This morning is a great moment for me for l have created a writing corner in my house. I need this. Of course l can bring my manuscript along with me and read it anywhere I go but l need a place for me to sit in and tell myself that l am now engaging in my work. You got to be serious in it. A place in my house l can probably called an office. My own office.
I am 61 years old now and have left my office for nine years. Before retirement l had a table in the downtown journalist office where l used to type my reports and articles. For eleven years l was sitting with this table, plunged myself in the sea of words and kept searching for writing ideas. It was under that kind of working condition that l managed to publish two books. One short stories and another a long investigative report on the bigfoot phenomenon in Malaysia.
After leaving that office and in the comfort of my house l found myself not able to write as freely as I can in those days and my passion to write has reduced. Too much of distraction is just a pretext for me to cover my own inertness and procrastination. Then, one day, when l was analyzing my own situation in my diary l found the answer: I need an office and a boss.
An office can be anywhere. As long as there is a chair and a table and the books, equipment and computer are near to it. In my case l used a corner in the main hall of my house. This corner has been used by me to engage in my paperwork but l have never called it an office. It is only until today by a gesture l have determined to stay here and named it an office. It is going to be a permanent place where l can anchor myself to work.
Those days l had a big cup on my table and when l struggled to get out of my dilemma in writing l would sip a mouthful of coffee from it. I need something like this to tell me that l am in my office and that l have a work to perform. Instead of a coffee cup l placed a tea pot and three ceramic cups on a small table in this office corner. The fragrance of green tea is all I need to remind me of the office environment and revitalize me from lethargy. This is the gesture l am talking about.
Within minutes an office was created and its power was felt instantly as l kept myself within its compound and severe myself from the company of people making idle talks in the house. l felt a creative energy emanating from my veins when l tried to search for the air of purity in this small office space. I told the noisy children to leave the main hall and instructed everybody in the house not to disturb me for l was serious in my work now and you all have seen me sitting in my office. For this is an important procedure to establish your home office when it was first created. You need to inform all the others in the household that this is your office and not just a corner as it used to be but now it has created for a purpose that is destined to benefit the entire family. They must learn to cooperate with you.
Those days we worked on assignments given by our editors. You have no choice but to abide to it. And that makes the reporters' job extremely boring. But now l have retired from that kind of setting and I have developed my own scope of writing. But as no specific assignment was given to me I tend to be too lazy to embark on my project and did not set it as a priority. I have always dreamed to become a narrative writer on self improvement matter after participating in the Baha'i Faith for many years. But l need somebody to tell me exactly when you are going to write the first line and so on. I need something l can perform on a daily basis and on pieces of work small enough to accomplish within hours. And more importantly l need something that will pay me out for the work l have done so that l need not have to look for material sustenance elsewhere.
Then l asked the boss what kind of assignments can you give for me to fulfill my heart’s desire? The boss, who is myself, started to write down all the things he wanted me to do, breaking down into simple assignments that were light enough to be accomplished within the day.
And when are you going to start your work? The boss asked. And I answered: The moment l told myself that l am going to work on the assignment that is the time work has begun. And when the work is begun it has to be carried out until completion.
You can consider the analogy of a germinating seed. When a seed is placed under favorable conditions it started to germinate. Once germination has begun it will continue to grow and will not cease to develop irrespective of any change in the environment. If the environment conditions become so harsh that grow is no more possible then it will choose to die. Yes. It dies and yet refuses to surrender its willpower of grow. It will never change its course of action even to the extent of choosing to die.
When l thought of the seeds and imagined how turbulent their life is in their determination to grow and bear their fruits l felt a sense of confirmation and enthusiasm. A refresh spirit of work and service has returned to my inner being. Once a pattern is been set in such a manner, in this case an office within the home, a spiritual power will descend upon it and a new life was given to it. This again is another universal law.
I have thus created an office in my home with my heart and mind. Now, the home has an added value. Not only it is place of protection and resting and where we perform the daily activities it also enable us to extend ourselves beyond the limit of the restricted environment to something more vital and broad that has some connection to the advancement of humanity and civilization.
Recently l came across a platform known as steemit.com where you can publish your articles and get paid in the form of crypto currency. This is exactly what l am looking for and it suited me perfectly. For I have already engaged myself in the field of crypto currency exchange business and l am also fond of writing, especially on self improvement articles. The Baha’i Faith has inspired me to depict the spiritual verities as enshrined in this Faith. This, perhaps, is God's answer to me. But physically I need to have enough money to spend so that l can go on with it for a long time and need not have to look for other resources for material sustenance. If my steemit business goes on well l will surely shift my activities from Facebook to this platform. I have started making wonderful dreams with steemit.com in the first day I started to work on it.
This is how l began with steemit.com.
Written by Lee Hoy Chin, Malaysian