I don’t know author Gil Baile, but I love this quote:

Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”

Life has to be a balance between a dangerous adventure and the mundane. Far too often, we fall prey to everyday life. We embrace security. We get caught up in the 40-hr a week job. We become risk adverse instead of closing our eyes and taking the plunge into icy waters. After all, how can we live but with caution when we’ve got a family to support and 401ks to fund?

I’ve written several times lately about commitment. In an earlier post, I retold the Bible story about the prophet Nehemiah was so committed to rebuilding the Jerusalem walls, he felt that burden, even though he was “just a cupbearer.” Michaelangelo was so committed to painting the Sistine Chapel that he sacrificed his health, even though he never considered painting to be his forte.

I stumbled across another quotation about commitment in John Maxwell’s book, Today Matters. If you haven’t read it, I’d encourage you to find a copy. There is a lot of advice to reflect on, but I’d like to share one of the most convicting startling statements:

“When you’re interested in something you only do it when it’s convenient. When you’re committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results.”

I use the adjective startling because I haven’t thought about commitment framed this way before, and it has causing me to pause and reflect.

Are you interested in writing? Or are you committed to it?

My great-grandfather was a bee keeper, and I have memories of watching him, with his netted hat and other protective garments, dip his hands into the bee hive and pull out the honeycomb. I suppose that’s why I gravitated toward Nathaniel Hawthorne’s comments amongst all the other words of wisdom I have to choose from in my quotation repertoire.

“Bees are sometimes drowned (or suffocated) in the honey which they collect. So some writers are lost in their collected learning.”

Besides the memories,  my writing often drowns me. I call it “the zone” — the story sucks you into the world you’re writing about; you forget the crying children or the stress at work, and you become an integral part of someone else’s story.

The phrase “collected learning” also drew me to this quotation. Besides getting lost in our work, striving for new or more information is a key element in our growth. Reading more and different kinds of books is important. Are you writing Science Fiction? Read naval history or essays to balance your breadth of knowledge. Robert Heinlein wrote about slavery in his novel, Citizen of the Galaxy. You never know how or when you might stumble across unique information that could add depth to your story.

Studying other successful writers is another key element in our growth. I wrote about Ben Franklin in an earlier post. He studied the writing of Joseph Addison, publisher of The Spectator because he wanted to publish works that made an impact. From his imitation exercises came his own style and voice.

Here are two questions to ponder: First, do you ever get lost in the world you’re creating? What was it? Second, what kind of books do you read that aren’t typical of what you usually write about?

Greetings fellow writers! Do you ever get up in the morning at your computer or sit down during the evening, and you just can’t make your fingers type? It’s like there’s a disconnect between your brain and your fingers. I’m compiling a list of favorite or inspiring writing quotations. I can showcase my favorite, but more than that,  I’d love to hear yours!

Here’s this week’s Inspiring Writing Quotation by one of my favorite essayists:

“I write entirely to find out what I’m thinking, what I’m looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear.”

Joan Didion