Leave a legacy

After you've finished working and raising your children, comes longed for retirement. No more early morning commute, no more snarky boss. You can do whatever you choose. So, you sleep-in, spend the whole morning eating breakfast and reading the paper. Then perhaps go out, shop and meet friends for lunch. Afternoon nap takes care of an hour or three. Soon, the sun is going down and it's dinner time and then a bit of TV or a Netflix movie before sleep.

Is this how you want to spend the rest of your life?
Perhaps while it's a novelty, you do. Later, and if you have the extra means, you decide to travel or check off your bucket list. You catch up visiting family and friends. And then what? Perhaps you decide to sell your big house and buy a condo in a 50+ building. Reduce your footprint before you turn to dust. And then what? What will people remember about you? What will you leave behind?

If this is important, perhaps you need to think about leaving a legacy. Not just money that's left after you're done with your bucket list and after you've sold your house and given away the extra furniture you no longer need. By legacy, I mean something more.

When I think of my ancestors, I am disappointed at the legacy they left. My grandfather on my mother's side, left a small house and garden in the country when he died of lung cancer. His first wife died young in the war. His second wife raised children. I don't know anything else about them - my mother rarely spoke of that time.

My grandfather on my father's side died in a concentration camp for his involvement in the Polish rebellion. My grandmother lived a quiet life and besides some hand made dried flower pictures, didn't leave much. What the war didn't destroy, she left behind when she moved to Canada with my parents. In Canada, she helped my aunt with housework and watched T.V. in the evenings.

My parents similarly didn't leave much. My mother, a few knit sweaters (she was a wonderful knitter) and my father a book of quotes that he gathered and that was full of hate and anger at the world. My sister and I threw it out as soon as he passed on. They left a condominium and some furniture behind but nothing really meaningful that changed the world in some way. Sad.

On the other hand, I look at the world and people I admire and wonder what some of them had contributed. Politicians, philanthropists, business people, doctors, judges, movie stars, sporting heroes. Some of those contributions had a negative impact on the world as well as a positive one: Einstein for example, who invented the atom bomb. Or Marie Curie-Sklodowska who studied radium. Or Nobel who invented dynamite.

So, is it better to live quietly and go gently into the night leaving as little as possible behind? Or is it better to go out with a bang and change the world, be remembered, have a statue built or a monument to remind the world of your passing through this world?

And what is worthy of leaving behind? A tree planted? A Mona Lisa? A musical score of Joy to the world? War and Peace? Yes. Yes. Yes.

Do not go gently into the night,

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And leave something behind.

Whatever you love to do, do it well and pass it on. If you are a good cook, leave a book of your recipes. If you are handy with tools, leave a birdhouse or a coffee table you have built. If you are a knitter, give away scarves and hats and write down the patterns.

And so, as I fill in the blanks in my daily journal that sits open on the table, daily thicker on the left and thinner on the right, I ponder how I can contribute in a meaningful way knowing by now that I am no Leonardo, Beethoven or Tolstoy. Through my writing, I hope to inspire others to also stretch their imagination and do something, anything well.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said: "The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you lived and lived well." -  Did I contribute something meaningful? How can I use my gifts and talents and the things I love to do, to improve the world and lives of others?

Leave a legacy.

Writers' Group in Lefkas, Greece

I've decided to organize a Writer's Group in Lefkas this winter, beginning in November. The group will initially meet at Porto Cafe at the Lefkas Marina. Day and time still to be announced. If this doesn't work, we can also meet onboard my sailboat, Eidos which will be docked at the marina. Everyone is welcome, whether you've been writing for years or just beginning. The group will be free to join - you only need to buy a coffee at Porto as a thank you for hosting us. Click on Writers' Group for more information.

