foolishnotions.net

barnes and noble… our favorite date night activity.  i recite silently to myself each time we come, no books about work, no books about work… its’s one of my most important rules.  i’m incapable of engaging the love of my life when i’m thinking about my other true love.  i’ve tried it more times than i care to admit… it can’t be done.  plus, i’ve found this practice does a fairly efficient job of revealing suppressed hopes and dreams… which makes me a decidedly more interesting date.

last night’s quest found me in the ‘writing/publishing’ section.  i pulled 3 books off the shelf and proudly scored one of the 4 comfy chairs in the store.  it took me approximately 42.567 seconds to realize the irony of reading about being a writer.  i politely thumbed the pages of the books as if i didn’t want to hurt their feelings by dismissing them so quickly.  but admit i have absolutely no idea what they were about. my brain was too busy reminding me of the perfectly good moleskine right beside me.

satisfied i had sufficiently humored the fine authors, i plopped the books down next to my purse and began rummaging for something to write with.  as i suspected… moleskine – but no pen.  certainly they sell pens here, right? so off i went.  i really couldn’t justify a $15 pen.  seriously? $15 for a ball point pen?  they were really groovy looking and all, came in a fancy box… but wow, that seems a bit excessive.  determined, i headed for the door when i spied 2 shabby slender boxes over by the book lights.  $2.95,  totally doable.  plus, it had a handy dandy magnifying glass built right in.  pretty slick, actually.  i scooped it up and proudly marched it to the cashier.  this time i snubbed the available cushy arm chair in favor of a hard wooden stool in a quiet corner. i cracked open my moleskine, coaxed the ink out of my new ballpoint and this is what was on my mind…

how often i read, but fail to act;

how often i contemplate, but fail to plan;

how often i learn, but fail to practice;

how often i prepare, yet resist being ready;

‘to know’ is futile without producing ‘to do’;

‘to understand’ is prideful without producing ‘to teach’;

‘to grow’ is meaningless when it fails ‘to reproduce’;

‘to overcome’ is wasted if it fails ‘to encourage’;

knowledge & experience change nothing;

courage & action change everything.

why is it so hard to put the pen on the paper?
why is it so hard to act on inspiration?
anyone… beuller?