Now that I blog everyday, in freestyle mode, without a topic or agenda and with only one purpose, to improve my ability to write well. To write well is about using less words, not more, in order to articulate an idea. Most people write for money and never really learn to love the art of writing.
Like so many other things, writing comes natural to some people and is like pulling teeth for other people but for every single person alive, we all have the same ability to express ourselves and tell a story. Those people who choose to practice and hone their craft hold as much promise of a Pulitzer prize, as those that started with straight “A’s” in school and never stopped producing excellent written work.
Bottom line is that it’s the story itself that holds the attention of the reader and prompts one person to tell another person about a story. Sure if it’s poorly written the chances reduce of the story being shared, from one person to another. In today’s world where so many people have instant access to anything posted online and instantly can tell others, this is why good storytelling matters. It’s all about the story.
Common interests is what attracts a person to read your story, also most people naturally gravitate towards topics where they can learn something new and benefit from revealed knowledge. Intuitively we understand where a story is taking us, as soon as we begin reading, often it’s because of a title with a hook, some idea embedded in the title that promises to unlock a new neural pathway, which is a fancy way of saying that an idea connects dots that were already seeking clarity.
The idea of money is the single most alluring topic to everyone. Aside from sex and love no other topics have had so many words written about it. The most popular stories contain love, sex and money. However, the best seller of all time is mostly about temptation from evil. Billions of people pray each day for delivery from temptation and yet money is still the most effective distraction in all of human history.
Money is so abstract, when you think about it. You either have money or you don’t, those that don’t are obsessed with getting some and those who have plenty are obsessed with getting more, even though they have enough. Even the comic book of Donald Duck taught us as children that rich mega-rich people could have so much money that they could fill a swimming pool with it and it would be great fun to swim on the pool of money.
I wonder if anyone is free from want for money? History has shown us that most every institution and it’s leaders can be corrupted by money. Even Shakespeare wrote about the evil of money to corrupt, for example in the The Merchant of Venice, it’s an exploration of this very same topic.
So I ask myself if I am a hypocrite for praying to God to keep me from be tempted? It just doesn’t seem sincere that I want to avoid temptation and yet I want to own a nice car. Which is it? I’m in conflict from this idea by itself because I don’t need a car, since I live in a modern city, plus trying to reduce my carbon footprint, as well as reduce things that I own partly because I prefer to travel abroad than hang-out with my stuff.
Ever since I was old enough to drive, I’ve owned a car, except in the past couple of years, since I moved back to Canada from Brazil. In Sao Paulo it was necessary to own a car because the city is so vast and not well serviced by rapid transit, so it was clumsy, stinky surface buses. Whereas in Vancouver the city is a fraction of the size and completely covered by transit systems connecting water, rail, planes and buses, faster and easier than a car, however in both cases it’s the car you need for the access to the best recreation areas outside of the cities.
I’ll be honest that the reason I wrote about money today is because it was the first thing on my mind when I awoke. My personal knowledge of money is leading me into wisdom about the concept, after I changed the meanings in my mind, associated to money, towards becoming prosperous and affluent rather than rich and wealthy. I almost always feel rich because of my circumstance and environment but my point is this; by tweaking the way we think about the abstract concept of “money”…. we can improve our understanding of it.
Temptation of Money Money Photo credit: cobalt123 on VisualHunt / CC BY-NC-SA Photo credit: Larry He’s So Fine on VisualHunt.com / CC BY-NC
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