Intentionality - Lisa Lesson 4,265,325,001

When I was younger I would screw up, or learn something new and I would tell my friends, "Lisa lesson number ... " whatever number I made up. We would laugh or cry, depending on the lesson and go on with our activity.

That brings me to this lesson. I don't make New Years resolutions. I used to, but I never kept them. Besides, my birthday is "my new year," so if I make a resolution I do it on my birthday. This year has been full of ups and downs, good and bad, and everything in between. The last few months of the year were especially hard as everything basically went to hell in a hand basket. But it's a new year. Time to step back, re-evaluate and move forward. So instead of a resolution, I'm going to have a New Years Theme. Lisa Lesson 4,265,325,001 is to live more intentionally.

How am I going to accomplish this? With a lot of help from my God, my family, and my friends. Here is what I am thinking:

1. Being more intention in my writing. 
Yeah, yeah. I've said that before. I think in almost every post I've done. But it bears repeating...every day. I've heard you should write every day. I don't. It's not for the lack of trying. Life interrupts. That is where being intentional comes in. I have, not want, to schedule time to write. Make it a priority. Just as much of a priority as my outside-of-writing job, and my family. My sister bought me this planner for Christmas. I thought it was the neatest thing. I may not write 100 stories this year, but maybe I can plan out 100 stories. I will be more intentional about my writing.

2. Be more intentional with my music.         I love playing my bass guitar, Kitty Blue. You wouldn't think it, but how much time I don't play. I decided that has to change. I am the weakest musician on the Praise Team, and I'm the only one who can change that. Music builds your brain. It takes brains to write. Music and writing compliment each other. It's a beautiful thing. 

3. Be more intentional about my health and wellness.
This is not an "I'm going to lose weight," although I need to do that. This is about taking care of myself. I'm bad about that. I do have health issues that need to be taken care of, and I tend to put myself last the list. I am diabetic so this means eating right. Moving. I don't move enough. I sit and write, I sit and stitch. My retail job helps with this, so that will be better. Drinking my water. During the hell of the last few months I started drinking diet sodas again. I hadn't had a soda in five years. I am stopping those sodas. Make time for myself to just be. Be in that zen area and relax.

4. Be more intentional about family.
I don't know if my family would like being out on the internet, so our cat Koko will represent them. After all, he is family too. Sometimes life just slaps you down and you get caught up in bills, work, all the "stuff." And that "stuff" changes how you interact with family. At least it did for me. I get cranky after work. My knees hurt, my feet hurt, etc., and I'm not me. I'm not going to let that happen. I bought my son an electric guitar for Christmas. He wanted to play and my nephew brought his guitar over and gave him a few tips before I bought one. I didn't want to spend the money if he wasn't going to play. This is something we can do together. I printed out tabs for a Linkin Park song that we're learning and we will play it together. It's going to be fun.

5. Last but certainly not least, be more intentional in my faith.
I love God. I love Jesus. As a Christian that means to be Jesus with skin on. I'm not going to go out and preach you're going to Hell if your not saved. I'm not that way. To me, being a Christian is to love like Jesus loved. To care for people, help people no matter who they are. It's not my job to judge people. It's my job to love people. Am I perfect? No freakin' way! I'm just as messed up as the next person, but I try my best to be the best person I can be.



This is my theme for the year. I will let you know how I do along the way. It is my hope that all of you have a wonderful and best 2016!

Evolution of a Writer - Part 4 Play Like A Child

"The most potent muse of all is our own inner child." - Stephen Nachmanovitch.

The past few weeks have been a challenge for my family and myself. I won't go into much detail, but my writing has not my priority. It's been all about my son. He's been having a tough time. Missing school because of a concussion and making a trip to urgent care with a nice five stitch worthy cut. Poor little guy. I shouldn't say little, he's thirteen and taller than me. But he had a science project due and since he is in Advanced Content Science, he had to enter the Science Fair. He planned his project, but didn't realize how much building he would have to do so, my husband and I had been helping him. (It was a cool project about safe houses and tornadoes.)

