The Voice

Good morning one and all. It's Monday once again, wow, where did the weekend go?

This week I have got to put my writer's hat back on and get down to business. I had so many distractions and other business to attend to over the last couple weeks that I chose to let my creative juices take a vacation.

The juices did slack off but not entirely and I have some newspaper clippings in my folder that are the seeds of future ideas. The writer's hat may have not been on my head, but it was close by.

I have one query that is still out there and I am hoping it will come back with an assignment attached to it. If that happens the champagne will be flowing here I can tell you.

Anyway, I will get back to query writing this week and brainstorming some other ideas as well.

I really did succeed in giving up my fear last week. My universe did tilt and I have already seen obvious changes in my personal life. I am sure I will see it in my professional life as well.

I knew somehow that I would never really be successful as a writer (or person) until I let my fears lose their hold over me. That only makes sense and I want a well-rounded life. I don't want to be successful only as a writer and have my personal life fraught with conflict. That's not who I am.

I have been working from Tolle's words: Each person's life--each life form--represents a world, a unique way the universe experiences itself. When your form dissolves, a world comes to an end--one of countless worlds.

That means that we are all unique and the universe has chosen to express itself through our unique forms. This makes all humans equal and includes every life form as well. All life is important and has a place in the energy of our lives.

I love that idea because it means that we are all here for a reason and we are all expected to live out that reason, that purpose. I am definitely finding my purpose and it is so expanding.

Oddly enough Facebook has helped me expand my universe as well. Maybe the advents of technology aren't all as distancing as I once thought.

I wish you all a wonderful Monday.

A demain.

The Journey

Good morning one and all, it's journey day!

I won't be writing tomorrow so I will include Open Forum in my blog today.

I was mentioning the fact that Facebook found me yesterday and after checking it out some more my blog takes priority.

Facebook isn't really me. My profile looks rather wholesome and small compared to some people, but my eyes have been opened looking at some other people's profiles.

My cousin says she always looks up people on Facebook before hiring anyone and now I know why. One guy I know is a major player on Facebook. It didn't totally surprise me to see that, but I certainly wouldn't consider him for a 'serious' job based on his profile that's for sure. But he wasn't the only one like that I assure you. All my 'friends' on Facebook are normal people that use the site to keep in touch with people and to post their photos and videos and so on. But some people seem to make it into a competition to see who has the most 'friends.' I've never understood that clique-like behaviour. Just because you have more friends doesn't mean you're a better person. That's why I still see the site as being for teenagers. It's that mentality of more is better--you know that popularity thing that I guess some people never grow out of. I was never into that to begin with so...I look wholesome on Facebook. So be it.

I have had a wild week in other ways that don't include any web sites. I have made some serious promises to myself that I have kept and it has transformed my life. It is interesting how right Marcel Proust was when he said: The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. Of course to 'have new eyes' you must change from within the way you are perceiving the world. To change your perception you must change the way you see yourself. It all comes from within.

I have always been an avid reader of quality new age materials about spirituality and personal growth and I have read countless times the idea that change can only come from within. Since I was a child I have had sneak peeks into this idea but I really didn't completely get it until about 6 months ago.

My perception of the world is now totally different than it was even a month ago.

I do not look at myself the same way I used to at all. I have consciously focused my forgiveness, love and genuine friendship onto myself and in turn healed a lot of the issues I had been carrying around with me. Sometimes I wonder how I left the house with all the crap I had stowed away in all my pockets.

I now leave the house much lighter and the new eyes with which I see the world are real and unfettered.

I now see everyone and everything as being whole and real and important. The respect I have for my friends, my family, my animals, my work, nature, well, pretty much everything has skyrocketed.

I wish you all a wonderful day and a relaxing weekend!

A lundi!

The Mechanics

Today is yet another day that I will not be sticking to my title topic. Ah, such is life, again.

I have been found by Facebook.

At first I thought the whole thing was kinda juvenile but now I am beginning to like it. I can see how it would definitely appeal to teenagers. Making up a profile of yourself and adding photos and all that is fun. It reminded me a bit of starting this blog however I find blogging infinitely more satisfying.

