Month: June 2022

Be warned. This blog post is written more for myself than for others and is quite self-centred. Nevertheless, you may find it interesting and you’re welcome to read my ramblings. By publishing this post on my blog, I am aiming to grasp the content myself. My productivity with writing from this point on will prove whether or not I do so.

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I could be working on my writing project right now. But I have in my hands a new-to-me book. I would like to return the book tomorrow so of course I am reading it today. Wouldn’t you do the same?

I am sitting in a quiet corner of the library. Yesterday I sat at a high desk by the window, watching sulphur crested cockatoos dip and soar, landing from time to time on a hook-shaped light pole. Today, however, there is a man who has a nasty cough sitting over there.

Behind me, though out of sight in a separate section of the library, I can hear young children playing with what sounds like piles and piles of Lego. (On my way out, I will realise that it is, indeed, a ‘Lego Club’.) The high-pitched chatter of little people and the deeper voices of the men and women who care for them provides a comforting backdrop as I jot these words. 

This blog post comes from Dubbo. I came here for almost a week to meet with a writing coach, catch up with a few friends, and otherwise focus on my writing away from the distractions of my everyday life. This is a privilege. I don’t take it for granted. 

Grasping the concepts in the book which is before me will make me a more productive writer. Hence this blog post. Let me bounce some of my ‘aha’ moments off you. Just ‘talking them through’ (on the keyboard) will help me ‘own’ them.

The book

The book is called ‘Writing & Personality’. It was written in 1995 by a couple of American academics, though pitched at the general public, so should be reliable and not just somebody’s ideas. It was published by a company which is a division of ‘Consulting Psychologists Press’ so again, carries a sense of ‘validity’.

Sometimes I feel like I need a psychologist to help me overcome my aversion to starting a big project. It makes no sense. Over and over again, I find myself leaving a writing project until the last possible moment, then scrambling to get it done. Rarely do I leave myself enough time to edit well.

I am hopefully on the cusp of being accepted into a doctoral program which I will undertake part-time over the next six years and I NEED to overcome this frustrating flaw. Not to mention my heartfelt desire and sense of call to turn my master’s thesis from last year into a useable resource, which was the impetus for this trip.

This book could be helpful.

Personality types

There are many ways to categorise personalities. Some people don’t like to be ‘put into a box’ by being assigned a combination of letters or numbers. I take their point but also find it liberating to realise that I’m wired a particular way. I can live wholeheartedly the way that I am without feeling ‘guilty’ that I am not different. Except, of course, when I really do need to overcome the flaws in my personality in order to be godly. 

This book is based around the Myers-Briggs personality type profiles. I first took that test back as a college student in 1993 when living on campus in a busy and stimulating community. At that time, I officially tested as an ‘ISTJ’ (introverted … just, sensing, thinking and judging). I took it again in 2012 when living alone and serving in a leadership role and was not part of a close-knit team. Not surprisingly, I had changed. The environments I lived in at those different times were quite different, I had been impacted by years of living in Asia, and (surely) I had matured. In 2012, I officially tested to be ‘ESFJ’ (extraverted … just, sensing, feeling and judging … just). As I read the book on personality and writing in 2022, I find that I now resonate as much with the ESFP descriptions as those of the ESFJ. 

The labels don’t matter, actually but the insights gleaned through resources such as the book I’m reading are helpful. Those gems will, hopefully, enable me to overcome my absurd reluctance about getting stuck into a big project. 

Practical tips

Here are a few of my ‘Aha’ moments from the book.

1. TALK

Rather than sit in front of a blank document open on my computer screen, people wired like me would be wise to talk. Talk with anyone who will listen. Talk with the cat. Talk into a voice recording device. Talk to the computer with the ‘dictate’ option enabled. Just talk.

That should get me over the hump of starting. 

2. PERFECTION IS NOT THE GOAL

Don’t try to write perfectly. Writing is a process. Pre-writing activities such as mind-mapping or note-taking are valid parts of the process. Revisions are a necessary part of writing which will inevitably take far longer than the initial writing itself. Ignore my ‘inner editor’ when I write my first draft and just get something down.