I was binge watching Bones and working on panels for the house he was building, I was gluing these panels together and getting the stuff all over my fingers. It dried. I looked at my fingers, grinned and peeled it off.  As a child, I LOVED to put glue on my hands and try to take it off in one piece.  Have any of you ever done that? I had fun making those tiles just so I had an excuse to peel the glue off my fingers. That child-like joy of doing something so simple as to play with glue, was fun.

"Soapbubbles-SteveEF" by Steve Ford Elliott - More bubbles. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Soapbubbles-SteveEF.jpg#/media/File:Soapbubbles-SteveEF.jpg

I know. You're probably wondering where I'm going with this. Life, as an adult, is so full.  We go to work, come home, help our kids, play taxi, etc.  We have bills, taxes, car payments, house payments, the list  goes on. We get lost and so does our child-like joy. We become so jaded watching the news, and television that life doesn't seem fun anymore. Commercials show us how fun life should be if we use that product, or buy this car, but that is not life.

What I have noticed is that we seem to hunger for simpler things. I work part-time at Michaels. I like the job. I get to see what everyone is creating. But what I also see is that search for fun and simple joy. Coloring books for adults have become very popular. We carry a wide variety. I ring them up, and see all the designs. They're beautiful. The act of coloring relieves the stress of our over-scheduled life.

http://www.techinsider.io/bestselling-adult-coloring-books-gain-popularity-for-stress-relief-2015-7

Another popular trend is Zentangle. My sister introduced me to this creative artwork. So, what is Zentangle? Zentangle is an art form that creates images from repetitive patterns. It's supposed to relieve stress and increase a sense of well being. I see it as doodling. My sister's pictures are beautiful. I'm trying to see if I can make one into a cross stitch pattern.

Zentangle courtesy of my sister

These are technological-free forms of creativity. Are we yearning from some simple non-tech time? Don't get me wrong, I do like my IPhone, and computer, but I've noticed, in myself, that need for non-tech time. I'm setting my computer aside to something else. Something creative and relaxing. For me, it's counted cross stitch. As I sit with pattern, needle, floss, and fabric, I find it frees my mind to do some  creating in the background. I have solved plot problems and come up with new story ideas by sitting and stitching.

You may wonder what all this had to do with writing? A lot, really. Without the permission to live in that simplicity, to be who we are supposed to be, how can we create? Some of you may say, "I don't write children's books." I don't either, but freeing our imagination like a child can help our characters grow and evolve. While you color, those what-ifs, wow-what-a-cool-story-idea, and so-that's-how-I-fix-that-plot-hole will come through.

Put aside the stress of marketing your novel, getting in that word count, or meeting that deadline.  Doodle and draw like children. Go play. Sit down and color. Sit down and draw. Let the colors fill the pages as ideas fill your minds. Have fun.

Oh The Places I Will Not Live....

Do you ever sit in your living room watching TV or reading a book and some weird random thought pops into your head? That happened to me and my husband. We read a lot of the same fantasy books, and watch the same television shows. We like a lot of the same adventure movies. I don't remember what we were watching, but things were getting blown up, monsters on the loose, or something.
Me: We can't live there.
Husband: Why not?
Me: To much destruction.

So this led to a conversation of places we cannot live.

Gotham

Yes, I know it's not a real place, but think about it. The crime rate is astronomical. The criminal element is one of the worst around.  They've got Two-Face, and the Riddler. And the psychotic Joker and Then you have the vigilante element. The man who runs around in a cape and cowl. Batman. He's just as dangerous as the psycho criminals. Holy Property Damage Batman! Think about your property taxes in that place.

Courtesy of Didler Weemaels

Metropolis

No to Metropolis. Yeah, I know Superman is cool, but seriously? How does one good man/alien attract such a bad element? I Googled Superman's enemies and the list is so long, I can't post it. My goodness. The ones I am familiar with are Lex Luthor, Braniac, Bizarro, and General Zod. So, with the ones I know, and that REALLY, REALLY long list, you take your life into your own hands living in Metropolis.

