BICHOK-king

It's been almost 3 weeks since I took a step back from Facebook. I open the App most days, and scroll through posts, without engaging. It feels like a strange and weird thing to do - sort of voyeuristic in a sense. It does feel odd not to comment on friends' posts, but the less I comment, the less interesting and time-consuming it becomes. DUH! I'm getting to the point where my distancing from it doesn't feel like a loss, and I foresee a time when I won't even be viewing it regularly.

I can see now that I was using Facebook as a sink, a procrastination mechanism, for not getting down to more constructive and creative things I could have been doing with my time - like writing! Now I'm turning my Facebook soundbites into more coherent thoughts, and find myself eager and willing to practice writing, using my friend Shelley's recommended BICHOK method:

Butt In Chair Hands On Keyboard

It works! Seriously. It's got to the point that I look forward to going upstairs to my desk, right after my coffee each morning, to write. And then before I know it, it's lunch time, and I don't want to tear myself away. Isn't that amazing?

It's the same as learning to get better at an instrument, or a sport - you have to practice, and regularly. Daily. If you don't get in the water, you won't learn how to swim. You've got to get your feet wet, at the very least. Every single published author's advice to aspiring writers is to sit down and write, to practice, to DO it.

Practice always seems like a grind, doesn't it? We often seem to have an unrealistic expectation of a great outcome, without wanting to put in loads of work and effort. Instant gratification is not a factor when you're learning a craft - the rewards and gratification are distant, and take time. I'm not good at that kind of discipline. I recall that my Mom gave up piano lessons as a youth because she didn't like practicing and learning her scales. She had a natural gift for music, and just needed some training and guidance. As an adult, she expressed regret that she had given it up. Sometimes we just have to grit our teeth and keep going, or writing, as the case may be. 

The DOING needs to be the gratification, the aspiring and learning the reward. I'm working on it.