Tag: life

A Thankful Nod in November

A Thankful nod in November 2018

As a grown up (on paper anyways, as I pride myself on the youthful glow I inherited from my parents) it seems that celebrating holidays takes a lot more effort than it used to. A part of that effort comes from adult responsibilities like working and paying bills when we are bombarded with ads to spend more. However, a part of the effort to celebrate holidays also comes from the fact that as an adult you have more freedom to make choices. You don’t have to have to cook Turkey on Thanksgiving if you don’t want to. You can choose to order Pizza or anything else you crave. You don’t have to be social. You can choose to go anywhere you want, and do anything you want to do, or nothing at all. You can partake of crazy holiday sales or boycott them. You can even choose to not celebrate Thanksgiving at all, especially because to some people it represents oppression and the obliteration of several cultures.

For me personally, I choose to celebrate Thanksgiving by reflecting on who and what I’m thankful for in my life. Above you will find photos of me and people that I’m blessed to have in my life.

I’m grateful for my awesome parents and beautiful sister who encourage me to follow my dreams.

I’m grateful for close friends and extended family that although I don’t see them everyday, I love them very much. I’m fortunate to have an agreement that we are just a text or phone call away, any time.

I’m grateful for my tribe of writers, fancy dancy friends and fellow actors in The Vamps Next Door. We get to be playful, creative and weird and best of all, we celebrate each other for it. I especially want to give a shout out to my unofficial mentors Blaze McRob @wyomingBob, his lovely wife Terri Del Campo @TerriDelCampo and Linda Addison @nyebird. They inspire to me keep moving and they remind me that writing is a marathon, not a sprint.

I’m grateful for new friends I met over the past year or two, some I met while travelling or being out solo. My adventures (and wine dinners) were more fun because of them.

I’m grateful for my day job and the people I have worked with throughout the years (this includes my favorite supervisor who I torture from time to time about how awesome my New Orleans Saints are, compared to his dallas cowboys are this season.) Every day is a treat, regardless of if the workload is hard or easy.

I’m grateful for internet friends. Although we haven’t met in person, they have been supportive and caring. If ever there’s a way I can support them, I’m happy to do so too. I definitely have to give a shout out to Papa Lou and The Broken Army www.thebrokenones.org. When researching different religions, beliefs and magic for my stories, I came across the handsome “alcohol fueled, southern born national treasure” Papa Lou. His insights in the world of Hoodoo and life in general are interesting and entertaining. I love his stories and his southern charm! What also keeps me tuning into his YouTube channel is his passion to help out other people, especially those in need. He doesn’t brag about it too often, (although he swears he is the King Of Christmas) but he’s made it known that he feeds homeless people in his area, and made it a mission to help out a few families for Thanksgiving and Christmas. If/when I make to to Atlanta (for more research for my next book Enlightening of the Damned) I’m gonna find him, buy him a beer (or two) and ask for more stories.

I’m grateful too, for the friends and loved ones who wouldn’t want to be mentioned on social media. I’ve told them in person and I’ll say it again; I appreciate you being in my life.

Lastly, I’m grateful to YOU, the person reading this blog right now. Thank you for letting me share silly and serious parts of my life with you. I hope you are entertained and inspired for things in your own life.

August Vibrations 2018

After my interesting July, I decided to re-read the book “The Game of Life and How to Play it” by Florence Scovel Shinn. I wanted to find a way to consistently raise my vibrations. I wanted out with the old, negative thoughts and in with new and positive thoughts.

Although the book was originally written back in 1925, the ideas and principles hold true for today. Changing one’s perspective really changes your focus and attitude. Here are a few examples in my life this August, that made a difference.

    • I played trivia at Scum and Villainy in Hollywood. On one hand I felt as though I weren’t very smart. Aren’t I smarter, and more clever than that? Changing my thinking I considered that I visited a very cool bar I hadn‘t been to before and I saw Kevin Smith (who is very cool by the way) up close.
    • I got stuck in my apartment elevator AGAIN (yes, it true, only for about 5 minutes). I could have been very angry, but I took it as a reminder to be healthy and take the stairs more often.
    • After off-loading some boxes at work, I got a strange spot on my work pants. After I washed them the spot remained. I could be cranky about the ruined pants, or be happy to get new ones (that I don’t pay for) which fit better at a smaller size, now that I’ve lost some weight.
    • I recently downloaded a new audio program because I want to do an audio version of my short story “The Price of Salvation” which will come out in October. The new system doesn’t work with my current microphone. I could either be frustrated at technology, or take it as a chance to practice reading out loud more often until I get the mic to work the way I want.

