Category Archives: Life in Writing

crushed

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How do we respond to tragedies such as the tornado that ripped through Oklahoma yesterday?

Where is God in all of it?  Some become angry at God after seemingly pointless disasters.  Others begin to doubt that God even exists.  I draw closer to God.

On Sunday evening I had the opportunity to listen to Shane Claiborne speak.  If you haven’t heard of Shane and his organization The Simple Way, I suggest you check them out.

At the beginning of his talk, Shane said something that stuck in my head.  He asked, “Did you ever notice that the elements of communion, wine and bread, are both foods, that to be made, have to be crushed?”

Read the rest of this post at LifeLetterCafe.

living dangerously and loving it

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photoI’ve been writing a few guest posts lately and something crazy happened.  I’m double-booked today.  I have a guest post at Dan Black’s site: danblackonleadership.info.

I have another guest post at Vincent Nguyen’s site: selfstairway.com.

It’s a privilege to have the chance to write for both of these great blogs.  

Dan’s blog focuses on leadership, and my post, The Empathic Leader, discusses ways we can become better leaders by using empathy as a way of better understanding our followers.

Vincent’s blog focuses on self-improvement through self-reflection.  The post for his blog, Self Stairway, was a bit more challenging to write.  It took me a few tries, but I finally nailed it: How I Learned to Live Dangerously.  This post discusses the differences between what we often think of as living dangerously, and what it really means to live dangerously.  It might not be quite what you think.

Please take some time to read both posts.  If you’d like me to write a guest post for your blog, or if you’d like to write one for my blog, please contact me at danerickson@danerickson.net.  I’d love to work with you.

the future keeps getting better

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SAM_0072I’m going to be increasing the amount of posts I post each week.  

I know.  I just cut back about a month ago, but I like variety and increasing posts allows me to post a larger variety of writing.

Along with the variety, I’ll be creating a couple of new series’ for the summer.  

Currently, I’m running my Public Speaking Series.  If you ever have to speak in public you know how difficult it can be.  I teach public speaking as a college instructor, so I thought I’d share some of my expertise.  Read the posts and listen to the podcasts every Tuesday.

I’m also currently re-posting Excerpts from my first book, A Train Called Forgiveness, on Fridays.  After I complete the reposts from my first book, I’ll be adding excerpts form my second book, At the Crossing of Justice and Mercy.

If you missed it, check out my Dad’s Last Sermon Series.  My dad passed away a couple of years ago, but a friend of his gave me a recording of his “last sermon.”  Although it’s a little left of the traditional Christian point of view, Dad was definitely a true believer.

Monday Morning Shorts will start in June and run through the summer.  I started writing some very short posts about a month ago.  I created the new category so that you could check out the examples of what’s to come.  Mondays are busy, and I know your time is important, so I’ll be posting short and concise, yet meaningful posts each Monday morning.

Songs for Saturdays: Yesterday I posted a song about homelessness by Steve Earle.  It’s the first time I’ve included a video on my blog.  In the future I’ll be posting either audio or video of songs each Saturday throughout the summer.  I’ll choose songs by great songwriters that I believe have social significance.  As I write songs myself, I may include my own songs from time to time, too.  Check out my Songs from A Train Called Forgiveness.

And I’ll continue to post poems, songs and guest posts.  Check out the remaining categories: My Poetry, Songwriting, and Welcome Guests.

If you’re interested in being featured on my blog, or featuring my work on your blog, please email me at danerickson@danerickson.

molecules of my youth

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Splashed across the planet,

dashed upon the rocks of the

Atlantic, Old Orchard Beach,

like grains of sand, each one

has its place in the larger

scheme of things, the big picture

that we cannot see through

mere mortals’ eyes.

Left on busses, trains, along

city streets, at the tops of

the tallest buildings, in taxis,

restaurants, subways, from

sea to shining sea and carried

beyond.  Spread atop mountain

peaks, blowing eastward, swirling

in the wind, touching down in

pristine lakes, raging rivers,

trickling streams, on a single

blade of grass gently waving

in the Flint Hills of Kansas.

The molecules of my youth

live on forever, even as I pass

the midpoint of this journey

into bliss.  They dance and sing

and scramble ‘cross the page

in words and pictures, saved

in the intricate gears and wheels

of time.  They stare back at me

sparkling, filled with life, precious

beyond gold and diamonds,

in my children’s eyes.

a train called forgiveness: excerpt three

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This is a very short excerpt.  Andy is trying to understand how he can write about his past in a cult without reliving the hell he went through.  He is taunted by negative voices, yet there is a hopeful voice in the end.  I intentionally kept this short, simply to juxtapose the suffering and inspiration of the character.

