Quotes, She Wrote

In an effort to be a consistent writer, I read a lot. Plus, I love input.

I'm usually reading about 4 or 5 books at any given time.

Subjects vary - a short biography on Mother Teresa, some sort of self-improvement manual, the Message (a modern translation of the Bible), music, horses, cooking, beauty, history.... I actually think it's a bit of a medical issue.

I call it Hyper-Bookism Overload Syndrome. It happens when one walks into a library or bookstore and the heart rate rises, the adrenaline surges, hands often begin to quiver, and the eyes dart from shelf to shelf in sheer panic of not knowing where to begin.

It's fatal.

No cure.

So since I'm going to die anyway, I figure I might as well just keep reading!

And writing.

I keep a little journal of quotes - little tidbits I've gathered as I munch on the many books on my plate. I jot down the ones that really resonate with me, challenge me, cause me to think or ponder, or in some way add value to my existence.

Sometimes I even make up my own along the way.

I like to wedge those in between famous people's quotes on the page. Makes me feel special.

Anyway, today I'd like to share a few of my recent favorites.

SO grab a fork, knife, spoon, napkin or just use your fingers - enjoy!

"Mishaps are like knives, that either serve us or cut us, as we grasp them by the blade or the handle." - James Russell Lowell

"Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." - Samuel Beckett

"Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell 'em, 'Certainly, I can!' Then get busy and find out how to do it." - Theodore Roosevelt

"Restlessness and discontent are the first necessities of progress" - Thomas Edison

"When your values are clear to you, making decisions becomes easier." - Roy Disney

"If we keep doing what we're doing, we're going to keep getting whet we're getting.

- Stephen R. Covey

"Those things that hurt, instruct." - Benjamin Franklin

"When you've dropped the ball, pick it up." - Stacey Dee

And there you have it - quotes, she wrote.

s

www.staceydee.com

Cheers!!! (And I'm not even holding a drink!!!)

I read an article today in a magazine I get from NGJ (No Greater Joy) Ministries. (You can find out more about them by going to www.nogreaterjoy.org if you want.)

The article was about child rearing.

That is a funny word combo isn't it?? I mean especially for me as a horse person. I just get this strange visual of children prancing around on their toes waving their arms up in front of their faces and whinnying wildly. Maybe it's just me.

Anyway... the article basically said that cheerfulness is the most important quality that a parent can have when they are raising children. (More strange visuals with that one.)

Hmmm.

Cheerfulness.

Wow!

I just imagined how different our home would be if we were cheerful in all our dealings with our kids. Not a fake giddiness, but a truly cheerful heart. I can't help but think that the dynamics would really shift.

It's easy to feel justified for getting worked up and putting on our intimidating parental faces and speaking with stern and sometimes demeaning tones. But really, does this produce the qualities in our children that we most want to see?

It often works to get their behavior in line but inside I don't think it produces much thankfulness and love. And as the article suggested, cheerfulness is the byproduct of thankfulness and love.

I don't know about you, but a home full of love, thankfulness and cheerful people sounds a lot better than what we sometimes experience on a daily basis!

I'm gonna try it.

I'm going to try to be cheerful.

I'm going to try to love and to be thankful, grateful.

I'll let you know how it goes.

But for now, "Cheers!" (And I'm not even holding a drink!!)

New Year's Non-Resolution

Well....ok, I know. I haven't written much. So the book is going to short that's all. JK.

I've just been busy and not focused on it and focused on other stuff, and busy.....blah, blah, blah.

So we spent the week between Christmas and New Years in Wilmington, NC with my dad, step-mom, my bro, 3 of my 4 sisters and my brother-in-law. Turns out he's writing a book, too, and could use some accountability as well!

So we decided to help each other and make a plan - not a New Year's resolution. A plan.

We're both going to write something every day and post a new blog at least once a week.

That's the plan.

And now you guys know it, too, and I guess that really puts the clincher on it. Darn. Or, I mean, yeah!!

