Inspiration for the Work Week: Top 5 Henry David Thoreau Quotes

 

  

5.  "I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor."

4.  "If you can speak what you will never hear, if you can write what you will never read, you have done rare things."

3.  "Do not worry if you have built your castles in the air. They are where they should be. Now put the foundations under them."

2.  "Aim above morality. Be not simply good, be good for something."

1.   "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined."


If you liked this post, you might also want to check out:

• Why Henry David Thoreau Would Have Hated Social Media
• Celtic Music's Top 10 Lines 
• Top 10 Quotes About New England: The Land of 'Ironic Pessimism' 

My Twitter Handle (and Blog Title) Explained: What Is a Bard?

Courtesy of bosoxinjection.com

The Bard of Boston is not a reference to Red Sox pitcher Daniel Bard; it is not a reference to Shakespeare performances going on in and around the Boston area; and it is not a reference to the culinary practice of covering meat with bacon prior to roasting (a second meaning of bard)... although that does sound delicious.

Apart from being a big fan of flaunting the phonetic fun of alliteration, I chose bard to precede Boston in my blog title and Twitter handle (@BardOfBoston) because the term uniquely encapsulates several of the qualities that pertain to my interests, hobbies, career and ancestral past.

• Celtic: The term bard has its roots in the Celtic linguistic/cultural tradition, a tradition that today applies to persons of Irish, Highland Scottish, Manx, Welsh and Cornish descent. As an Irish American, the Celtic term bard seemed fitting, especially in light of its definition(s).
• Writer: According to Dictionary.com, a bard is "one of an ancient Celtic order of composers and reciters of poetry." Although I don't compose poetry to pay the bills, I do compose copy and web content. Furthermore, songwriting is a hobby of mine, which ties in with the next bullet point.
• Musician: Another definition of bard from Dictionary.com is as follows: "(formerly) a person who composed and recited epic or heroic poems, often while playing the harp, lyre, or the like." In my spare time, I play Celtic music; and back in my Montreal days, I even had a Celtic/folk band (Devaney's Goat). But what ties into this definition of bard even more specifically is that I play the Irish bouzouki, which is not too different from a lyre.
  
• Historian: Merriam-Webster defines bard as "a tribal poet-singer skilled in composing and reciting verses on heroes and their deeds." In addition, Dictionary.com clarifies in a later definition that bards "recited verses about the exploits, often legendary, of their tribes." As an amateur historian who is striving to keep stories from New England's past alive, I feel that I am performing the equivalent of reciting verses about the legendary exploits of my tribe.

P.S. Hey there! If you liked this post, I have a hunch you'll love NEON DRUID: An Anthology of Urban Celtic Fantasy. It's a collection of 17 short stories all rooted in Celtic mythology.

P.P.S. You can also check out my new blog, Irish Myths, where I unveil the secrets of Celtic mythology, Irish mythology, and Irish folklore.

Getting Physical With Your Writing: Tips and Tricks For Actively Battling Writer's Block

So there you are, sitting anxiously at your computer, staring into the abyss of its illuminated screen while trying to convince your brain that it's time to write. For whatever reason, your trusty brain is on strike. All fours lobes of its cerebral cortex (frontal, temporal, occipital and parietal), its cerebellum, its stem and yes even its limbic system have unionized and decided that today, at this very moment, you shall not be doing any writing.

Writer's block can affect all kinds of writers, including novelists, screenwriters, playwrights and poets as well as technical writers, copywriters, journalists and bloggers. As a content writer, I've had my battles with writer's block and have occasionally turned to online resources for help. The majority of these resources recommend psychological solutions: brainstorm your ideas, organize your thoughts, swap out your negative thoughts with positive ones. For me, however, writer's block will typically set in after completing these mental remedies. I'll have a fully-researched, organized page; my fingers will be lined up on the keys ready to strike; my mind in a state of complete positivity. And then, nothing. When the only thing left for a writer to do is write, but the writer can't write, what does a writer do?

1. Stretch For Syllables

Your brain is hardwired to your body. In addition to coming in contact with other neurons, the neurons in your brain come in contact with skeletal muscles at a structure known as the neuromuscular junction. As a result, activating your muscles, such as through some simple stretching exercises, will activate brain receptors and help improve the connections between brain synapses.  Purdue University's Online Writing Lab (OWL) recommends tensing and releasing different muscle groups in the body for between 5 and 10 seconds at a time, starting with your feet.

2. Walk For Words

While stretching is a physical writer's block remedy that you can complete at your desk, going out for a walk will provide your brain with a bigger boost. Walking increases breathing and heart rate, which forces more energy-enhancing, oxygenated blood up to those thirsty brain cells. In addition, walking can help you pump-up your brain muscles, or more accurately, encourage "cerebral blood vessels to grow," as The Franklin Institute notes. So the next time your brain is idling in front of a blank page, try putting your body into gear and go for a walk around the block.

