Have you died yet today?

Recently, I said I wasn't religious but I did have a relationship with Jesus. The person replied that is a "textbook" response for a Christian; therefore, I am a Christian; therefore, I am religious.

I have to laugh because "religion" is the dead following of dead traditions. The difference between my two-way relationship with a real living person (Jesus) and a religious person is the difference between a Tree and a Motorcycle. They have nothing to do with one-another.

Yet, I can see how they get it. Religious people would read this passage and see something totally different than I see, yet we read the same passage.

...anyone who has died has been set free from sin... In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus... Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? Romans 6: 7,11,16

Religion reads this and immediately says: "Try harder to do the Knowledge of Good".

Count refers to "accounting" as in business Profit and Loss statements and Taxes. When a business adds a line item to the P&L they are accounting for something that has happened.

I am to "account" or add my death to the balance sheet. When I account for the death I died through Jesus it allows me to account for the life I live through Him. That accounting frees me from death and gives me the freedom to live.

An amputee will feel the limb that is missing until they activate the new nerve endings by constantly rubbing those nerve endings (the stump) with various materials. This retrains the brain and creates new neural pathways.

I read this passage and realize that I only need to remember that I already died and decide which self (old or new) I will be feeding today. Will I scratch the new limb, or keep pretending the leg wasn't amputated?

Selah...


Shalom: Live Long and Prosper!

Darrell Wolfe (DG Wolfe)

Storyteller | Writer | Thinker | Consultant @ DarrellWolfe.com

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The Future of Work: Is being a writer (artist, musician, creative) an impractical career?

In a writers group on Facebook, a young writer asked (edited):

How do you respond to family members saying that being a writer is impractical?

This is a great question. When I was going to college I stopped pursuing music and theater because it didn't seem to lead to a "practical career". I got bogged down in other things and eventually dropped out (after six years and 78 units). But times are changing and we're in a new type of revolution.

So, what do you think?

What is the future of work? How would you respond?

What is impractical, what does that even mean?

First, you reply:

You said 'impractical' when I think you meant 'I'm Practical'.

The root of Impractical is Practical, or to be "not-practical". The word practical is derived from the root word PRACTICE.

practicale "of or pertaining to matters of practice; applied," 

All careers require a great deal of practice, hard work, study of the chosen field, and many small wins before the big wins. Ask anyone who has a modicum of success "climbing the corporate latter" for an honest appraisal of how successful they've become, how successful they feel, and how much work it took to get where they got. You'll find that the effort they put into that career could have been better spent building a career with purpose and meaning.

As such, there is nothing MORE practical than writing, it is the basic cornerstone of society. Marketing, ad copy, news articles, "how to guides", books, movie scripts, and on and on it goes. Writing is everywhere. Try driving five blocks without seeing writing, I dare you. Did you think that writing just appears magically out of thin air? How much writing is in an App? How many Apps are there? Nothing is accomplished without the written word, ask a lawyer.

Someone is being paid to write all of those things.

I'll let that just sink in for a moment.

Writing Is A Cutting Edge Career

Second, the industrial age is not just over... It is DEAD!

For thousands of years, mankind subsisted from his or her chosen craft. 

Bakers, Smiths, Farmers, Scribes... These are some of the oldest professions. The industrial age took people out of locales and threw them like sardines into cities with factories and assembly lines. From the late 1800s to the early 2000s you could "get a job" and retire there.

The days of "get a good job and retire" are over! Truck drivers, delivery drivers, doctors, bookkeepers, and more come into my office all the time and tell me that they were moved from "employee" to "contractor" overnight. They now have to file their own LLCs, get EINs, and start a business to support the job they used to have... doing the same work.

Craft Beers. Craftsy. Etsy. Farmers Markets. Farm-to-Table Restaurants. Handmade Items. Small and Local is taking over every facet of your life while you weren't paying attention.

The industrial revolution was more like an industrial pause button.We left small, local, handcrafted, but now we're back with a vengeance. The Maker Movement has returned us to our roots.

