America The Beautiful

Yep, still gone. So how about a little more visual stimulation?

 The mighty Mississippi

Song of the day: America the Beautiful.

While I'm Gone: Something to Ponder

I know I said I wasn't posting this week, and really, I'm not. But I am going to share with you a few things that have inspired me. I hope they can somehow inspire you too.

Today's song: Anything by the Beach Boys. Happy day!

In the Name of Research

We are often willing to try things we wouldn’t otherwise do or try.

We pay closer attention to what’s going on around us.

We let go of our inhibitions in order to fully experience life.

We listen harder, talk less, think more, contemplate—and then relate to others with everything and in every way we can.

I know people who would scuba dive, para-sail, jump out of a plane, bungee jump, climb a mountain, visit another country, and shoot five different types of guns—all in the name of research.

But we don’t need research as an excuse to live life all the way, to give ourselves color and culture and depth. Regardless of if you have a reason, do it anyway.

Next week, I won’t be here to blog, because I’ll be out of the country doing some of the above mentioned things. For fun. And also in the name of research.

Come on, I’ll use it all somewhere.

Viva Mexico! Have a great week.

The Power of One

It only takes one person to make a difference.

One voice to change the way someone thinks.

One thought to fuel another voice.

One ounce of strength to draw that first breath.

One agent to say yes to an author.

One publisher to stand behind a book.

One ounce of anger to start a war.

One mean word to destroy a friendship.

One misplaced intention to affect a life.

It only takes one person to make a difference, for good or for bad.

What kind of person will you choose to be? How can you make a difference?

Blown Away--The Beyonders Launch Party

Last week I had the opportunity to attend one of Brandon Mull’s highly acclaimed launch parties. This one for his newest book, The Beyonders.

I’ve never been to one of Brandon’s launch parties before, because rarely have I known about them enough in advance to get a ticket—since these events are widely attended. So. I went with the esteemed Elana Johnson and Ali Cross, fully expecting Brandon to get onstage and talk about his new book, maybe read some pages or a chapter.

But what I saw was so much more. It was an entire show, people! With sets and actors who did skits wearing costumes, and cameos from lots of other authors, and music and free glow sticks and a slideshow. This was definitely not a typical launch party.

It was so much more. No wonder so many elementary students love Brandon. He makes them excited to enter into the worlds offered on the pages of books. His show even made ME excited to read—and I already love books.

That is the kind of author I want to be when I grow up. Except in a me way, rather than a Brandon way. Know what I mean? Of course you don’t. I don’t even know what I mean. Just. Wow. That’s all. Wow.

A Theme Song

There’s this Facebook poll where you fill out the questionnaire to have a computer tell you what your life theme song should be. I took that poll once. It wasn’t even remotely accurate. In fact, I’m still trying to figure out how Boom, Boom, Pow by the Black Eyed Peas could be anyone’s theme song.

But my life does have one. It’s different every day. Or maybe every week, depending. Music, like the written word, has a way of reaching inside me and pulling out the very best parts. Deep, strong, true emotion.  

Of course, in order for me to feel that emotion, the artist who created it must have been feeling something similar when they sang/wrote/played it. Same with beautiful writing, or incredible artwork, or actors in a touching film or play. All art boils down to emotion. And when we identify with something, be it a song, or a painting, or story or whatever, when we let that thing touch our souls in protected and hidden places, those things have a tendency to fill us up, give us strength and courage.

At least, that’s how it goes for me. So. My theme song is probably more like a playlist. And I won’t bore you by listing all of this week’s picks. But I will share with you lyrics to a new one.

This is ten percent luck

Fifteen percent skill

Twenty percent concentrated power of will

Five percent pleasure

Fifty percent pain

And a hundred percent reason to remember the name.

~Title: Remember the Name by Fort Minor

Do you have a theme song today? Tell me about it!

I Would Have Given Anything to be Like...

This week, authors all over the blogosphere are celebrating the recent release of Kirstin Hubbard’s Like Mandarin. I haven’t read this one yet, but I’m excited to get my hands on it, and plan to do that soon.

In Like Mandarin, 14-year-old Grace Carpenter would give anything to be like 17-year-old Mandarin Ramey -- the bold, carefree wild girl of their small Wyoming town.

It is my belief that we all have a Mandarin in our lives, or at least, we did when we were kids. I moved around a lot, never stayed in one place long enough to envy one particular person over another. But I did have a Mandarin. When I was a teenager, there was no one in the world who was more amazing, more beautiful and talented, and perfect (in my eyes) than my mother.

She worked hard, she laughed often, and she loved life, even when it was difficult. My mother once told me that the only person who can make me happy is me. And that one statement has been one that has stuck with me for my whole life. She told me that I make my own happiness, and never has she been so right. At fourteen years old, my goal in life was to be just like my her.

It’s been a long time since I was fourteen, and my mom and I aren’t as close as we were back then. Though we look alike, I am not just like my mother the way I once wanted to be. But her wisdom, her drive for creativity, and her zest for life have been ingrained in me, helped me to become the person I am today.

