Okay, here’s the Rev.com summary of the audio thing I made on Sunday. :)
Early access to paid subscribers only.
Is this a real podcast? No clue. :)
Speaker 1 [Me] discusses a piece they read on Substack called Poetic Outlaws, “The Solitary Art of Self-Creation" and reflects on their own life and accomplishments. They express pride in their work as an author and their journey in self-publishing, despite the challenges. They also mention a book called "The Top Five Regrets of the Dying" by Bronnie Ware, which they found impactful. The speaker shares the five regrets listed in the book and relates them to their own life experiences, including their career changes, expressing feelings, and maintaining friendships. They also mention a short film they created called "Dimed and Nickeled".
Not perfect, but close enough. :)
And thanks for the plug for the movie, Rev.com. You’re awesome!
Get in on Halloween special!
Hi everyone. Yeah, I'm just doing a thing. The paper is just so depressing and full of bad news, but there's a thing on Substack that I read called Poetic Outlaws, “The Solitary Art of Self-Creation”. I thought this was interesting. Great quotes. "Behind the self-help cliches and feel good answers, are you satisfied with who you are and what you've attained in life? Can you look yourself in the mirror in the early hours of dawn and honestly answer that question? Have you carved out a life true to who you are beyond the job, the title, the possessions and society's tedious obligations? Have you ever accomplished anything on your own terms to be truly proud of?" I think the answer I would have to give is yes. I feel proud of the fact that I was able to actually publish a novel at some point, and at this point, I think I have eight maybe.
Anyway, that's not counting some of the additional ones I've done. The collections, the short story collection, short stories that have been published in other anthologies. Anyway, having said all that, I felt like I really worked hard and so forth to get to the point where I can call myself an author and to see the self-publishing world turned into a huge slush pile of crap has been a very depressing experience for me, and I would prefer to see people putting stuff out there that is absolutely so good that people want to turn it into a movie or a TV show. That would be nice if everybody could do that, but not everybody has that skill level. Maybe improving your skill level will improve your sales. I don't know. Anyway, I'm rambling a little bit, but I guess the bottom line of this is that there was a book that was referred to in a link by a thing called The Top Five Regrets of they Dying by Brownie Ware, and it's really well worth reading. I'm going to put a link to it.
Yeah, yeah. I really, really like this. It's about, lemme go back: "A journey with one Australian caregiver's experiences and palliative care brings us face-to-face with our own mortality. If we are willing, there is much to learn from those who have walked their final steps on this earth and been transparent about their regrets. Bronnie Ware's memoir recounts her years of caregiving to the dying and the wisdom she received and painful personal growth that emerged from those experiences. It also stands as a warning to those in palliative care, to guard against burnout." Boy, that's something I know about and I'm sure that my husband is suffering from burnout because of me, and I feel bad about that. Let's see.
Here's my favorite part. "If you have stayed with this review thus far"---it goes for a while, but there are great quotes in here---"what may appear as tragic situations to others were also great opportunities for growth and learning for the person involved." I thought that was wonderful because I have changed so much in terms of what I care about simply by getting involved in screenwriting and filmmaking. "Like most people, I haven't been left out of the proving ground of trials. Like Bronnie, I have chosen to grow and learn and have fought and found victory over sadness and bitterness. As Bronnie concludes and I agree. 'So the best way to make the most out of life is to appreciate the gift of it and choose not to be a victim.'" Wow. Those words really resonate with me.
"If you have stayed with this review thus far, you are likely hoping for disclosure of the top five regrets of the dying. Hopefully, you have begun to ponder your own list and will find these affirming. One, I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me. Two, I wish I hadn't worked so hard. Three, I wish I'd had the courage to express my feelings. Four. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends. Five. I wish I had let myself be happier." Let me tell you something. As a person with dystonia who has yet to find a doctor who can adequately treat me, I mean, they can't help it. There are limitations to their knowledge. That is the bottom line. I have let myself be happier by not caring about Amazon or sales or a bunch of shit that doesn't matter, basically.
I wish I'd had the courage to live a true life, true to myself? Not what others expected of me? Well, let's see. I went to law school. Nobody expected that of me. I just chose to do it. I practiced law for almost 10 years. I decided not to do that anymore. That's going against the grain of most logic, I guess. I mean, I decided to become a freelance writer. That to me was the courage to live a life true to myself, simply be a freelance writer and to write a novel. Wow. I mean, that was mind boggling to me. It's like, okay,
So I've had the courage to live the life true to myself, I guess, although I wish now, at this point I wish my husband felt a little more comfortable with traveling so that we could go visit some countries I'd like to visit and so forth. Maybe I need to push him harder on that. I don't know. Or am I being unfair? Am I being wrong? Because planes are so dirty, according to somebody in the Washington Post. I wish I hadn't worked so hard. Well, some things actually, life and work combine at a certain point for writers, it's really weird. There is no leaving the office in a sense. You're always taking in information and thinking about it and how you would write about it and express yourself about it.
I wish I had the courage to express my feelings. I'm expressing my feelings right now. Goddamnit. I wish I'd stayed in touch with friends. That is probably my biggest regret. I wish I had stayed in touch with more of my friends. I wish I had let myself be happier. There. I said it and they said it actually. So I might have to check out this book. I'm going to have to see if it's at the library. The Top Five Regrets of the Dying by Bronnie Ware. I'm sure it's probably at the library. Take care and thanks and so forth. And speaking of work with which I have no regrets doing, I spent yesterday, Saturday putting together a short film. I'm still wearing my headphones. But you don't care, do you?
I spent yesterday putting together a short film with an old video I had taken relatively recently and a little experiment that I performed with a dime and a nickel. I called it “Dimed and Nickeled”, and you'll see why if you see the video. It's just a short, less than five minute film and hopefully it will give you something to think about. Maybe, I don't know. Be seeing you.
Haven't they killed you yet? Sorry. Must have been thinking of someone else. It's so wild, darling. It'll end in tears. All the best parties do. Oh, terrible!
PS: Here’s the movie!
Sunday Thoughts