The Industrial Revolution allowed for the Information Age which then provided the Maker Movement with a vehicle that could return us to those age-old roots.

We are never going back to "working for the man" again as a society. This is my guess (and other's guess it too), more than 50% of the population will be self-employed within twenty years.

Being a writer (artist, musician, creative) has never been more practical. You just tell them:

I'm just ahead of the curve. I've never been more practical.

Shalom: Live Long and Prosper!

Darrell Wolfe (DG Wolfe)

Storyteller | Writer | Thinker | Consultant @ DarrellWolfe.com

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Writing Prompt | Room and Bored

At the Heart Writers group meeting tonight, led by Lauren Stinton, we did a short writing prompt.

You have seven minutes to write (fiction or nonfiction) and it must include these three items/themes:

1. Jesus is Lord of all
2. Princess
3. Cat

Here is my result, with a bit of post-meeting editing and addition. Keep in mind, I wrote it in OneNote on my phone...

***

Room and Bored

The light amplified through the double glass window pane, despite the clawed dusty drapes, warming Princess' furry belly. She was Queen of this castle and she held the honor with dignity.

Her human was a good servant. He brought her food at the appointed time. He changed her box. He performed his part admirably.

Then her life shattered.

Her human walked in the front door and laid a box on the table. "Princess, I have a surprise for you, " He said.

She rolled off the couch back and sauntered over. The pawed the box. It moved. She jumped back, "Moew," she cried.

A soft rumble came from the box.

Her human pulled out a small kitten.

How could he? Has he taken to dethroning me?

"This little guy was hurt and alone," her human said."He needs our help. His name is Jesus, it's Spanish."

She saw the kitten was missing a paw. Remembering her first days in the veterinary clinic, where Leeland saved her, her heart softened... a little.

Over time, she learned to love the kitten as her own. Eventually, she realized that she could make room in her life for another, that maybe, just maybe, she was not Lord of All...

***

Now... go do something! See you around,

Darrell G. Wolfe

Storyteller | Writer | Thinker | Consultant | Multipotentialite

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Writing Craft: Getting UnStuck

Getting UnStuck - Story Structure Guiding The Path

It quite common, especially for Pantsers (those who write by the seat of their pants with no real outline or plan ahead of time), to get stuck in your story. At some point, we hit a roadblock, writer's block, and can't think of what the story should be next.

Story Structure Clues

This is, in part, because we don't start with the outline that the stricture Outliners do. We can't even comprehend where the story will be going in order to outline.

However, if we have an idea of the path (the skeleton of the structure), we can start to see a way through the hazy fog of the future. But even then, we can get stuck like I did last night.

I'd written my way through and just couldn't imagine what needed to happen next. I know where the next major plot point is going to be and what (generally) will happen (Destiny is caught by the FBI but Ash escapes). But it's way to early to write that in the story timeline. If I write it now, it'll be out of left field. Nothing has progressed and it's just too early.

Scene Structure Clues

Then, I had to go back and look at my scenes. Every scene is a natural reaction to the one before it. The reaction becomes the action the next reacts to.

Even the very first/opening scene of the book is simply a reaction to events that took place before the reader arrived.

So I had to go back and re-read the scene that preceded to see what the natural reaction would be.

Pro Note: Bill Myers said that his routine is to start by editing whatever he wrote at the last writing session, then start the new writing. This allows you to become aware of the action and set up the reaction.

Up until this point, every reaction flowed effortlessly. I just saw the movie in my head and wrote it. This time, I just didn't see anything. Then two things happened.

#1. Questions: I asked questions about the previous scene and made notes of things to address. 

Small example, but, if Ash said he was hungry going to bed in the next scene doesn't make sense unless we address that. Did he go to bed hungry, did he eat? Maybe that drives the action to a kitchen or even out of the house to a restaurant?

