Tag Writing

Why won’t my bus pass work?

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Yesterday, I was rushing to catch the train as usual.

I scanned my train card and tried to go through the turn style. Negative, the turn style was not moving. Once again, I scanned my train card, and tried to quickly pass through the turn style. AGAIN, it was not working. The night before I had added money to my card, so WHY wasn’t it working. I scanned the card “one more time,” and the turn style would not budge.

At this point, I had to move away from the turn style. It was embarrassing, all of the busy commuters looking irritated that I was “holding up the line.”

WHAT was the PROBLEM!

I looked at my train card…  It was NOT my train card. It was my devotional card for Saint Leopoldo of Padua. I visited his shrine in Italy a few years ago. He is known as the Saint who could heal you of your illness. At his shrine, there was a room full of photos that family members had sent of loved ones that they asked Saint Leopoldo to pray and heal them. He had a small room where he would hear people’s confessions. I bought this devotional card and always carry it with me.

So, I did have to SMILE!

This was Saint Leopoldo’s CLEVER way of telling me to slow down. Time for a trip to Padua and Abano Terme. For those of you who do not know, Abano Terme has hot springs and mud baths. People go here to rest and rejuvenate.

Sometimes in life, we need a SIGN to take care of ourselves!

Thank you, Saint Leopoldo. We have a three day holiday coming up, I will rest!

Comedy, as writing inspiration, get rid of writer’s block…

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As a writer, we get “writer’s block.” Life becomes overwhelming, ideas are not flowing freely. We need to find a way to open the channels of our creativity.

Comedy – I decided I needed to laugh.

By chance, I found a TV show called, “Miracle Workers,” I gave the first episode a shot, it was SO FUNNY! It just came out 2019. I laughed, because they show God in a corporate office in Heaven, sitting on a sofa switching through TV Channels to see what is happening on Earth. He’s so disappointed with what he sees… like us, God is tired of his job and decides he will just blow up Earth and start a new project.

I laughed AGAIN, because in Heaven there is a department called, “Unanswered Prayers.” They show only two people in charge of that department with piles and piles of requests, they can’t possibly help everyone.

So, that explains it, my “unanswered prayer” has been sitting in God’s slush pile for 7 years collecting dust.

If you take a look at this Youtube trailer for the show, you’ll understand why this comedy is so hilarious. Silly sure, but just what a writer needs to laugh a little and be reminded that God gets tired too and that sometimes we just have to do it ourselves!

Basically, this is a humorous way of comparing Heaven to normal life in a corporation.

Show is based on the novel What’s in God’s Name by Simon Rich.

Sore throat? HALLS cough drops will give you inspiration…

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I had to share this with you. When we have a sore throat many of us turn to Halls cough drops. In a hurry, we take the cough drop out of the wrapper, pop the cough drop in our mouth and throw away the wrapper.

Now, have you ever looked at the wrapper? I have to admit, I have not. Well, for some reason my daughter did. It was so amusing, the wrapper was filled with motivational messages.

So, as I am getting a cold… arghhh… I smiled at my Halls wrapper message today.

I sure do need a “battle cry!”

Thanks, HALLS!

When you need writing inspiration, take a walk in the Zoo!

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1666711D-6630-40D2-8E8E-8C0F71F8D979I love Fall, it’s such a great time of year. Yesterday, I went for a walk and I ended up at the zoo. It was a blustery day as Pooh Bear would say. I needed inspiration for my writing and taking a walk always helps clear the mind and offers new ideas.

I found this lion photo amusing. So, the male is sleeping while the female watches out for danger. From time to time, the male lion did lift his head to ROAR, and boy was it loud. I was in the gift shop when I heard him. He went on a few times. I rushed to the door thinking I would see him on top of the rock where the lioness was sitting. You know, letting the entire zoo know he was in charge. No such luck.

As I continued my walk I got a good shot of the zebra.

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I think you might enjoy this quick video of the Japanese Macaque.

Would love to hear where you go walking for inspiration.

Cover letters, how creative can you get?

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student studyingWrite. Stop, Think. Write again. I’ve been writing cover letters. It’s exhausting. I wonder how creative I can get. I’m at a point where I need to start new tactics, change things up, see what happens. Maybe use a bit of humor.

For example, how about this:

Dear Joe, While this isn’t the exact job I am looking for, if it pays well, I’m interested.

OR

Dear Sally, When you say I need to be able to lift 50 lbs, what exactly would I be lifting. I thought this was a desk job.

When I was working for a manufacturing company, they put me in charge of reading cover letters and gathering resumes. I was shocked at how many people sent resumes without cover letters. If they wrote a cover letter, it was 3 sentences at the most saying, “Here is my resume,” and others that had typos.

