Monday Meditation: Quick and Tidy Way To Meditation

If someone were to ask me how after 35 years of meditation the practice has contributed to who I am today, I’m not sure I could answer succinctly. Just like there is nothing really quick and tidy about life, there is nothing quick or tidy about meditation including the results. Yes, we can sit down for a quick five minutes of peace and quiet four times a day to equal our goal of twenty minutes a day, but the results are scattered for the average person. Instead of cumulative, each session is beginning from the beginning each and every time. But that is the valuable trinket many people fail to recognize about meditation and that’s why some of them give up the practice. They don’t see any big changes. They don’t feel like they are progressing. They don’t know if they’re doing it right. They are tired of starting over the same way every practice. And they don’t see a tangible goal, something they can grab onto and work toward, a reason to meditate.

Thirty-five years ago I was in love with my IBM Selectric electric typewriter  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Selectric. I could type like the wind and writing became even more of a compulsion when I found out how quickly and efficiently I could write and edit articles. Once I cracked open the seam of a story and had the Selectric turned on, the poems and columns poured out like water from a spigot. I was in a mental zone while writing, and nothing short of a child screaming, “Mommy, she has the matches again!” could break me out of the writing trance. Ideas, words, and fingers reaching frantically in every direction of the compass across the span of the keyboard, known lovingly to me then as “the keys” of the typewriter. They were the keys to finally getting all that stuff out of my head, onto paper, and into the hands of others. They were the keys to my deciding to become a writer, get a journalism degree, and publish as much as I could possibly pass from my brain to my hands to the keys to the printer to the reader. This was actually my first experience with meditation even though I didn’t realize it. I was intensely focused on the writing and the process. That’s what meditation is: focus. And writing is where I learned to focus and when introduced to meditation, the ground work was already in place because I had learned to focus on a story and stay dedicated to the idea until it was finished.

Sure the pure definitions of meditation say things like “calm tranquility,” “emotional detachment,” and “blissful state,” but I had already experienced those trance-like places of clarity as a writer. Learning to breathe and call it meditation was a “peace” of cake. Because writing requires awareness of detail, clear steps of organization, and the results are any number of acceptable variations, the similarities of writing to meditation are easy to recognize. All writers are practicing a state of focus while writing. The next logical step is to roll the office chair from the keyboard for five or ten minutes and sit in stillness with your breath. When you return to the craft of piecing together the twenty-six letters of the alphabet into words, ideas, sentences, and stories your perspective will be the fresh and new you’ve been hoping for.

So it is writing that led me to meditation and meditation that continues to lend it’s nothingness and its everything-ness to my writing. Did you know you are meditating when you write? Notice next time, simply notice.

There are five primary areas of practice to the Writer Wellness plan. Every other week I will post an idea for relaxation (Monday Meditation,) creative play (Tuesday Tickle,) fitness and exercise (Wednesday Workout,) journaling and misc. (Thursday Thought,) and nutrition (Friday Feast.)

 

Meanwhile, remember to look for a digital or print copy of Writer Wellness, A Writer’s Path to Health and Creativity at Who Dares Wins Publishing, http://whodareswinspublishing.com.

And check out these great blogs for ideas to keep your writing and publishing healthy and prosperous.

http://writeitforward.wordpress.com/ Bob Mayer

http://jenniholbrooktalty.wordpress.com/ Jenni Holbrook

http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/ Kristen Lamb

http://inspiration4writers.blogspot.com/ Inspiration for Writers, Inc.

http://pentopublish.blogspot.com/ Natalie Markey

http://amyshojai.com Amy Shojai

Check out my new website Joy E. Held

Have you subscribed to this Writer Wellness blog yet? Get email updates when a new post is added. Click “subscribe” and leave your email. That’s it and thanks in advance!

Be well, write well

Thursday Thot: “Words-day” Instead of Thursday

Although I am a fan of Thor, the god of Thunder and big biceps, I am proceeding with my revolt against the common names for the days of the week and renaming today “Words-day”. Good-bye Thursday, at least for the moment. My journaling thot for this “Words-day” is taken from an exercise courtesy of the amazing social media expert Kristen Lamb presented in her BLOGING FOR AUTHOR BRAND online workshop. She presents an interesting quandry for someone just starting out as a blog trekker when she assigns class members to describe themselves in 100 words.