* * *

I ride my bicycle to the Jocelyn River.  I sit and think.  I watch the river flow.  The voices are mild today, but still with me.

I ask myself, “How can I tell my story?”  They answer, “You can’t.”

I ask myself, “How can I share this burden?”  They answer, “You are the burden.”

I ask myself, “How can I let go?”  They answer, “We have you in a choke hold.”

I ask myself, “How can six years of life in a cult be put into words?”  A soft voice speaks directly to my heart.  It simply says, “Have faith.”

* * *

A Train Called Forgiveness is Dan Erickson’s first book.  It’s a novel based on the reality of his own childhood.  Dan was the child victim of a cult.  The book follows his life both, during his years in the cult, and after he escapes.  Get your copy today at Amazon.

finding something in nothing

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Photo courtesy of Bill Betten @ Dry Creek Images

Photo courtesy of Bill Betten @ Dry Creek Images

Have you ever felt like “nothing” is getting done?  Have you ever had a day when “nothing” goes right?  Have you ever felt like you are “nothing?”  Maybe it would be better if we thought less of ourselves and more of others.

There’s one simple reason I remain productive day after day, week after week, year after year.  I produce content, not for myself, but for others.  I write without expectations of glory or financial gain, but because I believe I have information and stories to share that will help motivate, teach, and heal others.  If we think of ourselves as “nothing” we find that we think of others and their needs as “something.”

So what about those days that feel like “nothing” is getting done?  It’s a lie.  As long as you’re consistently working on your craft, producing posts, books, poems, songs. or whatever it is that you produce, you’re doing “something.”

If you’re waiting for the “big deal,” you might be waiting for a long time.  If you have high expectaions of success you will nearly always be dissappointed.  If you expect “nothing,” you will be happy when “something” comes your way.

I’m not saying we should think poorly of ourselves.  I’m not saying we should accept those days when we feel like “nothing” is getting accomplished.  What I am saying is this: Stay committed to your work, your projects, your passion for the right reasons: to serve others without expectaions.

Question: How can you put less emphasis on yourself and more emphasis on others today?

writing your way toward forgiveness

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I was recently offered the opportunity to be a regular contributor at the blog lifelettercafe.com.  I am honored to be a part of their team.  I wrote my first post for Life Letter Cafe today.  Take a few moments to check out the site, and read the post, Writing Your Way Toward Forgiveness, on their Life Notes Blog   I’ll be providing Life Letter Cafe more posts, a couple per month.  I’m excited to be a part of their team.

redefining success and failure

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photoWhat is success?

Lately, I’ve read several posts and comments about failure.  But I think some people are a bit mixed up about the differences between success and failure.  In one post, a literary agent was lamenting the fact that she could not find a publisher for a client’s manuscript.  The author of the manuscript had recently posted on her own blog that she had failed as a writer.  Two years had gone by and she had not found a publisher and she considered that a failure.  The agent joined the pity party.

What?  Get out of town!

If I could say anything to the author, I’d look her right in the eye and shout, “You wrote a book for crying out loud!  You found a literary agent who was willing to shop it for you!  What about that is a failure?”

Here’s the problem: Too many people equate success with monetary gain, social position, and fame.  I’m calling bullshit on that definition of success.  So? What then, is success?  I’m glad you asked:

1.  Success is having a dream.  Success starts with a dream or a vision.  If you have a solid vision of what you want to do with your life, you are ahead of the majority.

2.  Success is having a plan.  We all know dreamers who never follow through with their dreams.  To be successful you need a plan.  If you have a solid vision and create specific goals and strategies for achieving your dream, you’re one step closer to success.

3.  Success is taking action.  Doing is the final ingredient for success.  If you have a vision, and you’ve set your goals, you need to follow through.  I keep a regular schedule to blog and write.  I get it done.  That’s success.

Now that we’ve redefined success, what is failure?  Simple.  Failure is simply not following through on any of the three steps of success.  But I’m more interested in what failure isn’t:

Financial gain: Some people equate success with financial gain.  That’s a lie.  If you’ve written a book, created a beautiful piece of art, or raised healthy children you are successful.  Period.

Social status: ”I’m not rubbing elbows with Rowling and King.  I must be a nobody.”  Oh, get over yourself!  Success is not your social status.  It’s the fact that you started a project, stuck with it, and completed it.  If you give up at that point because you’re not on the bestseller list you never will be.  Keep going.

Instant: We all know the story.  Thomas Edison spent years to invent the light bulb.  He tried thousands of times before he found the right combination that illuminated the world.  Were his early tries failures?  No!  They were steps along the road to success.

