Written inspiration for life

Just finished reading a book that I'd really like to share something about. It is the true story of Canadian Kyle MacDonald who made a dream that started out tiny turn into something huge. He traded a paperclip for a house through 'trading up' in only a few steps. Of course, turning the paperclip into a fish pen into a door knob didn't seem to get him on his way at the speed of light, but from there the story evolves and takes on huge proportions that neither Kyle himself nor anyone else could have imagined. Local and regional press pick up on his idea and the project website starts to bloom. Exactly one year after starting out with one red paperclip, Kyle and his partner Dominique are proudly living in their traded home in Saskatchewan.

And it's not only this amazing outcome that's inspiring. The journey itself has possibly even been more interesting. The down-to-earth Canadian has managed to touch many people's lives and create opportunities for them, while not investing more than his time, guts and energy. It's very refreshing to read a story like this in times like ours, where there's so much negativity around. It gave me lots of hope that big things are possible even when you start out small and that positive energy and quick wit are really contagious. What else can I say? Try the book or visit http://www.oneredpaperclip.com/.

79. Read a book a month

Well... I've lost count as to whether I'm actually reading a book a month. The important thing is that I have found the joy of reading again. In high school and university, I had to read ever so much. I was so glad when that was over that I only went with magazines and other short bits and pieces, but never sat down to read a whole book again. The obligation of doing something just totally takes away the fun of it.

But moving to a new home about 50 meters away from the library has changed that around. I became a member and now truly enjoy walking between rows and rows of colorful and potentially interesting stories. I've actually taken home a pile of books to sit/lay down on the couch and read with a pot of tea on the side, something I'd never done before in my life. And I find it strangely relaxing.

101. Buy a nice lapis lazuli cross and wear it on a necklace

On one of my last days in Chile, I went after the lapis lazuli cross that I was looking for. I ended up buying another one than I had in mind, because of the ridiculous price of the one I had seen some time before on the airport. I mean, nobody pays 400 euros for a tiny silver item - much less in Chile. So I settled for this one. In the end, it's all about symbolism. Lapis lazuli is a typically Chilean blue stone. And I wanted the cross as a symbol for my coming to faith during that period. The necklace is actually my mother's. I've been wearing it every day for the last few months.

44. Send a letter with pictures and/or presents to my Foster child

So why exactly did it take me years and years to write a letter to my foster brother in Ecuador? I don't have a clue. It has just been a matter of postponing every time, while the actual writing took me about half an hour all together. In the eight years that I'm sponsoring Cristián in the Manabi district, this is the second letter I have sent him. And it took me all those years to enclose a picture of myself, while I knew he and his family would really appreciate that gesture. I feel ashamed of myself. Here I am preaching about loving and caring for other people, while I let them down.

Well, somehow I found some long-needed courage yesterday and the letter is on its way now. At the same time, I read there have been huge flooding problems in the Manabi district and in other parts of Ecuador. People are struggling and it makes me hurt more. But lining up the yearly pictures of Cristián and seeing him grow (he should be around 15 years old by now) also put a smile on my face. I might be able to make a difference in this boy's life, albeit a small one.

2. Cook a 'good' meal once a month

'Better late than never' also goes for updates, right?

I've been cooking here and there, but not everything counts as healthy and/or three-course. But at Christmas, I really tried my best to cook up something nice for my parents and myself. The menu:

• A salad of smoked salmon, rucola, olive oil and pine kernels


• Oven-roasted chicken legs with sea salt and thyme, served with roasted chopped potatoes with rosemary and sea salt and stir-fried vegetables


• Fresh fruits dipped in hot chocolate sauce

Completing the NaNo challenge

So, little over a month ago I managed to complete the NaNo challenge. Around midnight on November 23rd, I had put my 50k in and received my winner's certificate! Since then, the whole pace of my life has changed drastically and my novel has been sitting quietly in its corner. I came back to The Netherlands on November 30th, picked up on a temporary job at the post office which during the Christmas holidays is busier than ever before, and moved back in with my parents. Storm's Embrace has proven to span 77 pages and I'm still wondering where I got all those crazy ideas from. I'll definitely sit down to edit the story at some point and may even try to get it published, but honestly, I have a feeling we shouldn't discuss its quality. In other words, I sincerely doubt anyone would care for it. Yet it has been a nice challenge as far as setting goals and pushing through goes. Next year, if real life allows, I'll definitely do it again and take a newbie or two under my wings. As silly as the whole thing may seem, I can recommend it to anyone looking to do something special just for themselves.

