Writing goals . . . ?

As you can see, I have not done well, with my goal of writing for forty days.  Life happens.  The end of summer and beginning of Autumn is always a busy time for me in regard to crafting.  And it shoved my writing to the background!!

Anyway, I will be back to writing after the holidays in January. In the meantime, here are a few pictures of our recent adventures.

Trip to Silver Falls

Trip to the Diamond Peak area of Oregon

Rogue River, Oregon portion

Update

Day18--

Not doing the greatest at this writing for forty days thing.

Took a mini beach vacation in the middle of this week, (some pictures below).  Today is Saturday and I will write more on my novel, and tomorrow is Mother's Day, probably no writing on that day when one has ten kids!  Probably will be going out to breakfast, lunch and dinner and taking phone calls the rest of the day!  Whew!

Anyway, I just wanted you to know that I am still trying to keep up with this 40 days of writing. catch me later at the first of next week for more writing.

And have a happy Mother's Day!

R & R

We're off on an adventure today.  Rented a cabin at Fort Steven's State Park near Astoria Oregon for some R & R.  Ahhh, so peaceful and quiet here (until hubby's car alarm went off accidentally :)  Sitting here enjoying the view from the kitchen table over a cup of tea.

 A little difficult to get my mobile to post pics, so I'll share more when I get home.

Determination

Day 13 - - -

Well, I missed posting on Saturday and Sunday, but I did write on other projects, so I feel I am doing well with this writing for 40 days determination. (See first post here.)

It's harder than one might think to follow thru with 40 days of anything.  It involves will power! And as I said before staying focused on the final destination--this one being a habit of writing daily.

  So for today's submission, here is a little poem about our new month of May.

May, traditionally a month of flowers

brought from the April showers. 

Spring brought us May Day poles 

and garden Easter egg rolls. 

All beautiful symbols of peace

But our symbols have been fleeced--

by people who protest in streets--

too bad they don't choose peace.

Legacy

Day 10--

Thinking about my writing today . . . my book series on Legacy.   Legacy means:  anything handed down from an ancestor.   I know we don't often think of ourselves as anyone's ancestor, but the truth is, we will be an ancestor to someone, even if we have no kids.  We are probably someone's aunt, (or uncle) and so will be an ancestor.

Headstone in the Alden Cemetery - Caddo Co. Oklahoma

What will successive generations look back on? What do they want to see in their heritage?   Will they find you in their history and wonder who you were?  Everyone wants to be remembered, don't they?  And not be just a name on a tombstone?  Isn't that why (albeit, subconsciously) so many of us want to be famous?  We want to think that our lives matter for something, or to someone.

Legacy is the basic premise of my book series.  Series titles at this point, are Unknown Legacy: The Severed Branch, and Unfinished Legacy: Abby's Story.  Both books deal with what we want to leave behind.  One book, in progress, follows several generations to a current legacy being lived out, and the other, finished but not published, a personal legacy of the value of one life.  Hoping you will want to read both of them.

I am today, toying with the third title but it is not set in stone yet. (pardon the pun!)  Obviously, not started yet, just in the conception stage.

Well, better get back to it!  Unknown Legacy is calling for a finish!

Staying Focused on the Destination

Day 9 - - - 

Yesterday I spent some time writing on my second novel, reacquainting myself with the characters and rethinking my plot and how I am getting to where I want to go with it.  (That's what  happens when you get in a funk and let things go for a while! You have to re-think! Refresh!)

I re-read the prologue, and the first two chapters.  I added some details and today I will re-read it to see if it is captivating enough for my readers.  As I write, it occurs to me that I know where the plot is going, but my reader doesn't.  He/she must want to keep reading; I must captivate him with words.  I know you who write already know this, so, who am I  telling, anyway?!  This post is just a little reminder to stay focused and stay in process!

Hope you are able to stick-with-it!

BTW, for those of you who were wondering, my second novel, will be called The Severed Branch.  It is the second in my Legacy series.     

Cheery Color

I need a bit of cheering up today, due to some sad news.  Usually flowers do the trick!  These are on my patio.  I love any combination of purple and yellow, although these pansies are sort of magenta.  Anyway, these

perky pansies are a bright 'hello' anytime I need them.  Today, they have inspired me to a new project. What do you think of the combination for some pretty fabric coasters or a patchwork throw pillow for Spring?

I am also working on an adjustment to my granddaughter's prom dress.  It's a deep shade of purple with sparkles.  They look a little yellowish in the photo, although they are clear and silverish.  Maybe she will get a corsage that has a bit of yellow in it?  Ya think?

Doesn't color and combinations of color, or just plain flowers,  make your day better?

It does mine!