Well, I thought I'd start with some prose I wrote this summer - seems appropriate.

It's called The Author: (enjoy!)

I think I'm an author

a writer of thoughts

of stories

of imaginations and realities

a thinker who must organize my thoughts

unless they be knocked off their pedestals

by the next ones and forgotten

I'm starting to see that I must become a quick doer

for my thoughts and ideas, if not acted upon quickly

are replaced by new thought and new ideas

and fall to the floor like invalids

and after too long, the floor covered in such

can become quite depressing, even morbid

Life is in a hurry for me

like a busy mom clicking her tongue at her slow moving children

knowing she'll be lucky to get all her errands completed before dinner

she cannot rest

she does not have the luxury of waiting

for her days seem numbered and full

full with amazing adventures yet to be had

but known and designed before she was even born

Yes, I'm an author

an author of life

for an author is a channel

from mind to pen

from pen to paper

from paper to other minds

and from there to countess destinations

and pens

and paper

and minds

springing to action without ever speaking a word

Psalm 20-what???

I love Psalm 23 - memorized it when I was a kid. It was summer in Coral Gables, FL I think, before my dad and step-mom had any of my younger sisters and brother. Every year when my older sister, Kim, and I would come to visit, my step-mom would make these lists for each of us - stuff we could do to earn things that we wanted.

For example, if we completed a study book on the life of Jesus or one of the guys from the Old Testament we could earn a trip to the local water park. That was a biggie. There were smaller rewards as well. Like if we memorized a verse or two we would get a delicious carob bar. Yes, carob. And yes, somehow we learned to love these distant cousins to the Hershey bar. I can actually still almost taste them and oddly enough I'm starting to crave one right now!

Weird.

Anyway, one summer Psalm 23 was on the list to memorize. I think the reward was a giant cone of Tofutti "Ice Cream". Leave me alone about it, k? So I'm in the backseat of the car with Kim probably all headed to health food store and she recites Psalm 23 perfectly. She'd been studying all day. So I pipe up (irritating little sister that I am) and say, "I'm ready to do Psalm 23 also!" (Death stare from Kim who knows I've just now read the thing over once or twice and am going to use my amazing short term memory skills to hone in on her newly found victory.) She tried to convince my step-mom that I was a lowsy cheater but I think the fact that I was cramming scripture into my brain was the whole point of this exercise for my step-mom and any way that it got in there was good enough for her. So, I did it, with maybe a small stumble on a word here or there but quite proudly flashed a missing tooth grin at my big sis and then asked when we'd be heading to the local TCBY. Funny thing is that I still remember that Psalm. It stuck with me much like the pineapple "ice cream" cousin stuck all around my mouth.

I was thinking about that Psalm recently though and the only thing that bothers me about it is that it seems a little narrow in it's audience. I mean how many sheep or shepherds do you know? I started thinking of all the ways this Psalm could be re-worded to really hit home to more people:

The Lord is my taxi driver, I shall not worry how I will get from my hotel to the airport.

The Lord is my massage therapist, I will soon be free from this agonizing knot under my right shoulder blade.

The Lord is my morning cup of Earl Gray tea, I will soon be awake enough to enjoy it.

The Lord is my dentist..... no, that won't work.

But not wanting to stray to much from the original text I thought it best in the end to stay in the animal category. And so I chose the animal most close to my heart - the horse.

So here is my version of Psalm 23 in my equestrian language:

The Lord is my rider, I don't need to worry about a thing!

I am so well fed that even when I'm turned out in my lush green pastures I have the luxury to lay down and nap in the sun.

He leads me out to the clean water so I can drink in peace.

He guides me with gentle but firm hands so that I follow exactly where He wants me to go and people are in awe of what an amazing rider He is.

Even when we go down the steepest trails I'm never worried that I won't be able to make it because He moves me over to the surest footing with a press of his leg and squeeze of the reins so perfectly and clearly to direct my every step and bring me safely to the other side.

He gives me a huge pile of hay and a full scoop of grain and never lets the other horses chase me away from it.