Starling City and Central City

I combined these two because their shows cross over. In Starling City we have The Arrow, a hooded masked man who goes around killing people who have "failed this city."  I only have experience with the television show, so the villains I am familiar with are Deathstroke, Malcolm Merlyn, and Ra's al Ghul. Once again, I'm on Google and the comic book villains abound. Can I really live in a city where there are arrows flying, earthquake machines destroying the city and the crazed League of Assassins? I think not.

The Flash lives in Central City. He's a nice young man who got his powers with a supercharged bolt of lightening caused by an explosion at S.T.A.R. labs. He runs around helping people. So, what of the others who got with the supercharged explosion. Central City has some pretty nasty villains called Metahumans. They are rather insane and use their powers for evil. If I can't have a super power, then I'm not living in a city full of Metahumans where death and destruction abound.

By now, you may be thinking, "These are all make-believe. She's so full of it." That may be true, but now we get down to the nitty gritty. The REAL places.

New York

New York? Yes, New York. The Avengers, Spiderman, The Fantastic Four, and others live in that fair city. And so do their villains. The city may be dirty enough, but you will have Spidey webs everywhere, destruction, doomsday devices. My goodness, can you imagine the taxes you would have to pay to live there? Seriously, I could go to work one day and everything be fine. Come home and find my living room exposed and my cat hanging from the ceiling after a big battle. Nope, not living in New York.

London

Any Dr. Who fans out there? Every alien invasion happens in London. Poor guys, they just can't get away from it. Any bad thing that is going to happen to Earth starts in London. The Weeping Angels are the creepiest. We have a stone angel statue in a garden at church, and it creeps me out every time I see it. There's the Adipose,cybermen, the silents and the whisper men. Oh and the snowmen. I'm glad it doesn't snow much in Georgia.

Seattle or should I say Pacific Northwest

I love Seattle. I was born in the Pacific Northwest. I have family there.  That part of our country is beautiful, but there are a werewolves, shape shifters, zombies, Wessen. I would be afraid to go out at night, and definitely not during a full moon. Nope, nada, zippo for the Pacific Northwest.

New Orleans

I think this is a given. Zombies and Vampires people! I've never been to New Orleans. I'm sure it is a very nice place, but the preternatural beings that live in the city will keep it from becoming a residence to me. No living here either.

Japan

Godzilla - enough said.

So, I was just about to  be finished with my little diatribe and say we live in a supernaturally safe place when my daughter pipes up and says, "What about the Walking Dead?"

Atlanta

Oh My Gosh! I live near ground zero of the Zombie Apocalypse! Is there no safe place? Where am I going to live now? Well, I guess I'm going to have to put together my Zombie preparation kit, and make a plan. It's a good thing we have a basement.

(Taken at a shopping center near my home.)

"Honey, where did you hide the shotgun?"

The Joy of Living

I lost a friend on August 20, 2015. Her name was Frieda and she was the Minister of Music at my church. Her death was unexpected and threw our church family into a state of shock. I want to tell all of you about her because she was an amazing person.

Sunflowers were her favorite. I like sunflowers. I like the way they look to the sun and then seem to bow their heads in prayer. This was so Frieda. She loved God. She loved her family and she loved her friends with all her heart. 

One of the things I loved about Frieda was her sense of humor. The years I served as Lay Leader had me at church a lot. Sometimes I would drop by the choir room on my out to say hi, and I would find Rob and Frieda laughing. You could hear it in the hall.That joy of living. It was all around.

Every song was her favorite. We'd sing a new anthem, or get our Christmas and Easter music and she'd say, "These are my favorites." We would sing, laugh, worship and support each other.  She was our favorite and we're going to miss her.

Our women's retreats were full of love and laughter. Frieda would lead worship. She would lead us in song, and in meditations. She would also lead into fun, with our tacky dress day, or dress up like we did in high school day. We played games and told stories. I would laugh so hard I had tears running down my face. It was amazing and we loved every minute of it. 

