At 25 years old, J.K. Rowling sat on a train looking out a window when an idea popped into her head:

“Boy doesn’t know he’s a wizard, finds out he is, goes to wizarding school.”

She returned home that evening and began to write.

5 years later, she finished the manuscript for “Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone”.

Rowling made a simple decision. She took action and wrote the idea down.

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I began by writing down thoughts and feelings.

What started out as poetry eventually evolved into essays, observations, and explorations of personal experience. The process of writing taught me to act upon inspiration.

Writing down ideas made them solid. It taught me to follow through with my thoughts, developing a habit of consistency; molding effort into ease.

After a few months of doing this, I was given an idea that forever changed the trajectory of my life. A new path opened, and everything I ever wanted to be, wanted to do, came into focus.

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I was sitting in a warehouse venting tire molds while listening to Marc Maron’s podcast with Richard Linklater (The Writer/Director of “Dazed and Confused” and “Waking Life”) when they began to discuss his new film, “Boyhood”. A film I hadn’t seen at the time. While they were discussing it, an idea popped into my head that I could write a book using the same convention. By using “time” as a storytelling device.

Miraculously, an entire book manifested within my mind’s eye. I saw the beginning and the end. The only unknown was what would be written in between.

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Three years ago I started writing poems on my iPhone notepad, tangential observations of my thoughts and the world around me.

After months of writing, I finally developed courage enough to share something.

I published “Detox, Recovery, and the Pursuit of a Dream”

It was terrifying.

A soul opening experience that taught me to embrace the influx of emotion when releasing parts of myself publicly.

8 months ago, I spoke to a camera for the first time. Taking my ideas and capturing them on film. (The “F” Word)

I was shell shocked. Frightened. Nervous. Anxious…All of it.

The discomfort experienced in front of a camera taught me to be stoic.

I’m still being taught.

6 months ago I recorded my first podcast. A story about a friend who passed away.

It was scary. I didn’t want to screw it up.

I sat alone at my desk, talking quietly into the microphone; praying that I could capture a story that would feel. An experience that could provide a tangible emotion for someone to connect with.

28 years into my life and I had never felt more proud. Working on that podcast is an experience I will cherish for the rest of my life. (Inside the Minds Eye w/ Lucien Smith)

Two weeks ago I published an essay. A story about sharing in an AA meeting. (Thanks for Letting Me Share)

I loved writing it. It felt good to explore emotional energy on a blank screen and I wasn’t so scared.

The next day, I had another idea…

So I wrote it down.

And now, I’m expanding on it, evolving it, creating it.

I’m writing it. And, I’ll release it.

Because the only way I am able to receive new ideas is to release the ones I have.

And it started with writing down one idea, one thought, one poem.

A simple note.

Like this one: