My Silly Little Dream

I don’t know what it is, but I want to own a community laundromat pretty bad. I gained the dream and it never went away. It lingers around and pops up from time to time.

What drove it home was this post below from Wild Women Sisterhood.

I think it was Brene Brown who told a story about a village where all the women washed clothes together down by the river. When they all got washing machines, there was a sudden outbreak of depression and no one could figure out why.

It wasn’t the washing machines in and of themselves. It was the absence of time spent doing things together. It was the absence of community.

Friends, we’ve gotten so independent.

We’re “fine” we tell ourselves even when in reality we’re depressed, we’re overwhelmed, we’re lonely, and we’re hurting. “We’re fine, we’re just too busy right now” we say when days, weeks, months, and years go by without connecting with friends. I’m fine, I’m fine, I’m fine. It’s so easy to say even when it’s not true.

We’ve become so isolated and it’s hard to know how to get back. It’s so hard to know how to even begin to build the kind of relationships our hearts need. And I think In our current culture, it’s just not as organic as it once was. It’s more work now.

Because you know, we have our own washing machines. We don’t depend on each other to do laundry, or cook dinner, or raise babies anymore. We don’t really depend on each other for much of anything if we’re being honest.

In Brene Brown’s book Braving the Wilderness, she says that being lonely effects the length of our life expectancy similar to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. I don’t say that to freak anyone out, but to let you know that the longing for connection is LEGIT. I think we’ve treated friendship like a luxury for far too long; friendship isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity.

We don’t want it. We kind of need it.

Be independent. Be proud of it. But be an independent woman who realizes the value and the importance of opening the door to other good women.

You can do it alone, but you don’t have to. Islands are only fun for so long.

There is true magic when women come together and hold hands and share ideas and share stories and struggles and endless bowls of salsa. You use your gifts, and I’ll use mine, and then we’ll invite that girl over there who brings a completely different set of skills to the table we are building, and we’ll watch together as something miraculous unfold.

Author: Amy Weatherly

Art: Darcy Lee

Instagram.com/wildwomansisterhoodOfficial

I had to share the whole thing. This post was so inspiring to me. I’m not sure completely why because I appreciate doing my laundry in solitude but I think it’s important to note that we’re missing things in this age of information. And connection is definitely one of them.

I love doing laundry. I love the smell. I love to fold warm towels that are fluffed, so soft, and sweet smelling. I’m not a huge fan of folding all the time. But I appreciate laundry. I also love to write to the sound of the washing machines. It makes complete sense. Why not open a laundromat? So now here I am with a silly little dream and a story to back it up and make it something special.

I would have never in a million years thought that I’d ever wanna own a coin laundromat.

Woolf Quote on Fiction

Fiction is like a spider’s web, attached ever so lightly perhaps, but still attached to life at all four corners. Often the attachment is scarcely perceptible. -Virginia Woolf

I find this quote interesting because writing fiction has taught me more than any other medium has. And I do believe it touches ever aspect of my life. I think it would take some work but I think it even touches every aspect of my being.

I wonder what she’s referring to when she says attached to life at all four corners. I wonder what the 4 corners are.

Vision Boards

This year instead of cutting out and gluing magazine pictures, I created my vision board on Pinterest. I’ve always wanted a hot tub but this is the first year it made it onto my vision board.

A vision board is a collection of dreams, desires, and goals you’d like for the year. I think it’s fun. A few things have come to life from what I’ve put on my vision boards. Some things I’m still working toward. Some things are forever goals like building a strong relationship with my children. There’s always writing goals. Some I’ve met most I haven’t YET. But I’m closer than I was last year so that’s good.

This is a great project to work on in solitude. You can have the space to really think about the things that are important to you and the things you want to work on for the year. Then when you’re done, you put it somewhere where you will see it regularly. It’s fun and over the years you see see how far you’ve come.

Don’t Forget to have Fun

Don’t forget to have fun! Life can get so serious over night. Sometimes you gotta just let loose and take the adventure for what it is.

 Everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while you’re climbing it. ― Andy Rooney

With so much going on around the world, it’s ok to take a moment to find peace and joy in your own space. They always say, you can’t control what’s going on in the world but you can control what’s going on inside you.

All the tensions overseas is sad and scary. If we could, we would do something about it. I don’t doubt it one bit. I’ve seen so many good people band together because it was the right thing to do.

So don’t forget to let yourself find a moment of joy, whether in solitude or with those you love.

My Heart Goes Out to Ukraine

Today has been a weird day at our house. Not a bad day at all. It was peaceful and felt kinda orderly in our home.

My heart goes out to the families sleeping in subways. I wish they could just be swept safely out of harms way.

We are preparing for snow. And I’m just over here chilling with peace and hope for our future. Makes me feel like I’m in some weird Scarlet Witch bubble. Very uncomfortable. I want to be part of the world and takin action to change and improve the world for ourselves and our babies.

