ISWG Wednesday!

My post for ISWG Wednesday. Join us !

I must confess! Since my last post I've done absolutely zero writing! My life has been insane and I can't keep up with anything :(

A window into my life is working close to 30 hours a week, driving sometimes 100 miles a day to commute to work and appointments. I take my daughter into therapy twice a week, plus now therapeutic horseback riding lessons, and this week an additional doctor appointment on top of that. We started homeschooling our youngest child, so I have to check on things related to that (thankfully she is very independent). Then add the usual household things like grocery shopping, cleaning, laundry, cooking, and caring for my mini-zoo of 3 dogs and 2 cats.

Every time I think things will settle down, they don't, but every once in a while I get the urge to write and then go at it for days on end. Plus the story I'm writing still has no ending so I have no urgency to finish immediately. But I know this is true for others out there too- we all truly live crazy lives in this rat race.

I've also been posting quotes from a book by Nat'l Geo called Daily Peace, and the theme for November is kindness. The quote for today is,

"It is the heart always that sees, before the head can see." - Thomas Carlyle

I love the theme for this month, but I fear kindness is a dying quality. Our environment and social climate has nothing to do with the greater good of all, but is driven by greed and selfishness. I see it every day in big and small ways, but it is not all gloom and doom, because I believe God will step in someday and save us from ourselves. I highly recommend the documentary Before the Flood with Leonardo Di Caprio, if you want to know what I'm talking about.

Set Her Free

September 27th

"I do not understand the mystery of grace- only that it meets us where we are and does not leave us where it found us."
- Anne Lamott (quote from Daily Peace by National Geographic)

I'm not really sure what the context of this quote is, but taken in a spiritual sense, I have to say that with all that I've been through recently, if it were not for my faith I don't believe I could have survived. I've come out wiser, sadder, but not bitter.



I just finished reading this book, (see my review on Goodreads). The author was forced from her farm in Zimbabwe under the Mugabe government, and proceeded to rescue horses from abuse and neglect, shuttling them from place to place until they finally came to Mozambique. To me it's another important story that needs to be told of how we have failed our stewardship of this beautiful planet.



Also finished the second book in this combo, Shadows on the Grass.

Read any good books lately?

Balance

"Don't get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life." - Dolly Parton (From Daily Peace by National Geographic)

Of course that's easily said by a multi-millionaire in the entertainment world, not that I don't agree, but in the real world, it's hard to find a balance. In the modern world with all the "conveniences" that are supposed to make our lives easier, why are we struggling to find time to spend with our family and do the things we love?

Not everything is in our control, but I've been working to simplify our lives. If there is less stuff, there is less mess to clean up. Neither my husband nor I have ever been big shoppers, but we have kids, and that means an endless cycle of buying clothes as they grow and cleaning out the old. Same with toys, and I have to admit I give in to buying more than is necessary in that department.

Streamlining my life leaves me more time to read and of course, write.

Any thoughts?

Back again!

Here's to being consistent and not getting kicked out of IWSG for non participation!

I've been writing off and on for years, submitting even less, and stopping altogether for long periods of time. I'm back to writing and have a great start on my book, which is non-fiction. But time and life get in the way and it's hard to stay on track. I'm looking forward to more consistency and progress, and connecting again with people who understand the challenges and continue to be supportive!

Don't call it a dream, call it a plan

My post title is a quote from a calender hanging in my house. It's my new motto.

I've been subscribing to the backpacker's magazine for over a year now but I'm no closer to actually going on a trip. But no worries, it's not such a stretch for me. I've camped my whole life, although it has come to camping in a fully equipped trailer over the past several years. I've also hiked my whole life, but not both together.

The thought of backpacking, while conjuring romantic pictures of sitting in a flowering meadow on a mountain while holding a cup of steaming coffee, is probably going to be pouring rain, bug bites, and shivering through the night and wishing I packed that warm sweater. And that scares me. That and my limited budget. Buying every conceivable need is expensive, so my plan is to start with baby steps. Small trips, purchases well thought out, and getting back into physical shape.

Does any of this involve writing? Of course it does, but mostly just finding some way to disconnect from the frantic life I lead and find peace again. I long for that.

So what are your plans?

Perspective

"You pray in your distress and in your need; would that you might pray also in the fullness of your joy and in your days of abundance." Kahlil Gibran

Quote from Daily Peace book by National Geographic

I've revamped my blog and deleted a lot of personal posts that I had written as my own therapeutic way of dealing with a crisis. While my crisis is far from over, I've learned not to live it day and night, and that escape is good too.

I have been journalling, and for the first time in my life I actually finished out an entire book! I've been to one, sadly yes, just one meeting of the local writing association, but the speaker had an idea that I really liked. It was a 5 year journal that each page was divided into 5 small sections, and each entry was a small excerpt of what happened that day. At the end of the year, you go back and start over, filling in the next section and having the fun of seeing what happened exactly a year ago. Of course I bought a journal, and there it sits, empty on my nightstand.

Time to get started again with writing and connecting-

Where do I start? ISWG post for April

This week's post is about getting back in the game. I thought I would start by first of all writing again, which is always a good place to start when you want to be a writer. Then I've been tossing around ideas such as children's books, a memoir (but our story is not finished yet), short stories to get established, and so on.

I had started to try a build a platform about my subject on facebook, twitter, and a blog but that was slow to get off the ground. An interesting thing started to happen too. I began to realize that although my topic, bullying, has been a top story in the news lately, most internet sites against bullying aren't very popular. I found a book in my local library by an author called Odd Girl Out, and looked up her website. The book hit the New York Times bestseller list but on facebook she only had 12K followers.

With my story and others that I began hearing through social media, I realized that society was prone to re-victimize the victims by placing blame on them vs. the bully. It was disheartening to say the least. I found even friends assuming when they heard our story sound sympathetic towards the bully, having come to the conclusion that she must be from an abusive home to act the way she did. The truth is- she came from an upper middle class, educated family that refused to believe her capable of such things, let alone take responsibility.

I've decided I do need to tell my story. Most people feel shame when their child is the target of bullying, but I am proud of my daughter. I taught her to be a kind, compassionate person. She's beautiful inside and out, and she's intelligent. She did nothing to provoke the bully, who had begun as a friend and turned into her worst nightmare. It's a story that parents and educators need to hear, and a story of hope as I will never give up on my girl. She will survive and succeed in recovery.

My daughter found a song on the internet called a Wanderer's Lullaby, which reduced me to a pile of tears. In part the lyrics say you are a "masterpiece in the making" and that is how I see her. I will do anything it takes to heal her and help her reach her potential.