A Time For Everything

I read two different articles in the past twenty-four hours that really resonated with me. At first glance it seemed that they are contradictory, but upon reflection they aren't.

The first article I read talks about taking that next step to becoming a master of your craft and seven habits that shackle your ability to do so. The one that struck me the most was the lack of in-depth learning. Really "deep-diving" into learning as it were. Not sharing your attention with TV or social media or whatever, but eliminating distractions and focusing hard on the task at hand.

You know I had to do that to get book six done. Noise-canceling headphones, going in my office and closing the door, focusing. It got done and I was pretty happy with myself. Now why I didn't get my act together sooner is something to ponder on another day, but the book got done.

There are many areas of writing where I need/want to improve. Looks like I need to pick one and spend some time studying. I have a friend who chooses one thing each year to focus on. That sounds like a good plan.

The second article talked about staying healthy, physically and mentally, as an author. Full time authors spend a lot of time sitting. They spend a lot of time eating quick and easy meals, which usually means carb-based foods. They also spend a lot of time worrying about marketing and writing enough books to make money on top worrying about the house, the spouse, and the kids and whatever else is going on in their life.

The point of the second article was that your health, any aspect of it, is worth more than a dream. If you're not having fun trying to achieve your dream, then what's the point? I get that there a lot of exceptions and everyone has their own balance. But if worrying about trying to write 10 books a year in order to make X amount of money leaves you an anxious mess, then is it really worth it? I mean how good can your books be at that point?

Life is meant to be lived and how can you write good characters and interesting plot lines if you don't go out and interact with people and have fun? I don't think you can.

So the combined lesson is...yes, by all means, spend the time you need to learn something specific, study hard, focus. But that's not all you have to do until it's done. Watch the rain, take a walk, smell the roses, go to a hockey game, go swimming or boating, enjoy other crafty endeavors.

Have a great weekend y'all. See you Monday.

And here's what I came up with, because sometimes you can't plan these too far in advance!

First off, I had a fabulous weekend. Dinner Friday evening with best selling author Jodi Thomas and several other writer group friends. I had good interesting and just plain heart warming conversations with my friends Michelle and Regina.

Saturday was writers group day, board meeting and regular meeting, followed by a trip to a local Barnes and Noble for Jodi Thomas's book signing as well as visiting with my closest writing peeps. We brainstormed a bit and chatted a lot.

After aaaalllllll of that excitement, I traveled across DFW to my friend Angi's house and waited for our other friend Jan, along with her hubby and son, to arrive in town from Wichita, Kansas. Once they arrived we did more visiting and laughing, as well as eating and just had a generally grand ol' time.

Sunday I grocery shopped and did some laundry, but otherwise relaxed and enjoyed the gorgeous weather. I put no pressure on myself to accomplish anything else. I did a little weeding, though. Not because I had to, but because I just wanted to be outside and because I wanted a few less weeds. :) I also ended up replanting my surviving azalea. One finally died, but the other was doing okay. I decided to transplant it into a pot and put it where I could see it and give it a little extra TLC.






After grocery shopping, I scrolled through FB as I'm wont to do of a morning and saw a post about the top five regrets of the dying. I clicked through to read it and it just seemed to reinforce my new life's philosophies. Namely, be eccentric now, the only one responsible for your happiness is you, and today is special.

So this weekend I wore my blue feather boa to dinner and to my writers group meeting. I was so happy and silly that people were teasing me that there must have been something more in my morning tea than just tea. And I enjoyed the conversation and time with friends.

How was your weekend?? Did you have fun and live life to the fullest?

So Friday I shared a list of life lessons as learned by Regina Brett.

As I mentioned, a few of them really resonated with me. All of them were great, and while I agree with all of them, there are a few I can do nothing about.

Like the kids only getting one childhood. If I could go back and make some changes, I would. But I can't, so we deal with it.

Paying off credit cards every month--if I'd only had better sense back in the day. And now, as you know, I'm working a "second job" to earn extra money to help get those paid off a little sooner. Our profits from this fireworks season would have gone a long way toward eliminating some of that debt, we have to hold onto that money for the time being. We're being audited, so the likelihood of owing the IRS some money is 100%. How much is another story. We'll find out in a month or two.

So now, let's talk about those three...

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

I don't have a lot of "nice" packed away. We've never really been able to afford it. But that last part: Today is special... I'm trying to enjoy each day, celebrating the small pleasures. Squirrels enjoying the sprinkler. The gorgeous cardinal hopping around in the bird feeder bed. The resident tree lizard. And the fact that I didn't kill my miniature roses yet. Or, of course, my kids asking me if I want to play Rock Band with them, or telling me about what's going in their lives. Or the pure joy from getting a hug and kiss from Sonshine.




23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

I'm sure you've all heard "When I am old, I shall wear purple..." The line comes from a poem called Warning written by Jenny Joseph. The time to enjoy life is now--see above--enjoying life and finding pleasure in the small things. And even if my daughter thinks I'm nuts because I keep taking pictures of the squirrels, I will keep taking those pictures. I'll leave up my 4th of July decorations until Christmas. And I'll decorate my "office" with any kind of mish mash of stuff that tickles my fancy.

Or taking a picture of my laundry on the line because the scene evokes thoughts and feelings of the life I'm trying to create for myself. Country, slow, simple. And I do so enjoy the smell of line-dried linens.


25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

This one is especially meaningful to me. Mostly I am a happy person, happy in general, etc. But my moods are affected by those around me, most specifically, my husband. And most especially because we're together ALL THE TIME. If he's grouchy, I'm subdued.

But no more! I vow this very day that if his grouchiness has nothing to do with me, then I'm going to ignore him and not take his attitude to heart and let it wound me. I'm going to be a duck and let the water and the other stuff roll off my back.

I know asked Friday if any particular life lesson spoke to you...so today I'm going to ask, if one did, are you going to do something about it? Follow through and live life differently?

A P.S. of sorts...the coroner's report on the the cause of death for Cory Montieth was an overdose involving a toxic mixture of alcohol and heroin. I had thought suicide perhaps, but there's been no news on that. So I guess just an accidental situation. I wasn't really surprised that drugs were involved, though. Hoping, of course, for some random medical cause or something, but not surprised. My daughter's drug of choice was heroin and it's a tough drug to quit. My heart goes out to his family and friends.