“ASSIGNMENT: Write at least 100 individual words that describe you. If you were a jar of pasta sauce, these would be the ingredients. Memories, favorite bands, favorite movies, favorite songs, foods, etc.” (Kristen Lamb, 2012)

We’re all writers here in some form or another. What’s a hundred words? We can write a hundred words in our sleep and forget the most important parts unless we wake up in the middle of the night and write them down. What’s so difficult about one hundred individual words about ME? Try it. Post it here and let me know how it feels to go that deep.  Happy “Words-day”!

Joy: mom, wife, daughter, sister, aunt, care giver, maid, cook, bottle washer, laundress, driver, gardner, yogini, author, teacher, friend, lover, reader, pizza lover, entrepreneur, book reviewer, nurse, journal fanatic, Internet junkie, executrix, trustee, employee, boss, legal advisor, bill collector, bill payer, postal clerk, tweeter, scorpio, organizer, shopper, bling lover, blogger, email clerk, Pepsi addict, baggy eyed, long haired, big nosed, opinionated, moody, different, stubborn, competitive, football crazy, sports lover, spirit loving, traffic cop, paper grader, hugger, editor, submissions guru, romantic, germ-a-phobe, giving, funny, average, caring, systematic, lazy, insomniac, moon lover, cartwheeler, head stander champ, jewelry hog, black tights freak, neice, grand daughter, cousin, Facebooking, girl.

Show me yours!

Be well, write well.

http://www.joyeheld.com

 

 

Wednesday Workout: Renaming Today “Pens-day”

Continuing with this week’s theme of world domination, instead of Wednesday, today is being renamed “Pens-day.” So far, the resistance has been futile. I renamed Monday “Fun-day” and Tuesday was officially changed to “Muse-day” and the response has been pretty ho-hum. That’s okay. Quite revolutions are the longest lasting.

Since this day at Writer Wellness is always about a fitness idea, the word is to get out your pens and write about exercise. Whether you consider yourself a writer or not, almost everyone has something to say about exercise.

“Whenever I feel the urge to exercise, I lie down.” Can’t pinpoint exactly who coined this one (feel free to help me out with proper citation,) but it encapsulates the way many people feel about exercise. They avoid it like the plague. On this momentous “Pens-day” instead of Wednesday, grab a writing implement in your hand (yes, we’ll count that as exercise move number one if you insist,) and write down what you think, feel, and smell about exercise. Simplify things and write a simple pros and cons list. If you like exercising, the pros list will be longer. If you don’t… (Yes, we’ll count the writing as exercise move number two if you insist.) But I insist that you take a good look at your exercise pro and con lists and make the commitment to add exercise to your DAILY list of things to do.

 

“I hate to exercise. I figure at my age, why bother? If God wanted me to bend over, he’d throw diamonds on the floor!”

                ~Joan Rivers

The image of something valuable in return for the effort of exercise is a great one to keep in mind as you put one foot in front of the other and pound a path on that treadmill until they have to call in a repairman to replace the tread!

Why don’t you post your exercise pros and cons list here today, right now on this first and important “Pens-day?”

There are five primary areas of practice to the Writer Wellness plan. Every other week I will post an idea for relaxation (Monday Meditation,) creative play (Tuesday Tickle,) fitness and exercise (Wednesday Workout,) journaling and misc. (Thursday Thought,) and nutrition (Friday Feast.)

Meanwhile, remember to look for a digital or print copy of Writer Wellness, A Writer’s Path to Health and Creativity at Who Dares Wins Publishing, http://whodareswinspublishing.com.

And check out these great blogs for ideas to keep your writing and publishing healthy and prosperous.

http://writeitforward.wordpress.com/ Bob Mayer

http://jenniholbrooktalty.wordpress.com/ Jenni Holbrook

http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/ Kristen Lamb

http://inspiration4writers.blogspot.com/ Inspiration for Writers, Inc.

http://pentopublish.blogspot.com/ Natalie Markey

http://amyshojai.com Amy Shojai

Check out my new website Joy E. Held

Have you subscribed to this Writer Wellness blog yet? Get email updates when a new post is added. Click “subscribe” and leave your email. That’s it and thanks in advance!

