Occasional Sputterings

 [01 - intro + meet main (1257)] It was a dark and stormy night. The wind  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20201102-01-0254/+4 Marcus sat in his warm chair and held the thick, closed portfolio. Hearing the breeze ease through the trees made him turn. Barely visible in the moonlight, the sounds of swaying branches reminded him of beaches of crushed shells with only the tide to keep him company. The smell of leather drew him back. * I've checked this a dozen times. He has the spark. He just doesn't see it. * Opening the portfolio, Marcus reviewed the dossier. Upon the desk a holographic man stood, rotating slowly. Dressed in a loose t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants, the figure repeated the same set of brisk motions: a burpee, a pull-up, a round-house kick, and a box-jump. Swiping in mid-air, the holographic man became a baker; the figure began making an endless collection of pancakes. Cont...

 Two part approach [o] main character is surrounded by wonder/beauty/interesting and cannot see it [o] pick-your-path element - reader decides how the main character responds ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [01 - intro + meet main] [02- meet sidekick] [03 - decision - man vs nature OR man vs self OR man vs society OR man vs man] [04 - develop sidekick; either side-kick is decision independent OR side-kick is dependent] [05 - foreshadow success AND fail - what does each decision / type of conflict / look like resolution-wise] [06 - introduce first minor conflict - all four types] [07 - introduce minor conflict resolution - one of the four will result in killing the main character (go back)] [08 - introduce second minor conflict - four types] [09 - introduce minor conflict resolution - one will kill the main character (different than #7); (go back)] [10 - introduce third minor conflict - fou...

This is the reef that never ends. Cause it goes on and on my friends ... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He talked to her. Said good and true things. Sometimes. She asks a question. He tries responding ... but maybe talks too long or pauses long enough. She interrupts - not wanting to lose her thought(s). He gets hurt - maybe gets offended, maybe forgets what he was going to say. And he feels smaller. Why don't words work? So he attacks. Or defends. In the trenches, is there a difference? She crumbles. She was just trying to connect. Maybe she's perfect. Maybe he's flawed. There doesn't seem to be a way to be vulnerable without being attacked. He learned, long ago, that being attacked is painful. And only stupid people let themselves be hurt. So when his guard is up, he stops the attack. Because if he can't be pain-free, at least he will be safe.

[ TOC ]  Book - Chapter - Christian -- 2020 08 04 - 1519 - iteration 01 Truly effective adjectives work better as verbs than nouns. Too, too often a person might consider themselves a Christian because of a single moment in time. It might be a baptism. It might be a dedication. And it might simply be a conversation. The danger, though, is that - unlike most other words - this one has actual, enduring merit. Because the implicit idea behind this word is that you embody a certain world-view. And that you seek an actual relationship with God. And thus, for it to actually be true, it should not reflect something done in the past. Rather, it should identify how you'll act in the present and immediate future. The Bible talks about being deceived. One of the most common instances of this is someone trusting unconditional grace. For the word Christian to have the appropriate depth, it means: You'll trust God with your goals, your heart, your inner self. You'll intentionally repent ...

[ TOC ]  Book - Chapter - Competence -- 2020 07 23 - 0258 - iteration 01 Faking it until you make it means you often don't realize when you do make it. This could be chalked up to bad parenting or bad mentoring. Regardless of the reason: Receiving the recommendation you should fake success without context ... Might ensure you achieve success ... But it doesn't teach you how to recognize it. And it doesn't teach you how to appreciate it. At the core of this is a fundamental lack of competence. Obvious consequence: Without that competence, you will always rely upon others to help you course correct. Not-so-obvious consequence: You will likely always rely upon others to tell you when you NEED to course correct. What if we expected people to be competent instead of successful? --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- some additional thoughts: - The absence of competence mak...

[ TOC ]  Book - Chapter - First -- 2020 06 09 - 2014 - iteration 01 One of most arrogant things you can do is not grant someone else a voice. It is very easy to do. You yell, out of anger or pain, and crush someone's soul. Or, during a conversation, you simply don't listen. Because, of course, things are self-evident - anyone who disagrees is wrong. It is the danger of presuming a single story is enough. That there is no need for additional context. That YOUR perspective is objectively true. Nobody is completely right the first time. Revelations and insights often come from someone with whom we're in conflict. What if we raced to see who was most merciful instead of who was first? --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- some additional thoughts: - Presuming any single person is completely accurate will always eventually bear failure - We are a social bunch of animals - an...