Esther Chilton’s writing prompt this week is inspiration.
I sat alone at a corner table of a crowded café, my vanilla latte and my iphone on the table as my eyes looked all around me for inspiration.
A toddler drop his cookie, then offer the crumbled mess to a stranger. The child’s mother was about to scold her son, but the man laughed and took a piece.
Across the room, two teenagers argued about which superhero had the better moral compass. At the next table, a woman talked softly to a sympathetic friend about a breakup, wiping her eyes with a napkin that had the word “smile” printed on it, along with a bright yellow happy face.
My latte had grown cold, my iPhone untouched. But my mind buzzed as I looked around.
I realized that, as a blogger, particularly one who blogs from a smartphone, I didn’t need a dedicated writing room, a mountaintop retreat, or my finger on the pulse of the latest viral trends for inspiration.
What I needed was people. Real, imperfect, and unscripted people. Inspiration lives in overheard laughter, mismatched socks, awkward hugs, and the tiny, human sparks that often go unnoticed by most.
I started tapping away on my iPhone. I wrote, “Today, I watched tiny, real moments of life happen in a crowded café. It wasn’t loud. But it was all the inspiration I need to fill pages.”
“Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.”
Eleanor Roosevelt, American political figure, diplomat, and activist
Eleanor Roosevelt was the longest-serving first lady of the United States, during her husband Franklin D. Roosevelt’s four terms as president from 1933 to 1945.
Written for Linda G. Hill’s One-Liner Wednesday prompt. Image generated for devdiscourse.com.
For this week’s Sunday Poser, Sadje wants to know…
Where do you get ideas for your posts?
What inspires you to write on your blog?
Where do I get my ideas for my posts? I open my eyes and see people and things and events. I read about them, I observe them. I study them. And then I might write a post about them.
Someone may post a photo that inspires me to write a story. Or I will take five or six random words and challenge myself to weave them together in a tale. Or I may respond to one of the WordPress Daily Prompts.
It’s really hard for me to fathom how anyone with eyes and ears, is at all paying attention, and who enjoys writing, cannot come up with ideas and inspiration for blogging. If they can’t, perhaps they might want to consider a different way to pass their time.
It’s Monday and Dr. Tanya is back with her weekly Blogging Insights prompt. She provides us with a quote about blogging or writing and asks us to express our opinion about said quote.
This week’s quote is from Jeremy Schoemaker, a web entrepreneur.
“I think I am about 5 for 500 when it comes to successful ideas versus flops.”
I’m not sure if this quote has much to do with writing or blogging. I suppose when you’re talking about money-making schemes, if 495 out of 500 ideas end up hitting being flops, that might be okay if 5 out of 500 are hugely successful. But if I thought only 1% of my ideas for blog posts were successful, I’d find some other way to spend my time.
To me, successful ideas, when it comes to blogging, are those ideas that result in posts that I’m proud of, that readers seem to enjoy, and which engage readers enough for them to like and/or comment on them. Using that criteria as a guideline, I would hope that my idea success rate is better than 1%.
On this very day five years ago I published my first post on This, That, and the Other. It was basically an introduction to who I am, and it was aptly named “Practical Pragmatist.”
In case you are at all interested in reading my first post on this blog, here it is. It’s a rather long post for me — almost 500 words; my average post length so far this year is around 240. But if you have a minute or two, you might enjoy it.
Practical Pragmatist
I am a pragmatist. And I think of myself as a practical person. Thus, I am a practical pragmatist.
So what is a pragmatist? A pragmatist is a person who is oriented toward the success or failure of a particular line of action, thought, etc.
A pragmatist is an advocate or adherent of pragmatism, which is the philosophy or conduct that emphasizes practicality.
Philosophical Pragmatism
The pragmatic philosophy is based on the belief that the best way to evaluate the practicality of ideas, policies, and proposals is through their workability and usefulness. Pragmatism stresses action over doctrine. The philosophy embraces the notion that ideas base their meanings from their consequences; that they are essentially instruments and plans of action.
So how do I know that I’m a pragmatist? When I was a young adult working a full-time job and attending graduate school at night to get a Master’s degree, the girl I was dating at the time lambasted me for putting more emphasis on “dollars and degrees” than on my relationship with her. I wasn’t, she bemoaned, giving her as much time and attention as I was giving my job and my school work. She didn’t like being the third priority in my life, yet she was.
I knew I needed to work hard at my job in order to pay for rent, food, school, and, well, life. I knew that getting a graduate degree would enable me to be more successful and secure in the future. I knew these things because I’m a pragmatist.
