A Frozen Skinny Dip
The idea of who you are - How you live, act, what you say and what you do. What else matters? (Other than your body… Do NOT become FAT.)
“I can see it in others who choose the road less traveled. It’s an unspoken recognition that you’re going against the grain.”
This is video with all original footage and narration from a friend who I believe has the loudest spirit of anyone I know. He’s a role model. His soul is too loud. He is a founding pillar of the disillusioned. He is ALIVE.
Okay okay okay, can I dance? I’ve missed you! Grant me a few minutes to spin in pagan frenzy with the english language. It’s the exorcism needed, the detox of the soul, the fresh air through the clogged pipes!
First some logistical updates regarding the new novel.
The book has been titled -
it appeared in a fever dream of which I woke up in sweats, shot straight up 90degrees, and with wide eyes scribbled it in my bedside notebook and went back to sleep after thanking God. It only took 48,381 words.
The book cover has been finished -
A doozy, truly. I’m amazed at the work graphic designers do. This was the largest design project I’ve ever done and having never done it I wouldn’t be able to appreciate the work designers do. A good one is worth their weight in gold.
An old professor of mine, who, going on a limb I’ll label the second best educator I experienced in 15 years of academia’d prison - Keith Sawyer, MIT educated computer scientist turned ‘Creative Psychologist’ theorized this idea of ‘not enough constraints’ and how it can essentially ‘freeze’ a creative regardless their medium.
A good example to imagine is a painter with a blank canvas, a million colors and told to “paint something.” The amount of options are numbing. Give the same painter the same canvas and same color scheme but also give them CONSTRAINTS ie. “Paint something that includes two people outdoors near the ocean.’
etc etc you can see how this works to narrow down the Artist mind.
Having no constraints made for a million ideas with nothing to narrow them down. Nonetheless, the cover, spine and back is DONE. HALLELUJAH. It’ll be made public on Halloween, the day pre order will open.
The books death -
There’s this quote, if you know who said it please send it to me on instagram or twitter but it goes something like - “An author never finishes a book, he just decides to kill it.” And that’s what I’m running into. The closer I get to putting these pages through the noose the more I want to add but we’re nearing the coffin.
The first edition will open Monday Oct 31st for paid substack subscribers to preorder.
To get on the list enter below.
Because we’ve decided against literary agents, outsourced publishing rights, and want to keep everything in house, the number of First Editions will be limited to just enough to reach Best Seller status. After that, second edition, will be easier to get.
Now! Yes! A frenzy!
I keep escaping my oceanside city to retreat into the mountains where there’s no service, no neighbors, nobody to booty call me at 2am wanting to ‘drink a glass of red wine and listen to Tash Sultana’ and while yes I’m a God fearing man I’m also not where I want to be in terms of saying NO! BEGONE! AND SPLASHING HOLY WATER ON THESE PRETTY TEMPTATIONS!
This is some sort of defensive mechanism I’ve established over the years - Hit The Road.
Drive hours away, let the open American highway clear your mind. Come back to your home with a new, fresh perspective. It’s worked wonders and something I’d recommend to even my worst enemy!
So we’re in the mountains.
On the lake.
It’s a crisp October day. Orange and red leafs rain down on top of hoodies, white washed jeans until landing on light brown boots.
It’s the type of weather some places in America never experience. It’s heartbreaking because this time of the year, along with spring - on a polarity scale - is when God goes reckless.
This is where I am. Smoking a cigarette on the dock watching the colors of the trees dance to the winds song and I start getting anxious. High tingly. Like you get at night if you haven’t done enough during the day. It’s a real type of electricity. It’s the type that can make you overcompensate by doing something abnormal, impulsive. And I start feeling this throughout my body. Before I know it I’m standing up, stretching down to touch my toes, doing some push ups, getting the blood moving and then I look to my left and all my clothes are on the dock and it seems I’m naked.
The water this time of the year sits around mid 50s. You can smell the chill. I’m thinking I’m not living hard enough. I’m thinking I’m taking it easy on myself. I’m thinking I’m a bystander. All these ideas of doubt are festering and they spur from this invisible challenge I’ve created in my head to Jump In. Nobody is around or pushing me to jump but there’s this voice that says things like ‘you’re living like those you despise, safe.’ I hate couches. I hate TVs. I hate the indoors. I hate linear life but it is, for a moment, feeling like I live like that…
And so I jump in. To prove to myself I could. And isn’t that all that matters? So I’m sitting in this frigid water trying to Whim Hoff myself out of insanity when everything becomes still.
The trees stop dancing. Squirrels quit playing. My own breath silences and this idea begins to grow:
At all times throughout the day we have this Idea of who We are. It’s personal. It may even be the most personal thing we have to call our own behind the physical body.
Right now build in your head who you think you are:
Your hobbies, your behind-closed-door activities, your daily habits, your speech patterns, your friends and lovers, your artist/musician/writer/inputs of choice, do you follow the law or not, talk to your family regularly, do you work into the night or not, do you pray to God, lean on religion or not?
There’s something to be said about the congruency between action and thought. If you’re like me there’s a clear vision of Who you want to be in the future. mmmm… A better phraseology would be there’s a clear vision of Who You Don’t Want to be in the future. And that’s the safety nets, the arm chairs. The one’s who wouldn’t think to jump in the water because it’s cold. Does this seem unimportant to you? If so I believe unfortunately you fall in the large % that can see the ripple effect of small actions in terms of building powerful momentum. Rot on the couch.
The ones who want a beautiful wife but are too afraid to talk to a woman in public. The ones who want a nice home in a nice place away from urban crime but don’t have the will power to work hard/smart enough to get there. The ones who want a chiseled body at age 45 but eat like shit, never get under weights.
This list goes on.
The only thing that matter is how You view yourself, the mental challenges you put yourself under, and the effort You take to live up to that ideal. And we can’t forget - You can’t lie to the spirit. It howls and moans from inside of you when it notices you aren’t Acting how you imagine yourself to Be.
Remember
Souled Idea is long on Human Spirit.
It’s Human Mentality that I doubt has the strength to go get what it can imagine.
MUCH LOVE,
WINSTON
SOULED IDEA
THE GHOST OF 1983
SCOUNDREL WITH A DRIPPING HEART