WordCount: 50,927

NaNo day 15 & 16

Somehow, my writing sort of keeps flowing. Not the type of flowing some people seem to experience, where they crank out millions of words and the story seems to write itself. It's still hard for me to sit down, concentrate and actually write, and to go past those first moments where I'm trying to settle on the next scene. But once I do, I get 500-1,000 words easily. It's been going in a steady pace these last few days, at about 2,500 each day. Which means I'm finally finding the rhythm I was looking for in the first place. I try for about 1,500 and think of any paragraph extra as a bonus. I'm so hoping I can keep that up! The weekend looks like it's going to be about friends and fun, so probably little writing, especially on Sunday. And then in just a week and a half I'll be going home... It's the strangest feeling. I've gotten so used to living here! As for NaNo - 30k I'm on my way.

WordCount: 29,232

Little NaNo treat

Found this in the mail today:

It's from one of my NaNo mentors, who also manages to send out long daily encouragement e-mails to the group of newbies he has under his wings. And all that while juggling a busy real life and finishing his own novel in the first two weeks... Thanks, Devon!

NaNo day 12, 13 & 14

To be honest, I don't want to talk about day 12 and 13. Real life got in the way and I only got about 500 words written on either day. People seem to think I'm on holiday here, but I'm actually quite swamped and trying to balance important things, leisure and writing.

Today was better though, I got quite some things done. Went to have a sandwich with a good friend in the evening and when I came home, decided to try a little more writing before going to bed. I wrote a scene from the top of my head and was pretty surprised to see it was over 1,100 words. Combined with the stuff I wrote during the afternoon, that makes today's total close to 3,000. Very nice, if I could only crank that out a bit more often, I won't be in trouble at the end of the month. Here's to breaking the halfway mark tomorrow!

WordCount: 24,232

31. Say goodbye to my lucky coin

Sniff. I went to take a walk in the center yesterday. The weather was nice, not too warm, not too cold, and it was a typical Santiago Sunday. I did my usual little walk from Plaza de Armas through Paseo Ahumada and back to the square through Estado. I can't even begin to describe all the different people I saw around there. It's like entering a movie scene. I love that place so much. I quietly entered the cathedral since there was a mass going on, but it wasn't very crowded. Some art group performed at the square, first a violinist, then an opera singer. I'm not into classical music, but it made the environment all that much nicer. Oh, it was a beautiful afternoon. One of those that I'll miss so much when I go back, which is very soon.

And then I saw the fountain and remembered my point 31 on the list. And I remembered that I had thought this to be the perfect place to leave my lucky coin behind. Mind you, it's just a regular one dollar cent coin. A small, brown one, a little polished over time. I took it home from California somewhere in 1999, maybe 1998, and it has been with me ever since. Mostly in my left pocket. Almost every day. I lost or dropped it many times over, but always quickly found it again. I thought it would leave me when I no longer needed it, but it stuck around for the whole eight years, maybe even a little longer. So I had made the decision to get rid of it myself. My happiness isn't bound to a one cent coin, and neither are my memories. It was just a symbol, one of many. (I still have my cross that I wear every day. Couldn't even consider dumping it.)

I got a little nervous. Stood listening to the opera singer for a while and rubbed the coin like never before. Then, I made a wish and tipped it into the fountain. Home is where the heart is. I sat down for a while and looked at the square, the fountain, the kids, the doves, the women... and I actually felt a little sad about the coin. I thought of all the countries it had been to with me. I remembered how it had been there when I found love and lost it again, many times over. But the experiences and memories are in my head and heart. It's just a one cent coin. It has a new home now. I can't believe I'm crying while I'm writing this. Am I a childish sentimental sock, or what?

Goodbye, lucky coin. May you bless somebody else's heart, who needs you more.

