill Bryson’s late life crisis is to walk the Appalachian Trail. He sets out and tries. He doesn’t make it, but he can. In 2013, I set out to do the Standing Stone Trail. I did about 20 of the about 75 miles of the trail before I went out on blisters. I tried, and I learned. That opportunity meant a lot.

Opportunities can mean something to everyone. Gals can and do kick butt on the Appalachian Trail. They can and do compete in all fields. It just comes back to finding heroines and support in what they do, no matter what that is. We need to be that support.

Right now, I encounter a lot of great women leading extraordinary lives in all that they do, especially helping people with Parkinson’s or other disabilities. We need more caring and compassionate people in these fields since there's a lot of us out here waiting for the cure (LIKE ME!) or simply to obtain palliative care.

Imagine if only men were encouraged to go out and do something beyond the standard!

Nevertheless, going back to where we began, I see Halee and Chloe beginning to be the kind of people who will end up in Amy Poehler’s MIGHTY GIRL world.

Rock on, ladies! You got this.

And guys… take your opportunities to grow, too. Stagnation is the enemy. Next year, Liam (pictured below) will get his shot to be the post high school him. He needs inspiration from your success (not that he won't find it on his own, but he still could use some trail builders showing him what's out there).

Remember, at some point, your opportunities might stop. What will your story be then? In the same manner, for those who took the opportunities, share the knowledge you gained. Here, I’m so glad I drove cross country several times. I feel everyone should have this opportunity to see what's out there in the world. After all, it's your oyster. That's why I write this and other essays.

Here’s to an awesome future to all of you.

One last note...

At some point in the life of this post, I will have my 100,000th visit to my blog. On September 27th, I was given 90% odds of having Parkinson's. The next morning, I chose to take a journey into education and advocating if that diagnosis proved true.

It did, and I did. I haven't looked back. I have nothing to lose. Parkinson's is already in the house, and we know what happens when a vampire gets "invited" in. My goal is still educating, advocating, finding a cure, and staying me, all while taking my opportunities to live life. 

If you'd like to be a part of that, I'm looking for people to state the following quote ("I am here to live out loud") in some special place, where they can record it on video. Last night, I gave the first at Independence Hall in Philly. My wife gave the second at the Chinese Lantern Festival. Please private message me for more information on this opportunity. Also, please note that it will be for the World Parkinson Congress video contest.

No matter whether you contribute footage or not, I appreciate you making this journey a reality. I am very humbled by your support.

Positive Thoughts to Handle This Diagnosis

While I was in California on vacation, I received a Facebook message from a person asking for positive thoughts on coping with his Parkinson's disease diagnosis. If I had access to my trusty computer keyboard, I could have whipped up a response in no time (I've been on this for about 2 hours, but that's not much time for a writer), but I was on the road, and yeah... typing on a cellphone isn't ideal, so I went with the simple version.

In today's world, we take for granted that we have Internet access pretty much everywhere, and when we get to those connected spots, there are computers to hook up. However, this is not true, as there are still places that lack for connection in the lower 48. Most of these places are either in the desert or the mountains, but there are also sections in places like the middle California coastline (where we were), which not only don't have cellphone connection, but they also have mega expensive gas!

And yes, before I go too far, there are towns, but they are far apart because it's beautiful on the coast, and we don't need a million towns interrupting nature when we can have lots of elephant seals instead. If you're not sure what that means, see the video below.

That said, we do need clumps of civilization in between the somewhere and nowhere we encounter across this great country. In these towns that do exist, since things have to happen, we need food and supplies, and in the bigger places, there have to be hotels, motels, bed + breakfasts, souvenir shops, and amazingly enough (since they still exist), libraries.

Prior to the message, I went looking for one of these "antiquated" libraries since I only had my cellphone and Kindle with at the time, and I needed to finish my grades (the program we use for online learning isn't compatible with my phone, and it's not always WIFI ready for Kindles in other road stretches or tiny towns). Cambria (around San Simeon) was a no go, so we went to Palo Robles (inland a little bit) instead, and I graded there (much thanks for that!).