Those who have vision, a plan, and follow through are successful.  If your first project doesn’t bring you the desired monetary results, social status, or fame you think you need, you have still succeeded.  You took the project from start to completion.  Money and status are simply byproducts of success.  But if your goal is to be at the top you only have one choice.

Don’t stop!

Ask Thomas Edison, Steve Jobs, or Bill Gates: The rewards will come to those who consistently develop new ideas and create new technologies, art, and products.  But if you define your losses and missteps along the way as failures, you’ll likely get discouraged and quit trying.  The only failure is not trying in the first place.  Enough said.

Questions: How do you define success?  Have you considered some things as failures that were actually steps to success?

what will your legacy be?

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Photo courtesy of Bill Betten @ Dry Creek Images


Photo courtesy of Bill Betten @ Dry Creek Images

I recently posted a book review for the book 20,000 Days and Counting, by Robert D. Smith.  One of Smith’s main points was this: We don’t know when we might die, so we need to make the best of the time that we have.  He suggests that we live each moment as if it might be our last.

Living each moment as if it might be our last can be very effective in teaching us what’s important in our lives.  One thing is for certain.  We’re all going to die.  I know some people are uncomfortable with that thought, but you’d better get used to it.  It’s inevitable.  If you want to leave this world, having made it a better place, the thought of your own death can actually be a motivator, and increase your personal faith and productivity.

Try this experiment:

Write down your legacy.  Twice.

First, write down your legacy as it would be if you were to die tomorrow.  Include your faith, your accomplishments, your family history, your work history, and how you believe others viewed you.  Keep it brief, no more than a page.

Second, write down your legacy as it would appear if you were to live out your dreams and die at the ripe old age of 100.  If you’ve set goals for the future, this statement will likely appear much different than the first.

For instance, my first legacy statement can include that I was the author of the books, A Train Called Forgiveness and At the Crossing of Justice and Mercy, but the second legacy statement would include that I wrote more than 20 books, several of which became bestsellers and films.  You see the difference?  Try it!

Once, during a job interview, I was asked by the president of a community college in Kansas City, Missouri: “When you retire, what will your legacy be?  What will you be remembered for professionally?”  I struggled to answer this question at the time, and it probably cost me the job offer, but I’ve since discovered the key to understanding how answer this question.  You need to have a plan, and then live each moment working toward that plan, knowing that any given minute could be your last.

When you’re thinking about writing your legacy statement, ask yourself some of the following questions:

1. What did you produce/accomplish?

2. How did you treat people?

3. How did you and your work help others?

4. What will you be most remembered for?

5. How committed were you to God and family?

I’m sure you can think of more questions, but you get the idea.  It’s not your birth date and death date that are important.  It’s the dash in the middle.  Life can move quickly, and there are no guarantees.  I continue to write books, poetry, and songs, not because I want to show off or prove myself as a great writer, but because I want to help others.  I want to leave a legacy of work that others might be able use for generations to come.

Question: What will your legacy be?

“at the crossing of justice and mercy” is now at amazon

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ITHUMBNAIL_IMAGE‘m excited to announce that my second book, At the Crossing of Justice and Mercy, is now available at Amazon.

My first book, A Train Called Forgiveness, follows Andy Burden’s journey from being a child victim of a cult to forgiving his greatest enemies.  The second book is a mystery that also studies themes of justice, mercy, mental illness, and divorce.  Here’s the description from the back cover of the book:

At the Crossing of Justice and Mercy is Dan Erickson’s second novel.  It’s a story about making a choice between taking justice into our own hands or acting merciful toward our enemies.

Nearly three decades have passed since Andy Burden forgave his greatest enemy, the cult leader of his youth, Peter Smith.  Andy has since married, divorced, and is now a single father.  But an email from Andy’s brother, Simon, sets a mystery into motion.  Peter Smith may have faked his own death.  Andy wants to know if Peter Smith is still alive.  If the former cult leader is still alive, is he harming others, as he harmed Andy?  Join Andy and a cast of memorable characters on an adventure to find Peter Smith.  Throughout the story, Andy struggles with an important decision he’ll have to make if he finds Peter Smith.  Will he choose justice or mercy?  As with Dan Erickson’s first book, A Train Called Forgiveness, the second book of “The Cult Trilogy” is a captivating story that takes time to ponder some of life’s more difficult questions.

Dan Erickson is a writer, songwriter, and musician.  He teaches communication courses at a community college in the Pacific Northwest.  Learn more about Dan Erickson’s work at http://www.danerickson.net.”

Congratulations to Floyd!  Floyd is the winner of my book-a-month-giveaway for the month of April.  He’ll be the first winner to receive the second book, At the Crossing of Justice and Mercy.  Make comments liberally for your chance to win in May.

- dan