I think a lot about how to find and follow our dreams.  At times, I feel like a self-help writer, and I wonder if I am really saying anything that matters.

The Problem with Self-help

American society is rooted in the idea of picking ourselves up by our bootstraps and achieving impossible dreams.  We are a frontier nation, young enough to remember the struggles of our founders and frontiers men and women, but finally old enough to start grappling with some of the realities of forging a new world out of one that existed long before we got here.

Our real problem is the stories we grew up with about people who set out on their own to create a life for themselves.  It was all a lie.  None of these people did anything alone.  They only accomplished what they did with the help and support of their community.

Unfortunately, this self-made person myth infiltrated every part of our cultural psyche to the point where we have entire industries built on the lie that if you get your act together, then you will be able to do anything.  The truth is, only when we build a community around ourselves will be we able to accomplish anything.

Dreams Unify

While many of us believe we are alone in our dreams or that we have to achieve our dreams on our own, we are never really alone.
Thousands of people want to write a book, or make a movie.  The trick is to find other people who share your specific dream.

Blogs and podcasts have helped a many people, but the means is not important.  What is important is the connections we make to keep our spirits up, share our knowledge, and support us through the lows and the highs.

Without a strong connection with like minded people, it is difficult to navigate the treacherous waters between us and our goal.

Never Alone

The path to our dream starts with us sharing:

1. What do you want to accomplish?
2. What steps do you see between where you are to where you want to be?
3. What mistakes have you made, and what have you learned from them?
4. What are you doing right now to achieve your goals.

When you start to share, you will find others willing to share with you their experiences.

Following your dream

Now, you need to make you steps know, continue to share your experience, and work with others to achieve your goals.

Start a Blog over at Project: Shadow, and let’s get the community together.  As a group, nothing can stand in our way!

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Sonia Simone over at Copyblogger asked an interesting question: Is Writing Obsolete?

I have been asking the same question for a long time now.  I love to write and read, but as the amount of time I have dwindles, I find myself relying more and more on audio and video.

Blogs

I love text on blogs.  It is scanable and I can know right away if I want to read the rest, but there is something about unedited video that I find extremely compelling.

Some of my favorite blogs are little more than webcam videos of people talking about topics I find interesting.  They are personal, and the context clues the voice and face offers is matchless.

I’ve thought about doing more videos for dashPunk, but I am put off by the idea that no one would really want to watch me talk.

I like audio.  We post all of our podcasts to the site, and people spend more time than I thought they would listening through the site.

Books

My biggest problem writing lately is that I am not sure what the future of fiction should be.  I really enjoy writing novels.  I want them to be so much more.

I am working with an audio engineer to make full cast audio productions of my books., and I have thought about offering a version read my me.

Honestly, I would love to make a video series out of them, but I would have to find a filmmaker to help out.

What do you want?

Are you interested in Text, Audio, or Video?

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The oldest foe of humanity has to be the demon of time management.  It stalks the wasted minutes and hours of our lives.  Temples are built for its glory and those few souls who struggle to capture the beast are more often than not left wounded and disoriented from their encounter.

Some say it is not worth fighting, “Ignore the creature and he will ignore you.  Just go about your business and hope it does not notice you and attempt to devour you.”

Other say, “He is a gentle beast, tamed with the lightest whisper.”

Then their are those who truly frighten me who say, “Submit to the demon as your lord and master.  Allow him to dictate every facet of your life.  You will be better for it.”

In my life, I have been all of these people, but the work has become increasingly difficult.

The Compromise

“Demon! You will tell me what is required from me, and I will tell you what is a benefit to me, and what is a curse.”

It’s admittedly not the best plan, but it is one that has worked for a while.  I look at the mountain of To do’s, and I do a pros and cons list.  What is the upside and what is the downside?  Focusing on the items with the most upsides in my benefit if completed or the most downsides if left undone, I was able to tame the beast for quite some time.

Then it found a new angle to attack me from.  Projects started cropping up that inevitably balanced on the scales.  The system broke.

The decision rests with you…

From a slobbering brute who assailed me with fears, doubts, and risk, the demon morphed into Klaatu from The Day the Earth Stood Still, except both paths it offered offer the same benefits and the same risks,  and there is not enough time or energy available to me to accomplish both simultaneously.  Then with a cleaver grin the beast said, “The decision rests with you.”