NaNo day 11

Stayed up until past 1AM again, because I was desperate to break the 20k-mark. Well, I managed that, but don't ask how. Note to self: must start writing before 10PM.

WordCount: 20,085

NaNo day 9 & 10

Yesterday was one of those days I'd rather forget quickly. I got up very early after half a night's sleep, because I needed to get some concert tickets on the internet that went into a special pre-sale. I went back to bed afterwards, slept until lunchtime (phonecalls woke me up twice...), got up, got very little done, went back to bed, got up again, and somehow stayed up until 2AM. Which of course made me sleep in until a ridiculous hour today. Gah, my day/night rhythm is so messed up. I barely got 500 words in yesterday. I didn't feel like writing anything at all, either.

Today I still felt like a kitchen towel, if that makes any sense, but in the evening I finally did my home chores, sat down with a bottle of Coke Zero, plugged in my iPod, found a hilarious dare that let my imagination spark and started writing. It's nowhere near 25k yet, but we're getting there. And there are parts of my story I actually like. It should become more fun now, too, because I introduced a bunch of new characters. And dialogue seems to move me forward more quickly than description, so it's good that my MC is making some new friends.

WordCount: 17,553

NaNo day 8

Woohoo, I made my goal for today! *does happy dance* And it's before midnight, too. I'm still rather far behind and wonder how I manage to write so little in days where I have few other things to do, but well. At least I didn't fall behind any more than I already am. Taking it day by day. How are all my fellow NaNo-ers doing?

WordCount: 14,062

NaNo day 7

Nope, I'm still not learning. It's 1:10AM and I barely got 2,000 words in. I seem to have caught somewhat of a cold. Those dishes will have to wait until tomorrow.

WordCount: 11,279

54. Go to 3 concerts of bands I haven't seen before

One down, two to go. This is one of the most fun points on the list for me as I love going to concerts. Seeing a good pop/rock band play live and being in front of the stage in a crowd just makes me feel so alive I could cry. Heck, I do that sometimes. Good live music has the power to make me feel like everything is falling into place, and that includes anything that's happening in my life at that moment.

On Sunday, I went to the Fenix Festival at the Arena Santiago. The summary? Many hours, one crab-coloured sunburned me with an aching throat, three new Chilean friends and three awesome foreign bands.

Ah, you want the longer version? No problem, I can do that.

13:00 Announced starting time. Arrival at scene. Long waiting lines for the gates as usual. Me in a sleeveless shirt, thinking I should have put on some sunscreen before leaving. It's a hot sunny day, clear blue sky. I pick up a bottle of mineral water before joining the crowd. Need liquids, loads of them.

14:30 Buying a hot dog and drink. Looking around and checking out all the foreigners. Brits, Germans and some tall guys I strongly suspect to be Dutch. Trying to stay out of the sun or put my black fleece sweater on my shoulders for protection, ignoring the heat.

16:00 Opening of Arena is announced. Quick line-up again, that looks good. Only about 30 people before me. Girl in line starts to chat with me. Sun burns down on me.

16:40 Here we go! Green wrist bands up in the air, everyone makes a run for it, so we join the frenzy to avoid being trampled. The people already in the higher seating areas see the crowd rushing forward. Picture flashes everywhere. It's actually cooler inside.

17:00 My new girl friend spots a friend of hers who is with another friend. Call this the Chilean way. She walks over to squeeze her friend's cheeks as if he were a long-lost grandson, which makes me giggle. A bit later, the friend joins us with his other friend. We discuss the chileanness of names, or lack thereof. Group established for the night. María Paz, Thomas, Jan and me.

Concert buddies for the night

18:00 Punctuality as never seen before in this country! Starsailor enters the stage. Crowd goes pretty crazy already. Poor misguided fool makes an awesome opening song. I have to pinch myself a few times to tell me I'm not watching Keane. The singer has grown a little beard and looks strikingly much like Tom Chaplin. Great show. Even better when you realize there's two more bands to go.

Starsailor

19:00 Toilet break. Not that we actually have to go, but drinking water from the tap is cheaper than buying drinks. And we are cheap.

