Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish ~ Dedication to Steve Jobs

Hunks Thursday has been postponed for an Icon.

1955-2011

I've heard the news, just as all of you have that Steve Jobs has died. I didn't even know who he was in the 1980's when I bought my first computer--an Apple II. But he's darn famous now for all his inventions--things people can't seem to get through a day--or a minute of a day--without.

My husband and I listened to a speech he made to a graduating class and I'm glad I was able to hear it in its entirety. Everything he said was thought provoking and inspiring.

His final words were "Stay hungry, stay foolish", after telling everyone to never "settle" and find the thing you are in love with (This also goes for the person you fall in love with), and don't settle for less. Go after it and make it yours.

As a writer who is, and has been in love, with writing since my senior year in high school (1972), I had followed this advice before I'd heard it. I guess I had always stepped to my own drummer. When I exclaimed excitedly that I intended to become an author, my English teacher told me to not pursue a writing career because of my terrible spelling and grammar.

I, of course, didn't listen. Instead I went after something that was probably so impossible that it did keep me hungry. And I was foolish. "You can't possibly find a publisher who would want your book! Look at how many books are out there!" That was from my ex-husband. Obviously I had settled, but that was then, this is now. I didn't listen to him either.

It took me a while, but I am now published.

I've always admired people who could find something around that corner that the rest of us couldn't see. Jobs was that person. Trying to think outside the box, doing something crazy--things that make people think you are crazy, and then when they see what you've accomplished they turn around and say "He was a genius." Yeah. That is crazy. That's what makes an icon. That and what he/she has accomplished beyond the wildest dreams.

So, if you are a struggling writer take this advice: Stay hungry, stay foolish, despite what people will think of you, or say. You have a love for writing. Hold it. Let that be your focus. Take it with you throughout the day. Walk the walk, talk the talk. Eat, sleep, and dream of your writing. Because no one else will care enough but you.

Stay hungry, stay foolish.

Visualizing Your Success!

As I lay in bed at around two in the morning—the witching hours—I turned over, and the moon's glowing face peered in at me through the curtain, anointing me with its silvery magic. I did not hide from it. I basked in it. Unlike other nights when it kept me awake—because I am a moon goddess—I welcomed it.

I fell back asleep and didn't wake until I heard my husband get up.

When I bumbled to the bathroom while said husband got the coffee brewing, a strong vision was in my head: I was sitting outside on a nice patio, I'm writing on a laptop. I'm wearing a straw summer hat—looks like a cowgirl hat, because that's what I prefer—and there's birdsong around me, a small breeze keeping me comfortable and some trees in the backyard. Ah, but this is not where I live now. It isn't anywhere I've ever lived. Plus, I don't have a laptop, or a nice patio.

I want to be there, doing what I saw myself doing, in some future moment. I see myself working on some writing project, on a laptop I don't own—yet—can't afford one—yet. And this is a house I don't live in, or can afford to live in—yet. This is a wish of where I want to be, someday. Hopefully soon, but we can't dictate the how or why, or when, just the what.

These visualizations are part of how I try to stay focused on a goal—no matter what it is. A lot of actors, writers, and other professional people use some form of positive mind power to attract what they want in life—whether it's money, a house, car, things—or just the right sort of job that would give you these things. Even the small things. It need not be an object. It can be a great vacation, or a raise, or if you are a writer, some event will bring you closer to what you ultimately desire. A book deal, or contract with a publishing house, or even a great agent, if you don't have one.

For me, the above visualization was a wish. I wish to be in that situation at some point. I'm not giving it any time limit when it should happen. I don't think we have that sort of control.

No matter what you want to call it, Positive Power, Mind Power, Positive Magic, anything you want to call it, bookshelves are filled with these type of self-help books. Mind Power & Money by James Goi Jr. has a lot of practical and useful information on how to help you gain money. His suggestion that you focus on the feeling you get when you see yourself in these situations is part of the secret.

I'm a firm believer that it works. Visualizing what you want will help attract those things you want, no matter if you're a writer, or working a 9 to 5 job, or in a textile mill.

No matter what you call it, they all have one thing in common in order to achieve these things, and that is visualization. Using your imagination which is a form of visualization, even during your day, doing whatever job you're at, you can imagine a better job, or being payed better wages, but also the feeling of gratification is important to make it feel as though you've already got it.

As a writer, I admit trying to imagine myself as a successful writer has been a bit hard. We all strive everyday to write better, and work very hard at the writing, whether it's a book, or a short story, or an article. We take big risks every time we send something out. So we're vulnerable. That's why it's so important to stay focused on our goals, and try to stay positive.

We need to concentrate on the smaller goals too. Keeping a mental image of your goals is important, but how do you do it?

Jordan E. Rosenfeld and Rebecca Lawton of Write Free Newsletter, have this suggestion:

“Try this: Choose ONE wildest dream to focus on today. When you have two minutes free to envision, hold it in your mind and heart in all its splendor: the cover of your next chapbook, the size of a healthy bank account, the face of your loved one as happy as you've ever seen him. Give this dream two minutes of vision time for several days in a row and see what comes. Note the results in your journal, if you wish. Watch the progress. . .”
—Copyright 2010 Jordan E. Rosenfeld and Rebecca Lawton, Write Free www.writefree.us

Note especially how that vision makes you feel. Happy? Content? Estatic?

Then, when that wish comes true, you'll know that something wonderful has happened.

Finally, a thought from Paramahansa Yogananda:
“So long as you are trying, so long as you pick yourself up when you fall, you will succeed.”