Writing Daily

How great is this poster designed by Giovanni Pintori?

“Write every day!”

I can't tell you how many different sources I've heard say the same thing. Why? Because of what Phillip Pullman says:

One of the hardest things to do with a novel is to stop writing it for a while, do something else, fulfill this engagement or that commitment or whatever, and pick it up exactly where you left it and carry on as if nothing had happened. You will have changed; the story will have drifted off course, like a ship when the engines stop and there’s no anchor to keep it in place; when you get back on board, you have to warm the engines up, start the great bulk of the ship moving through the water again, work out your position, check the compass bearing, steer carefully to bring it back on track … all that energy wasted on doing something that wouldn’t have been necessary at all if you’d just kept going!

I have to admit, when I first read that, I was in the midst of writing my first novel. I still hadn't learned the art of protecting my writing time, or setting personal boundaries. I had to learn to make it clear to the lovelies in my life that:

(a) no, I was not crazy for wanting to write; I felt a fiery, passionate burning to do this; writing is work too, something I love and part of what makes me feel filled and complete,

and

(b) writing was going to be a HIGH priority, like maybe number 3 after faith and family—meaning that everything else would have to be fit in IF there was time.

Sooooo. Daily writing. I have a goal for August. The goal is:

WRITE EVERY DAY.

Will you join me? If you're not a writer, is there something you'd like to be doing daily? Maybe exercise, or keeping your sink clean, or writing in a gratitude journal, or meditating, or eating raw vegetables. Let me know what you plan to do daily this month and we'll help cheer each other along.

Don't know what to write about? Check out Laurie Halse Anderson's posts about her Write 15 Minutes A Day program. There are some excellent writing prompts and advice.

Need a push to develop the discipline for daily writing? Chris Brogan has some great tips.


“Writing is a marathon of the spirit. Don't give up.” - Stuart Cohen

Time to put one word in front of the other.

A Special Gift Is Kindness

click image for a downloadable pdf

We create our own happiness. I know this because I'm a recovering pessimist who is a learning, practicing, living example. Practice totally works! Changing negative thought patterns into positive ones has brought me greater joy and deeper satisfaction in my relationships than I could ever imagine. Even when things aren't perfect.

Especially when thing aren't perfect.

I feel like my life is in transition at the moment. I'm moving out of survival/tread water mode and moving towards the living/breathing/thriving mode. I'm ready to push myself a little bit farther. To see how miraculous and beautiful I can make this life. To start, I'm having a reboot week, starting today. I'm eating only raw foods. I'm spending daily time journaling and reading sacred words and pondering and praying.

And I'm giving up my phone. For one week. [screams] No really. [screams loudly] You can always email me or call me on my home phone. It will be okay. [breathes deeply]

Inspired by advice from Mara from A Blog About Love—who teaches that even in difficult situations, if we focus on attaining a virtue, like forgiveness or courage, we can be resilient and even triumphant during trials—I decided to focus for a few months (or years, or lifetime—however long it takes) on acquiring the virtue of kindness. 

And no sooner had I been thinking this, than information on the subject started flying my way. The Law of Attraction is funny (or awesome, depending on how you look at it) that way.

Noah Webster describes kindness this way:

1. Good will; benevolence; that temper or disposition which delights in contributing to the happiness of others, which is exercised cheerfully in gratifying their wishes, supplying their wants or alleviating their distresses; benignity of nature. Kindness ever accompanies love. 


2. Act of good will; beneficence; any act of benevolence which promotes the happiness or welfare of others. Charity, hospitality, attentions to the wants of others, &c., are deemed acts of kindness, or kindnesses.

Isn't that beautiful?

And while I was pondering upon the virtue of kindness, the words of a hymn began to circle around in my head, and then ever so slowly, sink into my heart with a new, deeper meaning than I had been ready to understand before.

Savior, may I learn to love thee,
Walk the path that thou hast shown,
Pause to help and lift another,
Finding strength beyond my own.
Savior, may I learn to love thee-
Lord, I would follow thee.