And hugs to my tweet friends who tweet this forward.

Be well, write well

Tuesday Tickle: Renaming Today “Muse-day”

“Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.”

                ~Stephen King, On Writing

Waiting on inspiration? Really? That writer must not need the money or realize how important the process is. It’s just as important as the product when it comes to writing. Lots of us know we have a mysterious “writing muscle”, and true, it needs a kick in the thing we use to hold chairs down with but the process doesn’t require inspiration to be put into gear. The process requires perspiration. And since the advent of the psychological term “writer’s block”, the invention of a muse is popular when it comes to needing the proper impulse to write. What is a muse anyway? Is it the inner critic? Is it a secret font of ideas stored in our subconscious we just have to tap into for stuff to write about? Is it some guy sitting in the basement smoking cigars admiring his bowling trophies (more Stephen King) while we struggle for the stream of words that make us writers? Muse, inspiration, whatever, are all just another word for courage. Are we brave enough to be the writers we dream we are?

What the muse or the inspiration may actually be is the time it takes for our brains to sort through the muck of stimulations we absorb constantly and bring something cohesive to the surface. That’s why English professors have a far off look in their eyes all the time. It explains why novelists spill things. Brain work for writers is the equivalent of an intense cardio workout for not the recommended thirty-minute session with a cool-down afterward, but a continual mind boggling distraction until we figure it out. Then we have something to write. The muse is our minds organizing the clutter of the process until the words fall into place and we can fill the pages with them. There is no inspiration. There is only the process of thinking, connecting, writing drivel, and more thinking until it becomes the answer to the question we have asked with our stories. The muse is the imaginary delivery girl dressed or undressed in the costume of your own mental doing. She (or he or it) gives us somewhere to place the blame while we’re waiting on the brain to tidy up the mess of stuff we’ve fed it. But it’s the writing process that enables the brain to have what it needs. So keep the process going: journal, write ugly grammar, blog, and read, read, read until the muse is inspired enough to bless you with the story.

 

“Biting my truant pen, beating myself for spite:

‘Fool!’ said my Muse to me, ‘look in thy heart and write.’”

                ~Sir Philip Sidney (1554-1586)

                Astrophel and Stella, Sonnet I

This inspiration-muse thing has been going on for quite a while. But notice the Muse says, “…and write.” She doesn’t say, “Take a seat, honey, and when I get this figured out for you, I’ll call.”

Will you take the process challenge this “Muse-day” and give her something, anything to work with?

There are five primary areas of practice to the Writer Wellness plan. Every other week I will post an idea for relaxation (Monday Meditation,) creative play (Tuesday Tickle,) fitness and exercise (Wednesday Workout,) journaling and misc. (Thursday Thought,) and nutrition (Friday Feast.)

Meanwhile, remember to look for a digital or print copy of Writer Wellness, A Writer’s Path to Health and Creativity at Who Dares Wins Publishing, http://whodareswinspublishing.com.

And check out these great blogs for ideas to keep your writing and publishing healthy and prosperous.

http://writeitforward.wordpress.com/ Bob Mayer

http://jenniholbrooktalty.wordpress.com/ Jenni Holbrook

http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/ Kristen Lamb

http://inspiration4writers.blogspot.com/ Inspiration for Writers, Inc.

http://pentopublish.blogspot.com/ Natalie Markey

http://amyshojai.com Amy Shojai

Check out my new website Joy E. Held

Have you subscribed to this Writer Wellness blog yet? Get email updates when a new post is added. Click “subscribe” and leave your email. That’s it and thanks in advance!

Be well, write well

Monday Meditation: Renaming Today “Fun-day”

Monday Meditation: Renaming Today “Fun-day”

Monday is typically a dreaded day. It’s more unwelcome than a case of athlete’s foot. Yet it returns and reruns itself no matter what remedy we try. So it might be time for a change of perspective and to think positively about this day instead of always trying to avoid it. I’ve decided to rename Monday to “Fun-day”, the day of the week when we make an effort to enjoy the opportunities a fresh start to a new work week can offer. It’s time to look at all the potential Monday, I mean “Fun-Day”, presents.

