I did the first experiment, The Dude Abides Principle, I asked the universe for a sign and I am still waiting; it could be I missed it, so I am giving the Universe a second chance to send that sign. So by the 12th at 3:32 PM I want that sign. And by the way, Thank you! You’re doing a great job. (Hey, doesn’t hurt to suck up, right!)
Today’s chapter and Experiment #2
The Volkswagen Jetta Principle:
In this chapter, Pam Grout mentions physicist David Bohm, then shortens his theory by referencing a Walmart, then she states she’s not a fan of Walmart. Yes, They were both mentioned in the same paragraph.
If you are interested I found a PDF copy of David Bohm’s book, ‘Wholeness and the Implicate Order’ HERE.
As for Walmart, they may have thousands of products on their shelves, but what I have noticed, is how name brands are slipping away. Just saying.
Pam Grout writes about not being aware of things even if they are right in front of you. She writes that the human condition chooses to stay within their “comfort zones’ within ‘a comfort zone of negativity’….”…jumping from one depressing thought to another…”
She speaks of the phenomenon called, ‘collapse of the wave’ she states, “…it’s the moment someone looks at these energy waves, they solidify…”
My thought is that when anything disrupts the flow, then the flow will change. Sort of like the wind or water changes its flows when it runs into something. When something changes in our universe/life then our perception changes. Which is why most people hate change; it drops the floor out from under us, swirls it into an unrecognizable mess, until we can focus again.
“Learn to seek within for all the answers. Take time to be still, and find the answer in the silence. Never despair if it does not come immediately.” ~ Findhorn Inspiration
On to today’s Experiment #2.
For the next two days,you are to search out colors.
Pam’s instructions are to look for a specific color, in a thing of your choice, for the first 24 hours.
Say your intention out loud, ‘I hereby intend, for the next day of my life, to look for (name the specific item and color) Black skunks with white stripes.’ This one may be too easy; I should change it to bright green leaves on a bush. Huh! Try that one universe; it’s the middle of winter.
The second twenty-four hoursyour intentions will change to a different thing, in a different color. Her example was yellow butterflies. (Again, winter here.) Pam writes that a friend found yellow butterflies in a stationary store, another friend asks for a free cup of coffee.
I have to think more about this one. Maybe a suitcase of green Bills with Benjamin Franklin’s picture on them.
Now on to the last page in this chapter, page 51 and the ‘Lab Report Sheet.’ On this sheet, I am to add up how many of those colorful things I had asked the universe to show me, how many actually showed up.
Remember this is all to take place within 48 hours.
I am sure the universe can multitask; I am awaiting that sign from the first lesson.
David Mamet’s Second Video ‘Purpose Of Drama’ Masterclass
David Mamet is sitting in front of the camera in a rustic room; its walls are paneled in wood, a lamp is on the table set behind and off to his right it’s casting a relaxing orange glow. Over his left shoulder are papers and sticky notes connected to the far wall, while directly next to his left arm, sits an old typewriter and a stack of closed books or journals. A vintage 1900’s metal desk lamp reaches up on a double-jointed arm, which is locked in a straight up positioned, and tilted ever so slightly back so its parabolic unfinished aluminum shade can illuminate the desktop when he chooses to turn it on.
David Mamet starts talking:
“The Purpose of drama that is a really, really good question. That’s a really good question. There is an old, – I am Jewish, my people have only been Jewish five-six thousand years, so we’re kinda getting used to it.
So, There’s an old joke about this international flight and this terrorist breaks in with a submachine gun. And he says, “Okay, who’s a Jew?”
And a little old guy in the back says, “That a really interesting question.”
So, that’s how I kind of feel about drama; I think the purpose of drama is to define the clan.” ~ Video #2 David Mamet
He goes on to describe drama what it is, and what it is not.
And everyone uses drama to over embellish his or her daily lives.
When my husband asks the time. I round the hour up so he thinks it later than it is. Subtle drama? Or…
“What time is it?
“Four-o’clock.”
“No, it seems earlier.”
“You wish.”
If it was earlier I would have taken out the garbage.”