None of my tricks work anymore, and thw quandry makes my head swim in so many directions that I don’t know where to go or what to do.

This is not untraveled ground for me.  It is a path that I know all too well.  I continually find myself in these predicaments.

In a limitless world, you are your only limit.

As I have said many times, the blessing and curse of the modern era is that anything is possible.  With so many possibilities it is hard to figure out which way to go, what path to go down.

So here I am.  The schedule is packed.  Between the podcasts, blogging, and novel requirements I have little to no time to turn around and see what I should do or where I should go.  None of it is an easy decision.  I feel guilty when I neglect any of these projects and I love and enjoy doing all of them.

How do I get out of here?

Well, part of it seems easy, and the rest fills me with fear and trepidation.

I have two stories wrestling in my head, and I am going to do the only thing I can: work on both of them.  I am going to post the ideas as they develop on this site, and grow them toward the novels they could become.  As for everything else, I am just going to have to let go.

I have been afraid to watch Merlin out of fear that it would spawn a new podcast from dashPunk.  If it does it does.  I am just going to have to do as much as I can.

To quote Queensryche:

The art of life is …
without rushing, without faltering, unraveling the secrets of knowledge.
We must challenge and defeat our four natural enemies;
Fear.
Clarity of mind.
Power and the desire to rest.

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I have fallen in love with this idea. It is time to bring an join to the Cult of Done!

I am inspired to let go a little more and release works into the wild so others can do more with them.

(via Bowing to the Future)

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Usually, we I get into the place I find myself today, people think I am putting down the physical location I am in.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

I find myself living in a place as foreign to me as a fish exploring outer space.  I don’t just mean this actual town.  I mean my personal, professional, spiritual, and imaginal lives.  I have entered a domain that is no longer governed by my five senses and everything I have ever learned, thought or believed is useless.

Personal Life

I swore to myself that I would never move back to Poplar Bluff, but here I am.  There are many versions of the story.

• In one, I am victim of circumstance.  Not entirely, but this was not in the plan.
• In two, I am a good Samaritan.  Not really, I am a little too selfish for that to be true.
• In three, I am afraid to move.  I lost nearly everything once, now I am afraid to loose my family too.
• In four, I am afraid I don’t know who and what I want anymore.  This one is probably closest to being true.

A couple years ago, when my grandfather died, my sister (who I trust, admire, and love more than anything) sat me down and gave me an ultimatum:  “You have tried to be a writer for a long time now.  How much longer are you going to do this before you give it up and get a real job.”

It broke my heart, and in many ways my soul.  All I have ever wanted to be was a writer… well storyteller.  She was right, up until that time, I had not found anyone who liked anything I ever wrote.  My prospects as a writer were slim to none.

I remember that day clearly.  That was the day I sacrificed my personal life to make my dreams come true.  I started worked 12 to 18 hour days writing and learning:

• how to blog
• the ins and outs of the software
• how to podcast
• how to pretend not to be the shy, sensitive artist, and how to be an entrepreneur.

As my former life lay bleeding at my feet, I turned my back, hoping to achieve my dreams and make my family proud.

Professional Life

My professional life is a juggling act.

I blog for three sites.

I record 9 podcasts a week in 5 series.

I am planning out a new novel in a new setting.

I promote 3 already published works.

I run a Blog and Podcast Network.

I am developing a Table Top role playing game based in the settings I created.

I am a community manager.

I am dashPunk Media’s tech support and code monkey.

I am not looking for sympathy.  I enjoy most of what I do for work, and not a day goes by when a reader/listener doesn’t remind me why I do what I do.  The problem is, I am having trouble remembering why I do it.

I can definitely say:

• I am not in this for the money (though it would be nice).
• I am not in this for the fame (frankly the little that I have freaks me out).
• I am not in this for my ego (I get too much hate mail for that)

I love to tell stories because I like to connect with others.  There is a certain magic that happens when I discuss one of my stories with a fan, or talk about someone else’s story.  Stories are the way we share those unspeakable things with each other.  They are the way we connect on a deep level.  That is what is missing:

Where are the connections?

I am fortunate to have made connections with a few of you, but not nearly to the level I would like, and not nearly in the way I would like.

