Hi all,
Yesterday I found out that my local library has a fax machine for public use. I don't mean that you can stand there and fax any ol' thing you want. First, you have to get through the tall, wiry, and might I add, stern-looking woman who will fax documents for you at one dollar per page. I don't know if this is common practice in libraries, but as a person who hasn't figured out how to install her printer at home which has fax/scanning and printing capabilities, this was awesome news. Please don't tell my local library if it's not 'normal', I love it!
After I faxed my documents (so easy!), I trudged upstairs to the computer room and decided to see what it would feel like to enter a strange room, write a new blog on a strange computer (to me) among 20 strangers.
As I waited to get assigned a computer, I scanned the room. Much like I do in a crowded restaurant while I wait for the host/hostess to seat me. I want a nice table and not in the middle of the room, thank you very much. The computer room was packed with people of all ages. The only free computers were right smack in the middle of the middle aisle of three aisles. Damn! People on all sides. I don't like sitting in the middle of any room. I've always liked my back against the walls, so that I can view YOU :)
NOTE: I've worked in residential treatment centers for kids...you don't turn your back, ever. I learned that quick and it has stuck with me.
I didn't have to stay in the computer room. I have a perfectly lovely red laptop at home. I could have left any time after faxing my documents. But something pulled me upstairs. I'm curious, intuitive and I happen to reading "The Alchemist" for the third time. (My daughter gave me her Kindle and the book happens to be on her list, so I started at 4:30 am when I couldn't sleep.) Yes, 4:30 am. Well, I love a good challenge and I wondered if I would meet anyone interesting in the computer room. Would I meet someone with a message for me about my novel? Would I meet the Alchemist? The King? The Englishman? A talking camel? Who knows, but I'm open to new experiences.
I was up for the challenge, but writing my new blog in this computer room was posing an internal challenge for me. I could do it and I would! I would accept whatever computer was offered to me and not worry that someone was looking at my screen. That was it! I was feeling 'naked' and spied upon and I hadn't even sat down.
I pushed through it, looked to my left and right several times (just because) and looked behind me because the guy was having a conversation with his rental office. Highly annoying. Someone else had their music blaring and I could hear the rap music through his head phones. Very annoying.
I pushed on! I checked Facebook, checked my two email accounts and replied so some emails and I wrote this blog :) There is ALWAYS a lesson and a lesson learned in every situation and experience that we have. I usually learn something new from a brief conversation with a neighbor or someone in line at the grocery store. I truly believe that. You have to be open to people, places and things. I usually am.
What did I learn this morning during my writing experience at my local library?
Writing at home is freakin' awesome :) I can't wait to walk home and fire that baby up and write to my heart's content. Make your writing experience crappy, challenging or just interesting enough and I guarantee you that your computer will look awesome to you when you get home.
Peace out,
Ellie
Showing posts with label synchronicity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label synchronicity. Show all posts
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Monday, November 19, 2012
I Laughed 'Til I Cried
Hi all,
I don't know much about the human brain nor how it works, but I believe that what we experience and think about in our waking life manifests itself in our dreams.
Have you ever woken up from a dream crying and/or laughing ? I've experienced both and it happened again this morning.
My dream early this morning (isn't that when REM happens?) involved an old fishing buddy/friend. In the dream, we were on a fishing trip and he was trying to get all romantic with me and I playfully pushed him away. He had wanted to slow dance and when we started dancing, we fell through the wood floor and landed in a mud pit! I laughed in my dream and when I woke up, I was laughing so hard, I had tears in my eyes! I lay there laughing for about five minutes until my sides hurt. Laughter is the best medicine for what ails us :)
Here's why I had that dream:
Late last night, the very friend in my dream (who I haven't heard from in six months) sent me a photo via text of him proudly holding up a huge trout that didn't look too happy. We've been friends for years and I secretly think he has a crush on me, but I would never jeopardize our friendship (and he has a girlfriend) so, I've jokingly pushed away his friendly advances.
and,
After I received my friend's text, I watched a comedy with Meryl Streep, Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin (just before bed) entitled, "It's Complicated". It was complicated! Divorced ten years, Streep and Baldwin start an affair while he's married to someone else. See? It was all connected and led to my dream!
