It's Thankful Season! It's beginning to look a lot like the holidays! Friends and family gather around, visiting, eating scrumptious food, and napping. Ok, well maybe it's just weird uncle Phil that takes a nap. Either way, with Thanksgiving tomorrow, I thought I would take the opportunity to talk about gratitude. After all, should we only be grateful around the holiday's? The Benefits of Gratitude, As Told By SCIENCE! There are quite a few scientifically proven benefits to regular gratitude. I'll list just a few here for your benefit. 1. Gratitude opens the way for more relationships. According to a 2014 study, expressing gratitude by saying "thank you" made acquaintances more likely to seek a longer term friendship. So thanking people for things actually makes you more likable, and makes them want to know you better. 2. Gratitude can improve your physical health. In numerous studies it has been shown that grateful people generally feel physically better than ungrateful people. The feel less aches and pains, and gratitude can even increase your longevity. Grateful people also tend to work out more and take better care of their bodies. 3. Gratitude improves psychological health. Gratitude reduces negative emotions like anger, regret, and sadness. It can also trigger positive emotions like thankfulness(duh), happiness, and pleasure. The combination of reducing negative emotions and triggering positive ones has an immediate positive effect on your psyche. It also can reduce depression. 4. Gratitude reduces aggression and increases empathy. According to a 2012 study, people who were grateful were less likely to retaliate, even when someone was being aggressive toward them. Grateful people were also proven to care more about others and didn't seek revenge. 5. Gratitude improves sleep. When you are grateful, your mind is more at rest and can sleep better. Simply being grateful before bed can improve the quality of your sleep immediately. 6. Gratitude improves self-esteem. In a 2014 study, it was found that gratitude improved athletes self-esteem and improved their optimal performance. Gratitude also reduces social comparison, which means you aren't comparing yourself to others near as much. 7. Gratitude increases mental strength. Studies have shown that gratitude can reduce the effects of PTSD, and help toward the permanent healing of those affected. It has also been shown that gratitude increases resilience, a trait many people lack. A Daily Thanksgiving Exercise The benefits of gratitude are overwhelmingly clear. So what can you do to practice gratitude daily? Here is a very simple exercise that I personally do daily. I hope you'll try it too! 1. Set aside a time in the morning right after you wake up, and in the evening right before you go to sleep.
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IntroductionHello all you beautiful people! I recently got back from a week long school camp out, during which, we did a decent amount of meditation. And I just fell in love with it! It made me feel so peaceful, and helped me focus so much. So, today I want to share with you the power of meditation, a few different techniques, and a few of the scientifically proven benefits of meditation. What Is Meditation?First, before we talk about more particulars, we should know what exactly meditation is. According to the dictionary meditation is to "think deeply or focus one's mind for a period of time, in silence or with the aid of chanting, for religious or spiritual purposes or as a method of relaxation." So, to put it basically, it is focusing on something and kind of cutting out the rest of the world. So lets talk about some of the different meditations you can do! A Few Different MeditationsNow obviously I can't just list every single type of meditation here, but I will list a few I recommend you try. I would highly recommend you look up more types of meditation for your own situation.
A Few Benefits of MeditationNow we will go over just a few of the medical benefits of meditation. I would highly recommend you look into further benefits on your own, because I won't go into too much detail here.
To EndTo end off, I would just like to encourage you to go and try one or two meditations. If you find you like it, look into more forms of meditation. If you want to know all of the benefits of meditation, I would highly recommend looking up some articles on the topic. So, have a good time meditating, and keep on writing!
Where Do Ideas Come From?Something I get asked relatively frequently is "Where do you get your ideas? What gives you inspiration for your writing?" Well, I'm here to talk to you about ideas today. More specifically, sources of ideas. To start, lets talk about some of the places I've found inspiration and ideas. Where My Ideas Have Come FromWe can't start talking about ideas without going into where the idea for Stones of the Middle Lands: The Castaway Hero came from. Well, That's a long story, pun-intended. It all started years ago when my mom decided to have me construct a map of a made up place. As you can probably guess, this turned into the early map of The Middle Lands. From there, I was inspired to actually write a book by a lovely young author named McKenzie Wagner. And it kind of snowballed from there. Another interesting place I found an idea is in something my family does. Whenever there is something like a fire, explosion, or large police presence, my family has a tendency to run towards the danger to investigate. As I thought on that one night after we had run toward some danger, I had an idea for a book series. Now I can't say too much about it, in order to protect the idea for the series in the future, but I can tell you this: The main character in that series is heavily based on the idea of running toward danger instead of away from it. The place I got the idea for my short story, Hunted: A Revolutionary Short Story, is an entirely different source. That story idea came from an extra credit opportunity for school. Over fall break, I had the chance to write a historical fiction short story for a bit of extra credit. I hadn't really considered trying my hand at a historical fiction, so of course I took the opportunity. We had recently been studying the Revolutionary War in U.S. History, so I wondered, how would a story in the revolutionary war look if it were told by a Torie?(born american that sympathized with the British.) And thus the idea for the story was born. Where Can You Find Inspiration?So as you can see by the examples up above, inspiration and ideas can come from anywhere. Some other places you may find inspiration could be nature, things laying around the house, family, friends, even just everyday life. The key is looking for a story wherever you are. If you learn to find stories in everyday life, you can tell those stories on the page(or computer, however you write stories.) You could try observing something like two squirrels in the park and narrating their story. I may just be going into some activities you can try to get ideas soon. So go out there and search for your next story. Please feel free to share places you've gotten story ideas in the comments down below! To EndI know, I know, just a bit more. But I have to fit in my obligatory schpeel somewhere. So I hope you found this article helpful, and that it will help you find ideas for your next story. If you want to read my first novel, The Castaway Hero, you can get it on Amazon HERE and through Barnes and Noble HERE. If you have any interest in reading Hunted, A Revolutionary Short Story, you can read it for free HERE. That's all folks, and until next time, keep on writing!