I have to keep that in mind when I am sending my resume out. It’s all about “timing” too. If there is one job and 150 resumes, we know that HR does not read all of the resumes. We didn’t. We would read them down the line until we found 5-10 good resumes. Call to see if applicant could come in for an interview, if not, back to the resume list.

So, there is some LUCK involved in this job hunting stuff.

Where’s a lucky penny when I need it?

Writing: Is your brain on overload?

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Some days, we are write (I mean right.) on target with our writing goals and other days, it seems we will never find the last piece to the puzzle.

Brain is confusedI’m writing my children’s book and my brain is on overload. Too many wires out there and they are not connecting. If you are a writer or a student working on a term paper or thesis, you know exactly what I’m talking about.

We’re trying to focus, so that our writing path is clear, but our mind cannot quiet down and concentrate!

I know this is when we are told to “meditate.” I’ve tried that. My brain does quiet down for 5 minutes, then it is back to brain chaos.

This made me think of inventors. Can you imagine the patience they have to have when they keep reaching a dead end! I’m sure Thomas Edison banged his fist on the table many times when he was inventing the light bulb!

The key is visualizing the end result. Keeping our mind on the prize!

So, TODAY is about finding a break through!

The Red Quill Pen

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With my red quill pen in hand, I can officially say, “it is time to write.”

My daughter recently asked me how my children’s book was coming along. I told her I was at the cliff hanger part… “You know, where you think the character is doomed and won’t make it out alive, so you sit at the edge of your seat, KNOWING there is ALWAYS a way out, but HOW?! This is a James Bond situation.”

So, I made a joke with her that it was the computer that was holding me back from being creative. If I “just had” a red quill pen, I could think like a Pirate!

I was missing the days of the old typewriter where you had to really THINK of every word you typed; otherwise, you would be yanking the page out of the typewriter constantly, crumpling it up and throwing it in the waste basket only to start again.

So… I was pleasantly surprised when my daughter gave me a red quill pen for Mother’s Day!

NOW, you can write, she said. I really laughed, but where was the ink well and the thick paper that makes a scratching noise when the Pirate writes? Can’t have everything at once, right.

THE UNIVERSE IS AT WORK!

Another interesting thing happened last week. I was laid off work, so it would appear that the Universe is setting me up to write the end of my children’s story “in between job searching,” of course. No excuses now!

I’m following a few good writing Blogs. Visit “A Writer’s Path,” and this weekend on “Live to Write – Write to Live,” there was a wonderful Blog about facing our inner critic for any topic in our lives called, “Weekend Edition – Battling the Writer’s Inner Critic,” by Suddenly Jamie.  You’ll read that and be inspired!

So, with quill in hand I write… “You dare to touch the nose of a sleeping tiger!?”

A New Year – 2016

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The Start of the Race. Photo from www.Pixabay.com.

We are “officially” into 2016 and that means reviewing our “bucket list” and breaking it down into four quarters.

Why four quarters?  Well, if you think about it, life is like a relay race. In a relay race there are four runners. Similarly, in a year there are four quarters/chances to bring home the Gold and accomplish great things.

Last year, when I decided to make the big move to Seattle I used the four quarter strategy to set my plans in motion. Was it easy?  NO, but every time fear would set in, I would tell myself, “Stick with the plan!!”

My father owned his own business, so we saw him go through the ups and downs of the economy, etc. He taught his four kids that we were the only ones who could “make things happen.” His favorite phrase was “no one serves you anything on a silver platter.”

This year I have new goals. What are they you are wondering?  Well, I can’t reveal them. It’s like wishing on a lucky star, you have to keep the wish to yourself and wait for it to come true.

Goals are like that. If you share your goals with others they usually “laugh” and say, “Where did you come up with that idea?  It will never happen, are you crazy?”

So this time, I got smart! When I decided to move to Seattle, I didn’t tell anyone, I just focused on making it happen. Oh, I wanted to tell people, because I wanted them to be happy for me, but I could not “risk” the negative comments.

I have learned that most people fear change, but their biggest fear is what family and friends will think. They need that approval. The key to success is to “not” need outside approval. Instead, follow your passion, follow your dreams, and with determination let your gut instincts lead you to success.

The worst thing that will happen is you fall down and have a to get back up. Just like riding a bike, you KNOW you will do it, you just don’t know how many times you will have to fall before you finally ride like a pro.

So, here’s to coming up with a FOUR QUARTER plan for 2016!

Be determined, keep reviewing and adjusting it, and when a bit of doubt sets in, REMEMBER to tell yourself, “It CAN be done!  STICK WITH THE PLAN.”

I’ll see YOU at the Finish Line on December 31, 2016!

And remember…   GO FOR THE GOLD!