My questions/items to address from the previous scene:

• What did Chester read that’s not good?
• How do they react to a moment of closeness?
• Ash is Hungry
• He’s in the file so he wants to see it himself. 
• He finds Eta in there, side note.
• What else? What in there moves them forward?

So I'm starting the next scene with ONE simple reaction to the previous scene. One sentence. That will drive the next and the next until the movie reel starts to play.

“What’s not good?” Destiny sat a little straighter and leaned forward.

#2. The Other Guy: I have two character's to keep track of. What's happening in the other guys world right now?

This also reminded me that I have to Point of Views (POVs) running. The Blue and Light Blue scenes are both Ash (awake vs dreaming). I did light blue for his dreams so I could read just those and make sure there's a progressive revelation in the dreams.

The Red scenes are those that follow along inside the head of Dr. Briar. If I go back and read the last red scene, I can then "react" to that scene. This turned out to be a gold mine, because it set up some information that will eventually lead to Destiny's capture. I didn't know how it would happen before last night, and I now have a clue.

ReOrder

I did re-order the scenes this morning. I wrote Dr. Briar's reaction scene, but it takes place the next morning. Ash's reaction scene is still taking place last night. So I just need to swap the order and put Ash's scene on top of Dr. Briar's so that I don't get my days/times out of order and confuse the reader.

Go Back

Now I can go back and start with my opening sentence (Detiny's reaction) and see where Ash's scene goes to finish out his turbulent day.

Darrell G. Wolfe

Storyteller | Writer | Thinker | Consultant | Multipotentialite

Pictures below for reference:

The. End........ Not.

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Writing Craft: Show / Don't Tell

Lessons I've learned about writing...

In the world of creative writing, no phrase or lesson is more repeated than the famous:

Show Don't Tell

What does that mean, exactly? It means don't give me a fact but show it to me. Let the actions of the character tell me he's nervous. Let the characters actions and motives be so tied to the setting, that they direct what details I get to see.


Read this:

Dr. Briar sat nervously on a hand-made leather chair with mahogany inlays. 

Now read this:

Dr. Briar sat fidgeting in a hand-made leather chair, rotating his middle finger around on the mahogany inlays. 

What's different?

Dr. Briar sat nervously on a hand-made leather chair with mahogany inlays. 

Dr. Briar sat fidgeting in a hand-made leather chair, rotating his middle finger around on the mahogany inlays. 

We show him fidgeting and rotating his finger, this gives us more reason to talk about the inlays. But could this be better? Sure, there are a thousand ways to write this sentence. Let's add just a bit more detail.

Dr. Briar sat flicking the magnetic strap of his tablet open and closed, periodically adjusting his potsition in the hand-made leather chair, rotating the middle finger of his other hand around on the mahogany inlays. 

There's at least one problem with this new sentence. The structure is a bit off. "ING" is almost always death to a story, let's change that up a bit.

Dr. Briar flicked the magnetic strap of his tablet open and closed, periodically adjusting his position in the hand-made leather chair, and rotated the middle finger of his other hand around on the mahogany inlays. 

The ING wasn't awful, in this case, but changing this from a present tense ING to a past tense ED can help with consistency of storytelling and it gives a weight of finality to the phrase.

This has been a lesson from the things I've learned about writing. Good day to you,

Darrell G. Wolfe

Storyteller | Writer | Thinker | Consultant | Multipotentialite

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Constitutional Amendment Proposition: We The People Clause

Constitutional Amendment Proposition: We The People Clause

We are taking back the government...

It's high time for another amendment to the constitution. There are already several great proposals, including a Convention of the States to make it happen.

As I've been thinking about it, there are several things I would like to see in an amendment. Here are a few points to consider:

1. Preserve the Original Consitution: The amendments should reinforce or clarify the intent of the original constitution, not change it. Article 1, Section 9, paragraph 5 of the US Constitution says that there shall be no direct tax (income tax, property tax, etc.). The 16th Amendment Reversed this protection, and should never have been passed.