“What’s stopping you now?’
“I promised my friend I would be on Xbox.”
“Well, lucky for you I saw it wrong, you have an extra thirty minutes.”
“Sorry, no can do. I already logged on, can you take it out for me?”
“You were already logged in!”
“Yeah! But I thought it was later than it was”
My example: Taking a vacation and having to sit through a sales pitch when all I wanted was to relax and be entertained won’t be a fun time. So stick to what you are selling. If it is a dramatic story you advertised, then don’t push a condo down your reader’s throats.
My thoughts: If your story has a harsh sales pitch, tone it way down. The idea will still be there, but it will be felt and talked about after the book is read or when the movie is over.
The drama is everything. Give it its space. Allow people to enjoy the story.
I will not tell you everything from his Masterclass videos. If I did you would miss out on a hearing him talk. If you would like to check out David Mamet’s Masterclass, click on the link in the top left sidebar. It’s sitting just above James Patterson’s Masterclass.
“I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
Have you noticed, that some news sources have the ability to raise your blood pressure with a word, or phrase?
President Trump’s name seems to get people going. Add in words like, arrogant, had enough, mental illness, rich.
The word racist has an intense following of hate. I have seen it used just to cause anger. Ethnically challenged?
And any phrase:this is mine, not yours. Not your culture.
White man- Black man; Why can’t we just say man?
With any of those things, if you give your opinion, you will be torn apart.
(Nope! I will not add screenshots of Twitter and there are plenty)
I remember when the words ‘taxes’ or ‘gas prices’ and ‘you’re just like your mother’, was the way to start an argument.
It is so much easier to click away and mentally agree to disagree, without an actual conversation taking place.
“There are many doctrines of a less essential nature . . . In these we may think and let think; we may agree to disagree. But, meantime, let us hold fast the essentials . . .”~ John Wesley
Seems to be part of a group mentality, where you need to agree with that group. Now, that is easy enough. Just keep moving along. Keep your head down. Do your work and don’t talk. Really? What I hear is, your opinion, my opinion doesn’t matter. Which is true in any group mentality. That is how we are controlled. By being told not to think, not to notice what goes on around us.
What that brings about is a larger percentage of the population not able to stand up and say ‘I don’t agree’…. Yet, we are in the middle of a #METOO place. Where women, I am included, have tweeted out that they have been sexually harassed and aren’t going to take it anymore.
But,…. And there is always a but.
How many of you remember just a few years, months ago, that acknowledging sexual harassment in the workplace was a laughable offense. And you became part of the outside group. There were those who tossed hate at you for even thinking that sexual harassment was even real. I spoke to women who closed their eyes when it happened to them; their point was if they could stay silent then everyone needed to. And they didn’t want to lose their careers.Or those who said, how dare you stand-up and complain about that wonderful manager/supervisor/ co-worker, saying they had done something to you… You may have decided not to take it anymore, and you sign a complaint with HR.
Then you were fired. (Can you still hear that door slamming?)
Promoting hate is easy. We all love soap operas. We love to read about ‘other people’ when they trip up or their spouse does. Anger fuels debates, conflict, get’s us off our butts. It also gets people to follow you in your right-reason-cause to bring about discontent, because you feel hungry and penniless, trompe on and ignored.
Or it’s your job.
Some/most businesses are great at causing strife. To get people to read, to follow, it is essential to bring in new customers, to get those readers they use that blood pressure barometer; and they poke at that sleeping bear until he wakes up ready to fight. When you feel your blood pressure rising due to a comment on social media, take a step back, you are being used. That anger will help no one.
Well, unless you can make money off it. Using anything derogatory against President Trump, or calling someone a racist will bring in likes/hates but little real conversation.
Am I telling you not to comment? No way! What I am saying is, don’t be controlled.
If you are angry, find out if what you are angry about is real.
Read, research then step up. Get on your soapbox with real information. Agreeing with the ‘news’ just allows more of the same to keep spilling out.
I get it. Research is work, and you don’t want to do extra work.
So what should you do then..? Comment if you like.