19:30 Still right on track. Enter Travis. Crowd goes pretty mad. Thomas is touched to tears and made fun of by Jan. I get to hear Closer live. That in itself is worth the ticket price. When they play Flowers in the window, they join in a happy group moment. Fran makes us clap along while sweet Dougie plays the guitar that's around Fran's neck. Cuteness. We know they'll keep on playing songs since the most famous one is still missing. Why does it always rain on me? is saved to the last moment. We're flying high, but the best is yet to come.

Travis

21:00 Toilet break. You know the drill.

21:20 The moment the crowd has been waiting for all day. The Killers bring a tight show. Bright lights saying Sam's Town and lots of rock 'n' roll. This time it's Jan who can't stop smiling. The first three songs follow the cd that I've been playing so much lately. Somehow I almost forgot All these things I've done. I've listened to that song every day in the last week! How could I not remember they might play it? Being the main act of the night, The Killers play for over 1,5 hours. The others are exhausted but I'm just doing great. Except for major sunburn on my shoulders and neck. I look like a crab that has been in the sauna too long.

The Killers

Yep, that was pretty awesome.

NaNo day 6

The last few days I have been falling behind on my wordcount. Well, that was to be expected, I guess. Real life took over. I've been going out with friends every night for the last week. Hence today my throat hurts like crap, but that's what you get from living the moment. Today was a rather peaceful day in which I tried to get back on track with some chores and get some words into my story. As usual, it's past midnight now and I still have to do the dishes. If anyone ever needs me at 1AM, you can be pretty sure I'm in the kitchen... There's just some things I'll never learn. Washing up after lunch is one of them.

WordCount: 9,247

Life's full of surprises

Awesomeness! Thursday night, right before I managed to get my 2,500 words in, I see this French girlfriend of mine come up on messenger with 'in Santiago' behind her name. An hour and a half later, me, her, another French girl, a Chilean guy and two of their friends were laughing our butts off over a cocktail in a club that brought back a million good memories. Those three used to be roommates (housemates, actually) of mine when I was in Chile for the first time. I hadn't seen them in four years! Oh, how life can surprise you when you least expect it. The French girls have travelled onward Friday morning, but I was so hyped about seeing them again, I just couldn't stop smiling.

Hugo (France), Alix (France) and me (that's Esther, The Netherlands, for the record)

Cristián (Chile), Hugo, me, Tiphaine (France) and Ismael (Uruguay)

Alix, me and Tiphaine

Second night in a row of going to bed at 2:20. I'd get used to it if it wasn't for the things I need to get done during the day. Barbecue on Friday, church festivities on Saturday, excellent concert on Sunday. Boy, this is becoming one hell of a week. But I'm so alive!

NaNo day 2

Goodness gracious. Just how do people with real lives manage to do this?

I feel like I've been running from one part to another, even though I'm at home. Quickly getting some logistics going for tonights barbecue in the most faraway and rich possible area in this city. Finishing up an article, reading my daily book chapter, answering urgent messages with a sandwich on my lap, and still have to find the hours to write.

Finally, scraped the words together and ran off for the barbecue. The next few days are going to be busier and harder... Oh man!

WordCount: 5,112

NaNo day 1

November 1st is finally here, and that means writing madness at NaNo. I was actually planning on getting a few hundred words in at midnight, but only got home at 2:15 from a pretty lame anti-Halloween children's party. Exhausted, too. Luckily I had lots of free time on my hands today, so I just started during the day.

The beginning was pretty rough. Just to get those first few words on paper and not frantically delete and redo them is a mini-challenge in itself. But that's what the 'lock up your inner editor'-stuff is about, so I settled for something and moved forward. 350 words were easy, but then? I'm thinking my problem is I may have characters and general ideas and funky details worked out, but I have close to nothing when it comes to individual scenes.

I worked on it on and off all through the day. Some scenes would roll out quickly, others were more of a word to word struggle. But I needed to get my 2,500 words done so I kept going. On some of the next few days it might be hard to put hours in writing, and each day missed means, well, falling 2,500 words behind. I found some inspiration in certain songs, and too much distraction on the forums.

It's 22:00 now and I finally got them in. Phew! This may not become easy, but I already find it interesting what I have managed to get on paper.