P.S. Besides cheering me up, this post is for the BBA challenge for April. See other posts here. 

Quandary

Day 7--

Yes, I know, I missed two days!  I said I was going to post everyday for 40 days.  I missed Sunday--was traveling a bit, not being in front of the computer (a day of rest from the routine).  Then, Monday, I just let the day slip by!  So now it's Tuesday and I find myself in a quandary.

quandary dictionary definition: a state of perplexity, a situation in which you are confused about what to do.

What do you do when you can't make a decision? I am reminded from an earlier post of a tip I gave to my readers about making decisions:

(Little known fact:  "If not 'yes' then it is automatically a 'no', or,  Failure to make a decision is a 'No' decision.  'Yes' takes action and is most times hard, where 'No' can stay in the status quo.)

So to take my own advice, I cannot stay in this quandary of indecision.  If I choose to stay in my 'status quo' situation, I don't decide to move ahead.  I must put crippling fear (fear of what others might think) behind me, and move my feet toward the future.  I can do it!   My only quandary now is, how do I explain where I want to go?  It's kind of like this picture.  Going from dry land in the foreground to the mountain top (and might I say, that I have never been to) that is obscured by vapor and clouds.  How do you explain where you have never been?  Especially if you cannot see clearly thru the diffusing haze suspended in front of the destination?  

I have a meeting tonight, and I have to make this decision.  I must drive on thru the confusion, NO more quandary!

Kicking Back

Spending a little time today just kicking back.  Working in the yard; planted some snapdragons, and weeded the bed between rain showers.  I'm catching up on blogs that I like and trying to comment.  I love to let my friends know that I was there, not just peeping in the shadows.  And I am doing a little maintenance to my online shops.  Should be reading a book, but don't have one I am interested in right now.  I let my library book expire.  Shucks!  Will make dinner for my grand boys a little later.
What is your Saturday looking like?

Green?

Ever woken up hearing plink! plink! splash, drip drip drip, coming from the nearby window.  Such a soothing sound. So quiet in your darkened room, snuggled under the coverlet.  You lie there and listen . . . drip, slash, plink, plink, drip. It begins to have a rhythm . . .  (three short plinks) . . . plink, plink, plink . . .  (lower pitched) slash . . . (two shorts) . . . plink, plink, (and a plonk)  . . . drip.  It's been awhile since you've heard rain, such a comforting sound in a dry season.

In the early morning, you go to the window and look out, looking down on the garden plot.   More splash, drip drip drip.  This is a promising sound, saying:  "Come on!  Here we go!" . . .  it promises things like "Go! Be green!"  The promise of a future --"Go! Be fruitful".  You hear it calmly rolling in waves of hopefulness.  And whether it is a fruitful garden that you want, or it is a fruitful future life, the question today is: Do you believe that things are going to change and get "green"? Wondering what that "greenness" will look like?  Visualizing a new beginning today . . .

Can you see it?

Others and Myself

Day Two:  Thoughts about people

I had a discussion with my brother about the nature of humans. I have thought on this subject and have taken it a bit further in discussion with others.  We are made up of intellect, emotion and will to form personality.

These three should be balanced to make a well rounded, functioning personality.

Some people are not balanced.  There are jokes about those who have "a big head" thinking that they know everything.  And some of those, that are all about intellectualism, are not emotionally able to handle differing opinions than what they have learned with their intellect, trying always to reason their way out of a differing opinion.  Data is important to them, and data only.  BTW, IQ measures this mental capacity.

Some people have no emotional capacity.  (There is a whole study on emotional capacity called EQ.)  Some have been hurt so badly that they protect themselves and refuse to feel.  And might I say, some others have only an infantile capacity to have empathy for others. What they think funny, or even right is the only correct answer--others must feel like they do!  It makes no difference to them how others might feel; it  may seem to others that they are cruel.  I wonder if they have no capacity to put themselves in the shoes of another.

In regard to the will, some people are not able to make the yes or no decisions of the will that determine their future.  (Little known fact:  "If not 'yes' then it is automatically a 'no', or,  Failure to make a decision is a 'No' decision.  'Yes' takes action and is most times hard, where 'No' can stay in the status quo.)

Why am I bringing this up, because I am thinking about it.  Where am I in each part of my personality?  Do I spend an inordinate amount of time honing my intellect with education and ignore my emotional reactions to others?  Am I pleased with where I find myself?  Do I need to make a few changes? Exercise my will? Where am I headed?  For that matter,

Where are you headed?