Twitter account David Bowie’s son Duncan Jones, @ManMadeMoon.
I am one of many who started to scramble (a little late) and started searching for Hawksmoor by Peter Ackroyd when The David Bowie Book Club announced Ackroyd’s novel has been picked by David Bowie’s son Duncan Jones, @ManMadeMoon.
According to Duncan in the Rolling Stones article,“…his dad was a beat of a reader.” And “ his true love was author Peter Ackroyd. This is the first of his Dad’s 100 top books list.
Wonderful and all, but this is a very hard book to find.
AMAZON BOOK HAWKSMOOR BY PETER ACKROYD
Here is a blurb about the author Peter Ackroyd
“Novelist, biographer, and poet Peter Ackroyd was born in London on 5 October 1949. He graduated from Clare College, Cambridge, and studied at Yale University as a Mellon Fellow, where he completed Notes for a New Culture: An Essay on Modernism, published in 1976. On his return from Yale, he worked for The Spectator magazine in London as literary editor (1973-7), then as joint managing editor (1978-82) and film critic….”
~Read the rest of his biography on the British Council, Literature
What I have found out so far, Is that Peter Ackroyd wrote Hawksmoor after being inspired by the poem ‘Lud Heat’ by Iain Sinclair. And Lain Sinclair was inspired by the history of London’s churches, religions, and historical facts, such as Nicholas Hawksmoor worked for Sir Christopher Wren who designed and built St Paul’s Cathedral in the City of London. And how the placement of those churches brought a ‘psychogeographical’ tone which was described in1955 by Guy Debord a new awareness,“…the study of the precise laws and specific effects….” In Lain Sinclair’s book, Lud Heat, he shows us a map to explain his ideas Check out Amazon to see this preview.
Amazon peek into book
And all this is set in religious history. Sounding a lot like the Bermuda Triangle set in London. Giving a reason to all the crazy things that happened in a specific area. Such as Jack The Ripper by bringing together the collective consciousness, causing things to happen due to the placement and the architecture of those churches. Or even a person’s perspective change when in contact with a new place.
pixabay.com London-bus-st-paul-
All this background has me intensely curious. And I want to read the book. But I can’t seem to find a copy – anywhere!
Each part you click on, those links it will bring up a section of the book. Then you can save it as a PDF to read later. The PDF isn’t that perfect. I keep wondering if this is the real book. Hmmmm?
This is what I saw
(I will send an email to Peter Ackroyd’s publisher to see if this site is crossing any copyright lines)
Remember to always run a virus scan on anything you copy of the internet.
Anyway…I am hoping to be able to read the entire book. If not I will be searching it out later and buying it when it is a lot less than $899.99. My library can’t even get a copy, its out and requested over and over.
Oh, well. I will be reading and tweeting on February 1st, 2018, right along with Duncan Jones @ManMadeMoon. Who will be talking about the book on his Twitter account- February 1st? Watch for it on Twitter.
I am enrolled in David Mamet, ‘Teaches Dramatic Writing’ Masterclass course
David Mamet ‘Teaches Dramatic Writing’ Masterclass course
I started the first of twenty-six videos, and I am going to post my thoughts and bits of the class here.
Check out the class by clicking on the link in the left top sidebar.
Happy New 2018! let’s get going with a new Masterclass.
Who is David Mamet?
David Mamet has written 39 plays, 29 screenplays, and 17 books, and he directed 11 films. If you have ever seen ‘The Unit’ or House of Games then you can see his ability for dramatic writing. Not ringing a bell yet? Then check out imdb.com. His list is impressive checkout IMDb
I will give you a taste of the first video in David Mamet’s Masterclass series.
01 Introduction
This starts out with sounds of people talking. Some upset asking questions; asking to learn something. Then David Mamet walks in and sits down on a tall stool, then we see him at a desk.
And we hear “Oh, have I got your attention now? Good!”
