Thursday, May 25, 2017

How to Balance Your Life, Part Two

This three-part series entitled "How to Balance Your Life" goes into detail about how I get stuff done while juggling all the different aspects of my existence. If you haven't read part one yet, either scroll down or go here.

Ready? Okay, here we go. This week, as promised, I'll go over the circle at the top right, which represents "Home." According to science-y articles and books that I've read, humans are social creatures and need to interact with other humans. We also need, for whatever reason, things like food, water, clothing, and shelter. Thus, this "Home" section is divided up into the following three sections: friends, family, and household.

Lighting up the "friends" section means basically what you would guess it means, which is having contact with people you get along with (unless you guessed that it meant binge-watching reruns of the TV series Friends, in which case you're only sort of correct). Writing is a solitary activity, so for me, there could be days in which I don't actually see any of my friends in person. So that's where social media comes in. Or texting. Or email. Or even an ancient activity known as "calling on the phone." This section can also encompass - gasp - dating-related activities, like swiping right, making awkward small talk with the barista, or chastising yourself for not having the courage to make small talk with the barista (only kidding about that last one. Mostly.)
Moving on! Whereas lighting up the "friends" section means having contact with people you get along with (or could theoretically get along with, if only they would give you their phone number), lighting up the "family" section means having contact with people you don't get along with. Again, I am kidding. Mostly. In my case, this includes taking care of and hanging out with my kids (who, by the way, I do get along with) and my cats (who I get along with 70-75% of the time). For other people, this can include having a date night with your spouse, or playing golf with your siblings.
Finally, lighting up the "household" section means doing all the little things you need to do to maintain your place of residence and everything associated with it, from taking out the rubbish to buying new socks. For me, most of the daily activities in this area (e.g. washing dishes, scooping out the litter box) are on auto-pilot, so I just have a list of the more sporadic tasks - grocery shopping, mowing the lawn - that I'll consult to see if any of them need doing on a particular day.
And there you have it! Two of the circles on the Life Compass have been lit up, so you're well on your way to having a balanced and productive day. Next week, I'll finish up this little trilogy by going over the top left circle, which represents, for lack of a better word, "Work."

Haven't started reading any of the books in the Joel Suzuki series yet? That's okay, I still consider you my friend since you're here, reading this blog. But still, you might want to check them out. Why? Because they're fun, and because for every Joel Suzuki book that is sold, I donate one dollar to Autism Empowerment.

Joel Suzuki, Volume One: Secret of the Songshell
Joel Suzuki, Volume Two: Mystery of the Moonfire
Joel Suzuki, Volume Three: Legend of the Loudstone

Thursday, May 18, 2017

How to Balance Your Life, Part One

Sometimes I get asked how I manage to write books, record albums, play shows, serve on Autism Empowerment's Board of Directors, herd cats, be a single dad, etc., all with what is - most of the time, anyway - a decent amount of proficiency. My answer is usually something along the lines of "sleep is overrated" or "time machine" but the truth is actually a bit more down-to-earth: applied geekery.
Allow me to explain. The above illustration (and I use that term loosely) is what I call "The Life Compass." Inspired by things like the Legend of Zelda's Triforce and Harry Potter's Deathly Hallows symbol, it's what I use to organize and accomplish my tasks on a daily basis while making sure that I maintain a sense of balance between everything I do so that nothing gets neglected.

Here's how it works. Each circle - I like to call them spheres, actually, but I realize that the picture is two-dimensional - represents a facet of life and is divided up into three sections each. The basic idea is to "light up" or "fill in" each section as you go through your day, with the goal of lighting up all nine sections by the time you go to sleep at night. Kind of like a real-life video game, I feel that it's an effective method for those of us who enjoy checking off a list of the quests you need to finish to get to the next level.

This week, I'll go over the bottom circle, which represents "Self" and is divided into the following three sections: physical, mental, and spiritual. It's at the bottom because it represents the foundation of your life - you need to take care of yourself first before you move on to anything else. That may sound like common sense, but you'd be surprised as to how many people neglect this part of the compass while overemphasizing others; e.g. working fifteen-hour days while not eating right, etc.

Lighting up the physical section means doing whatever it is you do to maintain your standard of physical well-being. For me, it's doing a thirty-minute workout with free weights. For others, it might be a jog around the block. Whatever works for you in your own particular situation.
Next, lighting up the mental section involves what I call "getting your head on straight." Making sure you're facing the day with the best possible attitude. It's not always easy - in fact, for me, I find this part more challenging than the physical section - but I think it's important to do whatever you can even when circumstances make it difficult. It can be accomplished by listing everything you have to be thankful for, saying some mantras or affirmations, or even just taking a few deep breaths. I'm not a mental health expert, but my own personal experience has taught me that doing this really helps to set a proper tone for the day, enabling me to be much more productive than I would have been otherwise. (Note: if you're dealing with serious anxiety or depression issues - and I have loved ones who are - please seek professional assistance. I'm just a science fiction writer).
The last section of the Self circle is the spiritual part. That can mean religion, but it doesn't have to. This is just where you do whatever it is you do to understand your place and purpose in the world and achieve some form of comfort and contentment. Maybe it's by saying a prayer. Or meditating. Or performing a good deed.
Now your Self circle has been fully lit up, and you're ready to move on to the other, equally important aspects of your life. For me, I like to get this part done before breakfast, so my usual routine includes getting up (or being woken up by the cats) early, working out, and then doing my mental and spiritual exercises while I'm taking a shower and getting dressed (multitasking in a safe and responsible way is part of the key to getting a lot of things done).

