PERSISTENCE: The fact of continuing in an opinion or course of action in spite of difficulty or opposition.

My last blog post was a little over 4 years ago. Time sure does fly.  At the time my post on Robin William’s death also appeared to mark the death of my blog or did it? It now appears that it may have just been an extended hibernation of sorts.

So why am I back at it?  I’ve thought on that question long and hard and the reality is I never really stopped. It just took on a different form, a form that I stopped sharing. I kept it to myself. As any writer will tell you, sharing your work is both terrifying and exhilarating.  I came to recall that sharing what has been going on in my life or what i was thinking about and knowing that readers would potentially get something of value from it, was a buzz. I’ve missed giving readers that value and the  “buzz” that went along with it.

A lots changed since that last post and a lot hasn’t. Im still passionate about writing and things are moving along in that area. I no longer run service stations for a living. That all came to a blunt end back in 2015. I took up acting in the same year, which I love. It continues to play a big part in my story telling journey. Plenty of stories to share from the last four years exploits. But most importantly I’m still on the writing path or what has now adapted into a broader storytelling path,  be it this form, or screenwriting, or playwriting , acting and potentially or perhaps a youtube channel.

PERSISTENCE?

The word first sprung at me when I was looking for a heading for this return post. It was around December last year and it was time to purchase the latest  Paulo Coelho diary. The colourful journals are amazing, packed full with Coelho wisdom in the form of quotes from his many books. Each month is given it’s own title representing a theme with a defining message from one of Paulo’s books to go along with it. The theme for January was? You guessed it. Persistence. The accompanying quote really hit the spot.

Persistence: “I considered giving up, I thought God was no longer listening to me. I often had to change direction and, on other occasions, lost my way. Despite everything though, I found it again and carried on, because I was convinced that there was no other way to live my life.”  Paulo Coelho, MANUSCRIPT FOUND IN ACCRA. taken from PATHS, 2019.

Above is my collection of journals from the last five years.

Persistence latter re-appeared and kept re-appearing throughout January via a number of social media posts and writing forums of which I am apart of. I firmly believer that this quality or trait that we all posses in varying degrees, is very important as to how we see ourselves. If we are able to achieve something that is relatively difficult or where the odds have been stacked against us it gives us the opportunity to grow, moving on to bigger and greater exploits. It all sounds pretty straight forward but how many people do you know have started on a path and then dropped it or then moved onto something else. I would say we have all done it. Going to the gym was always a classic for me. But now I have discovered that my persistence is starting to pay off. My writing continues to develop and I’m confident and most importantly happy where things are going in my life.

Screenwriters Food Pyramid: First appeared online as part of  a screenwriting blog. Screenplayreaders.com back in October of 2014.

So as I re-embark on this branch of my writing journey I find that Persistence will once again have to play a part. Just as it has in various areas of my life in recent times. For those that are interested I’m Still not drinking or smoking  or gambling. I remain off the caffeine, I’m a vegetarian going on almost 4 years, haven’t been quite able to go vegan just yet but I will persist in my efforts. Started practising Yoga recently which i’m sure will be the subject of a post. Also getting in the water to do some laps on a daily basis and of course writing loads. Exciting stuff happening in that department, so stay tuned.

You’re welcome to keep track of my exploits @ tonybarea.com or via social media. If you have any questions or comments I’d love to hear them. Remember this is scary shit I’m getting myself into. Look forward to having you on this journey with me.

T.xo.