Miracles, Gifts, and the Fear of Flying / Character Development Tool DL
I was on a plane getting ready for takeoff and
like I always do when I’m on a plane getting ready for takeoff
I convinced myself that I was going to die.
I understand the concept of flight.
I get why it works.
I just have a hard time believing
the metal tube I voluntarily strapped myself into
is going to shoot
thousands of feet up into the sky
and land, safely
on some thin strip of concrete
a couple thousand miles away.
I’m genuinely surprised every time it happens.
To distract myself from the controlled explosion
that would propel me to my doom
I started thinking, “If I am going to die today
what would I want you to know?
If I could pass along one thing in a frantic
thirty second phone conversation
on the way down
what would it be?”
The answer came immediately.
“You are a miracle.”
You don’t have to believe in God
or anything supernatural
to appreciate the fact that
over billions of years
and the infinite number
of possible combinations of atoms,
you arrived here at this specific place,
at this specific time.
At every turn,
from the beginning of the universe,
the road was paved for your arrival.
At any given point along the way,
someone makes a left
instead of a right
and you were never here.
But you are here.
You were given a gift.
Life.
A chance.
Opportunity.
There’s just one catch:
there’s no guarantee for how long.
Even the luckiest of us
who live to be a hundred years
are still only here
for a blink of an eye
in the face of eternity.
Every moment counts.
Every laugh, every hug,
every smile, every kiss,
every small act of kindness
or forgiveness
every time you look into the eyes
of someone you love,
every great slice of pizza
or long nap on a rainy day,
every dance,
every step,
every breath,
could be your very
last.
I’m not saying you should
try to live each moment
with the full weight of that knowledge.
Nobody can truly live each moment like it’s the last.
At some point you have to wash the car,
pay the bills,
buy toilet paper.
No.
Your life will be made up of
a bunch of ordinary moments,
punctuated by the extraordinary.
But even those little moments are a gift.
Be mindful of things that waste your time.
Holding grudges,
withholding forgiveness,
taking things too personally,
worrying about circumstances
beyond your control.
Enjoy the hard times.
You can learn so much
about yourself when faced with adversity.
Be grateful for the growth born of struggle.
Kindness and compassion,
even in the deepest, darkest days
are not just worth accepting,
they’re worth giving,
freely.
There are times when you’ll hurt.
There are times you’ll feel alone.
When you feel like it’s just you
against the world and
you’re a poor ally, even for yourself.
You’ll feel grief and loss
when loved ones depart.
There may be days when you feel
like you absolutely can’t go on.
That living itself seems impossible.
That it would take a miracle to turn your life around.
In those moments,
I hope you remember this:
If the universe,
over billions of years
and the infinite number
of possible combinations of atoms
brought you here
at this specific place,
at this specific time,
anything is possible.
You are the evidence of infinite possibility.
Of course the universe is capable of miracles.
It already created you.
Character Development Worksheet Download
Austin Kleon is a "writer who draws," and he publishes one of my favorite newsletters, linked below. Around Thanksgiving of last year he made a hand drawn mini-zine about gratitude. You print it out, fold it up, and it's this little pocket-sized book to write down what you're grateful for.
I'm working on a new series pitch this week and I went back to some of my early newsletters, hoping to shake the story tree a little bit. I remembered that mini-zine and decided to make one with some basic exercises and tools that I could carry around with me in my pocket and pull out to make notes on instead of carrying a laptop or looking at my phone all the time.
I've been using them all week and it's been a lot of fun. I like having something tactile and low stakes. If I lose it or it gets ruined I can print another one. I made one for you to download, as well as a simple worksheet with the same tools and exercises. Graphic design is NOT my passion, btw, and an early attempt to hand draw it was a disaster. It couldn't be more boring visually for a zine, feel free to make it your own.
Dropbox links and instructions for folding the mini-zine below this pic:
Dropbox - Action Is Character mini-zine.pdf - Simplify your life — www.dropbox.com Dropbox is a free service that lets you bring your photos, docs, and videos anywhere and share them easily. Never email yourself a file again!
Dropbox - R&D character development sheet.pdf - Simplify your life — www.dropbox.com Dropbox is a free service that lets you bring your photos, docs, and videos anywhere and share them easily. Never email yourself a file again!
Yodas of the Week
Beyonce, Maggie Rogers, and Amanda Shires all dropped new records this week. I'm still trying to absorb them, sitting with the lyrics and taking them in as full pieces first, but they're all at the top of their game. Inspiring.
Austin Kleon's Newsletter
Austin Kleon | Substack — austinkleon.substack.com Weekly art, writing, and creative inspiration from the author of Steal Like an Artist and other bestsellers. Click to read Austin Kleon, a Substack publication with hundreds of thousands of readers.
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