ZOOM! Review January Power Word

ZOOM! (even if we drive a minivan)

My first thought when we voted on ZOOM for our power word was that I drive a minivan and zoom doesn’t exactly describe it. Though my husband would disagree by the way I drive. Whatever.

Before I started writing this post, I thought I’d use ZOOM in the definition of focus, especially since I’m knee-deep in the editing process right now.

Then I opened my phone and saw the picture of my recent zipline experience and decided to use ZOOM the way I feel at the moment—moving full speed ahead! And you know, sometimes when you ZOOM through life the sides of the road may blur, which sounds like a bad thing. However, I feel that when you’re focused and moving ahead, if you stop to notice the things on the left and right of you, those things start to pull you from your goals. For me, social media is a great example of something I need to let blur when I’m ZOOMing. I get distracted very easily by Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, etc. Excuse me while I check my email. But if I’m flying through something at any given moment (and I have to really be engaged in what I’m working on), I need the sides of the road to blur so I can make headway. And it feels good. 

This past year, I decided not to let anything stop me from what people have called my bucket list—all those things I’ve always wanted to do but something got in the way (um, okay, usually I was standing in my own way).  Were there things on the “side of the road” that could’ve stopped me? Of course! (I got a lot of the “Your parachute might not open!” To which my response was, “We all gotta go sometime!”) It was such an incredibly rewarding year that I’ve dared myself to keep going. I will take on each challenge not just by climbing but leaping. I won’t let anything get in my way, especially not my own inhibitions. I will seek out new experiences and stay positive through all the bumps and curves.

I will allow the road to blur when necessary.

I will ZOOM!

Will you?

ZOOM! The Sound of Progress

I can ZOOM! Really I can. Maybe I’m just driving a smaller car, so it may take me a while to get where I want to go.

ZOOM: How can one word mean two seemingly opposite things? I wondered. Etymology has become one of my passions since embarking on writing a story that takes place 300 years ago. I love how learning the origin of a word gives precise, seductively nuanced clues as to its evolved meaning.

ZOOM is what’s called of echoic origin. It was first derived from the onomatopoetic sound it makes, starting in the late 19th century as industrial machines–and the very world itself–were getting faster. The word became more commonly used during the Golden Age of Aviation in reference to the sound pilots heard as they made an accelerated turn or ascent.

Change and speed remain the essential elements. A ZOOM climb requires full throttle. Anything less, and you might stall or even fall.

The invention of the ZOOM lens in the late thirties began the word’s alternative connotation, seemingly contradictory yet actually congruent upon closer inspection. When we–our vehicle, our lens, our minds–move quickly, we get closer to destinations once far away. That then allows us to focus in with microscopic clarity.

There’s a time and place for both ZOOMs. For example, planning and rough draft phases require a powerful rapidity of movement. Heavy throttle.

This is a challenge for me. I tend to search for shapes in the clouds while I’m trying to fly. Editing and playing with words is what I love best. ZOOMing in. But I’ve found that I simply can’t do that and make the progress I want at the same time. When I try, I just don’t reach enough speed to ever lift off the ground.

Throughout this month’s power word challenge from the Muse so far, I’ve been chanting ZOOM! to help me focus on one important task at hand before jumping to others. It seems simple, but it really has helped me check daily things off my to-do list in priority order. Yet even more, ZOOM! has been and will remain my 2013 mantra to counter my obsessive detail binges with complementary doses of accelerated ascents, blissfully blurry and unfettered by the stalling impediments of perfectionism.

Which is the greater challenge for you? To go fast or to focus? When we balance both in our projects, our lives, we can truly move. And to this slow-moving Muse-seeker, more progress with my novel in 2013 would be music to my ears. Or to paraphrase King Solomon and The Byrds:

To everything – turn, turn, turn
There is a season – turn, turn, turn
And a time for every purpose under heaven

A time to ZOOM up, a time to ZOOM in 
A time to go fast, a time to look close
A time to fly, a time to land
A time to progress, I swear it’s not too late

ZOOM! Facing Forward

This past December I did my first Tough Mudder!  Yes, I am insane.  Why, you may ask?    Again, here FEAR comes into the picture.  It’s been a constant battle my courage will, against my FEAR will.  Who will win? Sometimes it wins and sometimes I win.  December 1st I won!  I faced it with courage and excitement even when I had to run through the electrical wires.

So, this brings me to this month Word ZOOM and what it means to me.  For me it’s facing forward and never looking back.   This was the last obstacle of a 20 obstacle course, there was no turning back.  I needed to face forward and just push through it, knowing that I was going to feel pain and might fall and not be sure if I was going to be able to get up and finish.

But I did not look back at what I already failed at or what I already succeeded at.  NOW is all that mattered.  Will I run through it or just decide to play it safe and skip this obstacle    Then the question would be, “what have I learned”.  That when things get tough I just play it safe.  NO!  Fear was not going to take over and WIN.  I ran through it, never looking back and saying “I WON THIS TIME”!  Ouch!

Not looking back at your failures or successes, who are you NOW?  What are you zooming toward?

ZOOM! Fast Forward or Full Focus?

Our power word for January is zoom! (yes, with an exclamation mark).  How can I apply it?  What kind of a mantra is it for me?  In staying true to myself, I will not pick one interpretation, just as I can never settle on a favorite color.  I will use zoom! in two ways:

1) Fast forward – to remind myself that a new year is a time of new action, of renewed energy.  I have many projects ahead of me this year, and I need to give myself a fast start, to give myself the gift of momentum. When I start finding myself being weighed down by perfectionism, by indecision

, by doubt, I will repeat this mantra to myself and zoom! past all of that.

2) Full Focus – to remind myself that focus is required to accomplish what I want to accomplish.  There is a difference between being open and creative versus being distracted.  Though focusing will be slightly easier for me now that The Voice is over for the season, there are still many shiny objects in my life. When I need to focus in on my immediate goal and ignore the mental clutter, I’ll repeat this mantra to myself and zoom! in, pushing the distractions out of my viewfinder, at least temporarily.

What these mean for me creatively is that I’ll commit some focused time preparing for the SCBWI conference in January, so I can be prepared to chat about (or pitch!) my projects on a moment’s notice if the right opportunity presents itself.

What does zoom! mean to you and how will you use it?