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Here is a comment from my post 'Miracle Best' that I wanted to share because I was blown away by it. The comment was by a fellow blogger, papatigga

Man...I've really been struggling with the thought of embarking on a new journey at such a late stage of my life...I own a home and have a family, a job that some may view as being somewhat successful yet I feel so unfulfilled and empty. I feel this way because I have always taken the safe route and never took a real chance in life. There are so many opportunities that I have let pass me by for fear of failure...chances that may have brought me, and my family true happiness, yet I was content with mediocrity...a mediocrity that is now manifesting itself into a depression and feeling of failure. The very feeling I was trying to avoid. In the movie "Kung Fu Panda" the wise turtle said that 'The road we chose to avoid our destiny is often the road that leads us to it." (paraphrasing). How true this statement is, only now accompanying my feeling of failure is a feeling of regret. I have been asking for a sign as to what I should do with my life and I truly feel as if stumbling upon your blog may be that sign. This post has inspired me to reach out beyond what I see as my boundaries and create new boundaries for myself and my family. No longer will I be content with being content. Thank you ....

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Cameron Crowe is BACK!

The "We Bought A Zoo" trailer has all the Croweisms we crave -- the leaving of the workplace heroically, the overt hand gestures, the big heart, Tom Petty, a big romance. After 'Elizabethtown' a lot of people thought his bubble had burst -- but here he is again.. and I'm excited!





Back when Cameron Crowe was a teenager writing reviews for magazines, I don't imagine he knew that he'd be making movies someday. Cameron is the perfect director for 'Pearl Jam Twenty', he lives for music. He understands it better than anyone who isn't a musician -- and he makes us realise how much we love it too. I'm a fan of Pearl Jam; not a big fan, but a fan -- yet this trailer makes me feel like they're the greatest band ever. That's Cameron Crowe for you. He shows us the greatest little subtleties of music. He shows us who Pearl Jam really are.

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Miracle Best

I had this vision of how we could be absolutely everything. Limitless potential. When you meet someone in the street, you get to decide whether to be grumpy, or mildly acceptable, or to be the happy and free person you've always dreamed of being.

Our ages and our circumstances and our privileges or lack thereof are all real, and they influence so many things -- but so much more is left down to us. How often do we stand up and be all that we can be?

Hardly ever, is what I was thinking. But then maybe I'm just speaking about me.

That's why I like movies. Everyone is at their very best. Or at their very worst. Usually one of the extremes. Most of the time they complete a miracle change and go from bad to best in just under two hours.

Yet I don't think it's a miracle at all.

We hide behind imaginary walls, full in the safety of our homes and jobs and safety nets -- very rarely reaching out for everything.

Because it's scary, right? You can apply it to your creativity, and see all the times you've called yourself a writer but your actions have shown you to be anything but. Or you can look at your life -- and see how many times you said you'd go to the party but didn't. Or when you said you'd travel across the country to see a friend but found all the reasons not to.

And life goes and goes and disappears into nothing so quickly. You remember a day gone by from some year with a number much lower than this one and picture a moment of joy and completeness and oneness with yourself and with someone you were close to.

And that was far too long ago.

You figure life will throw you good times and opportunities and magic but really it's down to you, down to the amount of times you turn up rather than hide out. You were a Kid In The Front Row some time long ago - you'd try anything, go anywhere, stick your hand in the oven only to learn that it burns.

We don't want to get burned anymore -- so you play it safe and realise days have gone by and you're left with no heat at all.

You wake up one morning and put your socks on and realise this day will be a great one or a bad one or an indifferent one or maybe, if you're lucky, a mixture of all three and more. It's down to you and it's down to you and it's down to you. Scary, right?

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Youth / Old Age

There are two types of people in the world. Actually there are probably a lot more but these two types are so polarized and so prevalent in my life that I feel I need to address them. Because they'll be relevant to you too.

It's old age against youth. But I'm not talking years, I'm talking attitude. To be creative is to be five years old, lost in the possibilities, judging nothing, believing everything and anything anytime you can. You dream big and reach far.

And your life is filled with failure and near misses but you keep firing on, casing the promised land like some lost soul in a Springsteen song.

Old age is when you think you know the world. Think that what is is. You judge everything, because you know better. You know it's impossible.

And you're so quick to cut down anyone who tries. You throw lines at them about responsibility and risk and grown upness, and you're not satisfied until you've killed the young, left them losering, forced into drowning out their dreams and settling for a life surrounded by the same three people bitching about the weather.

This dynamic plays out in everyday circumstances. You get the choice to be caught up in the magic of life or you can claim to know the exact nature of everything and shut it down, close it off and hibernate until death.

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Thoughts On Writing

Any time you create; it's possible you'll create the greatest thing ever. It's unlikely, but it has to be possible, right? Your favourite book or movie or whatever, it was created by a human, I'm pretty sure of it.

Those of us who call ourselves writers; I don't think the dream is ever to be adequate. We wanna transcend. Wanna reach in where it matters.

So what does it take? Do you know it when you've made it?

Even if you know, will everyone else? Will your girlfriend know you've written something transcendent? Will your English teacher see your brilliance? Will the Facebook friend who thinks you're a waster be moved by your written words?

That's the strange thing, the individuals don't matter. Everyone who puts you down or disregards you has the potential to be wrong. Likewise, the masses have a tendency to miss out on brilliance at every opportunity.

I guess the only thing that really matters with your work is going to bed knowing you've done the best you can. Because when you've done well, you feel good. Maybe five million people like it or maybe only fifty. Just know that whatever the amount, it's enough.

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