Late 'Lenten Season'

Day One: Purpose of 40 days and nights

Writer's block has to end!  I have written a little bit on my second novel, since my last blog post back on February 1st!  (Not ready to share about that yet).  Now, in an effort to really end my block, I am setting aside a block of time (literally) just for listening to the spirit of inspiration and doing some writing for the next 40 days- sort of like a season of Lent.  I know, the Lenten season and Easter is over!  "It's late April, of goodness sakes! You missed it! You're really missing it, since Lent is a season of fasting not inspiration!" says the religious person.

But I am a spiritual person.  Yes, the Lenten season, religiously, has been a season of penitence and fasting to remember the suffering of Christ. But I said my 40 days was going to be "sort of like" the Lenten season. Not all 40 day seasons are for subtraction; some, in the Bible were for proving and adding. Christ spent 40 days in the wilderness to be tested.  I need to be tested to see if I can write consistently everyday for 40 days!  I'm proving myself!  [2 Tim 2:15]

Also, Elijah spent 40 days and nights in the wilderness resting!  He was exhausted from his confrontations with the King, Queen and the people of Israel.  He spent 40 days and nights on vacation (traveling to mountain of God--Mt. Horeb) and resting from his usual life.  I will be resting and 'vacationing' from my usual routine that keeps me so busy that I don't write!  [Isa 28:12, Mark 6:31]

This blog is about sabbatical events,  various sabbaticals that I take from my usual routine. (I seem to not be able to function without some "time outs"! :)  Besides, this is how this blog was started; it started when I took a sabbatical back in March of 2014.  So, come along with me on the newest of my Sabbatical ventures as I rest, vacation and get inspired to write! It may only be a few words of inspiration, to write about later, but I will write a post everyday--a diary of my 2016 Sabbatical.  Enjoy the journey with me!

Writer's block or embroidery 'block'?

Well, it seems that my focus is on embroidery!  I just can't seem to sit down and write.  I am thinking about it, processing my plot line in my head, but haven't made a decision, so just can't sit at the computer and write!  So what do I do with myself?  I've been working on embroidery to keep my hands busy.  I finished this hoop yesterday.

(I was introduced to Portulaca, commonly known as moss rose, when I lived in Missouri.  I had never known it before then; it's a favorite there.)

This hoop had been in my UFO bin (unfinished objects) for over a year!  I think it turned out nicely, but I would prefer to have my novel turn out nicely, instead! 

Rain . . . the rainy season . . . .

The rainy season is here, and I am still having mixed emotions about my winter purpose much like this photograph of rain drops on my windshield.

I want to write, I need to write.  I have two book projects in the works, but several creative projects are hanging on, almost screaming at me to be finished.  Then there are special projects for clients that need to be completed.   And I am at a place in my life where I am dealing with changing health issues and need to be diligent with exercise and eating habits, so they scream for attention.  Ever been there?

I bet you have.  It will take some introspection and some priority to sort it out.  Introspection, to sort thru all the fuzziness, and decision to chose my priority.  Priority cannot be chosen if the mind is befuddled, cluttered and fuzzy!  So it is time to wipe away the fuzzies and proceed . . . .

Proceed to clarity of purpose . . . . and a clear view.

It's a matter of focus . . . . and precision.

How's your focus?

The 'Seasonal Rhythms' of Life

Whew!  The autumn and holiday season of 2015 surely did me in!  I was busy like a whirlwind and the subsequent aftermath of chaos took time to recover from!  I am finally beginning to feel like my own relaxed self again, getting back to my regular rhythm of tasks! When I looked at the last entry date in this blog, all I could say was "WOW!  It's time to write again!"  So here are a few words to begin . . . .

When I was young, embroidered tea towels taught the discipline of daily and seasonal tasks.  Embroidered scenes told me Monday was for washing clothes, Tuesday was for ironing, Wednesday for mending etc. Or, they depicted seasonal tasks like Spring cleaning, Summer vacationing, Fall for back to school and getting ready for holidays. Generally we still participate in some of these actions, but my retired lifestyle's seasonal rhythms are a bit different. I have no one in school, and I am free to go on a vacation whenever I like.

The reason for my Autumn exhaustion and 'no blogging' this past Fall was the seasonal rhythm of my business craft show season, (not to mention a busy personal life with the holidays).  The coming Winter season is my time to change gears from arts and crafts--working with my hands--to returning to some serious writing.  I am working on a revision of my first novel and hope to finish by Spring.  In late March, although I will be still write, I will take a vacation and begin spending my time to be outdoors, taking walks and engaging in photography again.

I love Spring--it invigorates my creative juices like an Artesian well spring--as the earth blossoms, so hopefully does my creativity!

Well, I won't go on, you get the idea. I try to write a bit everyday, as a discipline, and this is my start for this season!  What does your seasonal rhythm look like?  What do you do to make the transition from one season to the next?  Hope this Winter season will be a great season for you, regardless of the weather!