Quantum Sociology?...
September 21, 2000
7:41 a.m.
I was doodling this morning. Just free writing. Not even free writing on the topic of the story I'm working on. Actually, I was describing a CD's physical packaging and trying to deduce or reverse engineer the marketing approach they were using on it. Yes, I have an exciting life. Then, without purposely doing it, I shifted gears. Words started to flow out of my consciousness. I separated from myself a little. I remember thinking... "Wow, this is cool..." ... as my thoughts started falling out onto the page. You see, I know what the story I'm working on is about but I've had a minor mechanical problem nagging me. You see, in order for the story to end the way I want it to end, I need to get my main character to a place that definitely wasn't where he was at. I would go further, but that would ruin things for me. And besides, you don't want me coming here and spewing vast chunks of my pseudo-plots at you, right? (Let me answer that for you--NO. You don't want that at all). Just suffice to say that it's complicated. And this morning my subconscious took over and wrote down what it was churning over. It took over and brought me the pieces I needed, and it was just the coolest thing to watch and to feel. It all fits together, you see? Physics. Politics. Logistics. It all works. So I ran to the monitor (I was doing my earlier scribbling longhand in a notebook--yes, I keep notebooks, too) and I started writing furiously. Yes, I got a lot of words written. No, they aren't perfect. Sorry. The story is up to something over 6,250 words. It'll end at something near the 7,500 mark...meaning I've got another morning's work to do before I can get into the cleansing mode (which also means I missed another self-imposed deadline, of course, but that's okay). I've taken to calling whatever happened this morning a micro success. A small thing that had to go right to make the story what it needs to be. It was another small domino hitting just right and at just the right time--to carry on the metaphor from yesterday. Part of the joy I get out of life is to marvel at how things work. That's why I'm such a stickler for structure of storytelling. That's why I think I enjoy software and engineering. That's why I enjoy watching people. I love seeing things work out. I love seeing things happen and get done and be successful. I love that no two success stories are the same. But in some ways, most successes are the same--especially long-term successes. They are the same in that they are made up of a string of micro successes, small things that go "right" -- or at least "right" enough to push you along the path to the major success. Who knows why it works this way? It just does. It's quantum theory applied to sociology. A string of random micro successes collapse to represent a final product, that fits into a series of other random events to represent a happening--a success of its own. Okay, I'm getting weird. But that's exactly how I felt this morning, watching this micro success unfold before me. Sometimes I know exactly why something works. And I find that invigorating. Other times I don't have a clue what happened. This morning's little micro success is one of those that I don't understand. But, in its own way, that's what makes it so wonderous.   Have a great day.  Yeah, But Maybe the Cat's Dead ... Daily Persistence is © Ron Collins |
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Crossing my fingers for Lisa Silverthorne ... |
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