Read. Write. Reflect. : Excerpt

Monica Bhide is an internationally renowned writer known for sharing food, culture, love, and life with a lyrical voice and universal appeal. Her tenth book, READ. WRITE. REFLECT: Inspiration for Creative Minds”, is now available in digital and paperback.

READ —

FOCUS

A few years ago, I found myself in a difficult spot. I was surrounded by noise; it seemed I needed more of everything, and yet nothing that I got made me happy. I recall feeling overwhelmed and yet very empty at the same time. It was a classic situation of “water, water everywhere.”

In a feeble attempt to clear my head, I began to clean my sons’ toy room. As I was putting away their books and toys, I found a bunch of Indian comic books lying around. I picked up the one about Arjuna, a talented prince in Hindu mythology. My younger son is named after this brave warrior prince, and I thought perhaps I could read my son the story that night.

Turns out the lesson applied to me more than it applied to my son. The story opens with a teacher, Guru Dronacharya, training a group of royal Indian princes, the Pandava brothers, in the art and skill of archery. The guru tied a fish to the branch
of a tree. He then called all the warriors and said to them, “See that bowl of oil placed below the fish? I want you to aim your arrow at the fish’s eye, while looking only at its reflection in the oil below.”

“Oh, this will be easy,” the princes said out loud.
The oldest prince, Yudhistra, came first, ready with his bow and arrow, and the guru asked, “What do you see?” He answered, “I see the fish, the leaves . . .”

The guru shook his head. “You are not ready. Move on.”
The next prince came up and the guru asked him the same question. He responded that he saw the sky in the bowl of oil.
He was asked to move on.

The third one saw the fish, the branches, and fruit. The fourth saw the leaves and the oil. They were both asked to step aside.

Finally, it was Prince Arjuna’s turn. “What do you see?” asked the guru.

“I see the eye of the fish.” The guru smiled and gave Prince Arjuna the order to shoot. The ace archer’s arrow pierced the eye of the fish.

The story hit home for me. I was focused on the sky, the branches, the numbers, the followers, the echo of praise gone by and the hollowness of the feared future—when what I needed to do was focus on the moment at hand and what it demanded of me. For me that meant working on a dream writing project.

WRITE —

Your thoughts:
What is your moment at hand? Are you focused on the sky, the leaves, the fish? What do you need to be focused on? What is your “eye of the fish”?

REFLECT —

Based on your answers to the previous questions, what one thing are you willing to commit to that will feed your creative soul?

Now think about it and use the space below to make a commitment to yourself. Just one small thing. You can do it! Come on!

I will focus on …

Additional recommendations:
Tim Ferriss has a terrific podcast and I highly recommend it. He does interesting and practical shows on productivity and focus. Well worth your time!

Read Daniel Goleman’s Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence.

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Find out more about Monica on her website https://monicabhide.com/

Follow her on Twitter @mbhide

READ. WRITE. REFLECT.

“How do I write the great book that’s inside me, dying to get out?” This is a question that Monica Bhide has been asked thousands of times when speaking everywhere from the Smithsonian to leading blogging conferences to Les Dames d’Escoffier, from London to Dubai to Washington, DC.

There’s no boilerplate or blueprint for being a successful creative artist. But Ms. Bhide, through her decade of writing and teaching, has formulated easy-to-follow principles to help you unleash your creativity, whether it be writing a book, painting a canvas, or composing a musical opus.

Read. Write. Reflect. will show you how to face your fears, shoot down your demons, get yourself started, and follow through with persistence until you complete your creative project. Be still. Believe. Persevere.

Ms. Bhide uses stories and anecdotes as reflecting ponds to elucidate these basic actions that will set you on YOUR path to creativity. She guides you to the place where YOU make the commitment to apply these ideas daily to get your work out into the world.

Read. Write. Reflect. is a guide to, in Ms. Bhide’s words, “being led by your dreams, not your demons.” You can’t wait for inspiration. Don’t hang around expecting your muse to show up.

Don’t sit and hope for someone to discover you. Use the tools in this book to understand yourself and your motivations, to reflect, and then work and persevere to become a creative artist who produces art that is straight from the heart.

Buy the book HERE

 

Tags: featured, women writers

Category: Contemporary Women Writers, How To and Tips