Heading for Yosemite via Angel's Camp, I wasn't thinking I would have much luck to answer this person's message, so I was unable to type a deeply meaningful and lucid response that the magnitude of the question demanded, but I did type some things, which I hope went over well.

Nevertheless, now that I do have time, I want to compile a list of things that I would want someone to tell me upon being diagnosed. Granted, I'm a stoic, and that means I need writers I don't live with telling me to tough it up and live life the best I can with the cards I'm dealt with. This also means that I'm a feeling human, so I need people who I do live with to tell me that everything is going to be all right (and I in return need to say this to them). If this sounds like a contradiction, it probably is, but it's me all the same.

Not knowing the person who wrote me, I was humbled that someone would ask my opinion. I often think of my life in terms of the things that I struggle to do right, but I'd also like to think that I have my current attitude to Parkinson's, my marriage to my wife, and my writing as things that I do fairly well. Thus, I was empowered by his request. Additionally, his request also made me want to write this better now that I'm home.

So here it is.

1) Parkinson's isn't the end of the world. Yes, it's a progressively acting neurodegenerative disease (that's a mouthful),  but it's not King Kong and Godzilla rampaging through the city today (instead, it kind of starts as a fly buzzing around your head and landing on your face every day). What does that mean? It means you have plenty of living to do; however, you have to live this life with tremors and some other conditions that most people don't know about for a while. It's not easy to put them to the side, but you can do it. I believe in you. You seem like a good person, so you have that going for you, too!

2) Yes, someday, you'll have other issues that people will notice (and you will, too), but I can't tell you when or if you'll get to all of them. Besides, if King Kong and Godzilla rampage through the city tomorrow, it's not going to matter anyway. Life is like that. Sometimes other things take precedence, and then we need to fact up to those. Besides, we can't predict the future, so get living today (as much as you can, spending time with the people who love you and that you love). There's a lot of fun things to do in all sizes, shapes, and forms.

3) Start thinking about the bucket list. Make these things happen. Yes, you are running against a clock for how long you might be able to do some things, but you're not Dostoevsky facing the intensity of coming back from the edge of life with the heavy responsibility of living each moment perfectly. Besides, there are other options for taking on pain and suffering and pessimism. With that, even if you don't like country music, you should have / could have been listening to Tim McGraw's thoughts about life as he watched Tug's final chapters. Personally, I think he's right on. Bring on Fu Man Chu.

4) You're a great person, and you're still you. The only difference is now someone has a name for your tremors or the symptoms you presented. Stop thinking about Parkinson's 24/7 (I know that sounds easy for me to say, but I'd like to believe you can leave that at home). Family, friends, job, hobbies, and commitments outweigh Parkinson's... no matter what conditions it plants between your brain and your toes. Yes, they'll all have questions, and you'll have to answer them, but you still have a lot of memories to make and gatherings to attend. Make the most of it!

5) Stay in motion. Parkinson's is all about rigidity and exhaustion. Some people rock steady box. Others go dancing. I go hiking. Whatever you do, just do it! No hobby is wrong if it keeps you active.

6) GARY PAULSEN (Hatchet author) - “He did not know how long it took, but later he looked back on this time of crying in the corner of the dark cave and thought of it as when he learned the most important rule of survival, which was that feeling sorry for yourself didn't work. It wasn't just that it was wrong to do, or that it was considered incorrect. It was more than that--it didn't work.” 

By the way, your middle school kids have probably read this book to wire themselves tougher.

Stoics can read this quote as, "Man up. Do what you need to do. Your survival depends on you."

Feeling people can read this quote as, "Sometimes, you're going to feel like crying or getting emotional. That's OK. Get it out, but when it's done, take a deep breath and do what you need to do. Your survival depends on you."

7) Support teams are essential. Find the people who love you and tell them what you need. Listen to their advice, give + receive praise, and work together for your betterment. Sometimes they'll get it wrong, but people genuinely mean well.

BTW - Don't badmouth them and encourage them not to badmouth you when they hate on your Parkinson's in private. There is a difference, and besides, once you start belittling the person, things never stay the same (even if the person didn't hear it).

8) Everything you have learned is what you go into this rewiring with. If you're reading this early on, you have time to change before the next avalanche hits (avalanches can be anything - they are my expression for that moment when the bad stuff hits (loss of job, relationship, sickness, accident, diagnosis, etc.). Avalanche Day is your diagnosis day). The term "avalanche" comes from the Cory Richards (below) story. If you aren't wired tough to withstand the moment, then you need to find those who are and learn from them. Whether you're a stoic or a happy go lucky person, it's all about finding calm in the storm. I recommend whatever works for you. I say that as a client of myself, not a professional trainer. This woman writes about radical acceptance. 

However, if you want to know what changed my attitude, Laurence Gonzales' Deep Survival and Surviving Survival saved my life the last time I went through a bad time in my life (2011's post school job hunt days). They outline the methods that work for me.

I also recommend Victor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning.

9) NOTE - if I was diagnosed in 2011 when my symptoms started or early 2015 when I was misdiagnosed, I wouldn't have had the benefit of 19 extra months of looking at the lives of heroes and  role models to get myself in order. Frankly, I would have been a mess. Get yourself a hero and a code of life / philosophy / theology now. They will help carry you when you and your caregivers can't.

BTW, my numero uno hero in the world is Jackie Robinson.

Check out other cool uplifting things by some of my heroes like...

LITTLE ZEN MONKEY

MR. ROGERS

BRYAN ANDERSON 

PASS IT ON DOT COM (USED TO BE VALUES DOT COM)

Random Parkies' blogs like this one SHAKE RATTLE BE WHOLE

If you want a female or a funny or a great established blog, check out PERKY PARKIE

10) Here are some of the quotes that inspire me. Find ones that inspire you. It doesn't matter by who. Post them around the house.

11) Since you're a Parkie, you get Muhammad Ali (above), Neil Diamond (below), and Michael J. Fox and his foundation on your team!

12) When you're first learning, try to only view solid websites with real credentials like Michael J. Fox Foundation and Parkinsonsdisease.net when it comes to information. I could list a lot of good medical ones (NIH, Mayo Clinic, and other reputable Parkinson's orgs), but if you start looking for miracle cures R us, you're going to find them and get led astray (as well as snake oil salesmen and conspiracy nonsense on otherwise good blogs). If you go looking in chat rooms, you're going to find a million diagnoses from possible to impossible to rare to wrong. Some people know their stuff. Some want to help. If it's bugging you, see a specialist. The best thing chat rooms do is provide support that you aren't alone and allow you to make friends, while learning about the issues. For this, I recommend many of them. However, don't substitute them for doctor's advice and experience.

On that note, don't go looking for further down the line symptoms until you need to. Move into this step by step and adjust to the water's temperatures. There will be time to think about deep brain stimulation videos later.

13) Educate others, advocate for Parkinson's cures, respond kindly - don't go looking for a fight (for not using People First Language, offering help or just not knowing), document your experience, don't sit thinking the miracle cure will be here by Christmas, and live your life to the fullest! Whatever will be will be, but remember, we can be the generation to motivate a cure for the future - even if it will never be for us. For me, that is my purpose numero uno in this game of PD.

I thank you for reading this, and I hope it helps you and helps others.

Recently, I started blogging HERE at Parkinsonsdisease Dot Net. You can read my diagnosis story at that link. I encourage you to check out other bloggers there, too.

I blog regularly on my own and have a Parkinson's site on Facebook. I encourage you to like it if you would like to read more about my Parkinson's experience as well as read about me being the me that still does what the old Dan used to do before he had PD (and some new things he's learned to like since then).

