Zen Koan Writing Series #9: The Moon Cannot Be Stolen

The Moon Cannot Be Stolen

Ryokan, a Zen master, lived the simplest kind of life in a little hut at the foot of a mountain. One evening a thief visited the hut only to discover there was nothing in it to steal.

Ryokan returned and caught him. “You may have come a long way to visit me,” he told the prowler, “and you shoud not return empty handed. Please take my clothes as a gift.”

The thief was bewildered. He took the clothes and slunk away.

Ryokan sat naked, watching the moon. “Poor fellow, ” he mused, “I wish I could give him this beautiful moon.”

My Musings

When the country is in economic crisis, we tend to tighten our purse strings and become a little less generous. It is hard to give of what we have, when we perceive that we just don’t have enough. Uncertainty about the future also drives our decisions, so that even when we have the same amount of money as before, we fear to spend it. We become conditioned by our environment, and by forecasts of the future. In turn, we may grow miserly, and forget about the joy of giving even when the economy has returned to normal.

Writing Applications

Writers face the possibility of theft all the time, in the dreaded form of plagarism. We take all kinds of precautions to ensure our work isn’t snatched up by idea thieves. Yet it still happens, all the time. The worst part is that most plagarists don’t even care about the inspired ideas behind the writing. They only care about how that writing can benefit them.

There is a new school of thought that has come around in the internet age, regarding plagarism. Why not freely give of your ideas, instead of clutching them frantically to your chest? The open source movement has been met with skepticism in many circles, but has worked well in technology. (OpenOffice, anyone?) Even graphics and images can be shared, sometimes with limitations as with creative commons.

Open source is not the path for everyone. Depending on your goals for your writing, you may not be able to freely give of your writing. However, if you do decide to release even a small portion of your writing to the world, perhaps the would-be plagarists could actually see the light behind your words.

Freelance Success in a Slow Economy

As I have been reading in a variety of blog posts, freelancers have an edge in a poor economy. As more and more companies are cutting corners and laying off workers, they have to outsource a lot more work. That’s where the freelancer comes in, and solves their problems cheaper than traditional labor.

As a freelance writer and blogger, I have always accepted Paypal. It’s a quick, reliable way to process payments for online work. Lately, however, I have been considering credit card processing as well.

Why would an online freelancer want to accept credit cards? Doesn’t Paypal work well? As common as Paypal is, there are still many clients who do not use it. Yet most businesses do have at least one credit card.

Since using credit card machines to process online work is clearly out of the question, freelancers would be wise to accept credit cards. Although credit cards can be used to pay via Paypal, many clients simply feel more comfortable using their trusty credit cards exclusively. Otherwise, you might have to wait a week or more for the client to send you a check through the mail, or else turn the client away. Turning down work or waiting an extended period of time for payment is not viable in these turbulent economic times.

Have any of you experienced a client paying with a credit card? Was the experience smooth for you, or did problems arise? Leave me a comment, and share your stories here.

The Power of Words – Election 2008

In less than 24 hours, we in the U.S. will have made history. Either we will have elected a half-black man as president, or a woman as vice president. No matter where your opinions lie, this is a great accomplishment in American history.

Also, no matter who wins tonight, approximately half of the country is going to be disappointed, and possibly angry. We’ve had an incredibly heated election this year, and many people have been more vocal about their political beliefs. There have already been record numbers of voters this year, and very long lines at the polls.

Technology has played a huge part this election season. People have instantly fact-checked any claims made by the candidates. People watched the debates while Twittering their responses to it instantly, as it happened. That’s remarkable, and a very interesting social study regarding how different people react differently to the same information.

So please remember, that tomorrow is the beginning of a new era in our country, and not everyone will be happy about it. Please, choose your words carefully, and respect the fact that others will not agree with the decision that the country has made. Think before you speak, before you blog, before you twitter. Consider the feelings of others, and how you would feel if you were on the other side of the fence.