My death redux, because I need a new refrigerator and stove.

[seeahill]

https://www.outsideonline.com/2237326/m ... nveniences

https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipP ... Mj0Dn7kAwN

[DrDonkeyLove]

https://www.outsideonline.com/2237326/m ... nveniences

https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipP ... Mj0Dn7kAwN

Best written posthumous autobiographical story of all time.

[seeahill]

Thanks, Doc.

[nafod]

That was great, right up until I fell asleep. Kind of petite mort?

Kidding, thanks for linking to it. Had to comment on this:

Sometimes I wake up at my desk and realize that I’ve been working for three hours. But it feels like it was 30 minutes. I think I went somewhere for a while and consulted the Great Story Arc. ...

I am not alone in this thought. In his 1990 book Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, the Hungarian psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi was the first to put a name to the states that painters, craftsmen, athletes, and physicians, among others, all experience while working. He described flow as “being completely involved in an activity for its own sake. The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz. Your whole being is involved, and you’re using your skills to the utmost.”

There's another kind of school of thought that says this drive to make a story out of our lives, to stick a narrative to it, is absolutely core to us, but also leads to a lot of grief. As our story goes off the rails, who we thought we are...we aren't.

Much of what is great about "flow" is setting aside that narrative and just being, living in the moment. But your in the moment "flow" comes from writing the narrative that you are also escaping...while writing the narrative. Creating your reality and giving it (a new?) meaning? World building? An odd thought.

[dead man walking]

seeahill is a talent. we're fortunate he posts here.

narrative is a tricky thing. it creates a truth, but it also can alter or disguise the truth. it can make plausible something that isn't entirely "true." people far less accomplished than seeahill regularly imagine narratives about themselves and others to justify and explain their lives.

by the way, can you actually have "died," if you're still alive today?

[Schlegel]

I am reminded of a Cary Grant quote something like "I pretended to be the man I wanted to be, until in the end, I became him."

[seeahill]

That was great, right up until I fell asleep. Kind of petite mort? :rolleye

Much of what is great about "flow" is setting aside that narrative and just being, living in the moment. But your in the moment "flow" comes from writing the narrative that you are also escaping...while writing the narrative. Creating your reality and giving it (a new?) meaning? World building? An odd thought.

I'd say you're overthinking all that. Don't think about the "narrative" and don't outline. Tell a story. If it evokes emotion in the reader, it has meaning.

seeahill is a talent. we're fortunate he posts here.

by the way, can you actually have "died," if you're still alive today?

This from a guy whose handle is dead man walking?

I am reminded of a Cary Grant quote something like "I pretended to be the man I wanted to be, until in the end, I became him."

Which reminds me of the Kurt Vonnegut quote in Mother Night: We are who we pretend to be.

Meanwhile, as the only undead writer I know, I am working on a TV series about myself. The Writing Dead.

[seeahill]

That was great, right up until I fell asleep. Kind of petite mort? :rolleye

Much of what is great about "flow" is setting aside that narrative and just being, living in the moment. But your in the moment "flow" comes from writing the narrative that you are also escaping...while writing the narrative. Creating your reality and giving it (a new?) meaning? World building? An odd thought.

I'd say you're overthinking all that. Don't think about the "narrative" and don't outline. Tell a story. If it evokes emotion in the reader, it has meaning.

by the way, can you actually have "died," if you're still alive today?

This from a guy whose handle is dead man walking?

I am reminded of a Cary Grant quote something like "I pretended to be the man I wanted to be, until in the end, I became him."

Which reminds me of the Kurt Vonnegut quote in Mother Night: We are who we pretend to be.

Meanwhile, as the only undead writer I know, I am working on a TV series about myself. The Writing Dead.

[syaigh]

Interesting and all. Reads like a guy rubbernecking his own car crash. Interesting. And definitely engaging.

What I would find more interesting would be foresight. Where are you going at your age with all the adventures you've had? Are there any more worth pursuing? Or will it be more like having a good dog sitting at your feet while you sip good spirits in front of a roaring fire that is not your cabin?

Or do you just keep going?

I have quite a few "older" friends. The happy ones are still vigorously pursuing their passions and lifes work. Its really fucking inspiring.

*by older i mean really old, 80s and more.

[seeahill]

What I would find more interesting would be foresight. Where are you going at your age with all the adventures you've had?

That one's easy. I never did this classic trip for two reasons: it was relatively easy and very well known. (And great writers have written well about this trip; I felt I had nothing more to add.) But when I sorta retired, I looked at a trip like this. I really wanted to do it and I wouldn't have to write about it. Hey, It's the kind of thing I love. And I'm good at it.
I did it.

But no, despite the consequences, I regarded it was a pleasure trip. Something I could finally do in retirement.

Dying on the trip was a fluke. You can't imagine the pressure I was under to write about it. (And the escalating pay scale every time I refused.)


Are there any more worth pursuing? Or will it be more like having a good dog sitting at your feet while you sip good spirits in front of a roaring fire that is not your cabin?

The dog at my feet is what I foresee. But, as I may have suggested above, I need a little adrenaline push in my life. I don't want to beat my chest about it, but that's the way I am.

Or do you just keep going?

Long as I can.

[Sangoma]

Seahill, could you send me your email address? Mine is [email protected]. I tried to pm you, but for some reason my message is still sitting in the outbox.

[seeahill]

Seahill, could you send me your email address? Mine is [email protected]. I tried to pm you, but for some reason my message is still sitting in the outbox.

Done. Check your email

If you want to use pm, be sure you have my handle right. It's seeahill. If you looked at a hill, you'd seeahill.