First, we should admit that our problem with Monday is that it seems to end the fun of the weekend. If we make a choice to continue the fun on the first day of the week, sleeping on Sunday (the “day of rest”?) night won’t be the challenge is it for people who don’t look forward to Mondays. If we think of the day as “Fun-day” instead of Monday we might get enough sleep on Sunday to make the most of this promising day.

The next issue we have with Monday is that it never seems to have enough time built into it. That’s because we spend most of it being disgruntled that it has reappeared instead of making the best of something we can’t change anyway. The sun comes up and Monday comes back. That’s reality on this big round thing we live on. Like some other distasteful things I won’t mention, Monday happens. So it’s worth the LESS STRESS to plan ahead to make Monday more like “Fun-day” instead of I-hate-life-day. Take a few minutes on Friday to make a “Fun-day” plan. Look over the list and do one of the “Fun-day” jobs on Friday (P.S. I’m renaming Friday too, more on that later.) That way, “Fun-day” will have more space for taking care of something that invariably pops up or poops out.  Those last minute, didn’t-know-this-would-happen things that Mondays are famous for.

Time and trying to live against it instead of with it is a major contributor to creating bad stress in humans. Take a minute or two on some day in advance of Monday to make it “Fun-day” and relieve yourself of a tiny bit of stress.

What will you do today to make it “Fun-day”?

CONTEST WINNER ANNOUNCED! The winner of the drawing for a free digital copy of WRITER WELLNESS, A WRITER’S PATH TO HEALTH AND CREATIVITY and a month of free Writer Wellness coaching via email is

 

JOANNA AISLINN!     Congratulations. Contact me to arrange for your prize package! Thanks to all who entered.

There are five primary areas of practice to the Writer Wellness plan. Every other week I will post an idea for relaxation (Monday Meditation,) creative play (Tuesday Tickle,) fitness and exercise (Wednesday Workout,) journaling and misc. (Thursday Thought,) and nutrition (Friday Feast.)

Meanwhile, remember to look for a digital or print copy of Writer Wellness, A Writer’s Path to Health and Creativity at Who Dares Wins Publishing, http://whodareswinspublishing.com.

And check out these great blogs for ideas to keep your writing and publishing healthy and prosperous.

http://writeitforward.wordpress.com/ Bob Mayer

http://jenniholbrooktalty.wordpress.com/ Jenni Holbrook

http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/ Kristen Lamb

http://inspiration4writers.blogspot.com/ Inspiration for Writers, Inc.

http://pentopublish.blogspot.com/ Natalie Markey

http://amyshojai.com Amy Shojai

Check out my new website Joy E. Held

Have you subscribed to this Writer Wellness blog yet? Get email updates when a new post is added. Click “subscribe” and leave your email. That’s it and thanks in advance!

Be well, write well

Friday Feast: Spam, Ham, and Jam: 2011 Blog Comments in the Rear View Mirror

Of the many blogging platforms available, I am really pleased I followed the excellent advice of my social media guru Kristen Lamb and went with WordPress as she recommends in her superior and helpful book

WE ARE NOT ALONE, THE WRITER’S GUIDE TO SOCIAL MEDIA, Who Dares Wins Publishing, 2010.

She was spot on the money when she said that WordPress was an accessible, easy to learn system. I’ve been really pleased with my neophyte experience as a blogger in 2011. Thanks to Kristen I have learned a lot and have many miles to go as a blogger, but WordPress makes it seem do-able even for me.

One of the points Kristen makes in her book and on her incredible blog is the importance of comments. It’s necessary to put thought provoking, interesting content on your blog to engage readers with your ideas and therefore your product. It’s a savvy form of promotion that encourages healthy discussion and hopefully encourages people to seek out your product. “Yes, conversation can turn into relationships, which ultimately translate into books sold,” says Kristen. She’s right. I tried it for a year and it has worked. I have easily seen an upswing in sales in correlation to reader’s comments at my blog. Thanks, Kristen!

