[402 Blog 2] Freestyle Writing

Remove specifics and convert to ambiguities

I have long since performed the act of focusing on specifics and avoiding the ambiguities. For a few years now I have specifically told people what it is I am going to accomplish and have not implemented any of them. Instead of focusing on the immediate situation, taking a turn for a broad blurred view of the future has helped me move forward at a better pace in order to eventually have things come into focus.




Many of us live think of living in a Cockaigne world day to day but many of us do not want to work hard to get there. You see somebody taking a lavish vacation or diving a fancy car and you think to yourself, “I want that some day.” Fact of the matter is not all of these people living the high life are as pleased with their lives as many of us may anticipate. Many of these people may be leasing their cars or barely paying their palatial mortgage, just getting by, but focused on presenting an image they find obligatory to their peers and their self built aristocracy.






I do not have a dream job by any means. I clock in, sit down, help people, make sure they get what they want, smile, fill up on some crappy Maxwell house coffee, check my email and then do it all over again for 7-9 hours, Mon-Fri….but I really can’t complain. It pays the bills and allows for some fun. Is this my walk of life? No. But for some people it is and I cannot frown upon them for doing what they have to do to live their lives. These are hard working honest people that have not necessarily chosen this existence but may have had no other choice….(That’s wrong because everybody has a choice!!!)






That is for another oblique strategy to come

Dealing with people who build homes and condos and retail space I have seen these hopes and dreams rise and fall and hurt many people’s view of the near future.

These people wanted specifics. Build a home (x 60), sell, buy more…and again. In the mix of it all they were building themselves 6,000sp. Ft homes, purchasing luxurious SUVs and sport cars. They were not looking into a possible downturn in the economy or building boom and put a lot on the line…Instant gratification would keep them in continual elation.






The same people are now coming in, working on someone’s add-on, or garage remodel looking for any work they can because 35% of their homes have been foreclosed on and they are having a tough time filling up their tanks and paying their $599/month lease on their new 5 series. The same people are also having a tough time paying off their bills at the print shop. They charge thousands of dollars in blueprints and now are forced to be on C.O.D. and have to pay cash or charge on a number of credit cards until I run one that has not been declined. The same people are now removing the specifics.

At any rate, living with a bit of uncertainty may be a frightful choice for some but is certainly not unwarranted. Live day by day. Layout some specifics over time but be sure to blur your future so when it comes into focus you can value what is presented upon you rather than simply taking it for granted.