Let's Just See

Let’s Just See …

I don’t have a planned topic this morning. I’ve thought about a lot of things and am sitting by the lake, classical violin music is playing on my phone. I hear one bird particularly among the others, his harping repetitive squawk overriding the musical notes being offered by all the others. Minnows are periodically popping above the surface of the water, trying to elude the bigger fish that is in pursuit. Meanwhile, a slight breeze creates a picture of ruffles on the water. It’s peaceful in my place and my plan is to simply follow my stream of consciousness and write.

Yesterday as I rode along my country roads in my car, I listened to Jeff Foxworthy dialogue back and forth with another comedian. Jeff asked the comedian how he tracks his potential material – how he writes the jokes he wants to incorporate into his stage act. It never occurred to me that comedians carefully craft the individual jokes through individual processes. I think I just assumed they sat down and wrote jokes that came to them. But, like many other arts, there is a creative process involved and it varies artist to artist. For instance, Jeff Foxworthy keeps 3-4 index cards in his hip pocket, literally, and when he sees or hears something that hits him as funny, he stops right then and jots it down. As he begins to actually write material, he said he always does it longhand, never on a computer. Interesting. (I am writing on a computer.)

In response to his question, his fellow comedian stated that he begins each morning journaling his stream of conscious thought and simply follows where it leads. Longhand. No agenda per se. Just writes, journals.

I can see the value of simply writing. I journal as well. My journal is also stream of consciousness now that I think about it, but for the purpose of prayer. I simply talk to God on paper. I keep another notebook nearby, as a rule, to record other thoughts, to-dos, etc as they come to me. It helps me by organizing my brainstorming. Sometimes, nothing comes of it. However, other times, the ideas fully develop into something that I implement for business or ministry.

Are you giving yourself the opportunity to think?