3. Be A Rover

Our early human ancestors were rovers, who spent their days scouring the Earth for sustenance. They did not sit at that same desk everyday, looking at that same ugly desk lamp and that same pointless container full of ballpoint pens that no longer write. Instead, early homo sapiens were encountering new views and vistas all the time, with their brains constantly reacting to the colors and details of their surroundings. Today, roving for writer's block can be as simple as transporting yourself and your laptop to a park bench or even to a different corner of the office/room. The point is to stimulate your brain with new surroundings when you feel writer's block setting in.

4. Cap The Caffeine 

If you are like me, you can't start your day without a cup of hot, black coffee. And you usually can't continue your day without at least one or two cups more. When writing, I find there is a "caffeine balance" you can achieve, wherein you are alert and attentive, but not jittery or fidgety. Achieving this balance, however, will typically require drinking less coffee as opposed to drinking more (which makes this tip/trick more of an inaction than an action). According to Neel's Corner, too much coffee consumption causes you to feel stressed and can potentially increase your blood pressure, putting you at risk for heart disease.



Further Reading:

• Social Media Today: 5 Excellent Tips for Breaking Through Writer’s Block
• Writinghood: How To Overcome Writer's Block
• Bruce Clay: 7 Ways For Bloggers To Overcome Writer's Block
• The Yellow Brick Road: Writer's Block
• MachoArts: Freelance Writing for the Internet: Five Tips to Break Writer's Block

5 Tips For Living Like A Modern-Day Bard

What do you think of when you read the word bard? A stage actor? A poet? Shakespeare? Most dictionaries define a bard as a Celtic composer and reciter of poetry, specifically one who commemorates the deeds of heroes or patrons. In 16th-century Scotland, people used the word -- which has its linguistic roots in Gaelic -- as a derogatory term for roving musicians. Fortunately, Scottish author Sir Walter Scott helped rescue the word from this negative connotation. Check out his poem The Dying Bard...it's really not as depressing as it sounds.

"And where is the bard shall give heroes their fame?"

Today, I like to think of a bard as any person who creates art, specifically art that commemorates culture, history or a particular experience. This definition allows for a higher level of inclusiveness,  as anyone -- even you -- can be a modern-day bard.

1. Create

Come up with a new riff on your guitar;  write a poem, story or joke; make a sketch or a painting; cook a new, unusual meal. Bardic creativity shouldn't be limited to producing verse about employers and warriors. The point is to be putting something out there, actively participating and contributing to culture; not sitting back, listening and observing culture. You should be baking the cake; not just watching Buddy the Cake Boss baking cakes on TV.

2. Create Creatively

If you're a painter that loves Da Vinci's style, you can use some of his techniques to enhance your own unique creations. But if you produce a painting of a woman that is identical to Da Vinci's Mona Lisa -- sure, that's pretty amazing -- but you haven't created creatively: you've regurgitated an existing creation. To be a modern-day bard, you need to add something new to the world's cultural archive, even if that something new commemorates something old.

3. Diversify
Expand your bardic horizons by pursuing different modes and styles of creation. If you are an accomplished haiku poet, try writing a silly limerick (hint: use a Massachusetts place-name as a starting point). If you always cook family-style Italian meals or Irish stews, explore a cuisine that is more foreign to you,  like Thai or Indian. If you are an accomplished painter, try experimenting with charcoal drawings, or better still, go outside the realm of fine arts and learn a musical instrument -- or several.

4. Bard for Business

Few people are able to support themselves financially as professional bards. For the rest of us, bardic activities should be supplemental, recreational activities, which we can pursue on the weekends or during our lunch breaks. Unfortunately, some people abandon potentially helpful academic and business opportunities in the pursuit of idealized bardic lifestyles, only to end up broke. I like to think of the traditional Celtic song, The Wild Rover, as a story about a bard who had a poor business-sense. At the end of the story, the protagonist has wasted all of his money on alcohol and must beg his parents to let him move back in with them. What a bummer.

"I'll go home to my parents, confess what I've done

And I'll ask them to pardon their prodigal son."

5. Share Creations With The Masses (Or Don't)

If you don't feel comfortable putting your original songs up on MySpace or putting your original artwork up on Flickr, don't. The notion of keeping your bardic creations private is especially relevant for people whose creations are perhaps a bit risqué or otherwise at-odds with a particular corporate culture or business community. Instead, share your creations with family members or a few close friends. While this limited sharing will not allow for a global cultural impact, it can still effect your familial and private cultural circles. In addition, the act of creating creatively in itself will be beneficial, as it gives your right brain -- the creative, imaginative brain -- a workout. During one of these bardic, right-brain workouts, you may even find yourself thinking up a new, brilliant business strategy or marketing idea.