Repetition can be found almost anywhere, but it’s more noticeable in the arts. In design, repetition can make a work of art seem more active or bring unity to that work. Music employs refrains and movements as a way of bringing coherence or emphasis. Writing works along the same lines; repetition can result in a sort of “riff,” unify different components of the work, or emphasize a certain idea or image.
From There to Here: Be Courageous
If you strike out on your own, if you decide to hit the trail, you’re going to be afraid at times. You know this because you know trails often are deserted and filled with things like bandits and wild animals. If you still decide to continue down that path – your first, courageous step – you’ll see belongings left along the trail and wonder what happened to the owners of said belongings. You’ll contemplate if you could be one of those owners, and you realize, yes, that could be you. You could leave everything, desert this path, and return to safety. You don’t for one reason and one reason alone: you know what the cost of desertion would be. Your body might be safe, but your heart and mind would always wonder “what if.”
Writing from Brokenness
To write from a place of brokenness is no easy thing. It’s to come to the edge of what I know, the edge of comfort, and to peer over that edge and wonder if I can risk brokenness. Can I risk the vulnerability? Do I dare? Can I be what some might consider “weak”? In many cases, I can’t. I turn away. I retreat to safety because I have written from that place previously, and the things I’ve written have sometimes hurt people close to me.
Write Right: Bullet Points and Punctuation Marks
I know of no rigid rules regarding bullet points and how to punctuate them. Because of that, I defer to two principles. One is consistency. The other is the effect on the page, that is, the visual element.
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You Will Never Be Ready
You will never be ready. You’ll never know enough. You’ll never think you know enough. You’ll never believe you’re adequate. You’ll never think you have the necessary skills or talents. You’ll never think you have what it – whatever “it” is – takes. You will never be ready.
Sit Down. Rest a While.
You. You down in front. The one tapping your pen against your knee. The one rushing to and fro making sure everyone has a seat and has everything they need for the duration of this speech or film or whatever it is that you’re attending. You. Sit down. Rest a while. Put the pen in your purse or your pocket. Let the other people be. You sit down. You rest.