3. SMALL DISTRACTIONS

Little distractions … LITTLE … can be helpful for certain personalities. Allow myself breaks, perhaps to do a household chore or go for a walk. In fact, after puzzling over something for a while, it may be helpful to consciously forget about it for a short time. My unconscious mind will probably figure it out while I do something else. Background noise, like that of a cafe, may help too. Music can help get me ‘in the mood’ as well. I am reminded of the role music plays in the writing of the prolific author Alexander McCall-Smith – see this article if you’re interested: https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/uk/lifestyle/editors-choice-book-reviews/a553062/60-seconds-with-alexander-mccall-smith/

4. BREAK IT DOWN

Break big projects down into smaller sections with REAL deadlines. It’s hard to impose my own deadlines, because I know that they’re not real. I’m going to need to hold myself accountable to a coach or supervisors to create so-called ‘deadlines’, even if they are still somewhat artificial.

5. ‘KNOWING IS HALF THE BATTLE’

Recognise that my natural inclination is to put off committing pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) until the last possible minute. Naming ‘the issue’ is the first step in overcoming it. If I want to be a writer, then I need to actually WRITE!

Action

Thank you, family and friends who have persevered through this blog post, for the care and concern you show towards this would-be-writer.

I have everything I need to get this done. Generous supporters enable me to pour time into this (and other projects) that would not be possible if I had to work full-time to pay the bills. A writer-friend is coaching me through what will effectively be case studies in the thesis-to-book project. With her help, somewhat boring stories are already turning into pieces that will communicate lessons far more effectively than pages of theoretical explanations. Another friend is hosting me while I’m here in Dubbo on this little ‘writer’s retreat’. I have been given tremendous educational opportunities that I could never have taken advantage of in a country without government assistance for education. ‘To whom much is given, much will be required’ (Luke 12:48).

And now I have read another helpful book which has given me some pointers about how to practically go about writing. 

It’s time for action. 

Write!

Have you noticed how many TV shows there are about food these days?

Do I sound like a judgemental old fogey in even asking that question?

Don’t get me wrong. I am as obsessed with food as the next person. Though in my case, it is more about managing food intolerances than gourmet cooking. I love to find tasty alternatives, full of texture, to things that I used to enjoy but now need to avoid. Just ask to try my focaccia-pizza next time you’re at my place.

“She needs a glutton-free diet,” a friend whose second language is English recently explained to the manager of an Asian restaurant. Yes, I thought, that is true enough. I didn’t correct that kind friend’s pronunciation. ‘Gluten’ and ‘glutton’ are quite similar in both form and their relationship with food. The manager obviously understood, for before long, the table was covered in tasty delicacies.

Early church leaders in the sixth century identified gluttony as one of the ‘seven deadly sins’, but we don’t talk much about it in today’s church. I was astonished this weekend, however, to find an example of it in ancient Israel … and to realise that a focus on food rather than on God was, in part (though only part), an element of ‘The Great Mistake’. A mistake not outside the providence of the Almighty, but a mistake nonetheless.

Isaac’s intention to bless his older son

The old patriarch, Isaac, now blind, had called for his eldest son, Esau, to receive the family blessing. “Go hunt some wild game and prepare my favourite meal,” he had instructed the hairy man. “Then I shall give you the family blessing.” 

His wife Rebekah, many years his junior but still no spring chicken, had overheard. This could not be, for God had told her himself that the younger son would become dominant over the older one. And God could not be allowed to fail. (That, of course, is another element of ‘The Great Mistake’, deserving of its own blog post.)

As for smooth-skinned Jacob, he was only younger by a matter of minutes. In fact, he had been born with his baby hand firmly grasping his hairy brother’s heel.  Decades later, he and his brother still struggled. 