Kindness requires strength beyond my own ability, and I have help as I seek to acquire that virtue. Heaven's help.

Who am I to judge another
When I walk imperfectly?
In the quiet heart is hidden
Sorrow that the eye can't see.
Who am I to judge another?
Lord, I would follow thee.

Kindness is showing compassion instead of resentment when people don't treat us the way we hoped. Kindness is recognizing that happy, emotionally healthy people don't lash out at others. Kindness knows that people who are unkind are suffering in their own way.

Kindness is refraining from judging, criticizing, or gossiping about others. Kindness sees the best in everyone.

I would be my brother's keeper;
I would learn the healer's art.
To the wounded and the weary
I would show a gentle heart.
I would be my brother's keeper-
Lord, I would follow thee.

Kindness can be learned! This is the best news for someone like me whose gut instinct is to react to the world with "tough love" and an attitude that people should help themselves and a belief that people only get what they deserve. Kindness instead is teaching in a gentle way, not accepting the victim mentality, but lifting and offering to help when we can.

Savior, may I love my brother
As I know thou lovest me,
Find in thee my strength, my beacon,
For thy servant I would be.
Savior, may I love my brother-
Lord, I would follow thee.

How much does the Lord love us? So much so, that as he was dying on the cross, he offered this prayer to his Father on behalf of those who were crucifying him: "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do." That is the type of love and kindness we can show to those around us.

How do you practice kindness? I DON'T REALLY KNOW. But I'm trying. I'm studying and pondering and saying to myself "I am kind. I am tenderhearted." and putting reminders everywhere. And the best part? Kindness changes the giver as much as the receiver.

Any thoughts you'd like to share or things you've learned while practicing kindness?

fresh start

if i had to describe last year in one word, i think it would be culmination. a lot of things i've given my blood, sweat and tears for came to fruition. it seems every aspect of my life was so richly blessed. it was kind of a breather year, a chance to regroup, to pause, to reflect and enjoy life. it was a year full of tender mercies. i am so grateful and so thankful.

and now it's 2012. i love when things are new and shiny and fresh and clean. i love making resolutions, recommitting myself to values i believe in, dreaming and envisioning exactly what i want my life to look like and finding out ways to make that happen. last year i only made one goal: DO NOT SHOP AT WALMART.

ta duh! i was a success.

this year, i'm feeling like i can handle a little more. it's time to push a little farther out of my comfort zone. i feel the yearning to be better, to be more, to close some of the gaps between the person i am and the person i want to be. and so, i have been making lists, planning, changing, deleting all my game apps off my phone.

i am ready. i am ready to say: thy will be done. the words to this talk by robert d. hales moved me and inspired me to make this shift, this change.

To wait upon the Lord means planting the seed of faith and nourishing it “with great diligence, and … patience.”

It means praying as the Savior did—to God, our Heavenly Father—saying: “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done.” It is a prayer we offer with our whole souls in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Waiting upon the Lord means pondering in our hearts and “receiv[ing] the Holy Ghost” so that we can know “all things what [we] should do.”

As we follow the promptings of the Spirit, we discover that “tribulation worketh patience” and we learn to “continue in patience until [we] are perfected.”

Waiting upon the Lord means to “stand fast” and “press forward” in faith, “having a perfect brightness of hope.”

It means “relying alone upon the merits of Christ” and “with [His] grace assisting [us, saying]: Thy will be done, O Lord, and not ours.”