WordCount: 2,540

NaNo planning

Only two more days before NaNo really kicks off. I've been doing some research in the last few days, which I should be wrapping up now that writing time draws near. By now, I know where the family has moved to, what the secondary characters are like and why Christopher collects frogs, for example. How? Like this:

• Writing down unanswered questions about my characters and story. Somehow, reviewing my notes or just thinking of these little unsolved problems usually makes an answer or solution pop up in my head.


• Sketching. Oh, how I wished I could actually sketch or draw decently... but I can't. I settled for a rough map of the family home.


• Talking to others. Some people have good input just by thinking out loud. Even if these elements don't end up literally in the story, they often put me on track for other ideas.


• Finding pictures of random people or items that remind me of my characters. Flickr or Google Images are great for this.


• Finding theme songs for the story or for specific characters. Could be either songs they would listen to, or songs that remind me of them.


• Wiki research on important story themes. For example, I have looked up information on autism, frogs, and schools the kids could go to. Sometimes this leads to dead-end tracks, but after a long while of ploughing through information, I found a few awesome links between subjects that are really helping me answer story questions. I bookmark good finds and take notes of resulting ideas.


• Keeping a notebook and pen beside my pillow at night. Good ideas seem to pop up around or after midnight, before I fall asleep. It would be a shame not to write them down immediately. This way, my novel is also the first thing I think about in the morning when I see the notebook from 10cms distance.

There's still some things I should sort out before I start the actual writing. One of them is immerge myself into schools. What classes does Storm take and for how many hours a week? What is Kody majoring in? I also need to think up some individual scenes and find a good starting point. I'm not over-planning though, to leave enough room for the actual fun of writing and seeing where the story goes.

7. Eat a piece of fruit each day

If I don't conciously think about it every once in a while, I just forget about fruits. I drink a lot of juice, but since that's not quite the same and I'm trying to stay healthy, one serving of fruit each day seemed like a good goal. Apples and bananas are absolute favorites, whereas kiwi's don't get into this household - they make me choke. Did you know fruit allergies existed? Well, they do. My father has them and I had them as a child. Eating any fresh fruits would just really make our throats and mouths itch and, in bad cases, result in breathing problems and asthma-like situations. But with the years, both of us seem to gradually grow over it. Kiwi's and plums are still a no-go for me, but the amount of apples I had over the years seems to have made me resistant somehow. They're not bugging me anymore. Bananas are usually pretty good, though I still prefer to have some water after I had one. Today I picked up a nice box of strawberries. Cleaned them, chopped them, sprinkled some sugar on them and ready to go. Yummy! I might actually be able to keep this habit up.

83. Take part in NaNoWriMo and finish it

Presenting my biggest and most exciting project of the moment: I'm going to write a book in a month. What? Yes. That's the idea of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). It's an annual event where tens of thousands of people across the whole world (it stopped to be national a long while ago, I guess) write like crazy during the month of November. The purpose is to write 50,000 words. It doesn't matter if that's an utterly crappy story, the manual of a microwave oven, or 50,000 times the word 'hello'. Nobody will read your scribbles unless you show them to someone. That means it's unsure whether you'll actually be writing a 'good book', but hey, how many people are planning on writing one and never getting around to do it? That's where NaNoWriMo comes in.

NaNo is about letting your creativity flow freely. It's about creating a first draft and not stopping after every ten words to edit and correct them. That's what December is good for. You are allowed to think of a plot, setting and characters ahead of time, take notes, create, invent and do exercises as much as you want (October is great for this). Just don't start the actual writing until Midnight, November 1st. On the website, http://www.nanowrimo.org/, there is a huge forum full of tips and tricks, games, jokes, literary analysis and exciting ideas. It's also encouraged to buddy up with some fellow writers and share your experiences. People who have participated in the NaNo madness before are offering their help to newer writers who don't know where to start.

With little over a week to go before the real writing can kick off, I'm excited to start. Somehow I have this blind confidence in thinking this shouldn't be as hard as some people make it seem. With 2,500 words per day (and that's only a few pages), I should hit 50k by November 20th, leaving enough time to say my goodbyes here, prepare, pack my bags and undertake my journey home.

