Life in General

Novel Mania Continues

We're halfway through November, which means the Christmas hype is in full swing. Some people (like me!) valiantly try to hold off acknowledging the arrival of the Christmas season until after Thanksgiving, but its getting more difficult to do that each year as media and retailers jerk us into Christmas before Halloween is even over.

Halfway through Novemeber also means halfway through NaNoWriMo (current word count 27, 308), and here are some things I've discovered as I muddle my way through this process: I love the way everything I've read about the writing process is absolutely true...not waiting for inspiration, but just sitting before the page and letting your inner artist guide you, showing up at the page at the same time every day (and night!), just writing it down without letter your inner critic have any time to play with it...all these things work!

I love the way my characters are making me look at my own life differently...for example, the main character in my story is terminally ill, so a major focus is the way we spend time on earth. Its sobering, particularly because the basis for my story is a true situation, and also because I have some other friends who are also facing serious illness. It's forcing me to look at many aspects in my life - the way I spend my time and who I spend it with - in another light. I've been visiting a very interesting blog that speaks to this very issue, in quite touching and exciting ways.

I love the way this venture has empowered me (and lots of others!) to complete something most of us never imagined we could. Yea, encouragement for stepping outside the box!

I hate the way my creative energy is consumed with this project, so there seems to be nothing left for my other creative activities - like poetry and haiku, writing posts for the blog, and even music.

As you can see, the loves far outweigh the hates, which is always my test of whether something is a good idea or not! So, I will soldier on...more updates when time allows...

Sunday Scribblings-Driving My Life

~I don't want to be a passenger in my own life.~
Diane Ackerman

I love to drive. I always have. I love racy little sports cars, and I've even owned a few in my time. I usually drive too fast, and I'd drive even faster if I wasn't afraid of getting caught.

There, I've admitted one of my few dangerous passions. My love of driving is a very concrete example of the way I feel about Diane Ackerman's quote. Because as much as I love driving, that's how much I despise riding.

Of course, it all comes down to being in control - of whatever horsepower you've got rumbling under the hood, and whatever dreams you have spinning in your heart. I like to be the one in charge of getting myself to whatever destination I have in mind - whether it's to work on Monday, or to my goal of completing that NaNoWriMo novel in 30 days. So, I get really irritated when construction barrels pop up on my favorite freeway, slowing me down, and impeding my progress. I get angry when circumstances (completely out of my control) play havoc with my plans and put the brakes on my dreams. When I suddenly have twice as much work to do, because someone at work quit their job. When the economic markets fall and my carefully crafted plans for vacations or retirement are suddenly rendered impossible. All of a sudden, I'm not only a helpless passenger, but one whose life is stuck in a traffic jam 100 miles long.

And as hard as I work to maintain my position on life's highway, there are times when I'm forced to crawl into the backseat because someone or something has wrested the wheel away from me. And when I'm huddled there, unable to clearly see the road ahead, its really easy to simply give up and go to sleep until the trip is over.

But then I hear that deep throated rumble of the engine, the rush of the wind in my hair, and suddenly I'm strong enough to take control of this journey after all. No looking back at what might have been, or crying over the if-only's. Just grab the wheel, put my foot to the floor, and aim in the direction I want to go.

To paraphrase Forest Gump, life is like a road trip...sometimes I'm the driver, and sometimes I'm just along for the ride. But, wherever I happen to sit in the car, I try to follow this advice from motivational author Byrd Baggett...

~Look at life through the windshield, not the rear-view mirror~

photo courtesy of stockxpert

Make My Day

I can't remember when I've been so happy to see Friday! It's been a long week, but here are some of the things that "made my day" today...

~a piece of stunning, original art, created for me by one of my fellow bloggers, arrived in my mailbox this morning...thank you, my friend!

~the sunshine and 60 degree temperatures, perfect for walking the dogs...

~and speaking of dogs..

~these two always make my day...

~getting very close to 20,000 words on my NaNoWriMo novel...maybe I can do this after all...

~a new tea, called Black Pearl, that comes in the cutest triangular shaped mesh bag, and has a light, mellow taste...yummy and very soothing...

~a trip to the library and bringing home Happiness Sold Separately, by Lolly Winston; On Agate Hill, by Lee Smith; What Remains, by Carole Radziwill; and for real fun, something called The Merlot Murders, A Wine Country Mystery, by Ellen Crosby. Which one to read first - always a delightful dilemma...

~the next three episodes of Big Love arriving on DVD from Netflix, my newest TV obsession since the finale of Six Feet Under...

~knowing that tomorrow is another day off...

What made your day today?

Still Standing

Is it really only Wednesday? Wow, I feel like each of the days of this week has lasted about 36 hours, and I've been crazy busy for every one them. My life is like a whirlwind right now - there's my day job, which is nuts since I lost my "alter ego," a very good partner and friend, who made the difficult decision to take a leave of absence for family reasons. Then, of course, there's school, with the holiday concert season looming ahead. And of course, NaNoWriMo, and the drain on my creative energy trying to keep up pace. I have literally not had one extra minute this week...and I really don't have one now, either. It's 11:37 pm - I've been up since 5:30 am, been to work, to school, back to work, home, to a church rehearsal, back home, on a long heart to heart phone call with my son, and then an emotional semi- finale of Dancing With the Stars ( it's one of my guilty pleasures). But I felt the need to touch base with all my guiding stars out there in the blogsphere - let you know I'm thinking of you, and that I value the wisdom and guidance you all offer me each day with your insightful, wise, and wonderful words. Tonight I find myself thinking a lot about life, and what it offers us, and how we use it. Sometimes, the things that life puts in front of us are difficult, and painful, and we make choices that have the potential to do great harm. Then again, sometimes we are offered the opportunity to make something great out of something that seems very miniscule and unimportant. I have always believed that God, or the universe, or whatever higher power you might believe in, has a way of aligning events and circumstances for our greater good. The trick is to be aware of all the possibilities, and be open to them. So, sometimes, when things seem their darkest, there is a greater good hiding behind the seemingly endless quagmire of disaster. It might take some slogging through the muck to get there, but ultimately, you'll find something shiny and clean waiting for you at the end.

I'm slogging through the muck of life right now, and so are some of the people I most love and care about...but I've been around long enough to know that there are lovely green fields on the other side of this muddy pasture. We'll just keep plowing through until we find them.