Atlantic Crossing - update

It looks like my second book, Atlantic Crossing is finally heading for the finish line. I'm halfway through this present edit, and not having to change much anymore. 
I've had a number of people from Scribophile critique most of the chapters over these past few months and one friend has read the entire manuscript in one go. I am planning to send it to two or three additional beta readers before finally sending it to a professional editor. If I can find a publisher, I will go that route, otherwise, I'll self publish as with my first book, Salt Water In My Veins.

Example of a cover letter that works

The following cover letter has been my standard for many years, and it has worked with most of the editors that I've sent my work. It is brief, has a hook in the first line, and gives the editor all the information that is needed. 

Flow

I've been struggling recently, trying to edit for the umpteenth time my new book, Crossing Atlantic. I've joined a critique group on Scribophile and I've gone through the first draft once already. I think I need to take a break now and get some perspective before going through another edit. Meanwhile, I will catch up on some articles that I want to send out into the world.
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in his book, Finding Flow, would say that the editing part is not challenging enough and that I am bored.

The routine of writing

What helps you be most productive when it comes to your writing? I know we're all different, but what works for you? 
I get out of bed, put the coffee on, open my laptop, then my Scrivener file, and start typing before my brain wakes up and says, "wouldn't you rather check your email, the weather, or the news?" 

My afternoon run

Now that my broken foot has healed, I started running again. I follow a C25K (couch to 5 Km.) program which begins with a five-minute warm-up, followed by eight one- minute runs alternating with one-minute walks. At the end, there is a five-minute cooldown. Total of about half an hour. I do this every second day.

Spring

It's spring in Greece. Wild plum blossoms have exploded on the trees on the edge of a lagoon in Aktio. Birds are chirping among the boats in the boatyard, looking for nest sites. Some of the owners have already arrived to prepare their boats for launching. But snow still caps the tops of the mountain peaks to the east and I still turn the heater on early in the morning. Soon, soon, I will stop hibernating and life afloat will begin once again.

How to organize your work as a freelance writer

 I am a freelance writer. I enjoy my work because it gives me the freedom to write about what interests me, I can work anywhere, and I can work when inspiration calls rather than having to submit something regardless of how I feel. There is a downside to this, of course - if I want to eat, I need to be somewhat disciplined and organized. I need to produce finished copy now and then.

And so the system I developed helps to keep me in line. This is what I do:

Crossing Atlantic

I just finished the umpteenth draft of the ten chapters of my new book in progress, Crossing Atlantic. Numerous people from my Critique Circle on Scribophile have read it, made comments and pointed out some issues. All along, I tweak and tighten and adjust, so that it's as good as I can make it. For now. I'll be revising again and again and again, I'm sure. 

Great program for writers

If you have problems organizing your writing project, whether it's fiction, non-fiction, screenplay, research paper, or a genealogy tree, take a look at the Gingkoapp. 
It gives you a method to make your planning and organizing easy by a set of online index cards in a tree formation, that can be expanded, moved around and dragged. I can think of a hundred uses for this program.

Another person bought my book

Someone recently bought a copy of my book, Salt Water In My Veins. Thank you! Whoever you are, you made my day. I hope you enjoy it and feel like posting a review. If you're nearby, I'd be happy to sign it for you.

Salt Water In My Veins: Chapter 3: From a dream to a nightmare

"I have been the owner of my 'dream boat' for two weeks now and the relationship has already become like a stale affair..."
This is the beginning of my story about buying a sailboat.
Become my patron on Patreon and listen to the podcast of a chapter from my book, Salt Water In My Veins.

Rainy day. Good time to write

Today it's raining, so I am editing the third chapter of my next book, Crossing The Ocean.

I joined Scribophile, an online memoir writing group and each week we submit 3,000 words to be critiqued.

Each week I critique five chapters written by my cohorts and receive five critiques from them. 

It's a good way to stay disciplined and I see much progress.

The Beach

Pebbles, shining like gems,

on the beach.

Seashells, crunching like crackers,

under my feet. 

I pick up a broken crab shell

 and wonder what happened.