What is your Thematic Aim?
Episode 13 - Themes, Direction and Updates
Hey,
I hope you’ve been well. Come closer, the fire burns to keep us warm. And dawn is still very, very far away.
This week I wanted to offer you a little suggestion, especially if you’re struggling with ‘figuring out’ your direction in life.
Sometimes the path isn’t obvious. It doesn’t jump at us or years pass and we haven’t found it. Sometimes it feels like the world is spinning and moving forward but you’re stuck somewhere behind, wondering if you’ll ever find your way.
No amount of self-help books can tell you which direction you should take, and culture and society have already failed at that a long time ago. Hell, maybe that was never their point anyway.
So what to do?
Well you can start by asking yourself some questions. You should always ask questions, no matter what you’re up to, or how much you think you’ve figured it out. A good question to start with is ‘What is my theme?’
What the hell is a Theme?
A theme is a collection of interests and pulls of awareness/attention that can be distinguished as special because they have the following characteristics:
They are effortless
They are Unconscious and only appear in their manifestation
To make it a little more clear, think about what grabs your attention, both now and throughout your life (especially as a child!). What is it that interests you deeply? What’s one topic or two that you feel you could talk about for hours to those willing to listen?
It’s important to leave your Ego and programming behind (which may require some discipline), as that tends to mess things up with various opinions and judgements. For example you may be really interested in cartoon graphics and then your mind may comment that ‘you need to study to make a living off that’ or ‘it’s so stupid’ or ‘it’s childish’ or whatever.
This is where meditation comes in as an indispensable tool. But then again, it is indispensable no matter what you get up to in life. The ability to see and detach from your own mind is the beginning of All paths to Self-Mastery.
Find out what you Love
This is the solution to many problems. Because within this understanding you may notice that your conscious awareness has no say in it. It’s simply a passenger on the ride. You don’t choose what you love. It chooses you.
Artists will know very well what I’m talking about and for them this article may be a little unnecessary, but to others I say this: your theme determines your direction.
Your theme is composed of the music you love, the films you adore, the sports you play or whatever ways you dance. But it’s also those little details you never thought were important. Your task it to bring these together and figure out something cohesive by extracting the common elements. This is also known as pattern recognition.
If you’d like some help with detecting patterns, feel free to reach out in the chat. You can do so anonymously if you’d like and simply state a list of deep interests. Maybe we can figure something out together, collectively.
Update on the Book
It’s done!
I mean, almost. But for all intents and purposes I’ve reached the ‘THE END’ on my second novel. I did not plan this, but the exact point marked by that ending was reached precisely on the 13th of April, which marks EXACTLY two years + one month from the official release of Meliade in 2023.
This has been a pretty amazing journey for me, though not without challenges that will likely continue. I have not compromised At all on the artistic/creative integrity of this book. What you’ll receive is the very depths of my soul translated on paper.
And, Gods willing, it will translate well because I won’t know what it will turn out like until I have the actual printed copy in my hands. For now, it’s still a digital file on my computer.
Dreamwalker is bigger than Meliade, but also quite different in many ways. I played on my strengths on this one and did away with elements that, in my opinion, didn’t work very well on the first book.
My aim here was to both continue the story that began in Meliade, but also expand on the world, its lore and secrets. In some sense it is a sequel, but in other ways it still remains a personal, intimate story and character drama/exploration. Psychology, emotion and depth remain essential elements of my storytelling.
Some of the themes explored here are fatherhood, music, addiction, expression, identity, memory and pain. Some of these themes were planned, while others emerged during the process of writing. This remains a special, illustrated novel, containing many artworks and design elements, making this and its predecessor, a merging of Art and Book.
I am planning a little series on my Instagram to introduce the main characters and talk a little about them so keep an eye on that. I am yet to give an official release date but it should happen within the next month or two.
I am very, very proud of my work on this. It’s the best I’ve created to date, which is saying something because my standards are always extremely high. I hope you will appreciate it too, should the genre and themes inspire you.
More to come soon.
Blessings,