Here are 2 other videos I took on vacation about my thoughts on standing up to Parkinson's.

This one is at Yosemite

This one is at Muir Woods

5,000 Hit Posts - Why I Write about My Parkinson's and My Supernatural / Action Fiction!

Above is a video explanation of why I write and why I feel you should write, too (if only to share with yourself and friends). Rather than re-post all of it, I'll just encourage you to watch my video. It's less than 3 minutes, so yeah... good commercial break info.

The essential thesis is Emile Zola's quote, "I am here to live life out loud." In addition, it's about defining yourself and controlling your narrative so others can't make you feel like less than you are. In your writing, you can be you. Be honest, be bold, and be beautifully imperfect. Warts and successes, we are who we are. Never be afraid to be you... even if you're a white-whiskered, chubby-bellied, self-important Parkie rambling about interests few people relate to, you're still you. Be that person who is living life out loud (besides, I'm happy to be all those things because that means that I may have PD, but it doesn't have me)!!

Today is day 2 of 21 straight days to push my blog hard (a new post every day) to move to a place where I can live out my dream to write for more than a hobby. Much of this is based on a decision to educate and advocate for Parkinson's knowledge in places that I go (being visible / being strong / showing my positive). For instance, my wife and I are going to Yosemite in May. Being on a more national front with people helping me spread my story helps show people that I may joke that I'm "Shakes the Hiker," but I'm more than tremors, Parkinson's mask, a dystonia-affected left foot, dysphagia, hyperhidrosis, and many things people don't know about. I'm a guy who's going to push himself to get to places that let others know, "not only are we out here, but we're keeping it 100 (as the kids say)."

Yes, this is about being a professional writer and blogger, but it's about letting people know that we should be choosing to live life and not writing off people when they can still do things (and they want to do them, too!). This applies to anyone with a beating heart. Make your days count! You never know when Godzilla, King Kong, and the other monsters will strike and stop your chances to do.

I won't be posting all of my links on all Facebook pages, so you're going to need to Google follow me or join my Parkinson's Writer Facebook page for constant info. This is because not every post will appeal to the same group, so rather than post about every idea every day, I'll just be sharing links when they're pertinent to the site.

So... for today, I leave you with thoughts on being a writer (both fiction and nonfiction). Here are 12 thoughts on writing based on my experience in the classroom and at the computer.

1. I have written stuff since the late 1980s. Much of the beginning writing was quick story slivers, bad poetry, and pseudo-prose written as rambling literary / emo before I knew much about either.

This fire is what happened to half of the poetry and prose. The rest was shredded. That's OK. It wasn't my baby, and besides, overly emotional in the moment stuff is better to get out and then destroy. Who wants that lying around anyway? In the end, it was all practice. Get your 10,000 hours of practice like Malcolm Gladwell said (no matter who disagrees). As opposed to the rambling emotions, most of my best practice was writing letters to friends while in the Air Force. I could ramble for pages about nothing. Imagine when I had something to say! Additionally, I also learned to type without looking through Instant Messenger. Go figure!

2. I do see that emotional knee jerk expression as a cathartic necessity, but when it comes to the final product, that conflict needs to be resolved and moved beyond before publication. A writer who can control his or her emotions in the moment and just be objective (facts vs. subjective emotions) is achieving one of the first goals in the life of a writer. Commas are further down the list somewhere.

3. The most important trait of a writer is believing that he or she has something worth saying (if you don't, you won't get a word out). Blogging is a great opportunity to write it down and put ourselves out there. I recommend the ready-made fans websites of people like you (that's why I'm publishing to hikers, Parkies, travelers, baseball fans, fans of music I like, and people into the supernatural).