“They say, when the student is prepared the teacher appears. So the same is true of most of the lessons you gonna learn in any… I don’t know of any art, -but certainly in any craft. When you’re ready to learn it you will. –if you want to– and if you need to; and if you don’t want to and don’t need to -you ain’t ready yet. Or maybe you don’t want to. I always say, you know, the arts, my experiences is like running away to the circus. You know. If you got something to fall back on the circus don’t need you, circus don’t want you. You gotta runaway, say OK, I’ll leave, BUT your gonna have to kill me. “
“…Being a writer is a lot like being a beaver their teeth itch, that’s why they cut down trees. “
David said he will talk about, “a kind of unified field theory of aesthetics” where we can regularize how we perceive and how we write.
It is a cause and effect…a survival mechanism.
A plot is an exercise in cause-effect. A plot, a scene, a movie script
Analytically Propounding a theory, does it make sense to you? It can make a great tongue twister until you are ready to learn it, to hear it, to understand it.
Think of it as a logical progression while you’re writing, your thoughts need to see the action. The way I see it… is like a two-year-old, kicking a screaming for candy. He wantsthat candy, not because he loves candy, but because his mother isn’t paying attention to him, ‘look at me’ she is not looking, instead, she is talking. If he doesn’t get the candy he will cry himself to sleep. If he gets it, he will be so wound up he will be climbing the walls. Cause and effect.
“I’ve always been more comfortable sinking while clutching a good theory than swimming with an ugly fact.”~ David Mamet quote
I will post my comments about video #2 in David Mamet’s Masterclassin a future Blog. In the meantime, check out his class by clicking the link in the left top sidebar.
I have been working on my website today. Creating backups, slowly and I mean ‘Slowy’ trudging through Spam comments. I have been checking out Plugins; then searching out what do they do and asking myself, ‘do I need them? ’
What I like about WordPress is when I search out the Plugins on the site; there is a comment on the plugin that tells me if it has been used or if it can be used with my theme.
I am trying to figure out why one thing works ‘now’ and ten minutes later it won’t.
I am making lists for ideas, for Blog posts, for pages, and realizing I need more time to write them. Out comes a scratch pad, and I start …scratching down notes. If I can get myself organized, I can set up ideas days ahead.
“I block in days / nights for writing where I don’t touch emails or social media.” ~ Julia Woodman
I used the wrong word…. Not ‘if’ but ‘when’I get myself organized. I won’t pull myself down with negative thinking, which sneaks in with comments like, ‘you should have done this a month ago. If you had …”
Stop. I won’t listen to my negative self. She will nag me into stopping. And I really am not into that, not in 2018, not ever again.
Wow! Why am I seeing myself standing on the hood of a red car, waving a flag. (Ok, just imagine me on that car..)
pixabay.com
I am thinking, talking, dreaming, and the best part doing what I need to do to keep up with my Blog posting and setting up my life’s goal.
“You gotta make it a priority to make your priorities a priority.” ― Richie Norton
I need to work on a short story. Right now those printed out pages are being used as a cat bed, and the printer is out of ink. I see the good side by unplugging the printer and saving electricity.
Sanosuke, Writer Hard At Work
“When you streamline your schedule by making deliberate decisions about tasks and activities that are crucially important you and identify your most important priorities, you give yourself permission to make choices that excite and interest you. You also grant yourself permission to exercise your right to say, “No, thank you.” ~Julie Connor, Dreams to Action Trailblazer’s Guide
I jumped on eBay and found a copy of her Pam Grout’s book. I just received that book in my mailbox.
Immediately, I read the first 40 pages. This book is about belief. The belief that the world is vibrating energy and we can control that energy by just fully, totally believing. The premise of her book is that the universe is helping us all the time. In order to learn how to believe, she has nine experiments to help us ‘really believe’; so that we are open to all the good things we are supposed to have.
Now Pam Groot…Oooops! Pam Grout talks about vibrations of energy that surround us, and how we need to acknowledge and believe in those vibrations in order to use it to change our reality. Electricity is real, we can’t see it but it is there, and we believe it is there.