The funny part is what WordPress does with the dreaded spam comments that every blogger gets. If you want a brief history of why unsolicited email is called spam (not the meaty SPAM luncheon meat trademarked by Hormel,) read this article at Wired. I know from guest blogging on other platforms that WordPress does the best job for me of identifying and corralling the obviously unwanted (by me) comments by some blatantly nefarious characters. How can I be sure they aren’t valid readers of my blog? Read on.

I regularly check and clear my spam file at WordPress and am constantly given to chuckle over comments I receive such as:

I conceive that you should compose writer on this content, it strength not be a preconception substance but mostly group are not enough to communicate on specified topics.

All rightee then. Or this one:

You should try some Norwegian carrot cake (gulrotkake langpanne) to cheer you up instead.

Is it suitable for my blood type diet? And my recent favorite:

Nono hair removal All computers wait at the same speed.

Right. In the spam can you go! Granted, blogging is partly about developing relationships and community, but frankly, these are bots I can do without. Have you found any tasty morsels in your spam file lately?

Get a copy of Kristen’s book and get started on the road to successful blogging. Better yet, join Kristen in her online workshop “Blogging to Build Brand” about social media techniques sponsored by our mutual and wonderful publishing house Who Dares Wins Publishing!

There are five primary areas of practice to the Writer Wellness plan. Every other week I will post an idea for relaxation (Monday Meditation,) creative play (Tuesday Tickle,) fitness and exercise (Wednesday Workout,) journaling and misc. (Thursday Thought,) and nutrition (Friday Feast.)

Meanwhile, remember to look for a digital or print copy of Writer Wellness, A Writer’s Path to Health and Creativity at Who Dares Wins Publishing, http://whodareswinspublishing.com.

 

 

 

 

 

And check out these great blogs for ideas to keep your writing and publishing healthy and prosperous.

http://writeitforward.wordpress.com/ Bob Mayer

http://jenniholbrooktalty.wordpress.com/ Jenni Holbrook

http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/ Kristen Lamb

http://inspiration4writers.blogspot.com/ Inspiration for Writers, Inc.

http://pentopublish.blogspot.com/ Natalie Markey

http://amyshojai.com Amy Shojai

Check out my new website Joy E. Held

Have you subscribed to this Writer Wellness blog yet? Get email updates when a new post is added. Click “subscribe” and leave your email. That’s it and thanks in advance!

Be well, write well.

 

 

 

 

Thursday Thot: Looking Back to Understand the Future

Something I recommend in Writer Wellness is looking back through old journals we’ve written. It’s a meta-cognitive exercise that actively engages our minds with the path we’ve taken while giving us a hint of where we could be headed. I don’t mean to sound contradictory or psychic. Reviewing what we’ve written in our journals is just a good healthy way to check in and see what’s missing and give ourselves the opportunity to think about how to fill in the gaps of life. For instance, I have looked back through journals I kept for 2011 and realized that something I enjoy is spending time with friends and I don’t get enough of it. I also noticed that I wrote about wanting to do more leisure activities such as attending sports events which I really love. Now I make time for more of these things in my life and consciously tell my inner critic that I don’t HAVE to have the toilets clean and all the laundry done before I can go out and play. Consequently I had a marvelous latter half of the 2011 because I didn’t miss a home football game at the college where I teach, and I invited seven friends out to lunch at the same time, and we had a splendid time!

Here’s your challenge. Look back on the year 2011 in your mind and in your journals or on your calendars before you trash them and identify something missing in your life that you want to change. Tell me about it in a comment to this post no later than next Thursday, Jan. 12, and you’ll be entered into a drawing for a month of personal Writer Wellness coaching with me via email. And if you don’t have a copy of the book, that’s yours too. So look back on your life as you’ve kept track of it and decide what steps you want to take to make the path you’re on brighter and healthier. I’m here to help.

There are five primary areas of practice to the Writer Wellness plan. Every other week I will post an idea for relaxation (Monday Meditation,) creative play (Tuesday Tickle,) fitness and exercise (Wednesday Workout,) journaling and misc. (Thursday Thought,) and nutrition (Friday Feast.)

