A Rough patch, a Movie and a Journal

I was tweaking the blog theme, when I noticed it has been over a month since I have produced meaningful, original content for the blog. It was not for a lack of effort, as I have multiple unfinished posts in my iA Writer. But every time I attempt to complete a post, I find myself at a loss of words.

“Have I hit the rough patch? The famed Writer’s block?" I wondered. “It does seem quite early for that”.

My better half set me free from my apprehensions.

“To get a Writer’s block, you have to be a Writer first”, She quipped.

Oh well.

What really happened? Blame it on the season, the long string of holidays, and a quick succession of festivals. I chilled and lost my momentum, as I always do in Dec - Jan. I stopped reading, and started Netflixing (Is that even a word?).

I realized my writing dried up, right about the time I stopped reading. So would going back to my reading habits, enable me to write again?

Sunday is fast approaching. I don’t have a post yet.

To put my theory to test, I picked up a book which I have been trying to complete for a bit of time now. It was Richie Norton’s “The Power of Starting Something Stupid”. (Wonderful litte book. Do check out if you are into that genre).

The chapter I began talked about Gratitude. And the benefits of being thankful, even for the smallest acts. According to the book,

“Thanking is a form of payment that exponentially pays forward both personally and professionally.”

And the author nudges us to be thankful more often.

“If you want to experience a greater sense of thankfulness in your life, say “Thank you!” more often. It’s a small thing, but people who consistently express gratitude develop a higher level of awareness for all the things in their lives they have to be grateful for. When we express our gratitude, it grows.”

And suddenly, I was reminded of a movie I had seen a few days ago “Come as you are”. The comedy - drama film is based on a true story. It’s about three Persons with Disabilities (PwD) - a visually impaired one, a quadriplegic, and a wheelchair bound terminally ill person - going on a road trip from America to Canada, to a brothel which caters to PwD’s.

Part funny, and part thought provoking, the movie reminded me how much we take for granted, the little important things in life. And I remembered the words of Earl Nightingale,

“Everything that’s really worthwhile in life came to us free — our minds, our souls, our bodies, our hopes, our dreams, our ambitions, our intelligence, our love of family and children and friends and country. All these priceless possessions are free.”

“And things that are given to us for nothing, we place little value on. Things that we pay money for, we value.”

“But the things that cost us money are actually very cheap and can be replaced at any time. A good man can be completely wiped out and make another fortune. He can do that several times. Even if our home burns down, we can rebuild it. But the things we got for nothing, we can never replace.”

The movie, and the book, reminded me of my sorry attempts to maintain a Gratitude Journal. My mentor said to me once, that maintaining a Journal is rewarding, and a Gratitude Journal is the most powerful transformational tool one can have.

While I do keep a ‘Regular Journal’, I then had simply ran out of stuff to write in my Gratitude Journal, after a week.

“What else is there to be thankful for??” I had reasoned at that time.

Turns out, there is a lot more.

I am planning to restart my attempts to have a Gratitude Journal.

Checkout the book, checkout the movie, and start Gratitude Journaling if you can. It will radically transform your life. If it doesn’t, maybe the next blog post here will. 🥶

I proudly showed my better half, how I managed to link the rough patch, the netflix movie, the book, and the journal. She said it reminds me of a story she read. About a person who was asked to describe a tree, but ends up describing the cow tied to the tree.

Well, this Sunday’s blog post is here, and at least my theory works. 🤷‍♂️