“… FP (field of potentiality) like electricity, is dependable, predictable, and available to everyone,…” and “…we have an energy wave that affects everything…” and “But, like electricity, you do have to plug into it…”
As an example, she uses an analogy of a toaster. We plug in a toaster and don’t worry that it will work; we just know the electricity will turn on that toaster.
The ‘Forward’ is written by, Joyce Barett, Ph.D. Former NASA biologist, her last line she writes, “…there is an amazing energy source available to everyone.”
“Everything in Life is Vibration” – Albert Einstein
Pam Grout has nine do-it-yourself experiments. I am starting with #1, “The Dude Abides Principle: There Is An Invisible Energy Force or Field of Infinite Possibilities” which starts on page 27. Each experiment has a lab report sheet to fill out at the start of the experiment and at its conclusion.
The first experiment has me asking for proof that the FP (field of potentiality) is listening. My inner vibrations, can you hear me now? I need to connect to my field of energy and really, really believe.
I need to give it a time frame of two days. This is a test to show me that I can access this vibration (the big kahuna) and have belief so strong that I can receive what I am supposed to.
Oh, she also talked about not giving up. She used an example of looking for your keys. I took that to looking for my glasses. I am always setting them down somewhere or my cat is walking off with them. The point is I don’t stop looking because I decide to procrastinate. I keep searching until I find my glasses. In the same way, I shouldn’t give up searching for Godor ‘the all there is.’
I read a blog post by Pam Grout, where she spoke of Florence Scovel Shinn, she is an author who wrote, The Game of Life (and How to Play it In her book, published in 1925, vibrations are brought about by God and praying the right way, she also gives her readers affirmations. I found a PDF of this book online (see Link below) and I found the audiobook on Youtube.
God is my unfailing supply, and large sums of money come to me quickly, under grace, in perfect ways.
This is from Chapter 10: Denials and Affirmations.
“I am asked so often the difference between visualizing and visioning. Visualizing is a mental process governed by the reasoning or conscious mind; visioning is a spiritual process, governed by intuition, or the superconscious mind. The student should train his mind to receive these flashes of inspiration, and work out the “divine pictures,” through definite leads. When a man can say, “I desire only that which God desires for me,” his false desires fade from the consciousness, and a new set of blueprints is given him by the Master Architect, the God within. God’s plan for each man transcends the limitation of the reasoning mind, and is always the square of life, containing health, wealth, love and perfect self-expression. Many a man is building for himself in imagination a bungalow when he should be building a palace.” ~ online, Sacred-Texts
I enjoyed Shinn’s novel and I am finding Grout’s book equally interesting. As I read I will post to keep you updated on my progress with the next eight lessons from E2.
She looks across at the waves so far And gazes at morning sky. “I want to fly up above the clouds,” She bends over to cry.
~Shellina, Part 2 ~ A Fairy Tale, by Louise Sawyer (You can read more of Shellina, at Village Square)
I would like to introduce to you to Louise Sawyera very creative talented poet, and her writing partner/companion, Joy her guinea pig. Louise and I met at the ‘Village Square’ a literary magazine for MFA students at ‘Writers’ Village University’
Louise, What inspired you to write?Secretly, as a teenager, I wanted to write novels, but writing description was like pulling teeth, so I didn’t write fiction. I was a linguist and exegetical researcher in the Philippines. I helped write Bible story songs, using Ifugao folk tunes.
(If you don’t know what a Ifugao folk tune sounds like, so I found one on Youtube)
Louise continues: I did some reporting for our missionary newsletter and I wrote personal newsletters. In those days, we didn’t have computers and often didn’t have electricity, so I typed on a manual typewriter.
When I became ill in 1973, I experimented with writing poetry. Later I became very interested in creative writing and took courses, as well as doing a lot of journaling, which resulted in more poetry and stories.
Currently, I’m writing a fairy tale and exploring ideas for illustrations. I write personal essays and recently received great feedback from readers who read“Absent But Present”in the December issue of Village Square. I also write about brain injury and how creativity and neuroscience techniques are helpful. I’m a Creativity Coach and I plan to teach a Creativity Project Workshop in 2018. (This workshop has not been scheduled as of this posting)
Have you always lived in Canada?I’ve lived mostly in Canada. However, I studied linguistics at the U of Washington and the U of North Dakota. I also studied at Bethel Theological Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota.