As we wait upon the Lord, we are “immovable in keeping the commandments,” knowing that we will “one day rest from all [our] afflictions.”

i don't know what this year will look like, but i envision myself more often on my knees, more often with my scriptures open, more often seeking the answers from my heavenly father. i am ready for him to make more out of me than i have been able to myself.

what are your resolutions this year? do you set the bar low or high? do you pick a theme like i do? inspire me!

quilting on the brain

added to the bucket list: sew a quilt or two or four.

and an update. i have failed on all of my new years resolutions but two (still no soda and no new clothes). but i am still trying my best. i always aim high and shoot low. what can i say?

confessional

i am so tired.

i have failed in my goal to write every day in 2010.

i have a secret love for the singer aaron neville.

i ate a rotisserie chicken the day after i watched food, inc.

i vacuumed my room for the first time in ... really i can't remember when i last vacuumed it. maybe june?

i am in love with the book i am reading. i love it so much i don't want to tell people about it, because what if they don't like it?

i have been crying all day, off and on for the dumbest reason, but i can't stop. somebody put me to bed.

i feel like throwing up every time i think about starting work full time again tomorrow.

wish me luck. i'll be doing it all without sugar this year. NO TREATS UNTIL APRIL 15th.

An Addict and 5 Chins

Okay peeps. I am really behind on blogging and it's just going to get worse.

I have accepted a new assignment at church (Relief Society secretary) and said goodbye to my previous assignment with great rejoicing and choirs singing alleluias in my head. Not one tear shed in sadness.

But, with the change comes a lot of work and meetings, plus there is the looming Tax Season of 2010 that I am preparing for. I am really busy. Can you tell? While the world mourns their losses in Haiti, I blog about getting new shoes. Also, I leave it up for more than a week. Don't worry. I made a donation to the Red Cross at Costco to make up for my shallowness.

I still need to blog about: (1) basketball season, (2) a change to my New Year's Resolutions, (3) an author signing, (4) a birthday party

But first, allow me to reminisce. So far, I have been perfect in keeping my goal for no soda in 2010. But did you know, like a true addict I went out with a bang? On New Year's Eve I made a visit to Pop the Soda Shop in South Scottsdale to fill up one last time.

Think: aisles of dusty cardboard boxes filled with every kind of bottled soda that exists in the known world.

My sisters and me.

And now the 5 chins. Please meet my brother-in-law Clint, husband to my sister Angela. He is hysterically funny, argues passionately about his beliefs and I would suggest bringing him along on any outing. Guaranteed to be more fun. Our little jaunt turned into a contest to see who could make the most chins. I think I won, but tragically only have the pictures of Clint's 5 chins to show you. Also, Clint has a blog and sings in a band. You may love one or both.

Ring out the old, ring in the new

I love this time of year. A time for taking personal inventory, starting over, renewing commitments. The blank, white future is ahead of us all, waiting for us to write the story of our lives with our thoughts and actions. What kind of story will you tell?

I just got back from a fabulous trip to Arizona. Much more on that later. We left Christmas day and stopped at a gas station along the way. I asked the clerk if he was upset about working on Christmas. "Oh no," he replied, "I love working." And it sounded like he really meant it.

His reply struck me. It's been marinating for more than a week. This man is a convenience store clerk in a tiny Utah town and he seemed genuinely happy about all of it. I wanted to know what his secret was and how I could become more like that. More of a optimist. More satisfied with the things allotted to me.

And so, with him in mind, I went about setting my resolutions and thinking up a theme for 2010. Mine will be:

all in good time

This phrase is framed and displayed in my home. It reminds me that:

1.) Diligence in the small things can yield the most miraculous results,

and

2.) none of us are perfect, yet.

I want 2010 to be a year of growth in spirituality and writing talent, and improved overall health. This year I am focused on the small steps to get me there. So, if you are still with me, here are my resolutions for 2010 (in order from what I think will be easiest to hardest):

1. No soda, all year.

2. Buy no new clothes, all year (unless, of course, I happen to receive a GIFT CARD for my birthday to a place that sells clothes[not that that is a hint or anything]).

3. Attend the temple twice a month.

4. Write every day.

5. Read my scriptures and pray, every day.

6. Run 3 half marathons.

7. Go 10 weeks without any treats/sweets/sugar. (I'm starting February 1st. Anyone care to join me?)

Sounds like a year full of denial. I can't wait.