Next week, I'll go over the circle at the top right, which represents "Home."

For more life advice (albeit cleverly hidden within a fun sci-fi/fantasy adventure), check out the Joel Suzuki series, which features a mentor-like character quoting both Thoreau and Axl Rose and a chapter entitled "How to Talk to Girls."

Joel Suzuki, Volume One: Secret of the Songshell
Joel Suzuki, Volume Two: Mystery of the Moonfire
Joel Suzuki, Volume Three: Legend of the Loudstone

Thursday, May 11, 2017

Volume Four Status Update

Despite the flurry of recent activity surrounding the release of Volume Three, I've somehow managed to get some work done on Volume Four. I think it's important to keep writing on a regular basis no matter what, even if all you produce in a day is a single sentence.
No, not that Vol. 4
At the last status update a couple of months ago, I said that I was at 16,000 words. Now, I'm officially at 22,000. However, that doesn't include a bunch of stuff that I wrote, cut, put back in, and then cut again. If you included all of that, I would actually be somewhere around 27,000-28,000.

What happened was that I reached a point in the story where I thought, "Oh, wait a minute...I don't think I want to go in that direction after all. I want to go in this direction instead!" Which wasn't so much a complete shift as it was more of a "let's keep the plot the same but just with different characters in different settings" sort of change. Still, though, it required that I delete a bunch of stuff and rewrite some earlier passages just to get everything back on track. Trust me, even if you work from an outline, this kind of thing can and will occur. With frightening regularity.

The good news is that I'm still on schedule, possibly even a little ahead. After all, Volume Four isn't due out until 2019. In the meantime, please enjoy Volume Three (and One and Two if you haven't already done so), leave reviews of said volumes on Amazon and Goodreads, join the Wavemaker Order, and do all of the usual cool stuff that you always do. Joel, Felicity, Torin and I really appreciate everyone's support. As Ozzy always says, we love you all.

Thursday, May 4, 2017

Star Wars Day Roundtable

Happy May the 4th! To celebrate this great holiday, I decided to get together with Joel and Felicity and have a little Star Wars roundtable discussion. Their friend from Spectraland, Fireflower, just so happened to be in town as well, so I invited her to join us. Without further ado!
Felicity: How long is this going to take?
Brian: I don't know. Do you need to be somewhere?
F: Not really, I'm just bored.
B: We haven't even started yet.
Fireflower: Excuse me, but...
B: Yes?
FF: What, exactly, is this "Star Wars" you talk about?
B: Joel, you wanna field that one?
Joel: Um, well...Star Wars is...it's a whole bunch of things, actually. I'm not really sure where to start.
F: Here, I got it. (tapping on phone) Wikipedia says that it's "an American epic space opera franchise, centered on a film series created by George Lucas."
FF: Thank you, but...I am still not sure what any of that means.
F: It's a story. You know, like that one about the most powerful Wavemaker who ever lived, that sort of thing.
FF: Ah, I see.
B: All right, so how about we start with everyone ranking their favorite episodes.
J: Like, from most to least favorite?
B: Yeah.
J: And are we including Episode VII?
B: Sure.
J: What about Rogue One?
B: Okay.
F: Why don't you go first, since this is your idea.
B: Fine. Four, Five, Seven, Rogue, Six, Three, Two, One. Now, you.
F: Joel, you go. I need to grab a soda.
J: Um, okay. Five, Four, Rogue, Seven, Three, Six, Two, One.
B: Three over Six, eh? Why?
J: The duels at the end of Three were pretty cool. Plus, Ewoks are kind of annoying.
F: (Coming back with soda in one hand, offers Joel a high-five with the other) Well said, dude.
J: (Returning the high-five) Thanks.
B: All right, Felicity, your turn.
F: Hmm...I like One the best. So awesome.
J: What?
F: Dude, I'm kidding. It's Five, Rogue, Three, Seven, Four, and then the rest just sort of blend together.
B: You seem to like all the ones with the least happy endings.
F: (Takes sip of soda) Of course.
FF: This is all truly fascinating, but I really should be returning to Spectraland. I think several months may have passed by over there during my time here...
F: That's a good point, I'll go with you.
J: Um, I probably should, too.
B: But we just got started!
F: And we covered a lot of ground. Later, man.
B: No, wait, I -
FF: (Plays transfer incantation on wavebow. Within seconds, she, Joel, and Felicity all vanish in a cloud of Aura energy.)

Ugh, why can't I ever get them to sit still for more than a few minutes at a time? Well, anyway, I guess that's it for the Star Wars roundtable. Have a great rest of the day, and tune in next week for a Volume Four status update!