Sunday, March 17, 2013

Another gorgeous Sunday

I didn't write a thing for my novel this weekend. I was sooo good last weekend, wipping out 2 chapters. Oh well, it's no use going through a handy list of excuses or beating myself up. I hardly ever miss journalling. I got my 3 morning pages (à la Julia Cameron, The Artist's Way) every day this week except for this morning.

I met my best buddy for a long, gabby breakfast halway between our towns. It is always comforting and energizing spending time together. It's simple and easy and we "get" each other. What a gift!

I went for a long walk in the woods with another friend. We met other villagers out and about in the woods enjoying the March sunshine. The snow is packed and hard enough now that we can get around without our snowshoes.

Every now and again, I love reading http://zenhabits.net/.

I've been reading  Brené Brown's The Gift Of Imperfection this week. I love this book. I'm copying so many passages in my journal.

Here is aomething called a vowel check:
A: Have I been Abstinent today? (Abstinent of numbing behaviours)
E: Have I Exercised today?
I: What have I done for myself today?
O: what have I done for Others today?
U: Am I holding on to Unexpressed emotions today?
Y: Yeah! What is something good that happened today?

I also looked up "lovebombers" because Brené Brown referred to this group of ladies who gather for a long weekend once a year. I discovered a gorgeous blog
http://kellyraeroberts.blogspot.ca/

I just discovered that Brené Brown has a popular TedTalk called The Power of Vulnerability which I must check, but not now. It's time for a bedtime snack.




Saturday, March 9, 2013

Glorious day on the trails

Kicking myself in the tush in order to keep writing my kids' novel. After spending most of March break doing anything but work on the novel, I wrote chapter 12 on Thursday and I sat down for 2 hours and wrote chapter 13 this morning. I rewarded myself with a nice snowshoe walk in the woods.
 





Yesterday, I went to Ottawa with a couple of friends. Fairweathers' at the Rideau Centre is closing. All of the mannequins were lined up as if they were waiting around for their next deployment.

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Tweaking my blog

Simplifying my life online
I was afraid of bringing all of myself together online, but I decided tonight that if I'm going to simplify my life, I should also simplify my Internet persona. I admire other people who don't hide behind cute pseudonyms and tell you who they are warts, hang ups and all. I rewrote my header using my Twitter bio as inspiration. Twitter was the first place where I told the world who I was and what I love. Youtube has been bugging me to use my real name instead of QueenBB or Queenbeebee222.

I put links to my other blogs, my main Youtube channel and my main website (which is intended for my middle grade students). For years, I had websites and blogs for all kinds of interests or occupations, so many that as I was posting links, I kept finding blogs which I'd forgotten about. No wonder few of them were updating regularly.

Communicating on another plane
My best buddy is away for 10 days in a silent meditation retreat. No phone, no Internet, no books, no journalling (but I'm sure she's cheating on that clause), no talking with table mates while eating vegetarian food in the refectory.

They wake you up at 4:30 every morning so that you can meditate before breakfast. Now, when I say that this is my best buddy, this is the friend I with whom I could drive across Canada and not get into an argument. This is also the friend who is already on the line before it rings when I go to call her. I swear that ever since her first morning at the retreat I have woken up either just a bit before or not long after 4:30 am. I am purposefully staying up late tonight to see if I will wake up around 4:30 am again tomorrow morning, day 5 of her 10 day retreat.

My computer says that it is soon going on midnight. I better head on upstairs to bed just in case a silent gong goes off in my head and I wake up at 4:30 again.

http://www.dhamma.org/

Gotta write if I want to submit

Almost 5 months since last post
I can't believe that the last time I posted on this blog was September. I'm not doing a very good job at blogging on this one. Maybe I should have have just one blog. I have several blogs for different interests. But, that's me, spread thin like someone who loves hot butter on toast but who doesn't want the fat.

It's now March break and I promised myself that I would continue writing the middle grade novel I started over a year ago. I haven't yet. I've been sorting clothes and kitchen drawers.

But I have been writing
To be fair to myself I have been writing. I started a new blog to get over a checking habit and some anxiety issues which came on like post traumatic stress after a couple of events over 10 years ago. 
I've given myself the 31 days of this month to make some real changes and to get out of some very bad and self-limiting habits. You can read that blog at http://flowletgo.blogspot.ca/

Got poem published on ezine
One of my poems, When I was young and in love, was published on the Long Story Short Poetry Page in February.

My first chapbook
I self-published my first chapbook called Purple Ink because my favourite pen Pentel Energel liquid gel purple ink and I usually write my morning pages in purple ink. I published about 15 copies and gave them away at Christmas. Last year, I had used Garageband to record and produce all of the tracks for an album (CD) of original songs called Queenbeabea.

Unblocking my artist
I'm still slogging away at Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way and writing morning pages. I've written hundreds of pages and been through a number of journal since last summer.

I enjoy the process of writing. I enjoy writing for fun.
Maybe I don't really care about being published. Maybe I'm fooling myself. Maybe I'm scared.
FEAR = False Evidence Appearing Real


Darn! I missed the submission deadline for CarteBlanche by 2 days!!