H. G. Wells

"We must not allow the clock and the calendar to blind us to the fact that each moment of life is a miracle and mystery."

— H. G. Wells

English Writer and Novelist

1866 - 1946

Commentary

Sometimes we let the clock control our lives.  We live each day by the clock.  We set the alarm clock to wake us at a certain time.  We have to be at work at a certain time.  We have appointments and deadlines that focus our activities.  We eat lunch at the same time.  We quit work at the same time.  Then we eat dinner and go to bed at the same time.  



We also let the calendar control our days.  Many do not like Monday mornings because they don't want to go to work.  Wednesday becomes hump day and on Friday it is TGIF day.  We daydream about our holidays and our vacations.  Some people love summer.  Others love winter.  We have become slaves to the calendar and the seasons.



The trick is learning to live in the moment and enjoy each moment we have been given.  Some people move through life acting bored.  Their jobs are boring.  Their social life is boring.  Their sex life is boring.  As H.G. Wells says, each moment of our lives is a miracle and a mystery.  We ought to be celebrating our lives.  Each moment we are alive is a blessing.  Enjoy your moments because one day you will not have any more.  



Creative leaders often dream that when they are successful everything will be better.  When I sell my first novel....  When I have my own art gallery....  When I have a starring role in a Hollywood movie....  We spend so much time in the future that we fail to appreciate the present.

Creative Practice

Challenge yourself this week to enjoy each moment of your life.  Don't spend your time remembering the past or daydreaming about the future.  If you catch yourself being bored or not living in the moment, gently bring yourself back to the present moment.

Biography

Herbert George Wells is best known as a science fiction writer.  His most popular novels include: The War of the Worlds, The Time Machine, The Invisible Man and the Island of Doctor Moreau.  He also wrote history, politics and social commentary.



Wells was the fourth child of Joseph Wells and Sarah Neal.  His father was a domestic gardener, shopkeeper and professional cricketer.  His mother was a domestic servant.  When Wells was eight, he was confined to bed because of a broken leg.  To pass the time, he read books.  At fourteen, he was apprenticed as a draper (cloth merchant).  He worked 13 hour a day and slept in a dormitory.  He failed as a draper and as a chemist's assistant.



Wells married his cousin Isabel Mary Wells when he was 25.  They separated three years later when he fell in love with Amy Catherine Robbins whom he married in 1895.  The marriage lasted until her death in 1927.  With his wife's consent, Wells had affairs with several women, including Margaret Sanger, Rebecca West and Elizabeth von Arnim.



Video

Here is an audio recording of Orson Welles and H. G. Wells in a discussion about The War of the Worlds.