IWSG, BOTB, A Third Blog?, and Balance

Today is the first Wednesday of the month and that means it is time for an Insecure Writer's Support Group post. The link will take you directly to the group page.  There is a Linky List there for anyone who would like to participate to sign up.  This group is not just for published writers.  Nope. Anyone who is struggling with writing is invited to join.  Alex J. Cavanaugh founded the group a few years ago and it is now hundreds strong.  Yeah, that means that there are a TON of Insecure Writers out there.


As many of you know, I have been on vacation for the last two weeks.  We went to Las Vegas and then back to Augusta, GA, for a few days.  During that time I have contributed NADA to my WIP.  I returned home yesterday and all I had time for was to post my Battle of the Bands bout and vote on other people's battles on their blogs.  (If you missed that post, I really hope you will follow the link back and vote for your choice.  It is so much fun!!!)

It is safe to say that I am behind in Everything and my HERE'S TO YOU post is nonexistent.  And tomorrow is Thursday.... Yikes!

So, let me tell you about what I have been contemplating that is writing-related and get your input on THAT.

I currently have two blogs.  This one which I really like to use for non-writing things.  This blog was created with the intention of addressing things that I felt were relevant in my life.  I tend to believe that if it is relevant for me that it will also speak to YOUR human experience as well.  I really wasn't kidding when I subtitled it Blog Therapy.  My other blog, TV Junction Function, is all about things on TV.  Sometimes I post on current TV shows and other times I take a step back in time and look at things that have been cancelled.  If it was on TV (ever), it is possible that it may appear on that blog.

Since I have started writing (again), and following more blogs of writers, I now think that I just might need a THIRD blog.  Yep.  One that is strictly to promote other writers, acknowledge some of the great blogs or sites that I have found that help other writers, etc.  I suppose my question for you folks who ARE writers, is that a good idea?  Would you follow that blog?  Do you have multiple blogs that you use for entirely different purposes?  What has your experience been?

Most important... I don't want to be so consumed with blogging that my writing time dwindles down to nothing.  It is becoming very clear to me that I must establish a balance.  So, in addition to my question about the third blog, I am also willing to hear any strategies that have helped you to achieve Balance in your life.

Bring it on.

Easing Into Father's Day

I miss my dad all of the time.  Days like today merely amplify the feeling.

I know that he is looking over my shoulder.  I know that he knows precisely what is going on in my life.  I know that he is goes to all of my doctor appointments and is nodding in approval at the direction my path for wellness has taken.  Each time I meet someone and learn something new, or read something that turns me onto eating better, living better, putting my body into balance, I know my dad is there.  He may have even orchestrated it somehow.

As an aside: have you ever noticed that when you get on a path of learning about something that more and more information continues to come to you on this topic?  I would say that God understands that you are finally in a place to receive, so it comes at you from every which way.  It is a wondrous thing when it happens.  It is the reason we must never give up and always continue to search for a better way or an answer.  If you continue to search, you will eventually land in that place where you will receive!  Maybe you just have to do a lot of living and try a lot of Wrong Things so that the information you get will make sense.  For some of us, that may take longer than for others of us....

My friend JJ The Disconnected Writer has talked about balance and being in balance for the Longest Time.  I think my dad understood that, though he never spoke in those terms.  My dad was way ahead of his time in terms of understanding that the body became ill due to deficits.  If a person wasn't getting enough of a vitamin, or necessary mineral, than the body couldn't sustain itself and became ill.  A good diet was the foundation.  However, some people were so lacking from poor nutrition that a good diet needed the help of supplements to get back on track.  My dad read and read and read about this sort of thing for the last forty years.  And he talked about what he read.  I know that he felt like he spoke mostly to brick walls.  People don't want to eat healthy, won't believe that eating organic is better, and don't want to quit the Junk Food in favor of the healthy stuff.  And they don't believe that their ailments can be cured by anything other than a Rx.  Plus, they won't take anything unless their medical doctor prescribes it.  Period. 

My dad was a Big Believer in taking care of your own health.  No one will care more about your health than You.  Your doctor certainly isn't going to care about it more than you will.   My current doctor might not care about my health more than I do, BUT she believes in a natural path to getting better just like my dad.  She believes that once your body is restored to its natural state of balance everything will function as it should.  I think that is what my friend JJ has been trying to say for a long time, too.  I have simply been so far out of balance that the concept has been difficult to grasp.  However, I feel myself becoming more aligned all of the time.  What once seemed impossible, now seems possible.

All of the books on natural medicine say that the body wants to restore itself to it's natural state of wellness.  Being in a state of dis-ease is simply not natural.  The body's natural state is one of ease.

From a purely selfish point of view, I wish you were here dad when I reached that state of ease again.  However, I know that you will know, and be celebrating where you are.  Maybe we can meet up in my dreams and have a nice chat about it.