My survival training was in Jungle Camp, in Chiapas, Mexico. I went through three stages of survival training for a total of five months. It included building a mud stove, bed, and lean-to shelter. Also, staying by myself in the jungle overnight without anything but a piece of plastic, a machete kit, a canteen, a rope, and a first aid kit. The first thing I did was slice my thumb trying to cut down branches to make a bed.
I enjoyed working in the Philippines for 4.5 years.
You have a sweet guinea pig companion, Joy, can you tell us how you met? The last time I moved was in 2011 and I’ve mostly been on my bed since then. I type with one finger on my iPad. For Christmas that year, I bought myself a white and golden brown guinea pig and I called her Neuron. I was beginning to get interested in Neuroscience.
I decided in 2013 that Neuron needed a companion and so I adopted ten weeks old Joy. She was feisty and it took a few months for the two of them to bond. Neuron was used to being ‘an only’ and had bonded to me. But Joy and Neuron started enjoying companionship and Neuron taught Joy most of what she knows.
In March 2015, Neuron died leaving Joy and me together. We had not really bonded, but now we are close. Joy is 4.5 years old and enjoys my attention. She goes for rides on my walk
“The creatures that inhabit this earth–be they human beings or animals–are here to contribute, each in its own particular way, to the beauty and prosperity of the world.”~Dalai Lama
Thank You, Louise, for letting us in. I am so sorry for your loss of Neuron. I enjoy our conversations. You are an inspiration to writers; you have an amazing outlook. Hugs to you and Joy.
Louise is in need of help, with her medicines. I copied and pasted in the letter, which was written by The Dovecote Board. Here is the link to the online letter.
Dovecote Advocacy Networking Society
Dear Friends of Louise,
We wish you many blessings during the Christmas season and throughout 2018. Thank you for your notes, prayers, and support for Louise and her guinea pig companion Joy.
Joy had major surgery last December. Both her vet and her surgeon at the Breadner Veterinary Clinic were pleased with Joy’s recovery. So was Louise! Joy grew hair again over her long scar and was happier.
Louise took several MFA writing classes online at Writers’ Village University. And she wrote a rough draft of a fairy tale in ballad verse. Louise is a contributing editor to Village Square, the new literary magazine for MFA students. Check out Louise’s memes and word search puzzle on the Leisure page, her bio on the About page, and part one of the fairy tale Shellina in the Poetry column in the November Issue. writersvillage.com/VillageSquare December Issue will be published this week and may include Louise’s scramble puzzle, memes, part two of Shellina, and an essay about Louise’s birth. She will be 73 on Christmas Day.
Louise started to learn to create memes about eight months ago and she has been making them ever since. Here is a sample:
We invite you to pray for strength for Louise, as she still struggles with severe Multiple Chemical Sensitivities and Fibromyalgia. She experiences overwhelming fatigue and pain, and she has difficulty listening and speaking, so she only interacts about three times a week. Joy has had pain in her limbs and is getting older, but Louise takes good care of her. And Joy is a cute companion.
Please pray for a scent-free care aide with a car for Louise, because she needs personal and cleaning help in her home as well as outings. Please also pray for a family doctor for Louise. She needs lab work, referrals, and surgery.
If you are able to take part by email, Dovecote needs help two to four times a year to set up fundraising for Louise for health equipment and products. Please let Louise know at lesawyer12@gmail.com
To help Louise supplement her low senior income, you can send gifts to PayPal, using lesawyer12@gmail.com Gift cards are also a big help: Amazon, thriftyfoods.com, spud.ca, Petsmart.ca
Love and Joy to you,
Marie, Kristen, Cal, Christa, Michael
The Dovecote Board
****All comments are welcome, SPAM IS Not.***
I am adding Links concerning what you have read.
You can email Louise at, lesawyer12@gmail.com
Sign up here for a ‘Free’ subscription to Neurology Now.