She was one of the bravest women I knew. She adopted two boys who have grown up to be wonderful young men. One is in college and the other is a senior in high school. He is the drum major for his school band, and Friday, the day after his mom died, he got up and directed the marching band. I saw his picture on Facebook and he looked so serious. Bravery in the face of adversity. That is what she taught them. I knew his mother was looking down from heaven beaming.

She helped me be brave. With my writing and with my son. I didn't have any brothers, so if I needed advice about raising a boy, she was always there. Frieda's encouragement helped me step out of my comfort zone in a lot of ways. I even tried out for a solo one Christmas. I didn't get it, but I never would've tried if she hadn't been so encouraging. She was that way with everyone. Sometimes you didn't have to be an amazing singer to get a solo. You just had to have the heart. And her heart was big enough to encourage and help you in any way she could.

Frieda loved the kids. I was always blown away by her patience when working with them. From the littlest ones up to fifth grade, her work with these children was amazing. The musicals they would do were nothing short of a miracle. My children loved her and will miss her. God gave her a talent and a gift and she used to His glory. 

During her Celebration of Life, her father shared a story with our pastor regarding her third grade report card. Our pastor shared it with us. The teacher wrote (and I hope I'm remembering it correctly) Frieda's joy of living interferes with her learning. 

Joy of living. Wow! That's what I want. I want to have that joy of living. That zest for life to write my stories. That zest for life to share with my husband and children. That joy of trusting and fully embracing the gifts God has given me. That is what I'm going to take from all this. I want that joy of living to interfere with everything I sing, say, play, write and do. 

Thank you Frieda for touching my heart and being my friend. I love you and will miss you.

School's Back! Yay!!

School is in and life can get back to my normal chaos. My kids were very busy is summer, more than any other. With all this running around and work I realized something. Sometimes you don't realize how much something is a part of your life until it's gone.

I didn't write much this summer. I didn't get to meet with my writing group. Kids activities and my part-time job kept getting in the way. I'm not one of those parents who overload their kids with activities, but the few things they were involved in really took a toll on my writing time.

I missed it.  I missed letting my imagination go wild and writing down what pops into my brain. I missed my characters' adventures. I missed the friendship and fellowship of the group. They are the best people. I missed the frustration of trying to market my current stories and having to keep up with everything an Indie author has to do. Okay, I didn't miss the marketing that much, but know it's a necessary evil.

We're starting the second week of school. The "getting the kids to school" chaos should be about done and I can get back to my routine. Get to editing. Meet with my friends. Explore with my imagination. Fight the cat for my computer.

It's all good.

I'm excited for my kids and their new adventures at school. My daughter wants to play violin in the orchestra. My son will be putting together a project for the science fair. It's going to be a fun year for all of us.

The Power of Storytelling

How many of you know this joke:

 Pete and Repeat were sitting on a fence, Pete fell off and who was left. Repeat.

It's funny and annoying at the same time. Especially, when it takes the person a while to get it.

I'm restating this:

Think and Rethink were sitting on fence, Think fell off and who was left. Rethink.

Rethink. That's what I've been doing about my blog and my writing career. In the cross stitch community, when someone has loses their passion for stitching, we say they lost their "Stitchy Bug" and they ask for help to get it back. Especially when you have a BAP (Big A$$ Project) to get done. I have one of those affectionately known as the Damn Dog.

I don't feel blocked exactly. I just feel "bleh." I want to do another Philippa Marlowmellow mystery, because they're fun. I know how the antagonist is going to kill mallows, but I don't know why. The why is pretty important. I finished the first draft of my young adult novel, "The Insignificant Amy Dodd," and was excited about starting the edits and revisions. It's sitting on my desk staring at me.

There is so much more to a writing career than sitting and writing. You have to market, sell, sell, sell. I am not good at that part. I'm trying, but there is not enough time in my day to do it all. It's so overwhelming. If I had a million bucks, I would hire a publicists. 

So back to "rethink."  Printed stories have their roots in the oral tradition of storytelling. Information was passed from one person to another. Histories were kept, and some were just plain fun. 

