Matt B. Perkins

The Power of Changing Your Frequency

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For the past two years I’ve been on somewhat of an internal roller-coaster ride.

Well, a better analogy would be a hike through a deep forest, filled with its own perils and mountainous peaks and distant beacons of light.

This little journey has been ongoing for more than two years, actually, but it was about two years ago when I had an epiphany about where I wanted to go with my own writing and life as an artist. Initially, I thought about pursuing freelance writing – something I’d only dabbled with outside of my day-job career in journalism and communications – which then led me to explore a bit the world of copywriting.

But something inside nagged at me – this wasn’t the answer.

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Promises to Keep

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There’s a little poem I seem to keep coming back to every now and then by Robert Frost that I can’t seem to shake.

The poem is “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” and I recently came upon it again while reading a book of poetry to my kids (a really great book called, Keep a Pocket in Your Poem by J. Patrick Lewis).

The entire poem is beautiful, but the final stanza is quickly becoming a life-slogan for me:

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

There’s an immediate scene of images that runs through my mind as I read this gem.

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The Craft of Self

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There is a massive difference, I’ve learned, between self-service and self-work (or self-love/self-help/self-care if you prefer).

If 2017 did anything it was make me realize how many things I’d like to accomplish in this life as a writer – I have book ideas that have been floating in my head for the better part of a decade, I have ideas for blog posts that are waiting to bubble to the surface, I have other creative ideas I’d like to embark on that support these efforts. Of course, these aren’t really specific goals I’m discussing – I’m not here to write about that right now. No, no, no.

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When in Tune

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I was initially hesitant to share this image and story, mostly because the emotion and level of raw clarity it brings to me, but in the spirit of the season I am giving it away and letting it go.

Part of this will undoubtedly sound unlikely and/or just me trying to reassure myself. But I’ve seen and learned way too much to date to NOT believe this kind of thing is real. It’s real, 110 percent of it, and I’ve barely scratched the surface on this stuff. And “this stuff,” as I’ve learned, is real to those who are open to it. Those who are closed to it (like I have been) are inadvertently blocking themselves off. This ties to the rainbow pictured here. Most people have seen a rainbow. But let’s be honest, these things tend to show up at the exact moment we need them to.

And that. Is. The. Point.

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One Surefire Way to Proofread Your Work

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You’ve finished a story, an article, a poem, a blog post, an email, a text message. You’re ready to hit the “Post” or “Publish” or “Send” button, but . . . wait. Did you take another look at this work before you moved forward?

Whatever it is, you should proofread that thing before doing anything else with it.

I realize that, with many writers taking part in National Novel Writing Month (aka, NaNoWriMo), right now, the last thing you need to be doing right now is catering to the inner critic and editing your work as you go. That’s not what I am hinting at here — because with that NaNo work, you’re not at the proofread or editing stage yet. You’re at the unearthing stage, the part where you tell yourself the story and write for consistency and volume. And in reality, you may not be (and in many cases will not be) done writing your novel come November 30. What I’m talking about is what you do once you’ve finished that first draft of your work. It’s a simple process that works well for shorter pieces of writing, but can be applied to any first draft (or, really, any draft).

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Empty the Inner Well

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I recently realized that exhaustion is my drug of choice.

Well, not drug, that’s probably the wrong way to put it. But it’s certainly a goal.

And why? What do I mean by exhaustion? Why do I strive to be exhausted?

Before I answer, let me clear something up at the outset: I do not mean burnout. I cannot emphasize this enough. Burnout is nothing I endorse or condone, it’s the result of exerting oneself beyond one’s capacity, usually for something that doesn’t speak deeply to that person’s soul or life. I experienced burnout several years ago as part of work that, while starting as incredibly fulfilling, ultimately led down a road of meeting quotas and simply following a formula with no end in sight. There was no rest with this type of burnout, no start and no end, simply a looping cycle of work. And the result? Anxiety, irritability, heightened stress, poor diet, lack of sleep, poor mindset, panic, etc.

I also don’t mean exhaustion to the effect of “burning the candle at both ends.” This too, inevitably, leads to burnout. Rest is absolutely essential to the body and mind and should always come following the exhaustion I’m about to discuss. (I’m also, in a sense, talking about exhaustion metaphorically here, so bear with me.)

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