Our brains are so complicated that it boggles the mind. My dream was a composite of things I'd experienced and thought about before bed. The falling through the wood floor part stumps me though. I'd watched the newest episode of "Walking Dead" before the comedy and I don't think anyone fell through the floor (although a dozen zombies or so bit the dust last night) and it certainly isn't a comedy! The falling through the floor into a mud pit did make me laugh, however. I know what makes me laugh :)
I suppose I needed that laugh this morning after losing my manuscript edits yesterday that I'd been working on for two weeks straight. It worked and so, onward and upward we go!
Peace and love,
Ellie
I don't know much about the human brain nor how it works, but I believe that what we experience and think about in our waking life manifests itself in our dreams.
Have you ever woken up from a dream crying and/or laughing ? I've experienced both and it happened again this morning.
My dream early this morning (isn't that when REM happens?) involved an old fishing buddy/friend. In the dream, we were on a fishing trip and he was trying to get all romantic with me and I playfully pushed him away. He had wanted to slow dance and when we started dancing, we fell through the wood floor and landed in a mud pit! I laughed in my dream and when I woke up, I was laughing so hard, I had tears in my eyes! I lay there laughing for about five minutes until my sides hurt. Laughter is the best medicine for what ails us :)
Here's why I had that dream:
Late last night, the very friend in my dream (who I haven't heard from in six months) sent me a photo via text of him proudly holding up a huge trout that didn't look too happy. We've been friends for years and I secretly think he has a crush on me, but I would never jeopardize our friendship (and he has a girlfriend) so, I've jokingly pushed away his friendly advances.
and,
After I received my friend's text, I watched a comedy with Meryl Streep, Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin (just before bed) entitled, "It's Complicated". It was complicated! Divorced ten years, Streep and Baldwin start an affair while he's married to someone else. See? It was all connected and led to my dream!
Our brains are so complicated that it boggles the mind. My dream was a composite of things I'd experienced and thought about before bed. The falling through the wood floor part stumps me though. I'd watched the newest episode of "Walking Dead" before the comedy and I don't think anyone fell through the floor (although a dozen zombies or so bit the dust last night) and it certainly isn't a comedy! The falling through the floor into a mud pit did make me laugh, however. I know what makes me laugh :)
I suppose I needed that laugh this morning after losing my manuscript edits yesterday that I'd been working on for two weeks straight. It worked and so, onward and upward we go!
Peace and love,
Ellie
Friday, November 9, 2012
We All Have a Book to Write.
Hi all,
I'm a person who believes that when you put your mind to something, a dream, a goal or a challenge, you can do it. I also believe that when you decide what you want in your life, the Universe conspires to facilitate the process and the path.
Yeah, that sounds like New Age lingo, doesn't it? Well, I believe it because I've experienced it. Any time I've decided to pursue a dream and reach a goal, I've known full-well that the prize wasn't going to be handed to me on a silver platter. Dreams and goals require research, thought, soul searching, lots of hard work and at times, sacrifice. As soon as I've done the necessary legwork, it's amazing...people and complete strangers have come out the wings and shadows to either walk beside me, mentor and assist me.
When I wrote a tribute to my Puerto Rican grandmother for her 90th birthday, I sent it to my female relatives. The tribute was well-received which pleased me and my grandmother loved it. I was one of those kids who sat Meme's feet, listening intently to her stories of growing up poor in the Playa de Ponce in Puerto Rico, marrying well and the struggles and challenges of being a woman/mother in the early 1900's. My mother, Mercedes, knew all the stories and when we'd return from our summers on the island, she'd regale my sister Elaine and I with those stories we loved.
I showed my then-husband the tribute to my grandmother and he encouraged me to write an outline to see if I had "a book in there". In fifteen minutes, I had an outline. He said to me, "You've got a book to write." He was right. Right then and there, I sat at the computer and in six months, I'd written a 326 page novel. With two kids at home and a husband/household to manage :) I finished it. I'd always journaled, but a novel? The idea never crossed my mind before. I've always joked that the spirits helped me write this novel...and I'm not so sure that isn't true.