BAGGED AND TAGGED!

Well, I have a story to tell you! I was just going along, and blogging my own business, when Mary the Food Floozie went and tagged me out. You heard me right. She went and tagged me out. Apparently, Leanne tagged her out with 19 questions, which she answered thoughtfully, and even managed to incorporate some youtube action. Normally, I am all over that. I don't know how I let this post get by me with no youtube action (I am mentally doing some head scratching right now, but trying to move past this salient point). Anyway, back to the topic at hand... she tagged me out. She answered the questions and then tagged four people to answer the same 19 questions. I was one of the four. Yep, I am one of her people. We are tight. Buds. Peeps. Pals. Sistas. Okay, I have worked that as much as I am going to for now. I might come back to it again later. Or not. So, here are the 19 questions and my educated, insightful responses.


1. if you have pets, do you see them as merely animals, or are they members of your family?

Definitely members of the family. Our dogs are getting older and I worry about it. No one can even talk about the passing of our family dog when I was growing up without a total breakdown. That involves tons of tissue and brings on a sinus headache on top of my pre-existing migraine. Yeah, people who love dogs as much as I do probably shouldn't adopt them knowing that I will probably outlive them. Probably.


2. if you can have a dream to come true, what would it be?

Well, this is going to be a reoccurring theme, I think. (I read the questions already.) My website is going to take off, which means people are going to respond like crazy to my email with doctor/medical information. When I get better I will take it to the next level and register it as a non-profit organization. Someone will offer to do a fundraiser and the dominoes will start to fall into place to kick off Phase 2: Forging Hope Houses. HGTV will agree to put it in their fall line-up and the fundraising race will be on. The race we will win, by the way. So, sometime in the next three years or so 24 houses will be coming to cities or towns near you. Assisting people in their journey from illness to wellness. Forging Hope Houses. Moving from a dream to a reality.


3. what is the one thing most hated by you?

Negativity (if I have to pick just one ~ all the other bad stuff blows off of it).


4. what would you do with a billion dollars?

I would Launch Phase 2 all by myself. I would convince HGTV to put it on the fall line-up, still fundraise, get celebrities to support it (people love their celebs), and pull approx 10 individuals or families off of the streets in 24 cities and put them in a house. 10 people who were misdiagnosed or undiagnosed to the point that they became so sick that they lost their job, their health insurance, and finally their house. You can't even apply for SSDI without an address. 10 people (some with, and some without families) will get a home. Three meals a day. A driver to get them to their medical appts. An address so that they can apply for SSDI. Their kids can go to school. Their spouse, if they have one, can apply for work. They can pay rent when their SSDI comes in (% appropriate), their dr bills, and put money back into savings, so that they can have something for a downpayment on car/home when they are well. The goal is to assist them on their journey from illness to wellness. Forging Hope House is The Assist in giving them their life back. Sick person walks in and well person walks out who can go back to work, or at least, have SSDI and be able to manage their life.


5. what helps to pull you out of a bad mood?

Laughing, singing, reading some of your blogs! Watching YouTube. I am a YouTube junkie. Oh, and MM. If you don't know what that means.... well, you haven't been reading this blog regular enough!


6. which is more blessed, loving someone or being loved by someone?

This reminds me of a blog I wrote about the "curse" I feel like I was dealt back in college. I had to choose my freshman year whether I would marry someone who I loved more or who loved me more. Either way, it was lose/lose. You loved him more than he loved you and you knew it. Or he loved you more than you loved him, and you knew it. Horrible choice. All of this after my terrible epic fail in Music Theory Class. It was one epic fail after another. Anyway, I reflected on this blog that I felt like it set up my whole life and all of my relationships. Destined to be in one relationship after another that was out of balance. And it was like I sensed it that day of my freshman year in college. Destiny weighing down on me just waiting to spite me in future years. Egads. BOTH ARE HORRIBLE. I have lived on both ends of this scale and they both SUCK MONKEY BALLS. I choose to never live this way ever again. How is that for you fate? Never again!!!!! Suck that. In other words, there is no blessing in either of those choices... if I wasn't clear enough.


7. what is your bedtime routine?

Well, I watch my soaps on weekdays on soapnet (to wind down) at least most of the time. Sometimes GH winds me up, but most of the time it winds me down. And I putz around on facebook while I am doing this. I have watched these shows for 20+ years... yeah, I am that old. So, I can multi-task and not miss anything. Every now and then something is so riveting that I have to just sit and stare, but most of the time I can do my facebook crap and and watch/listen to my soaps at the same time. Then, it is fill my water, brush teeth, pee (did you really need all of this info?), and then my nightly prayers. Then, I lie there. Sometimes I sleep. Usually I lie in bed and listen to my migraine until about 1am before I drift off. I think I have covered everything.


