fear – Page 2 – archie writes

advice, artist life, artists, change, death, failure, fear, hope, inspiration, procrastination, writing

life legacies – what are you waiting for?

Posted on January 9, 2018April 20, 2020 by archie the writer

Please enjoy the irony of how long it took for me to finally just finish writing this post.

It was the past couple of weeks that helped me do it – not borne out of some desperate New Years resolution but actually, a mix of travelling that saw me at my grandmother’s funeral and flying in planes (which I’m quite dreadful with) and being stranded in Ottawa because of a blizzard that kept me from returning home for 5 extra days.

By the time I got home here in Nunavut, I was so flipping pleased just to be finally back. The return journey was awful but that was not what I was focusing on (maybe because I had gotten just really desperate?), and now I am already appreciating how much I need to transfer this perspective to my writing and my life as a whole.

Thinking about death and waiting and delays and everything, it occurred to me how we all leave a legacy behind, and that the scariest thing about that is not leaving a flawed reputation or something but instead leaving this life without ever coming close to finishing (or beginning?) something you fully wish to accomplish – like writing a book.

Like, stay with me a moment when I introduce a slightly morbid notion that you, reader, are going to die unexpectedly on the precise date of:
ONE YEAR, 3 MONTHS, 5 DAYS from TODAY.
Since I’m not a life insurance salesperson, I’m not going to talk to you about getting your affairs and stuff in order, but instead I am going to encourage you to really imagine what you wish to do, say, visit, overcome, leave behind, or accomplish before that date comes to pass and your time here is history.
Think of this not as some death sentence but instead as that big moment in every story when the character’s life-as-they-know-it changes because they cannot ever go back to the ignorance that they held at the story’s very beginning. Feels better already, right?

Okay, allow that news above to really register in your subconscious before continuing…

Continue reading “life legacies – what are you waiting for?” →

advice, change, death, egos, fear, inspiration, self help

murder me, archie wrote

Posted on November 17, 2017November 25, 2022 by archie the writer

Apologies for the dramatic title, but these Jessica Fletcher gifs are not going to appreciate themselves okay?

But I meant what I wrote – murder me.
Who you think you are – let that who die, pass away, leave you behind.
And by that, I mean: get out of your way, get out of your head, get out of bed, get out of your funk, go outside, get beyond your expectations for today, and just get on with it.

So, are you confused yet?
Wondering what am I talking about?
Doubtful that I even have a point here?
Suspicious that I might be stalling, trying to improvise an answer to my own rhetorical questions?
Am I just trying to create filler to fit in more Murder, She Wrote gifs?

Let me clarify with another JF classic (okay, it may have been partly that last one).

But seriously now – across so many spiritual practices and psychological disciplines, there is a fairly consistent agreement about the notion of layered identities. Continue reading “murder me, archie wrote” →

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archie the writer – becoming a full-time artist, not growing up or getting a job

Posted on March 7, 2017April 20, 2020 by archie the writer

I hate work.
I really do.
I think most people do too.
And by ‘work’, I mean essentially any situation where you would not be there, doing that task, associating with that place or those coworkers, if not being paid for it.

That creates a pretty clear distinction between:

careers that really challenge ourselves to grow, expanding upon our own potential, rewarding our efforts and investment of time and talents…
jobs we do to pay off debts and otherwise serve as a checkpoint in life because we were told this is how to be an adult.

This is an important difference, but so often do we conflate ideas under one broad label. Just as we mislabel ‘work’, we confuse ‘success’ (equating personal fulfilment with competitive materialism) or ‘confidence’ (equating liking yourself with pride and vanity).

Continue reading “archie the writer – becoming a full-time artist, not growing up or getting a job” →