January 2, 2018. I was working on today’s Blog Post when I realized I have questions; so instead of moving forward without those questions answered, I will post something different.
I refuse to miss the second day of my 31 days of writing a Blog Post.
Today I’ve been running between the bathrooms, to the laundry room, to the closet near the front door… Okay, that sounds odd. But I have to admit these strange subzero temperatures we have been going through is worrisome. The pipes need to keep flowing. And any part of the house without heat- the front closet- needs to be warmed up or opened up to allow the flow of warm air. I can’t just leave it open, my cats will get into things they shouldn’t. My Ragdoll has a dangerous taste for plastic.
Which keeps me opening and closing the closet and shooing away the cats. All the while crossing my fingers that when springs comes, that the pipes hold.
At 3 pm I remembered the mail. The mailbox is five hundred feet away from the house. How bad can it be, the sun was shining brightly, puffy snow coated the driveway. I stuffed myself into layers, sweater, sweatshirt, two left-handed gloves, and a scarf. After I pulled on my heavy winter coat I had to search around for my knit hat. By the time I was ready to get the mail, I was ready for a nap.
I opened the garage overhead doors, grabbed a ski pole/walking stick and headed into the amazingly gorgeous day. The first thing I noticed was the lack of birds. Everyone was hiding. What I hadn’t noticed was the wind, at least not until I passed the first evergreen tree. Then the wind slapped me in the face and knocked off my knit hat. I grabbed it off the ground hit it against my puffed up coat, shoved it back on my head and continued to slip-sliding towards the mailbox.
Before the snows
The third thing I noticed was the lack of new animal tracks. Wildlife has more brains than I do- they were hiding in their burrows.
The winds picked up the closer I got to the road.
I opened the mailbox and retrieved a handful of bills just as a gust of wind blew in hard from the west, jerking the letters from my frozen gloved hand, tossing them into the ditch and the under the Pussy willow bush. For a moment I debated leaving the mail right where it lay because under that bush -with my mail- was over a foot of snow. With my toes starting to hurt, I reached under the bush; the branches grabbed my hat holding onto it like a decoration. Those branches kept my hat off the snow. I crawled out and retrieved my snowless hat.
The wind pushed me back to the house and into the garage. Tomorrow, I will take the car to get the mail.
Today is January 1, 2018. I haven’t worked on this Blog for a while, clarification on why will be in one of my January ‘2018’ thirty-one Blog posts.
I can’t believe it is already 2018. I said the same thing for 2017, 2016, 2015…. Whoa! Put on the brakes! I need to slow this train down and get to work. Yes, I’ve said the same thing for years. In reality, I have accomplished a lot each year, and just not with my writing. Hmmm! Another future post.
I have been freaking out-and searching out- how can I get my mind to take action this year and work on writing. I started last week by:
I won NaNoWriMo this year, so I had a half off coupon for Scrapple mapping software.
What have I learned from the search for the perfect schedule is to ‘only’ schedule my writing in its own journal; one that isn’t for chores, or work, or gardening, nothing but writing. I found that combining other things in with my writing has my writing pushed to the end of the line and it tumbles off the end of the year, again and again.
I Declare: Not to give up and Not to wander off my writing path.
A Blog Post starting the year isn’t complete without….
WRITING RESOLUTIONS
So this year, writing has its own special journal; a journal that is opened first, checked off first. For other chores, I am using spiral notebooks for the ‘things-to-do-list’ that isn’t’ just sticky notes on my walls, truth be told, I really love sticky notes. I have found spiral notebooks at grocery stores, pharmacies, and even hardware stores. Try to grab a few for yourself during the ‘back-to-school’ season.
I will use writing prompts if I can’t come up with an idea; starting with the month of January, each day I will add something here that stirs my creativity could be an image, a word, an odd idea, even if what I write is horrible.
I will post every month for Insecure Writer’s Support Groupday January 3 question – What steps have you taken or plan to take to put a schedule in place for your writing and publishing?
If you read this far, you can see my plan. So I guess I just checked that off my list for January. Now on to the next thirty (30) days.