The Internet is by its very nature impersonal.  It is hard to meet and connect to new people in a real way.

We talk on twitter, email, every now and again through IM, but these are all dry and empty communications platforms, not community platforms.  What I am wanting to make is an honest to God community on the web.  Facebook is great for the people I already know, and twitter is great for sharing ideas and links, but what I want is an interconnected hub where we can meet greet, and share.  Getting to know each other, and helping each other out.

Laconi.ca, Reddit, Drupal, and Ning

I looked at every social tool I can find, and I have yet to find the one that will do what I am looking for.  They all have their pros and cons, but the hard truth is, I really don’t have the time and energy to learn all of these systems.  What I want is a one stop shop.

I am not sure what happened to Chris Pirillo’s idea for a simple community version of Drupal, every time I go to the site it is down.  I suppose he abandoned it.

This might be a problem that is not solvable.

The Dream App

I like Ning, and the features they offer, they have all of the basics:

• Branding & Visual Design Freedom
• Unique Member Profiles
• Moderation & Privacy
• Invitations & Search Engine Optimization
• Latest Activity
• Custom Text & Widgets
• RSS Feeds In and RSS Out
• Photos Feature & Branded Photo Slideshows
• Video Feature & Branded Video Players
• Chat
• Groups
• Discussion Forum
• Blogs for Every Member
• Events

That is the bare minimum for a network, but it really should have a few more things.

• Twitter integration:  (Using the Existing API)
  • Group Tweet-like functionality that would allow members see each other’s updates in one place, as well as post to the feature, and have the feature post on to Twitter.  Members would also be able to start new groups with a quick and easy set up process.
  • Tweetizen-like functionality that would allow for topic communities, and a great example of group tweeting, but it is limited to 10 people in a group, that limit would have to be removed, and members would have to be able to join without having to be added.
• Last.fm intergation: The ability to display and share information to and from Last.fm in the network.
• GoodReads integration: The ability to display and share information to and from GoodReads in the network.
• Blip.fm integration:  The ability to display and share information to and from Blip.fm, including a network playlist, and individual ones for the groups.
• Social Bookmarking integration: I really have no favorites here, but it would be great to share, collect, rate, and organize links.
• Full integration with other photo sharing sites.
• Bookmarklet to easily share videos, pictures and links into the network
• Groups should have the option of having their own blogs.
• Member blog posts should have the option of which groups they are posted to.
• Easy Zine creation and distribution.
  • Members should be able to start, accept submissions, edit, and publish their own zines individually or in groups.
• A desktop app that makes all of these features little more than a click away for those members who are interested in it.  Something like TweetDeck.

I know I am probably forgetting a lot of things.  If you can think of anything that your dream network should have, please leave a comment.  Maybe we can find a couple developers who can help us take BuddyPress, Ning, or Drupal to this level of functionality.

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I ran into a great question: What Makes Writing A Blog Post Unique? from Blogopolis Blueprint:

In the end, the question really is, What makes you think?

It is probably a  result of growing up Baptist, but I think a lot about culture:

• Where are we now?
• Where are we going?
• How can I make the culture better?
• How am I making the culture worse?

The issue is, I am not a person who is into confrontation.  I believe that consensus is very important.  I have been writing a series about Fandom and Speculative Fiction over at dashPunk, and it never ceases to amaze me how often the topics I think are going to be controversial are not, and the ones I think won’t are.

As I watched this video, it really got me thinking: What makes you think?  How can someone who is not confrontational spark a thought in their readers mind to get the conversation going?

Please let me know what you think.

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Gina Trapani is no longer going to be the lead writer at Lifehacker.

The bottom line is this: for someone who loves making things on the web, spending 100% of the time blogging about what other people are making is simply untenable (via LifeHacker)…

I have butted up against that very same problem.  dashPunk Media, dashPunk.com, and the Project: Shadow Informant started as side projects for me.  They were footnotes to my fiction writing.

Brian and I were having these discussions anyway, why not have them publicly.

Over time, they have devoured more and more of my time.  It is no longer a side project, they have become my main job, and I am sneaking every moment I can to work on my fiction as a sideline.  It is not easy.

I am not giving up on the sites or the podcast, but I feel Gina’s pain.