Yeah. I had a Mandarin when I was young. Thanks Mom.

March Monday Randomness

1. Thanks to the appearance of the sun, I’ve been thinking about life and spring and new babies. I drove around with my convertible top down for three out of the seven days this week. Well, okay, actually, I put the top down for a short amount of time, got cold, then put it back up. But it was still really nice.

2. The new baby thoughts come with my itty-bitty new nephew, who was born six weeks early, but thanks to modern medicine is doing very well. He’s the tiniest little person I’ve ever, ever seen. It’s miraculous to think that someone that small can breathe on his own and open his eyes and be alert. Just. Amazing. Can’t wait to hold him.


3. This weekend, I got the bug to clean out my closet. Not only is it purging to thin out the junk, but it’s so much fun to find stuff I forgot I had or that’s been “lost” for a while. Like a mini treasure hunt. I wonder if I can live in my closet and ignore the rest of my house, which is also in desperate need of thorough cleaning. No? Dang.

4. I got something in the mail on Friday. It made me very happy. In May, it might make you very happy, too. Coolest. Prize. Ever. Pay attention, ya’ll. This super-sekrit-giveaway is going to be EPIC. (No, I’m not telling you what it is. Yet.)

5. In January, I made a sort-of goal to read approximately a book a week this year (in addition to writing and critiquing and being the mom and living my life). So far, I’m keeping up with that. Surprised? You shouldn’t be. I have fantastic taste in books. And I read fast. Tonight I’ll finish Brenna Yavanoff’s The Replacement, and holy scary/beautiful/amazing/thought-provoking. #booklove peeps. Seriously.

So. How was your weekend?

The Art of Juggling

My daughter Sneezy is into sports. Like, way. Into. Them. Basketball, soccer, softball, track—she’ll try it all. And do it all. And be good at it.

Awesome, right? Except not always. We recently had to have a talk about how impossible it is for one person (me or her or anyone else) to be in two places at once. Because she has finally reached the point where that has become an issue. Thing is, it’s hard for anyone to dedicate themselves to two different teams. Even if the sports compliment each other in every physical way except practice times.

At some point, we all have to make hard choices like this. Where best to dedicate ourselves, to what team we give our all, and which pursuit will bring us the most happiness, or if not happiness, at least the best opportunity for success.

And it’s hard, you know? It really is hard to make that decision. Sneezy will probably have to choose between soccer and softball. One she truly loves, and the other is more popular among her best friends and would mean taking a fun out-of-town trip in the spring. Which one to choose?

I find myself at a similar crossroads. There’s this thing I love, writing, and it requires probably more than I’ve been able to give in the past, because I’ve been so busy taking care of a team I love (not my family—they’re always top priority). There was a point in time when I believed I could do both things, equally divide my time between them. But I have now reached a crossroads. I can still be a part of the team, just not the captain. Instead, I need to allow someone else a turn. Doing so will give me an opportunity to focus on my love, finish some projects I’ve started, and move forward in my career.

It’s completely possible to be equally good at two things. But in order to be the best at anything, most of us have to dedicate ourselves to just one at a time.

Like I told Sneezy, it’s not about being selfish. It’s about progressing to the next level.  About juggling the things in our lives to the best possible outcome. What do you think?

By Comparison

A friend and I had a recent conversation about comparing ourselves to others. Doesn’t matter to whom, just that we have these tendencies. We all—every one of us—do it, whether we mean to or not.

We compare ourselves as wives, as mothers, as daughters, as housekeepers, as beauty queens, as authors (yeah, even if you aren’t one), as scholars, as… everything. It’s so easy to look at those around us and see their strengths as our faults. Or if not faults, at least something different than what they really are.

That person is thinner than me.

That one is more beautiful.

That person is stronger, is more fit.

That person is smarter.

That person must be better at ____ because they are on the path to (or have already found) success.

On my best day, I couldn’t even compare to____.

Why do we do this to ourselves? Life is about progress, about moving forward and growing as a person with each new day. There are no two people on this whole entire planet who have the exact same lives or circumstances. Think about it. There are billions of people on earth. And no one—NO ONE—is the same as anyone else. So why do we torture ourselves with comparisons?

I could look at the career paths of 500 different authors, and they are all different. Does that mean I’m not as good an author as them? Or that I should try to be like them? Or that I should want to? No, it does not. What it means (at least to me) is that each of them had the determination, the strength, the timing, the work, the…whatever else was necessary, to move forward on their path.

And guess what? I have that too. The difference is that I am me, and they are them, and we will never, ever be the same. And that’s how it should be.

Success isn’t just a destination, it’s a journey, an individual one. When and how and where we finally reach our final goal may be a complete mystery, but that’s the beauty of it. Don’t you think? A gift we an anticipate, a final outcome we will be individually proud of because no one knows more than us just what it took to get to that point.

And that, my friends, will make it all the more sweet. Don’t you think?