I come from a background of storytelling. I fell in love with the art when I was on a business trip in Johnson City, Tennessee. I saw flyers about the festival and asked a co-worker. I was intrigued by what he told me and I went to the festival that year. I was mesmerized. Three storytellers stood out to me that trip, Jay O'Callahan, Sid Lieberman and Barbara McBride-Smith. Barbara McBride-Smith told Greek myths with a twist that would have you laughing. She is from Oklahoma and telling those tales with a southern accent had you laughing so hard you would pee in your pants. Sid Lieberman told Edgar Allen Poe's "The Tell Tale Heart" that had shivers going down my spine, But my favorite is Jay O'Callahan. His stories take you to his world, entertains you, and brings you back. It's amazing.

From: Sladen, Douglas. "Oriental Cairo: the city of the 'Arabian Nights'". J.B. Lippincott Company: Philadelphia and Hurst & Blackett, Ltd.: London, 1911. p 28.

I tried to be a storyteller, but my anxiety would get the best of me. I once did a story telling gig at a festival. I had an hour. I was done in thirty minutes.

In storytelling, you don't exactly memorize the story, but you know the story inside and out. You practice, practice and practice with recording your voice and in front of a mirror. I hated the sound of my recorded voice, and standing in front of a mirror- forget that. In that moment I knew I wanted to a story creator, not a storyteller.

I know we have to market to get our names out there. I know I have to Tweet, Facebook, and all the other stuff, but I want to do more than push my books. I want to engage with my readers. I want to get to know them. I want them to get to know me. I want to have a relationship. I'm going to do my best at marketing, but I am not going to worry about that anymore. My focus is going to be creating a good story.

I have included a couple of links about Jay O'Callahan. One talks about the power of storytelling, and the other is one of stories. It's from the Pill Hill collection, which is one of my favorites. I hope you enjoy them.
#storytelling #writing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jehYhlYY3Lw


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvpoRKy3Y4U&index=9&list=PLNpKL37TBwvC2dGZbBWZiiZRM88q4Xaz7

Evolution of a Writer - Part 3 Balance

I've learned a valuable lesson in these past few weeks. I need to take time out to relax. Many of you may say, "ookay" like it's the most normal thing in the world. For those that know me well, are aware of my tendency not to say "no."

Friend: "Lisa can you do this for me?" I have fifteen other things I need to do. "Sure!" I say and I really mean it. I want to do this for my friend. They need help. I love helping people. My problem is I don't ask for help in return and I know my friends would do that for me. I get overscheduled and overwhelmed, stressed and freaked out. Not good for anyone.

I'm a wife, mom, writer, have a regular job, musician, housekeeper, laundress, cook, and book keeper, and whatever anyone else needs me to be and do. I over scheduled myself and sometimes over book. Guess what? It doesn't work.

I got myself into a situation where I was running full out on all burners and guess what? I ran out of fuel and ended up in the hospital thinking I was having a heart attack.  The doctors monitored my heart rate, and did a nuclear stress test. (I'm still waiting on my super powers). I was so stressed out. My daughter's sleepover birthday party was the next evening and we had been planning it for a while. My husband and son had plans that had been in place for a month. I seriously didn't have time for this. I was over scheduled. Thank God it wasn't a heart attack., but instead of resting like I probably should have, I did the party (simplified) and I made my husband keep his plans. The girls were great  and well behaved so it was all good.

While I was in the hospital I had a lot of time to think. I  have a lot on my plate. I overschedule myself thinking, "I'm superwoman. I can do anything. I can write, work, take care of my family, practice my bass, volunteer. I can do it all. I learned the hard way I can't. I have to take that time to de-stress. To decompress. I believe my writing suffers if I don't.

My sister took a class on how to learn. She was telling me when we wind down, our brains rest and go into that diffuse thinking mode where ideas abound. I was in the shower the other day, and so relaxed, I figured out how my antagonist is going to be killing off mallows in the next Philippa Marlowmellow adventure. It's going to be fun.

So, as I learn to decompress and de-stress, what are some of the ways you balance your career and family? Let me know. I could use a few ideas. :-)