He curries my coat and rubs sweet oils into my mane and tail. I have more than I need.

His goodness and love rest on me always like the warm blanket he covers me with each night.

I will live in His barn forever!

Happy Trails for now until we chat again!

s

Here goes something!

So I started this blog on August 26^th, 2009 and have written 2 entries: one on how starting to write is the hardest part and then a sort of retraction of that idea about how continuing is actually the hardest part. Today is Monday, October 26^th, exactly 2 months since I started the thing and 49 days since I last blogged.

All of this leads to one inevitable conclusion: I should write a book.

J

Oops – edit number 1 – let me rephrase that, since I am attempting to stike the word “should” from my vocabulary: I am writing a book.

(OMG. Did I just say that out loud??? Phew, I only wrote it. Yikes.)

So I need help.

Ah, finally something that makes sense to you, huh?! (Especially if you’re in the field of counseling or psychotherapy.)

But what I mean is I want your help. See, this book is going to take shape publicly. Yep. I’m going to blog it into being.

My brain works in chapters sometimes. I’ll be brushing my teeth – one of my favorite activities (you should all get a Sonic Care toothbrush, btw – damn it, I just said “should” again) when my brain will start typing into thin air a fantastic narrative.

Problem is by the time the 2 minute auto timer on my Sonic Care goes off I’ve moved on from the chapter to thoughts of how my “freckles” look more and more like age spots and where I’m going to come up with the money for laser resurfacing and how much it will probably hurt or how weird I’ll look during the process.

So, my idea is, if I have a format where I can jump online and quickly type out the idea before it’s dethroned by the next, I can move on to my vain musings with much less guilt and maybe even with something to show for it.

Thus the blog.

And with blogs being the cooking show of our now collaborative digital life soup it’s the perfect spot to start chopping and tossing ingredients into the pot.

So there you have it.

You’re invited into my kitchen to taste, comment and maybe even toss a few of your own spices into the mix.

One warning – participate at your own risk! I don’t always think in any type of order (as if you haven’t already noticed that) and you may find yourself or someone you know and love on the pages. I will probably change the names of people in my stories when I feel that their privacy may be better served that way but it may be possible for some of you more astute individuals to unravel the stories and characters regardless.

So I apologize ahead of time.

Just keep in mind, cooking, like life, is messy. But without the mess the soup is usually pretty bland.

The water’s hot but once it’s soup it sure feels good going down!

So are you in????

Maybe I Was Wrong???

Ok, maybe I was wrong.

Maybe starting isn't the hardest part.

Maybe continuing is!

I mean, how do you follow up perfection!?! :)

But seriously... continuing - that's the real magic.

The art of one foot in front of the other or in this case one word after another.

So I've been been pondering in my head some meaningful topic or practical tip that I've stumbled across or dug up from the pit of past mistakes and/or successes - that little nugget of "ah ha!" to toss out to the world of blog-readers.

And maybe I've found it - right in the middle of trying to find it!

Continuing

Could it really be that simple? I mean the hardest part - is it that simple?!

Just start and then keep going???

It's got to be more complicated, really.

Although when I look at the alternative I guess going somewhere is better than going nowhere.

And "they" always say that it's easier to turn a moving ship....

Who is "they" anyway!!???

Ah, but that's another foot in front of the proverbial other!

The Hardest Part

Starting is the hardest part.

Why is that???

I think it's because I want it to be just right....ok, that means perfect. Yikes! Am I a perfectionist?

Or maybe it just seems wrong to jump into this whole blogging thing with some random thoughts about how my kids watch too much t.v. or how I started reading Ben Franklin's autobiography last night. And it's overwhelming to think about starting with my entire life's history but without that how will anyone really understand where I'm coming from, right? So the blank page sits for 5 or 6 days while in my head I've written several very insightful blogs - so amazing in fact that I fall asleep while mentally mid-sentence and I can't remember them in the morning.

Ah, well...at least now the hardest part is over.