Declare your Independence

Two-hundred and thirty-two years ago, the Declaration of Independence was printed -- a document that started a literal revolution (although of course, there were things that were already in place before the printing and eventual signing even happened and before the big fighting broke out).

So in honor of July 4th, rather than just grilling some meat (or veggies for my non-meat eating friends) on the BBQ, why don't we each try to declare our independence from a tyrannizing force in our lives. I have already written about inner conflicts in a previous post, so what I will declare is that I'm putting my writing demons to bed. I am going to stop procrastinating and worrying about how much reading and research I have done. And I'm going to write. That's my job. It's a luxury and privilege I have--to engage intellectually with the ideas I'm working on. And rather than see them as a struggle, I should try to see them as ... well I'm coming up with a blank right now, but I'll try to see them as something other than a struggle (if you fellow writers in the blogosphere have any ideas about soothing writing demons and the perils of procrastination, I'm all ears).

Finally, let me leave you with the melodies of country western singer Kareem Salama. He was just featured this morning on the BBC Newshour (I love NPR). What could be more American than an Oklahoma born and bred Muslim-American country western singer being featured on the BBC on the Fourth of July?


["A Land Called Paradise"]