So anyways weird day. Sorry I don’t have some profound or enlightening lesson to share today. But what I do have is a quote from E.B. White

If the world were merely seductive, that would be easy. If it were merely challenging, that would be no problem. But I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.
― E.B. White

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/activism

Good Times…

Are worth waiting for.

Some people may think you should always have a good time. Some people think you have to earn a good time. I think you should do it all. Let em come to you, go seek em out, and earn them. Why not?

I’m not someone who always needs to have a good time. I’m totally ok with peace and stillness. But I treat myself to a good time so rarely that when I go out, I wanna have a good time.

What makes a good time a good time?

I think saying no makes your yes! to good times more valuable. Plus, you know what they say about too much of a good thing. I wanna explain though, when I say “saying no,” I mean saying no to doing things you’re not interested in or things that drain you or make you feel bad about yourself. And saying yes to all the things that make you smile, that feel right, and are in line with who you are or want to be

What’s a good time?

I’m not sure how to define what a good time is. It could be some unplanned Sunday drive blasting emo music on the radio. Or it could be a fully planned night out.

I Got a Creative Spark Today

Great ideas that come up while you’re not expecting them are the greatest gift ever. As writers, we could be staring at a blank screen for hours one day and then the next day during our usual editing session an amazing idea pops in like a bolt of lightening. Let me tell you how it happened.

Today was a nice day but my little one wasn’t feeling well. So I gave her a lot of attention to make sure she was hydrated, fed, and loved. I need extra love when I’m sick so I try to make sure my babies (not so baby anymore) get extra love when they’re sick too. So when she settled in to watch Ratatouille, I figured I’d get some writing done. While I was reading along trying to get to the section jotted down on my to do list, I took time to appreciate a scene that involved a book shelf (of course a book shelf they’re magical all on their own) and bam there it was, the idea, as if it were waiting there for me to find it. lol No, I’m kidding. It was more like an interesting exchange of my own internal dialogue that led me there. However it happened, it made me happy.

Most nights are not creative additions at this point in the editing process. It’s been more “technical” based. Expanding on certain ideas and making sure details are consistent and placed properly on the timeline. Which is why getting a creative spark tonight was so fun and exciting for me.

I had share.

“Creativity is intelligence having fun.” – Albert Einstein  

https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/inspiring-quotes-about-creativity

Novel Writing Discussion

I’m not sure why colored pens make me so delighted but they do. So I’m going through the second part of my book and adding in little details. Sometimes I wonder if adding those details right now is a waste of time but I ignore that voice knowing if I’m gunna have to scrap a section, that I’m just gunna have to scrap it details and all.

But you know what I enjoy about writing a novel size story? I enjoy that I can move to another part of the book for a long enough time to let that other half marinate. lol So when I’ve edited one section to what feels like oblivion, I just move on to the other half of the book. Keeps me connected with the story and doesn’t burn me out.

On a fun note

As an experimental fiction author I get excited about how we can get my product out to the readers (when it’s time).

I saw that Kindle has this new series option. So authors can release sections of their story over a period of time. I really do love that idea. It’s accessible and creative. And people like me who read blogs regularly and appreciate small bits at a time will benefit from it.

I’m not sure exactly how I’m going to release the book. But I definitely want to take advantage of some innovative options.

Do you think about different ways you can get your writing out there? Do you prefer all the traditional avenues?

Some thoughts on the novel

My main character is on her hero’s journey. What’s interesting is the hero’s journey is a very solitary affair. How can we all say yes to the journey while juggling so much? In the book I have to remove my main character from all her duties so that she can take the time she needs to blossom into the higher self she was always meant to be. I do wish it didn’t take some traumatic removal for us to finally hear the call or see the door. That’s something Christian’s mentor also struggles with.

Writing What You Can for When You Can

The best way to prepare for a spark of inspiration, is consistency.

There’s a quote from Pablo Picasso that says, “Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working.” Preparation for the spark of creativity, is one of the best ways to ensure that your art will come into being.

I think rest is important. I also think discipline is important. I live somewhere between the two of these ideals. There’s a lot of times when my mindset leans too far one way. Sometimes, I get caught up in lots of rest and stop thinking critically. Other times I get too focused on getting it done, and lose the human piece.

There’s no perfect middle. You have to rest. And you have to be consistent especially with what you’re called to do. There’s was a time in my life where I was so tired, physically, spiritually, and mentally that all I could do was rest and write. Some days I couldn’t even write. And of course not writing would send me down the spiral. But after the hard times, for a brief period, I was given the time and space to do whatever I wanted. So I spent all my time reading and writing and talking to writers from morning to night. During that time, I was inspired, I got a lot of content out, and even made new writing friends. I miss them.

I’m still trying to figure all this out. The balance. The sacrifice. What takes priority. There’s worse things in the world than this. And there’s better. I guess the point I’m trying to make here is, writing when times were hard made writing when I had all the time and resources so much more enjoyable. Art takes investment and some foolishness to grow. Do the work while you have the chance now, so that when you have more resources you’ll be ready to take the world by storm.