8. if you are currently in a relationship, how did you meet your partner?

Currently in a relationship....hahahahahaha


9. if you could watch a creative person in the act of the creative process, who would it be?

I am trying to come up with something you'd believe, but you all know it is Marshall Mathers. After he pulled out his box of notepads on 60 Minutes, I am now riveted by how he takes an idea and runs with it. Does it start with a word? A phrase? Does he pull it off one of those notepads or it is something that just leaps into his mind? Does he pull the whole thing together in like 30 minutes or is it something that torments him for days? I know that sometimes an idea will grab hold of me and practically write itself. It comes out fast and furious. And, other times, it is like scraping the bottom of a very empty barrel. Painful. I suspect it is a mixture of both. Yeah, I admit I would love to be a fly on that wall. Well, not really a fly. Flies are gross. You know what I mean.


10. what kinds of books do you read?

Here lately I haven't been reading much of anything. The last books I read were some YA books I bought for H-girl. I vetted them to see if she might like them. I liked them, but that means nada. Normally, I read women's fiction. I will also read stuff on non-traditional health (shocking, I know). But, I also like James Patterson, particularly the Alex Cross series. And I have already gone on about how awesome Janet Evanovich is, so I won't bore you anymore with that. I am a recent Charlaine Harris fan. I was gobbling up the Sookie Stackhouse series until I realized I would hit the end in a couple of books, so I quit. I wanted to have something to savor. So, I haven't been doing much reading lately... except for you folks. Oh, yeah, and I keep reading Peter Drucker's book on managing a non-profit over and over and over again. Can we say obsessed?


11. how would you see yourself in ten years time?

Managing a very successful non-profit organization.


12. what’s your fear?

That I will allow my fear to cloud my judgement. Anything is possible, so long as you know that it is possible. It is when you stop knowing it that it stops being possible.


13. would you give up all junk food for the rest of your life for the opportunity to visit outer space?

I don't give a rat's butt about outer space. I have a mission on this planet.


14. would you rather be single and rich or married, but poor?

Money is irrelevant. People, I am on a mission to save the freaking world.


15. what’s the first thing you do when you wake up?

Well, before I can save the freaking world, I take my pain medication for my killer migraines. And then I claw my way to the bathroom.


16. if you could change one thing about your spouse/partner what would it be?

Magic wand. Appear.


17. if you could pick a new name for yourself, what would it be?

My name means "of shining fame." I can live with that.


18. would you forgive and forget no matter how horrible a thing that special someone has done?

I have tried to do that. Learned that I don't have that superpower.


19. if you could only eat one thing for the next 6 months, what would it be?

My friend, Mary, is pretty smart. She went with salad, so that she could go with all kinds of salad. Chicken salad, tuna salad, etc. I think I am going to be a copycat and go with that, too. I couldn't live on just ONE thing for six months. Seriously. One thing? I am already down to a size 4 peeps. You put me on one food item and I might just die. And I can't die now. I have BIG PLANS and I am not going out because I was so stupid I only ate one thing for six months. So, there you go!


Now, I have to pick four people to tag out. I am basing this decision on a couple of factors. I know that some of you just don't "do" these sorts of things. So, not getting tagged doesn't mean I don't love you. It just means I know you. And some of you need some love right now, and that is what this is ~ some tagging love. And there are others of you who I think will provide very funny answers to these questions. You can decide where you fall in my decision-making process. In any event, I look forward to reading your answers to these questions. You have been tagged...

Carol the Gardener

That One Girl at What Was I Saying Again?

JJ The Disconnected Writer

Purple Cow at Letters to Imaginary Friends (to get your new blog going!)

To make this easier, here are the 19 questions for you:

1. if you have pets, do you see them as merely animals, or are they members of your family?
2. if you can have a dream to come true, what would it be?
3. what is the one thing most hated by you?
4. what would you do with a billion dollars?
5. what helps to pull you out of a bad mood?
6. which is more blessed, loving someone or being loved by someone?
7. what is your bedtime routine?
8. if you are currently in a relationship, how did you meet your partner?
9. if you could watch a creative person in the act of the creative process, who would it be?
10. what kinds of books do you read?
11. how would you see yourself in ten years time?
12. what’s your fear?
13. would you give up all junk food for the rest of your life for the opportunity to visit outer space?
14. would you rather be single and rich or married, but poor?
15. what’s the first thing you do when you wake up?
16. if you could change one thing about your spouse/partner what would it be?
17. if you could pick a new name for yourself, what would it be?
18. would you forgive and forget no matter how horrible a thing that special someone has done?
19. if you could only eat one thing for the next 6 months, what would it be?


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