So what about “practical”? I describe myself as a logical, rational, and reasonable person. I am not ruled by emotions but by facts, observations, and evidence. That’s likely why, in addition to being a pragmatist, I’m an atheist. There is nothing logical, rational, or reasonable about religious doctrine or dogma. Rather than being based upon facts, observations, and evidence, religion is based upon faith and beliefs where there is no empirical evidence.
This is not to say that I can’t be open to beliefs or faith, either. Every time I board an airplane I have faith that the aircraft is mechanically sound and that the pilot and copilot are sober and competent. I just don’t buy into this whole God thing because there is no empirical evidence that such an omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, supernatural being exists other than in the minds of those who have embraced ancient mythologies over logic, rationality, and reason.
Nor does my pragmatism mean that I am devoid of emotions. I am empathetic and have been known to shed a tear or two when I encounter the pain or suffering of others. I may not feel as intensely as some others feel, but I feel nonetheless.
So bear in mind as you read my posts, should you decide to read beyond this first one, that, as a self-identified practical pragmatist, my perspectives are borne out of practicality and pragmatism.
“Like going to D.C. on January 6th and participating in that ill-fated siege of the Capitol building.”
“That was fun.”
“Fun? Seriously? You thought that was a good idea?”
“For sure. My best ideas often come to me while drinking my morning coffee and eating a couple of poached eggs.”
“Sorry, Grandpa, but I think you screwed the pooch this time.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because your picture was posted on the internet.”
“Really? How’d I look?”
“Good enough to be recognized.”
“Excellent.”
“I don’t think it’s so excellent.”
“Why not? Now I’m famous.”
“More like infamous.”
“That’s not such a bad thing.”
“Tell that to the two FBI agents who at waiting for you at the front door.”
This post was written for the JSW Challenge from Athling2001. The idea is to take the dialogue posted above and run with it. Also written for these daily prompts: Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (patriarch), Your Daily Word Prompt (beseem), Word of the Day Challenge (sometimes), The Daily Spur (coffee), MMA Storytime (eggs), and Ragtag Daily Prompt (radical).
I am a pragmatist. And I think of myself as a practical person. Thus, I am a practical pragmatist.
So what is a pragmatist? A pragmatist is a person who is oriented toward the success or failure of a particular line of action, thought, etc.
A pragmatist is an advocate or adherent of pragmatism, which is the philosophy or conduct that emphasizes practicality.
Philosophical Pragmatism
The pragmatic philosophy is based on the belief that the best way to evaluate the practicality of ideas, policies, and proposals is through their workability and usefulness. Pragmatism stresses action over doctrine. The philosophy embraces the notion that ideas base their meanings from their consequences; that they are essentially instruments and plans of action.
So how do I know that I’m a pragmatist? When I was a young adult working a full-time job and attending graduate school at night to get a Master’s degree, the girl I was dating at the time lambasted me for putting more emphasis on “dollars and degrees” than on my relationship with her. I wasn’t, she bemoaned, giving her as much time and attention as I was giving my job and my school work. She didn’t like being the third priority in my life, yet she was.
I knew I needed to work hard at my job in order to pay for rent, food, school, and, well, life. I knew that getting a graduate degree would enable me to be more successful and secure in the future. I knew these things because I’m a pragmatist.
So what about “practical”? I describe myself as a logical, rational, and reasonable person. I am not ruled by emotions but by facts, observations, and evidence. That’s likely why, in addition to being a pragmatist, I’m an atheist. There is nothing logical, rational, or reasonable about religious doctrine or dogma. Rather than being based upon facts, observations, and evidence, religion is based upon faith and beliefs where there is no empirical evidence.
This is not to say that I can’t be open to beliefs or faith, either. Every time I board an airplane I have faith that the aircraft is mechanically sound and that the pilot and copilot are sober and competent. I just don’t buy into this whole God thing because there is no empirical evidence that such an omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, supernatural being exists other than in the minds of those who have embraced ancient mythologies over logic, rationality, and reason.
Nor does my pragmatism mean that I am devoid of emotions. I am empathetic and have been known to shed a tear or two when I encounter the pain or suffering of others. I may not feel as intensely as others feel, but I feel nonetheless.
So bear in mind as you read my posts, should you decide to read beyond this first one, that, as a self-identified practical pragmatist, my perspectives are borne out of practicality and pragmatism.
“You didn’t seriously…?”
Facts, Fictions & Fantasies 