4. It's easy to give it away for free. It's harder to sell it. You only have so many friends and relatives and friends of relatives. That said, when that time comes to sell your books, be patient, figure out a marketing strategy, and make it happen. Don't get discouraged. That's why I have this online blog and this Facebook page for my Parkinson's writing and this page for my supernatural writing. I also have a real deal web page. I encourage you to check them all out! I definitely appreciate the likers and followers. Nevertheless, I wrote the Parkinson's blog for 18 months before I had a 3,000 hit post. More than that, I've written many blogs, and some of them never got near that many hits in all of the posts. When I finally did, the post went to just under 5,500 in 4 days. The comments that went with it felt reassuring. Nevertheless, this isn't overnight success. Additionally, this is still humbling and exciting, though I look to expand my success at getting my experiences and thoughts out to people.

5. Some people are all about creating their brand from day 1. To be a good writer, you need to be all about learning how to achieve the flow first. Practice, practice, practice. Get those words going from A-Z without skipping letters. This is free writing. Don't edit. Just flow. Make Jay-Z proud. Additionally, your brand might be arts and crafts, but you put more into being a parent. You can write what you like or write what succeeds. Which way you go is a value choice. Only you can make that.

7. Before you even think about branding, you better be able to outline and follow it. Remember, you're not Faulkner, Kerouac, Tarantino, or some creative writer flattening out time in a stream of consciousness technique to be artistic. Beginning to Middle to End. The beginning can be Megamind falling to earth, saying, "How did I get here?" That's fine. Then tell the story from the beginning. Gradual reveal is also fine. John Travolta shot and killed in 1 scene and alive and kicking in the next? Don't think about it until you're declared a creative genius. Even then, stay real enough or you'll be Kanye West sampling about being provocative and how nobody understands that. At least he could laugh at himself. Besides, he's got mad bank (even if he's a male Kardashian) should people think he's "cra cra" (and they do).

8. Find a good adviser and a good editor. Don't shake said person off. This person is trying to help you (especially if you aren't paying). Your job is to nod appropriately and do. My editor is MaryAnn (see below). She has done so much to help promote my writing dream. What would I do without her? Mucho gracias! She kept me from writing a Walking Dead ending, and we all know how bad that "who did Negan kill?" episode was for the franchise. As for editing, eventually, you will need to learn grammar. You don't have to be perfect. You'll never get there, but there's acceptable errors and "this is a nightmare." You always want to read out loud for clarity, and keep working on it to get better. When it's done, take a deep breath and move on like Mike Desantis, a stats teacher I learned from, said.

9. There's nothing wrong with being an imitator when you're finding your voice. A lot of my writing is influenced by books I read, movies I watch, songs I listen to, and people I know. At my earliest period of impressionable influence, it was Henry Rollins. The last authors I read that really got to me in that kind of way were Chuck Klosterman, Nick Hornby, Bill Simmons, and other page-turner autobiography / thoughts types. Of course, there was also Henry Miller, Kurt Vonnegut, Jon Krakauer, Edward Abbey, Laurence Gonzales, and Jack Kerouac, but yeah... authors come and go, and we add in as many Ken Burns documentaries as we do of the local ghost story writers flair (here, I think of Charlie Adams). Don't let people make you into Jane Austen unless you're writing about dating customs 200+ years ago. If you want to be Jack London, then make your dogs into the primordial beast persona of yourself! Besides, Jane Austen has nothing to teach about that. All the same, Jack London couldn't write a woman accurately if he had a gun to his head and his life depended on it.

10. JK Rowling was rejected 12 times before she became the first billionaire writer with movies and a theme park to go with her books. Oh, and they reduced her woman's name to initials to sell to little boys, who might not like reading a woman's work. She nodded appropriately, but now she can buy all of us and speak her mind about lots of issues (and she does!). The moral of the story is not to compromise, but rather, it is to know about being patient and tough enough to handle rejection.