I guess by now you'll be wondering what I plan on writing about. Well, I've thought up a few characters that I'm still developing, a rough story outline and a few funny details. I'll be writing in the Young Adult genre and the title is Storm's Embrace. Here's a tentative plot synopsis:

17-year-old Storm Lancey is an introverted girl who has just moved to a new town and has a hard time finding her place there. She struggles with self-acceptance while living with her frog-collecting, autistic, 15-year-old brother Christopher and colorful, ever-dating mother. When she signs up for a theatre club and rehearses for Romeo & Juliet, fellow actor Kody becomes her best friend and she starts to secretly admire and develop a crush on her rival actress, Tess. Will Storm find her way to deal with things, or will they only take a turn for the worst?

For those of you who think Alamala inspired me to put in Romeo & Juliet: I was actually already planning on doing that. But that play seems to be everywhere these days. I don't believe in coincidences anymore so I'm only getting more inspired by it showing up everywhere.

And then there's banners. There's this thread on the NaNo forums about people who know their way with Photoshop where anyone can leave their request for a signature banner, with hints about what it should look like and what text you would want in it. Low and behold, somebody actually took my request and made mine! This is how my novel is visualized:

This posts consists of 615 words. Those 50k are going to be a breeze, I tell ya.

Inspirational

Yeah, I'm enjoying having this list up. It's a good feeling to have made up your mind about what's important to you, and actually shoot for those things. It's also fun to ask friends about which point on the list they find the most surprising, and even more to see them inspired to jot down goals of their own. I ran across a great quote today that sums it up perfectly:

Goals are dreams with deadlines. (Diana Scharf Hunt)

Or, as one of my friends puts it, it's about 'dreaming out loud'. You'll discover your dreams can actually come true when you turn them into goals.

26. Go see a theatre show/play

Yesterday I went to see a piece of street theatre. It's from a company named Alamala, which is the pride and joy of a friend of mine, Pato. They did a, well, quite unusual version of Shakespeare's "Romeo & Juliet". Alamala consists of three guys who together impersonated all characters in the play. Needless to say the guy with the wig playing Juliet was hilarious. As was Pato with his cheesy blonde wig as Romeo. The funniest parts were probably the ones where the guys themselves couldn't stop laughing over the improvised lines their co-actors put in. The fact that Mercutio used Chilean swear words and Romeo was sent an e-mail concerning Juliet's death somehow weren't the strangest details in all of it.

Street theatre is low budget so there were few props, which means it all came down to the strange moves and funny faces the actors pulled off. And believe me, Pato has some funny faces. It gathered quite a crowd, after all it was a Friday night in early spring and some of the curious tourists stayed around to watch the play. I went with a friend and his sister. Afterwards, we went for a sandwich in an American-looking place. We left when live funk music started with this lady singing about how she was an angel that had fallen from the skies because her wings were too heavy. A nice little night out, all in all - and one to scratch off the list.

Tomorrow Starts Today

So here it is, the Master List [tm]. I fell in love with this concept of listing 101 things you want to do in 1001 days, and it's actually proving very helpful in finding the things that are important to me. 1001 days is about 2,75 years. That means that I'll be 30 by the time this mission is over. In a way, it's like a list of things you want to do before turning 30, too. Or things to do before you die. Because by now I know life is too short to just let it fly by, postponing dreams and wishes for tomorrow - there may not be a tomorrow. I'm not exactly a fan of "live every day as if it were your last" or "you should try anything in life", because they imply some sort of irresponsibility. But this list gives a longer time span and thus forces you to look into the future. A realistic future.

All 101 ideas on this list are actually things I plan on doing in the next few years. From something small like baking a pie or going to a concert, to big plans like buying a house or get my driver's licence: there is nothing on this list that I couldn't or wouldn't actually want to accomplish within the given time span. I plan to keep up with my progress on this blog, so feel free to check in every once in a while to see how it's going. And if you feel inspired, why not make your own?

Oh, when I started to make the list, these were the first three things that came to mind:

1. Dye my hair in a colour I haven't tried before
2. Buy a house
3. Have a son

Priorities? Where? XD

See you soon!