I’m not saying that it’s easy to change every single thought I have, but I can say that the more I consciously pay attention to positive things and situations, and focus on what I want and expect from the Universe my life seems a bit better. I have way more blessings that I thought I did, and I recieve more unexpected nice surprises which I’m grateful for. It also helps to have a few affirmations when those nasty,  demonic negative thoughts cross my path. The next time I dare take the elevator maybe I’ll be stuck with some smoking hot or super cute man…

So friend, what do you do to raise your vibrations?

Butterflies in June 2018

On my walk around the neighborhood park, my sister and I noticed black and red caterpillars slinking across the sidewalk. We weren’t sure what kind they were until we overheard a dad say to his daughter “Look sweetie, that’s gonna be a Monarch Butterfly someday”. How impressive! Based on the little spikey critters that were out, it looked like there would be lots of Monarchs in the near future.

After some sleuthing on Google, it turns out that no, the little guys I saw on the sidewalk weren’t Monarch caterpillars. We might have an interesting group of moths or Mourning Cloak butterflies in a few months?  I also found out that the regal Monarch butterflies are possibly an endangered species. I did spot a few Monarch butterflies that day, but it was a challenge to take a photo of one.  At any rate, it was cool to see nature at work.

It’s always a treat for me to watch butterflies dance in a blue sky on a nice sunny day. Observing the caterpillars struggle across cement made me wonder how something so small (and menacing to some) could end up so light and colorful, floating off to exotic lands. The answer is metamorphosis, a change that takes time and energy. There’s a bit of a struggle and hard work too. I don’t want to impress on anyone that life always have to be rough. However, sometimes we have to push a little more, do a little extra to grow, and soar toward our goals and dreams.

So friend, I encourage you to keep pushing toward your goals.  Do a little extra whenever you can, to grow into the person you want to be. When life gets busy or hard please keep going.  We all get tired.  We all need a break from time to time. If you fall, that’s okay.  The important part though is to get back up. Pick up that pen! Get on your feet! Dust off that goal!  If you need help, reach out.  Ask questions! Butterflies don’t just pop out of their cocoons by pushing a button. The struggle is real.  Floating off to new adventures and turning your dreams into reality is real too, if you put in the work.

 

Thinking outside of the Box March 2018

 

Ladies and Gentlemen, let me introduce you to Roosevelt the Blue Crab. At my day job, we ship lots of the cranky crustaceans every morning.  Roosevelt caught my attention because A) when the crabs do escape, they are very, very angry, and freak me out (I will chat about irrational fear in next month’s blog), and B) he reminded me to appreciate freedom and to acknowledge one’s life path.

Lucky little Roosevelt managed to get free from his brothers and sisters.  Whenever challenged, he wielded his sharp claws. I was too scared to put him back in his box so I asked one of my co-workers to help me.  Jokingly, my coworker gingerly picked him up and instead of Roosevelt being returned back with the others, he found himself perched on a yellow, 10 inch wide pole.  He got to see life as I do, my view of an open space with fresh air, instead of his view in a dark, cramped, smelly box.

Eventually he was put back in his box, safe and sound (no animals were harmed!).

The moment he sat on the pole made me think about how lucky I am.  Instead of being stuck with wherever life finds me at the moment, I have the freedom to challenge myself and I can encourage other people to do the same. I can change my view. There’s no way to escape the end of our path (poor Roosevelt couldn’t change his fate that he was going to be someone’s meal), but we can try to enjoy our path while we’re here.  We can appreciate moments like enjoying great conversation with a friend over a steamy cup of coffee. We can be brave and push ourselves to learn new things instead of sitting on the couch watching negative news. Chasing our dreams and working towards our goals, while still remembering to hug loved ones, makes our paths more interesting. Instead of daily grumbling about punching a time clock, I’m inspired to create stories for Grandmother Zenobia and the characters of Carrefour County.  I savor the times I get to binge watch Supernatural or something on Netflix, rather than feel guilty that I’m not “doing” anything. I no longer complain about being bored; I get out and walk, appreciating the sun on my face and the birds that fly in the sky.

Our paths are not easy; I’m pretty sure the Universe does that on purpose.  Delightful things, heartbreaking things, sweet things, and horrible things pop up all the time. I think it’s okay to be happy or sad, angry or fearful, as long as we experience those emotions and then move through them.  Life is meant to be experienced and savored, not disregarded or ignored.

So friend, I ask what will YOU do on your path? I’d love to hear about it!  When you are freed from your box, like Roosevelt the crab, I hope you have the time of your life.