Five Ways to Change Your Life...Right Now

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"C'mon turn, turn this thing around

Right now

It's your tomorrow

Right now."

 - Van Halen, Right Now

Everyone gets stuck in a rut.  You might be in a rut right now.  Though I may not know your specific situation, I know that moaning and groaning about it isn't going to help anything change.  Change comes from you. 

It's easy to change your life...and you can do it anytime, anywhere.

1.        Eat the dirt cake - in small bites. 

If I were a superhero, my nemesis would be a messy house.  With three little ones and a dog, who are all totally cool, the house is never, ever clean.  There's spills, there's dog hair, there's ...something on the kitchen floor.

By the time I bundle them off to school, all I want to do is have a cup of coffee and write.  But I can't do that or else I'd be sledding out of the kitchen on dishes.  So, I promise myself five minutes in the kitchen.

 Not as fun as seven minutes in the closet, but it's amazing what I can accomplish in that small window of time.  Sometimes (only sometimes) I set the timer for another five minutes to see if I can top what I did in the first five minutes.  By doing this, I'm not overwhelmed by a dirty kitchen  and it's a bit of a challenge. 

2.        Appreciate the small things in life.

Too many times we look for large "things" to make us happy.  How about appreciating that great cup of coffee, a fragrant breeze or just the time to sit and hear your own thoughts.  Don't be too busy to take the time to smell the roses, or dark roast.  I'm fortunate enough to have birds hang out around my deck, and many times I'll spot a lovely bluejay or a robin.  One time I saw a beautiful red headed woodpecker!

3.        Stop reliving the past.

See what Van Halen says? (Because I always turn to them for advice.)   It's YOUR tomorrow.  Grab it, make use of it.  Turn your face toward the future, stop mulling over  "what could have been".  All of us have something to let go of.  Let it go.

4.        Raise your Awareness

After you finish reading this blog post (smile) sit back and close your eyes .  What do you hear?  How do your clothes feel against your body?  How does it feel to breathe deep, really deep?  What do you smell? 

Take sixty seconds to be fully aware.  Feel, hear, smell, look outside (if you can).  Really sense what is going on in the world around you.  You might be surprised at what you experience.

5.        See yourself in others.

We are all human and have faults.  We're not perfect.  So when we see something we don't like or agree with, we do tend to point fingers and judge.  Having been a teacher for years and seeing parents come and go, I know how easy it is to do.  But before you point those fingers, can you see yourself in this person?  If so, step away, keep the bitter, blaming words back.  Give someone a break.  They may have the occasion to do the same for you in the future.

Choose change!

Ten Successful Authors Speak to You

You have to be a reader to be a writer, at least that's what I always thought. You have to read the styles of others, find out what you enjoy, find out what you don't enjoy and mold/craft your own style to showcase your unique voice.

It's also important to read in many different genres to see what other writers are doing with different subjects. Ed McBain, the author of the 87^th Precinct series, had a writing style that was short and to the point, but also delivered a lot of information in very few words. His word pictures were easy to imagine because he provided just enough detail. Same goes for Robert B. Parker, Raymond Chandler, and some of Octavia Butler's works.

C.S. Lewis has a markedly different style. Where as Ed McBain is quick and hard-bitten, I find that C.S. Lewis offers a softer, more descriptive style. He sets you firmly in his scene and continues to add nuances of smell, sight and sound even as you read. When you finish reading a scene in his books, its almost as if you've been there.

Alice Hoffman is the magical word spinner, the one who transports you with the unique juxtaposition of her words and usage. She puts two disparate things together, writes about words cutting your tongue and people smelling of burnt lemon sugar.

These authors wrote in whatever style spoke to them – and you should too.

Ten quotes from successful authors – some about writing and some not...

"Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it. " — Raymond Chandler

"If your writing doesn’t keep you up at night, it won’t keep anyone else up either".— James M. Cain

"Writer's block? I've never heard of a plumber complain about plumber's block." — Robert B. Parker

"Avoid Prologues. They can be annoying, especially a prologue following an introduction that comes after a foreword." — Elmore Leonard

"If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot." — Stephen King

“Books may well be the only true magic.” ― Alice Hoffman

"You can make anything by writing." — C.S. Lewis

“You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children.” ― Madeleine L'Engle

"First forget inspiration. Habit is more dependable. Habit will sustain you whether you're inspired or not. Habit will help you finish and polish your stories. Inspiration won't. Habit is persistence in practice." — Octavia E. Butler
The role of a writer is not to say what we all can say, but what we are unable to say. --Anaïs Nin

Bonus:  Never be afraid to sit a while and think.--Lorraine Hansberry

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