survey says...

~ ding ding ding ding ding ~

I had a pretty great signing today for my poetry collection Three Thousand Doors.

My best friend sent flowers...from North Dakota. Honestly, if no one had shown their face at my signing today, I would have been happy because I had flowers from Kaci. because she loves me.
Lucky for me though, I also sold what I think is a decent number of copies. 

Now here's the thing...I've been to several signings in the past three years. My publishing firm has 13 titles available, we've had local signings for about 10 of those titles. Signings are weird creatures. Sometimes we sell a lot...sometimes we sell a few.

The thing all four partners agree upon is this: every signing gets our name out there (as individuals AND as a business.)

Positive thinking? Yes, I believe so.

Prompt #26: What are your expectations? Are you disappointed if events don't meet those expectations? Or do you have the capacity to think positively, and be proud of the efforts made?

Aspire to great things...

If you hear a voice within you say "you cannot paint," then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.  ~Vincent Van Gogh

I have a stubborn streak.

Anyone who knows me will attest to this, and most likely follow it with "Uh, yah, that's an understatement!"

I'm not ashamed of my stubbornness, it has carried me far.
The best way to get me to do something is to imply that it cannot be done,
or rather, that I cannot do it...

WATCH ME!

I like a challenge.

People are like stained-glass windows.  They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is light from within.  ~Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

I loathe muddling.
I detest those brief moments of darkness when I feel like I may not be shining at my brightest...

and I will change like the seasons if things are not moving in a direction I desire.

I don't fear change, nor the uncertainty that moves in like a slow fog...the thing I fear is mediocrity.

I prefer to dream big. I prefer to be extraordinary.

prompt #25 - What is your greatest motivator? How do you face challenges? Do you shy away from the unknown?

Life's Like a Jump rope...

Blue October - Jump Rope

This song has the ability to put me in a great mood. It's just so (as my friend Kelsey would say) "ding-dang" cheery! How can you not smile when you hear a bunch of kids singing along with Blue October...yaaaaaaahhhhhh!

This year has been a big year for change and challenge. Me, my friends, loved ones...we've all had a multitude of things to absorb, adjust to, deal with.

BIG changes.
life-altering changes.
permanent changes.
tear-inducing changes.
and some happy-making changes.

Some people fight change.
Some people roll with it.
Some people ignore it; deny that it's happening.
Some people just sit back and wait for the clouds to roll away.

There is no right or wrong in it. we do what we do. we ride the roller coaster, jump through life's hoops, and wait for our chance to stop and take a breath now and then.

Life is...
tragic and beautiful, 
incredible and heartbreaking,
balanced and topsy-turvy,
up and down...
like a jump rope.

prompt #24 - How do you react to change? Are you a go-with-the-flow-er or a fight-it-all-the-way-er?
Or pick a big change that you've dealt with and write about how you powered through it. 

Picking through the past...

For some reason, even though I desperately want to, I cannot get rid of my old writing.

Old, BAD, writing! Old, bad writing that I thought was fantastic when I was 12, and 16, and 18. sigh. Oh boy, was I delusional.

The thing is, someone long ago told me never to get rid of anything I write.

So here I am, some 20+ years later, with stacks of writing I'm pretty much embarrassed by. Piles of junk that make me laugh out loud and cringe at the absurdity and childishness of what I wrote. ugh!

The good thing about that bad writing, is that it allows me to see how far I've come and how my writing has progressed. I don't write in circles as I used to. My lines and words are much cleaner - more precise - more thought out and controlled. Without the ridiculous, juvenile writing to look back on, perhaps I would never know how far I've come.

And really, isn't life about growing, rather than being stagnant?

Prompt# 23 - Do you have old writing you've saved, but you're almost ashamed to pull it out and read it again? Do it anyway, find an old piece of junk and shine it up! One thing I've found is this: sometimes, in those piles of rubbish, there is a gem to be found - just a line or a few words that can be refashioned - like piecing a quilt together from old scraps. Why not write a "quilt" today...