Just got back from a swim in the South China Sea.  The beach is about a 15 minute walk from my apartment in Da Nang, Vietnam.  Took a shower and sat down at my desk to write.  I’m in the middle of a chapter about my first date with Lena’s mother, Huong, forty-six years ago in war-torn Da Nang, not two miles from where I sit.  And nothing.  Writer’s block like they haven’t invented yet.  No reason, just no words.  Sometimes it happens.  So I broke one of my rules.

I’ve got this rule, self-imposed, about FaceBook.  I came up with the FB rule one morning a couple years ago when I looked up from a FaceBook session on my phone and it was noon.  It had been long before noon when I started down that Like, Share, Comment path.  The rule that came out of that wasted morning:  I look at FaceBook once in the morning for 10 minutes, and once in the evening for 10 minutes.  I Like stuff I like, Share very little, and Comment rarely.  And I never get to the end of my news feed.  Whatever I get to in 20 minutes a day is what I get to.  I’m certain that there is a gob of life-changing stuff that I’m missing, but that’s the rule.

Today I broke that rule.  Sitting at my desk, looking out my window over Châu Thi Vīnh Té, locked deep in writer’s block, I regretfully reached for the phone.  Guiltily pushed the FaceBook button, and there was a post, right on top, from my friend Jim Howard, “This is good shit”.  Of course I had to read it with a recommendation like that from someone who’s judgement I admire.  And Jim was right.  A Blog titled “Three Lies That Kept Me From Simplifying My Life” is one of the best pieces I’ve read of late.  Don’t know why, maybe it just hit me right.  Maybe it’s just that good. The author is Allison Fallon.  This woman knows a bunch of stuff I want to know, so I bought her book, “Packing Light”.  Downloaded it from Amazon right onto my iPad and now I know what I’ll be reading in bed tonight.  And, oh yeah.  Writers block seems to have faded with the afternoon sun.  Just never know where packing light and breaking some of your own rules might take you.