16th

Permits Congress to levy an income tax without apportioning it among the states or basing it on the United States Census.

July 12, 1909

February 3, 1913

3 years 6 months 22 days

2. Power/Control: When you give government power, it does not like to give it back or reduce its influence. It's like a giant power suck. Case in point, the 27th Amendment was proposed to make sure that the Congress wouldn't give themselves raises, so it demanded that any raise given not take effect until after the next election. The result? It took 202 YEARS for a congress to finally ratify (agree) to the proposal.

The 27th: Wiki

27th

Delays laws affecting Congressional salary from taking effect until after the next election of representatives.

September 25, 1789

May 5, 1992[5]

202 years 7 months 10 days

3. Amendments should clarify the rights of the people and restrict the rights of the Government.



New Proposals

That being said, here are some of the things I'd like to see in a new Constitutional Amendment:


1. REPEAL THE 16TH AMENDMENT AND CLARIFY that no Tax, Levy, Fine, Fee, Ticket, or any other cost shall be laid on any individual person or entity or their property. This includes the removal and ban of all Income Taxes, Property Taxes, Traffic Tickets, Licencing Fees (driver's licenses, hunting licenses, or gun ownership licenses, etc.).


2. HARD TERM LIMITS should be enacted for 100% of elected officials. The current state of affairs is a direct result of "career politicians". These offices were meant to be held by "statesmen", who were people leaving the private sector to serve in the state for a period and then return to live under the laws they produced or preserved.

A. 2-Terms per office: No person shall hold any elected office at any level (Federal, State, County, City, or otherwise) for more than 2 terms in their lifetime.

B. 4-Terms per individual: No person shall hold any combination of elected offices for more than 4 terms.


3. HARD INCOME LIMITS: No elected official shall make more annually in total government compensation than the previous years US Household Median Income for the US Population as a whole; currently $43,585.00 annually.

4. REAFFIRM THE 2ND AMENDMENT: No laws shall be passed regarding gun ownership except where an actual crime using a gun has been committed by the restricted.

5. VICTIM REQUIREMENT: No law shall be passed or enforced making any activity illegal, nor shall any person or entity be prosecuted or jailed, except where a specific person/entity has caused a specific harm to a person's/entity's person or property. No government body shall be considered a person or entity, nor shall any government body be considered harmable under this protection.


I'll probably come back an updated this later... you have any ideas? Comment below!

Darrell G. Wolfe

Storyteller | Writer | Thinker | Consultant | Multipotentialite

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Expression...

Bob Hamp has a teaching called Freedom from Depression.

He says that a synonym for Depression it Suppression; and, an antonym is Expression.

In other words, the opposite of Depression is to allow the Expression of who you were created by God to be.

As soon as I typed that, my Knowledge of Good tried to figure out how to make that happen. I started thinking about how to find out who or what I was created to be, then force it to happen, work harder at it, go get a degree, write more, do more of whatever the right stuff is...

Wrong.

All of that thinking comes from the wrong Tree... That's the Tree of Knowledge...

It's trying harder the Knowledge of Good... 

Totally the wrong tree.

We must look to the other tree...

LIFE is sourced in The One who created us.

LIFE didn't require a single good deed. LIFE was received by simply being in the presence of The One.

Adam was not made immortal, contrary to popular belief. Adam was made to require frequently the Tree of Life. As long as he ate of that tree, he would remain alive forever. Choosing the Tree of Knowledge cut him off from the Tree of Life.

Eventually, the slow cadence of death took its toll and he died, 900+ years later. The source of life was strong enough to sustain him for that long without a refill.

But only in the Presence of The One can we again find Life ourselves.

Got Life?

Selah

Bonus thought: what activities in your life make you feel more alive and which make you feel less alive (more numb)?

Darrell Wolfe

Storyteller | Writer | Thinker | Consultant 

me@DarrellWolfe.com

www.DarrellWolfe.com

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