11. I didn't meet my wife until 2007 (age 36), but when the time came, I learned from the good and the bad things that I did and others did to me in my relationships to make it work in the now. My wife may not be a writer, but she does support and encourage me. Get yourself some of these people, too. You need love, encouragement, non-writing love, and a ground team. That said, find yourself some writers and readers, too.

12. Have fun with it. Nobody is paying you $1 million for your book until you have something that they feel is worth reading (be it a heroic moment landing a plane on the Hudson or a long story about Hobbits). In our own mind, we may know we have something great, but without that push, we're not even going to be in the bargain bins. I call this the JK ROWLING BLUES. People are told by advertisers what to read, and when that happens, even Wal-Mart sells out of our books. Remember, most people don't just buy a book to buy a book. When they do, they're told what to buy, and then we get 50 Shades of Gray, Stephen King, Dan Brown, Anne Rice, Stephanie Meyer, Michael Crichton, Maya Angelou, Suzanne Collins, and James Patterson. Until then, write to write. Write if people don't buy. If they do, thank them. If they don't, keep writing anyway. In his life, Thoreau would joke about having 900 books in his library, which featured 700 of his own works!

By the way, if you have to give it away to get instant love to get to the paid love later, do it. Here, my 600 pages of The Rules of the Game can be a free download from time to time (on Kindle) in the same way new businesses need to do Groupon. Granted, it's tough to want to pay $10 to give a print book away, but digital love or sample chapters... definitely.

I love me some Groupon! Oh, and I also love me some Tiffany Haddish!

As a bonus, here are Jack Kerouac's techniques for writing (spelling issues are his)...

BELIEF AND TECHNIQUE FOR MODERN PROSE

LIST OF ESSENTIALS  (by JACK KEROUAC)

1.      Scribble secret notebooks, and wild typewritten pages, for yr own joy

2.      Submissive to everything, open, listening

3.      Try never get drunk outside yr own home

4.      Be in love with yr life

5.      Something that you feel will find its own form

6.      Be crazy dumbsaint of the mind

7.      Blow as deep as you want to blow

8.      Write what you want bottomless from the bottom of the mind

9.      The unspeakable visions of the individual

10.   No time for poetry but exactly what is

11.   Visionary tics shivering in the chest

12.   In traced fixation dreaming upon object before you

13.   Remove literary, grammatical and syntactical inhibition

14.   Like Proust be an old teahead of time

15.   Telling the true story of the world in interior monologue

16.   The jewel center of interest is the eye within the eye

17.   Write in recollection and amazement for yourself

18.   Work from pithy middle eye out, swimming in language sea

19.   Accept loss forever

20.   Believe in the holy contour of life

21.   Struggle to sketch the flow that already exists intact in mind

22.   Dont think of words when you stop but to see picture better

23.   Keep track of every day the date emblazoned in yr morning

24.   No fear or shame in the dignity of yr experience, language & knowledge

25.   Write for the world to read and see yr exact pictures of it

26.   Bookmovie is the movie in words, the visual American form

27.   In praise of Character in the Bleak inhuman Loneliness

28.   Composing wild, undisciplined, pure, coming in from under, crazier the better

29.   You’re a Genius all the time

30.   Writer-Director of Earthly movies Sponsored & Angeled in Heaven

As of right now, I'm doing a few things differently (as I said earlier) as your support (a 5,393 hit post about my Parkinson's learning) and the release of my 3rd book, The Rules of the Game, which I put out on Amazon (whose site CreateSpace allows people to vanity print on demand) have shown me that other people believe I have things worth saying as I work on the outline plan and writing for my Parkinson's book to be done by July or so.

As for my current book, it's a supernatural action story. For parents looking to see if it's for teenagers, I do discuss ratings ahead of time for age appropriateness. At some point in the near future, I will be releasing it for free on Kindle.

It's not everyone's cup of tea, but it's something I like creating that keeps me from being PD. At the end of the day, my characters need to be fully developed and realized, so let me write!

Thanks again for the love.

I'm humbled.

Dan.