Through my research for my debut novel, I've met two professors of women's studies from various US universies in Washington, DC; I traveled to Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic interviewing women; and I traveled to Cacao in the mountains of Puerto Rico where my grandparents owned a farm with my cousin, Josefina. A stroll down Memory Lane for us. I met two female Puerto Rican authors who I'm still friends with.
Synchronicity after synchronicity has occurred during my writing path and I am just amazed. I am passionate about the arts and I love my story. Fast forward six years and I'm still blogging, Tweeting, still meeting and communicating with latinas/latinos and hispanics from around the world. I'm new to social media and I'm learning so much. At times, I feel as if I've opened Pandora's Box with this novel and the marketing involved before, during and after publication! To me, the Internet is mind-boggling and mind-blowing place that I'm learning to navigate and I'm not too proud to say I don't know and I'm always open for advice, suggestions, and comments!
Let me tell you, it takes a village to write a book! We all have a book in us. If you've felt the need to write and have dreamed of writing, do it! Don't wait, my friend. Jump in there and just start writing. Sit your butt down and write. I'm rooting for ya :)
Peace and love,
Ellie
I'm a person who believes that when you put your mind to something, a dream, a goal or a challenge, you can do it. I also believe that when you decide what you want in your life, the Universe conspires to facilitate the process and the path.
Yeah, that sounds like New Age lingo, doesn't it? Well, I believe it because I've experienced it. Any time I've decided to pursue a dream and reach a goal, I've known full-well that the prize wasn't going to be handed to me on a silver platter. Dreams and goals require research, thought, soul searching, lots of hard work and at times, sacrifice. As soon as I've done the necessary legwork, it's amazing...people and complete strangers have come out the wings and shadows to either walk beside me, mentor and assist me.
When I wrote a tribute to my Puerto Rican grandmother for her 90th birthday, I sent it to my female relatives. The tribute was well-received which pleased me and my grandmother loved it. I was one of those kids who sat Meme's feet, listening intently to her stories of growing up poor in the Playa de Ponce in Puerto Rico, marrying well and the struggles and challenges of being a woman/mother in the early 1900's. My mother, Mercedes, knew all the stories and when we'd return from our summers on the island, she'd regale my sister Elaine and I with those stories we loved.
I showed my then-husband the tribute to my grandmother and he encouraged me to write an outline to see if I had "a book in there". In fifteen minutes, I had an outline. He said to me, "You've got a book to write." He was right. Right then and there, I sat at the computer and in six months, I'd written a 326 page novel. With two kids at home and a husband/household to manage :) I finished it. I'd always journaled, but a novel? The idea never crossed my mind before. I've always joked that the spirits helped me write this novel...and I'm not so sure that isn't true.
Through my research for my debut novel, I've met two professors of women's studies from various US universies in Washington, DC; I traveled to Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic interviewing women; and I traveled to Cacao in the mountains of Puerto Rico where my grandparents owned a farm with my cousin, Josefina. A stroll down Memory Lane for us. I met two female Puerto Rican authors who I'm still friends with.
Synchronicity after synchronicity has occurred during my writing path and I am just amazed. I am passionate about the arts and I love my story. Fast forward six years and I'm still blogging, Tweeting, still meeting and communicating with latinas/latinos and hispanics from around the world. I'm new to social media and I'm learning so much. At times, I feel as if I've opened Pandora's Box with this novel and the marketing involved before, during and after publication! To me, the Internet is mind-boggling and mind-blowing place that I'm learning to navigate and I'm not too proud to say I don't know and I'm always open for advice, suggestions, and comments!
Let me tell you, it takes a village to write a book! We all have a book in us. If you've felt the need to write and have dreamed of writing, do it! Don't wait, my friend. Jump in there and just start writing. Sit your butt down and write. I'm rooting for ya :)
Peace and love,
Ellie
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