What is Teenage Thoughts On...?Teenage Thoughts On... is a series of articles I will be running for the foreseeable future. In it I will show you some of the thoughts of teenagers on some of the big issues and concepts, as well as some lighter things, including happiness, productivity, the meaning of life, and much more! We will begin with my thoughts, and then share the thoughts of other teenagers afterword. The point of these articles is to both provide you with food for thought and to show you just how awesome and in depth our youth today can be. So without further ado, I hope you enjoy! What Brings Lasting Joy?To start, I would like to state what I consider "lasting joy." Lasting joy is not being happy 100% of the time. It is the ability to be in the moment and maintain a sense of satisfaction and peace despite what may be happening around you. So what brings lasting joy, in my opinion? I believe (partially) that the key to lasting joy is all about maintaining perspective. If you are constantly looking back and are unsatisfied with how things went, you will not be happy. However, if you are living in the moment and understand that "this too shall pass", then you can live with the understand that this is not the end. If you maintain a good perspective on things, not lingering in the past or chomping at the bit for the future, then you can truly find lasting joy in the moment. Now, lets move on to the thoughts of some other teens! Lasting joy is not being happy 100% of the time. It is the ability to be in the moment and maintain a sense of satisfaction and peace despite what may be happening around you. -Ken Mears More Teenage Thoughts!Lasting happiness comes from our choice. Our choice to see good in the world. Our choice to not let our fears control us. Our choice to make those around us friends. -Shion C. 16, Oregon I think happiness is brought on by our ability to be fully present in each and every moment of life, for when we're not present we're often reminiscing about the past or worrying about the future. Whereas when we're fully present we can fully appreciate each and every one of the happy and beautiful moments which takes place in life, and we can even be able to more effectively handle bad moments as well so that they don't stick with us long term. - ZZ F. 14 I believe that as an individual we can find things that connect to our pasts that we can implement in the future. These can be certain meals, movies, or activities that bring connection and bridge a gateway from yesterday into tomorrow. Another important factor is the relationships that we form with the people around us. You can make ordinary circumstances an extraordinary experience with the right mindset and people around you. -Summer R. 16, Nevada I agree with what has been said, especially that lasting joy is a choice. Another big part is finding things that make you feel happy even when you're struggling, like music, reading, etc. I think the biggest factor, more important than anything, is the factor of people. Bringing others joy brings the best kind of happiness. The purest form of joy tends to come when you're with others, serving them, showing them love and care, and just being with them. Other factors are important too, but I feel really strongly that joy comes from giving to the people around you. -Olivia M. 17, Utah Some Final Words.I hope you all enjoyed and have a new appreciation of how deep teens can be! Please feel free to comment with your thoughts, and if you know any teenagers that would like to give input on deep topics, have them message me so we can get in touch. Also, just a reminder, you can buy my first novel, The Castaway Hero, HERE on Amazon and HERE at Barnes and Noble. Until next time, keep on writing!
The Struggle Is RealThe struggle is real
The world is on fire, And everyone is a liar The struggle is real There is temptation and sin around every corner I swear it is torture The struggle is real People are drawn in and dragged down As everyone has a nervous breakdown The struggle is real War, famine, and death abound And the wire around the worlds neck is tightly wound The struggle is real I have seen so much pain It has been seared into my brain The struggle is real The world is dying And everyone is crying The struggle is real The world is on fire, And everyone is a liar
Character outlines, they are essential. Follow along with Ken Mears as he talks about what he does for character outlines, and what you should include when creating them. For more information and a basic character outline template, check out this post on Ken's blog, The Writers Block: https://kenmearsauthor.weebly.com/the-writers-block-blog/wacky-words-character-outlines
Content Warning/Disclaimer: Some content in this short story may not be suitable for some young audiences, including a description of a tarring and feathering. All events in this short story are purely historic fiction, any relation to actual events is purely coincidental.Hunted |
Welcome to The Writers Block!AuthorKen Mears is a new 17 year old author, here to share his wisdom, advice, and experiences with you, the reader! Archives
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