On Facebook you aren't really saying that much about yourself and they put a huge focus on friends and networks. I can see how that side of it definitely appeals to the teenage crowd. I did find quite a few people I know on it though too and they are not teenagers. So, I am reevaluating my first impression of Facebook.

I guess for me to find it really satisfying I'd have to have a place on it to make comments regularly. I don't think it has that. Anyway, I'll keep experimenting.

The Writer's Weekly

Good morning everyone!

I find that my blogs are sticking less and less to the titles I created. Oh, well.

I have given up my fear. You know those nagging little voices in your head that say things to stop you, to scare you even. The dreaded 'what if' voices. Well, I've decided not to listen to them anymore.

This has been a long process--it definitely didn't happen over night. When something big goes wrong that 'what if' voice can really take over your head. It says to you, 'well, you failed at that so maybe you'll fail at this and this and this too.' So over time I have learned to pay less and less attention to that voice. And with renewed confidence comes more silence. The voice's volume steadily grows quieter until now I can barely hear it.

Choosing to give up that fear has really changed my life. Doors have opened where I thought they would be closed for sure. I mean I was convinced that they'd be closed! I was really, really wrong! Realizing that has suddenly opened my eyes.

I was looking at the world as if a barrier existed in front of my path. It's as if I felt I constantly had to climb over something or swerve around something to get to where I wanted to go.

In reality I think people had to constantly climb over something or swerve around something to get to me. And of course not too many people bothered to try, I mean why would they? I had set up so many road blocks that I was practically unattainable.

Well, the road blocks have fallen. I feel really light and strangely exposed but not in a scary way. I write differently, I talk differently, I ask for what I want without hesitation (remember no more 'what ifs') and I'm overwhelmed by the response I've gotten.

Honestly, if only I'd been able to do this sooner I would have gotten what I wanted all that time ago. But, I wasn't ready then and that's the real truth. The road blocks were up because I wasn't able to live completely honestly and fully, not then.

But I am now.

This required a lot of courage and hard work and soul searching (literally). And I am continuing on that journey. This is only the beginning, I am convinced of that.

The Voice

Good morning one and all and welcome to The Voice.

It's another steamy day in Montreal and I am seriously considering putting in my air conditioner. I always seem to leave it until it's practically too late and then I have to go searching around for some strong arms to help me do it. Ah, the life of a delicate female (well, not exactly delicate, but I'm not built like a rugby player either). I always find someone though so I'm not too worried.

My voice has been changing again simply because my outlook is changing too. Life just doesn't look the same as it did even a month ago.

I used to wonder a lot and ask questions like, "What if..." and, "Where do I go from here?" and so on. Some philosophers have considered these existential questions that are worth asking simply because they are worth answering. I, however, think questions like these muddy the waters.

If a lot of our internal dialogue revolves around hesitation, fear, insecurity and inaction it will simply cause more hesitation, fear, insecurity and inaction.

If you know what you should be doing you will go out and do it. Why? Because it just feels right in your gut. You may not even have any internal dialogue about it at all, you often just go out and do it.

I have realized that thinking things through and through and through is actually a form of avoidance. Rather than really dealing with the issue at hand you simply think about it and consequently never really do anything at all.

My writing was getting to be like that at one point. It simply wasn't hitting the mark and I knew it. I was hesitant to really delve into my main characters, or my thesis, or my verse. This caused people to look at my work and think, "This has the makings of something great but..." It was the 'but' that I had to come to terms with.

Realizing, over the course of the last few months, that the universe is far more forgiving and generous than I once thought has really changed the way I do things. I no longer worry about sending that e-mail or making that phone call or writing that story, article, poem...Why not? Because even if I don't succeed in one place I will in another simply because I have put the right energy out there into the world.

I have had lots of personal experiences that attest to this and they just keep coming.

So my voice is no longer afraid to get to know my main characters, or the issues embedded in my articles, or the verses in my poems. The hesitation, fear, insecurity and inaction are all gone.

I feel lighter. I feel more in touch with what's really happening now. And I am proud of myself too.

Have a great one all!

A demain.