Micro Fiction Monday: Notes

When she was sixteen, she dated a boy who wrote her songs. His Christmas gifts were ballads on a grand piano, sung to her beneath the twinkle of the tree. His presence was made known by hums and whistles, short melodies sung quietly, so only she could hear. He believed that the path to forgiveness began with his guitar beneath her window, and a serenade to the moonlight.

When she was nineteen, she dated a girl who wrote her love letters. Always mailed, with a single stamp, even when they shared an apartment. Her cursive was like art, the paper thick and textured. She received a new letter weekly, each filled with beautiful prose and syntax. Her girlfriend believed in art, and in grand proclamations of love.

Now, she dates a boy who does nothing of the sort. Her boyfriend can’t carry a simple tune, and isn’t much more talented with words. He isn’t one for grand proclamations, of love or otherwise. Instead, she finds notes—small notes, taking up no more than a post-it, which she finds littered around her life. A stupid joke in her lunch, or a reminder on the mirror, or an “I love you” on her pillow.

She doesn’t wish for anything grand. Three simple words are more than enough, if they come from the right person.

External Motivation, Part I: The Playlist

Every morning, I optimistically set my alarm for 7 AM. Two alarms, in fact. I have been doing this for months, but I could probably count the amount of times I actually got out of bed at 7 on one hand. Sure, I was awake; I was just scrolling through social media feeds instead of doing literally anything productive at all.

My point is that sometimes (or all the time) we need a swift kick in the ass to get going. And that's okay! 

Inner motivation is infinitely more effective than outer motivation--doing something because you want to and because it falls in line with your values is a lot easier than doing it because someone else thinks you should. Even then, though, it's not always enough. Everyone falls into a slump sometimes, and the longer you mope around in the slump the harder it is to pull yourself out.

External motivation gives you that kick in the ass I mentioned earlier--it doesn't work forever, but it has the potential to work just long enough to get you the momentum you need to keep going. As long as that inner motivation exists somewhere, dormant in some dusty old corner of your mind, that little kick as the power to do a lot of good.

The good thing about this kick in the ass is that it's really not that hard to find; you can easily pull yourself away from Facebook and find it on your phone, motivating you to get out of bed. (The dealbreaker being, of course, that you want to get out of bed in the first place.) Once you're up and being the productive member of society you want to be, it's a lot easier to keep going. It's just the starting that sucks, is all.

One of my favourite methods of external motivation is music. Every few months I make a new playlist, filled with songs that I currently love and ones that really make me want to be all that I can be. I make new ones so often because my taste in music is constantly changing--songs that I was obsessed with a couple of months ago aren't quite as awesome to me anymore, and I've probably discovered a good handful of new ones to replace the old. Sometimes I'm in the mood for a different genre, a different tempo, or just something different.

But for now, these are what I've got:

- Brave by Sarah Bareilles

- Fight Song by Rachel Platten

- Something More by Sugarland

- Trip the Light by Alicia Lemke

- Praan by Garry Schyman
(Side note: If you're never seen the Where the Hell is Matt videos, watch them. Like, right now.)

- Anything by Hedley

- Best Day of My Life by American Authors

It's important that my motivational playlist is a lot different from my "Dance It Out" playlist, and yours should be, too! (All my Dance It Out playlist makes me want to do is...well, dance. And that doesn't always prove to be the most useful thing when your ideal productive state entails sitting for long periods of time.)

What are some songs that motivate you to start getting work done? Share them in the comments; I'm always looking for more!

Until later,

- Justyne

~~

Part II: The Workspace
Part III: The Role Model