The Vision

The one thing that propels me forward is my vision for dashPunk Media, and for the Genres that I love.  So many reforms are necessary before any real change can happen.  The marketplace is shifting, and no one knows where or how it will settle out.

These are dark times for writers.  If the written word is to have a future beyond blogs and twitter, new models will have to be constructed.

It never ceases to amaze me the miriad ways people are exploring to move forward.  We can only get there togeter.

I wish Gina the best of luck with all of her future projects, and I wish the same for everyone driven by passion.  May you find every tool you need to realize your dreams.

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Don’t ask yourself, “Can I do this?” Ask, “Should I do this?” If the answer is yes, then find a way.

It is as simple and complex as that. I have been spending a lot of time lately trying to figure out what to do, and how I should go about doing it. Years ago, I became a part of an active and vibrant subculture founded on our love for a particular genre that taught us to look forward with hope in our eyes, working hard to create the future we want to live in.

Over the years, I have become cynical, and the furious flames for hop in my heart have died down to mere embers of their former glory, but I have not lost that ethic.

It doesn’t matter if the future we want to see is possible, or if my actions will in reality do anything to bring it into being. If I do not take action. If I don’t live in accordance with the ideals, hopes, and aspirations I have for myself, my tribe, my culture and my world, then I am responsible for that world never coming into being.

If I am not able to live according to the hopes I have for the future, then I cannot expect anyone else to.

My hero, Joseph Campbell said:

“We’re not on our journey to save the world but to save ourselves. But in doing that you save the world. The influence of a vital person vitalizes.”

That is the point. If you want to make the world a better place, you have to make yourself a better person, and more fully human human being.

I believe in IDIC:

Infinite
Diversity in
Infinite
Combination

I believe you get back from life what you put into it. I believe that the most important question anyone can ask is, “What if?” The question opens us to all of the possibilities of an infinite possibilities.

So long as I live these ideals, and champion them when I see them challenged, then I vitalize myself. Others may listen, and fewer may join in, but the purpose and point is, I live in the world that I want to see, even if it is only in my own home.

We have to dream about the future. The future is open, and with the aid and support of like-minded individuals, we can live that future now. What more could I ask from life than that?

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He has a lot of good points about how media will was, is, and will be. If you are a media producer like me or just a consumer, this is a very interesting talk.

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Mike Lewis asked me to write out a list of my favorite Wordpress plugins, so here they are.

Comments

• Disqus is my favorite plugin.  It connects your blog to the Disqus comment system.  I love Disqus for the simplicity and ease of use.  They also allow you to make a single community out of a collection of blogs.

Ads

• Ad-minister allows you to run ads for on your site for the amount of time that you want.  It can run different ads in one widget.  This is my favorite ad plugin.
• AdSense Manager does exactly what it says.

Search, Search Engine, and SEO

• All in One SEO Pack helps with titles, keywords, and descriptions so your site is search engine friendly.
• Google (XML) Sitemaps Generator creates sitemaps to make sure your site’s contents are communicated to numerous search engines.
• Search Everything improves the built in Wordpress search.

Tag, Category, and Page Management

• Category Page allows you to add extra detail to your category pages.
• Collapsing Categories allows your categories to only show the top tier and expand out as desired.
• Configurable Tag Cloud does what it says.
• Flexi Pages Widget gives you a lot of great options for displaying page navigation.
• In Series allows you to easily run post series on your site.
• PageMash is a great AJAX interface keep your pages organized.
• Simple Tags gives you a lot more control over your tags.
• Tagaroo suggest tags and pictures for your posts.

Posting

• Postalicious imports your Delicious into you blog.
• QuickPost gives you a Tumblr style bookmarklet to write for your blog.

Stats and Analytics

• Google Analyticator connects your site to Google Analytics.
• Wordpress.com Stats give you real time Stats.

Multiple Author Support

• Author Exposed allows users to easily get more information on individual authors.
• Draft Notification Plugin does exactly what it says.
• Our To Do List Plugin helps you communicate back and forth with your other writers.
• Posts by Author displays other posts by the author of the current post.

I am still looking for good cache and social bookmarking plugins.  I am using WP Super Cache to speed the site up.  I also tried WP-Cache, but the site crashed often.  I am also using ShareThis to provide social bookmarking links, but I am not in love with it.  If I could find something better, I would use it.

I this helps you out.

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