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I Wish I had a TARDIS: Part 2- A Chance to Re-live

tardis-doctor-who

Do you ever have regrets…?

I know I do. There are moments in my life I wish I could just hit the pause button. Take a little time to think about things, then rewind back and re-live all over again. Perhaps I wouldn’t have played G.I. Joes in my grandmother’s attic that resulted in me and a few friends falling through the ceiling causing thousands of dollars in damage. Then there was the time I wrecked my car attempting to ramp it over a small creek with a busted bridge (hey, it worked on the Dukes of HAZARD).

But then there are the more serious moments. Like the day my brother died at the age of 29. I often found myself wishing I could have had that “last” conversation. What would I say? Would I cry because I knew something he didn’t? Could I have the power to travel back and warn him to get off prescription drugs and wash his hands of it all?

It’s time like this where I wish I had a TARDIS. If you have no idea what that is, I invite you to view my previous post or turn on some Dr. Who. At the end of the day I wouldn’t mind the ability to travel back in time and fix all the mistakes I made. I would go back to 1987 and tell my ten year old self to focus on school, focus hard. I would warn myself at the age of 16 that I wasn’t invincible and if it came down to it- I could get hurt.

But would it be worth it. Would it be worth going back and reliving all those painful moments that still eat away at me and make me feel as though I am hopeless? Could I really rid myself of some regrets and the weight of some guilt? Would it change who I am today? But wait, I like who I am.

I’m sure that I could have the chance to find peace with some situations. But I’m not sure I could fathom the idea of changing who I am now.

The road of life is full of crooked paths. Some wander you off in lost directions at times but eventually you discover a new way. I’m not sure I would want to change my past. For to change the past would mean to change the present, and as bad as life may have been for me in the past, the present- Well let’s just say I’m satisfied.

Often in life we tend to look back instead of forward. But what is behind us. The truth is- Nothing. Success is found by focusing on where you want to go. Not where you once were. Some of the best books are memoirs written by those focused on the past. I wonder- Did they move on. Did scattering the words across the page give them strength to turn the page?

Someday I may write about my past. The ups, downs, and pains that I experienced along the way. But someday will only happen when I and we accept that what lies behind is behind for a reason.

 I wish I could change the past. I do. But not at the expense of losing what I have now.

 J.J. Johnson

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I Wish I had a TARDIS Part 1- A Chance to Escape

I need to admit something. I am a HUGE Dr. Who Fan. Would I say I’m a fanatic who watches the show endlessly and gets excited about my disappearing TARDIS coffee mug…? No, not really. But I do love the show.

So, who is The Doctor? Well, that’s a question fifty years in the making. In short . . . very short, The Doctor is a Time Lord, a race of beings from the planet Gallifrey, who developed the means of time travel. The Doctor is a being who travels through time and space, saving the earth and other planets time and time again, offering a merciful justice throughout the universe. The Doctor typically travels with a companion, someone he picks up along the way to teach, to protect, or in some cases, for protection. But what I really want to address today is the Doctor’s ship, the TARDIS.

TARDIS is an acronym for “Time and relative dimension in space.” The TARDIS is part time machine, part space ship, part living being in its own right. One of the most extraordinary things about the TARDIS, apart from the ability to travel through all of time and space, is that it is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside.

I wish I had a TARDIS. Sometimes the business of life simply gets to me. It bogs me down. I feel as if I have event after event going on day by day. I struggle to keep my sanity straight and I get lost in the typical day to day routine. Everything makes me feel as though I’m stuck in deep ruts with no escape. And I want to escape… I want to get away, travel back or forward- I want that chance to move beyond the ordinary and find a balance.

Do you ever feel that way? It seems more and more that’s how life is. When you work full time and try to maintain a writing career it makes you feel as if you don’t have a second for anything else. And the truth is, finding a TARDIS and escaping seems like a good idea. But let’s be honest- It won’t help. Because once you return, you’ll come face to face with those same challenges.

I had a writer friend recently tell me that they were just plum burned out. They were exhausted. They had nothing left to give. Looking at their life I had agree. No wonder they weren’t getting any writing done. No wonder they felt as if they were being crushed under an enormous weight. So I’ve decided I don’t want to get like that. But the truth is- We all, and I mean all, get sucked into the vacuum.

Writing, connecting, staying active on social media- Those are things that are very important to me. But so is my job. My family. My church. My Bible Study time. So are those times when I break a sweat and get fit. I have lot of priorities. I have a lot of things I do each week. So how do I do it…? Simple- I find the balance.

It’s easier said than done I know, but the realization is if you don’t cut, you won’t have the time do focus and be creative. Look at your life. Make a list of what’s important. Decide what can go, and what has to stay. And then, work at balancing it out throughout the week. Here’s my list below- Hope this helps.

What’s Important–
God
Family
Church
Work
Writing
Social Media
Eating right & staying in shape
Reading

What I give up-Watching Baseball
TV Shows
Going to the Movies
Watching Every College Football Game
Watching NFL

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Five Reasons I hate Your HERO… #ACFW #AMWRITING #ASMSG

Nothing irritates me more than when and I get about 100 pages into a novel and realize I literally hate the hero. It happens, and I’ve seen it happen dozens of times. The author will start off great, pull me right in, have me hooked, and then BAMM!!! Everything changes and the main protagonist does something that just leaves me laughing. So, today I made a list of the things that make me HATE a HERO… Now understand- In all cases there are exceptions to these rules. John McClane and Jack Bauer break just about every rule- But hey, I’m a guy and they are special.

THEY ARE NEVER TESTED-

One of the things that drive me crazy about a hero is that they are never truly tested. To many times I read something where the hero gets into a pretty ugly situation and finds his way out to easy. Getting chased, or into fight, even getting shot is not being tested. I want to see him put through the ringer. I want to see him pushed emotionally and have his way of life just completely stomped out.

NOTHING LIKEABLE–

I hate unlikeable characters. I get it, he’s a tough dude. He’s got an edge. He wants to come off as a jerk. That’s fine. But give him a quality that makes me care about why I’m reading his story. If there isn’t anything to like about him within the first fifty pages, wait, the first twenty pages I’m not going to bother going on.

TO MUCH PAST–

Boo hoo, he had a bad childhood. Heck, I had a bad childhood. But I don’t sit around and whine about it all day long. In fact, I don’t even talk about it. I don’t flash back to those bad nights when mommy and daddy were fighting in the living room (Oops, I just did). Having a bad life or past is relevant. But having pages upon pages of revisiting what happened is just annoying. Say it, wrap it up, and move on…

TO RELIGIOUS-

Wait! Did I just say that? A deeply religious person. That’s right. Nothing is more cheap then a Hero being motivated by his faith, philosophies, or political ideas. Unless it’s post-apocalyptic or  Mr. Smith Goes to Washington I really don’t want to hear it. Those are parts of a characters life that may motivate him, yes, but I need to know what else is driving him. There has to be a little more to him otherwise he’s just an image on a page with no layer. Remember Shrek? “Give me layers.” 

THEY ARE A CLONE-

Is it James Bond, Indiana Jones, Han Solo, STOP IT!!! Don’t give me a clone copy of someone else. If you come to me and your pitch is – It’s Han Solo in an Amish Zombie book I’m going to laugh. (Wait! That would be pretty cool) My point is- Don’t just clone your hero. Sure those are great characters, and you can use them as a foundation to build your own, but go further… Add something, develop them more…

Now- I’ll admit it. I’m not an expert on writing. No one really is. But I am a reader, and take my advice or leave it. Doesn’t bother me one bit. At the end of the day these are the things that annoy me. That’s all…

Happy Writing everyone, and happy reading.