Sending her younger son to select two fine goats, Rebekah began her work. Mixing the bread, preparing the meat, fashioning sections of the goat hide to cover her younger son’s exposed hands and neck, brushing off the questions of Esau’s wives as she prepared his best clothes, she bustled from one task to the next. By hook or by crook, her ailing husband had to bless the younger man, for God had spoken.

That meal had better be exceptional.

Isaac’s blessing of his younger son

Ageing Isaac’s eyes had failed him, but there was nothing wrong with his tastebuds. 

Esau, his son, was quite the hunter. The wild game that Esau caught and cooked was exceptional. Before passing on the family blessing to his older son in the presence of God, Isaac wanted a meal. A special meal. After all, you can’t just give the kids everything they want on a silver platter. You’ve got to make them work for it, even if just nominally. 

In fact, food was a big part of why the old man favoured Esau over his brother, Jacob. 

“The boys grew up, and Esau became a skilful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was content to stay at home among the tents. Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.” 

Genesis 25:27-28 NIV

When the younger son brought Isaac some delicious delicacies, along with bread and wine, he knew that something wasn’t quite right. He couldn’t see the man, but the voice of the son carrying the meal was that of Jacob. Never mind that he claimed to be Esau. His hands and neck were hairy though … surprisingly hairy.

Finally, his tastebuds tingling and his stomach satisfied, he called the son to his side. “Kiss me,” said Isaac. As the young man leant over him, old Issac inhaled deeply. Ah yes, the smell of those clothes was that of the outdoors. 

Did the wine dull his senses? Was he lulled into a sense of complacency by the tasty tucker he had enjoyed so much? 

In any case, after the meal was finished, Isaac blessed this man, his son.

But the younger son, not the older one. 

The end of that story

Esau turned up shortly after that. He carried a platter of food and drink, the crowning jewel being the dish made from the meat of a wild animal that had been running free just hours earlier.

Jacob’s deceit came to light. One wonders how much the father and older son realised quite how much Rebekah had been involved in hatching the plot. Certainly Jacob was in a lot of trouble.

Esau was furious, and Isaac visibly shaken. 

Under the guise of finding a wife from their own people, but in fear of his life, Jacob left the family home. He would be away a very long season during which he, the deceiver, would be deceived big time. Esau took yet another wife, a cousin through Ishmael this time, in an effort to please his father.

It didn’t end well. In fact, although some reconciliation would eventually take place, the tension between the brothers would be passed on to their descendants for centuries.

Relevance for 21st century people

Would Isaac have acted differently, say, had he fasted and prayed before such a momentous act as passing on the family blessing rather than licking his lips and chomping down his favourite meal? His example should be a warning to us.

The Bible has a great deal to say about fasting. In fact, just today (as I finalise this blog post, drafted yesterday) our pastor preached on Jesus’ acknowledgement of three significant spiritual disciplines – giving, praying and fasting. (That was from Matthew 6.) Oh yes, the disciples need not fast while Jesus was with them, but Jesus expected them to fast plenty once he had been taken from them. (See Matthew 9, Mark 2 and Luke 5.)

But surely God doesn’t expect us to fast these days? We live by grace, right?

Gluttony is quite acceptable in the food-mad culture in which I live today. In that respect, our culture is not unlike that of the first century Philippians, to whom Paul wrote critically of enemies of Jesus. Look at how he describes them.

“Their end is destruction, their god is their belly and their glory is in their shame. Their minds are set on earthly things.”

Philippians 3:19 NIV

So what is the relevance for us … for me?

I’m not committing to a serious fast. Small blocks here and there, perhaps. If I boasted about it, I would be guilty of exactly the sort of behaviour that Jesus criticised in Matthew 6, the passage that formed the basis for today’s sermon.

For now, all I want to say is this: Our focus needs to be on God rather than food. When our culture pushes us to focus more on food than on God, then we must be counter-cultural.

By the way, the Bible is full of teaching about and examples of fasting AND feasting. It isn’t wrong to enjoy good food. The focus, however, must be on the Giver of all good things, and not on the gifts.

Glutton-free … that is what we need to be.