Discovering How To Enjoy the Process of Creation

Hey, it’s me Mark!

I am a writer.

I want to be a writer.

I am working on becoming a better writer.

I’d like to be a writer someday.

I wish I was a writer.

Maybe at some point, I’ll put my thoughts down in a blog and it won’t make people cringe while they read it.

Creating Stuff Is Hard

When I sit down to write something, a post, a letter, an email, a shopping list, a very loud voice inside of me perks up and says, “Oh good, the dummy is going to bother people with his idiocy.” And I have pretty good self-esteem in general. Ten years ago, before I was this awesome, writing was impossible. I’d get paralyzed immediately.

Yes And: Part 1—Be Like the Little Children

Hey, it’s me Mark!

One of the foundational ideas in improv is “yes and.” I feel bad for not talking about it earlier, but it is big and I couldn’t quite figure out how to present it. So I’m going to just try and take some small nibbles and see if we can’t all start to understand this idea a little better.

This weekend, my nieces visited us. Now, these are new nieces that I picked up by marrying a wonderful woman who happened to have some nieces. But they live far away in a distant land called Georgia, where things are more quaint and warm. We don’t get to see these nieces much, so I was determined to secure the “favorite uncle” title that I believe I deserve.

Other People Are Different Than You

Hey, it’s me Mark!

So the other day I was driving in the left lane because I was planning on making a left turn up ahead. A guy came up behind me started honking. My car is not good. I was going as fast as I was able, but the guy behind me wasn’t satisfied. When we got to the light, I got in the left turn lane, and he pulled up next to me.

“You need to be in the right lane!” he informed me loudly.

“But I’m making a left turn.”

“You need to be in the right lane!” he reiterated. He was not pleased with me.

So what was going on here? Why was he so angry? I’ll tell you: he was angry because I’m different from him.