The child's draft

On her article title "Shitty first drafts", Ms. Anne Lamott grants us with a realistic view of the writing world, especially when she says: “Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts.” (Par.10)

Reflecting on her words, I find myself along the same lines. As a new member of this world wide communtiy of free writers, I can identify every single characteristic mentioned by Anne. I especially appreciate that she included examples of her daily struggles in her writing.

At this time, I cannot think of anyone who sits in front of their computer or in front of a piece of paper and just writes. It is nearly impossible to not make a mistake and have a rough copy of what it is intended to be the final text.

As the author of Bird by bird says, “All good writers write them” (Par. 1) when referring to drafts. That is why I strongly believe that to be an excellent writer, mistakes and shitty drafts are needed, not only because of the brainstorming of ideas that later become a well written paper, but because as human beings, we usually learn from our errors.

At the end, it is not only about putting words together that sound correctly, but it is about the mere act of writing, which produces some sort of mental satisfaction. That sensation when our feelings are being expressed as words and different emotions in one sentence, is definitely magical. I know it may sound unrealistic, but the truth is that writing is all about emotions, communication and, most importantly, feeling through words.

Taking the above into consideration, I ask myself: What would have happened to human kind without writing? Where can I find the inspiration needed to start the shitty draft? Do people who write only for payment feel the same as I do when they are about to start a paper?

A message of tolerance

On his article, “Bipartisanship isn’t for Wimps, After All”, Authur C. Brooks writes about the polarization influencing the actual primary campaign, and how it affects the progress of the United States both socially and economically. It is interesting when he says: “Polarization — and thus contempt — leads to permanent enmity.” (Para 10)

First, the author focus on the primary campaign but his statements can be transported to the actual presidential campaign. Brooks makes a good point when he states that the presidential primary campaign it is full of nastiness and polarization. He is right. 

However, coming from a conservative person it is definitely a non-bias statement he is making. “Americans are becoming more predictable”, he states, because are either conservative or liberal and being on one end or the other it is not good for a fair and balance political system.

Second, his opinions are backup with statistics from different sources which makes the article more than an opinion based reading. One of his claims is that polarization has led to significant political discrimination against those who have a different ideology. This polarization translates into bigotry and contempt, which on the short and long term influence in Americans to progress.

Third, the author not only brings up the problem but he also provides with solutions to improve the situation, solutions that not only come from his point of view but from Dalai Lama’s opinion, which is a respected figure around the globe. In addition, the goal is to bring people together, make people collaborate to end with bad bipartisanship and therefore with polarization that helps increasing discrimination and intolerance against the opponents.

In conclusion, the proposal is to embrace the “warmheartedness toward those with whom we disagree”(Para 16) Thus, what actions can we adopt on our daily life to practice the warmheartdness? How can we deal with political fanatics who are motivated by anger and intolerance?