 

Meanwhile, remember to look for a digital or print copy of Writer Wellness, A Writer’s Path to Health and Creativity at Who Dares Wins Publishing, http://whodareswinspublishing.com.

And check out these great blogs for ideas to keep your writing and publishing healthy and prosperous.

http://writeitforward.wordpress.com/ Bob Mayer

http://jenniholbrooktalty.wordpress.com/ Jenni Holbrook

http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/ Kristen Lamb

http://inspiration4writers.blogspot.com/ Inspiration for Writers, Inc.

http://pentopublish.blogspot.com/ Natalie Markey

http://amyshojai.com Amy Shojai

Check out my new website Joy E. Held

Have you subscribed to this Writer Wellness blog yet? Get email updates when a new post is added. Click “subscribe” and leave your email. That’s it and thanks in advance!

Be well, write well

Wednesday Workout: 7 Workout Mistakes to Avoid

Happy new fitness year! Month? Week? Can you get to the gym at least once pretty soon and see what happens? In the year of 2012 I hope you’ll try your best to exercise and figure out how regular workouts can be a part of your life. I’ll admit it. Sometimes if I wasn’t the teacher, I’d just skip a day or two or three of exercising especially if I’m by myself. The tip about exercising in a herd or with a buddy really does help. But there is such a host of possible pitfalls when it comes to exercise that it’s no wonder people don’t stick to their New Year’s resolution to exercise more. Perhaps if you can be proactive and head off the troubles before they hit, you’ll stand a better chance of exercising longer and stronger.

This list isn’t the typical “do this” and see if it helps list. It’s designed to prevent some potential problems that make exercise a chore or at least a bother.

1. No pain, no gain is the cruelest fitness cliché ever coined. Because it rhymes it has stuck in the exercise vernacular, but the idea does more harm than good. Bouncing while we stretch went out in the nineties with leg warmers and headbands. Pain is a signal that should alert you to an important message from your body. It’s your muscles and bones telling your brain to back off. “Ripping” muscle fiber to achieve a temporarily visual affect if not what is meant by health and fitness.

2. Timing is everything in the world of exercise. Your body loves consistency and your brain loves the high it gets from habit. Give them both a good reason to keep supporting you in everything you do by exercising as close to the same time on the same days as often as possible. This is the number one way to increase metabolism and speed up fat burning.

3. A good workout includes a warm-up period, an intense aerobic series, and a steady cool down. With practice or a good class with a competent instructor, you can learn to do this safely and efficiently in thirty minutes a day five times a week with a variety of different practices. Most people don’t exercise enough however and don’t get the cumulative benefits. Physical fitness is a lifestyle for the long haul. That way intensity can be safely implemented into a long term exercise plan. Think of your workout schedule like riding a roller coaster. Some workout days are more challenging than others. This actually provides muscles the work/rest time needed to develop safely.

4. If you’re talking too much while working out, you won’t be able to concentrate on the correct breathing. Breathing patterns can aid or detract from the value of an exercise. Muscles and the brain need oxygen and lots of it, especially during physical exertion. Learn how to breathe for the exercise program you’ve chosen. There are different philosophies in some fitness corners and they really do contribute to the overall benefit of the program. Focus on good breathing patterns when you exercise.

5. Unless you’re running a marathon, you can make it through a 55-minute exercise class WITHOUT taking a drink of water. Hydrate before and after because drinking water while you exercise draws blood and oxygen away from your muscles and to the stomach to deal with the fluids. You’ll make it.

6. As mentioned in #3, a balance of high intensity and gentle workouts aids the body in recovery and development. Try for three aerobic sessions per week and two or more lighter workouts in between.

7. Throwing money at exercise will not make your workouts any better. Low tech equipment such as light weights, good footwear, and a decent yoga mat are all just about anybody needs to accomplish a decent fitness plan. When money is involved, the brain starts thinking value and outcomes and ratios and “did I get my money’s worth?” Exercise doesn’t work that way. The value is experienced over time as health care costs are lower and self-esteem is higher. You can try, but placing a monetary label on something like positive mental health defeats the purpose in my opinion. A good instructor is worth her weight in chocolate, I mean calories, but be careful about obsessing over what it costs to be physically fit. The price of not being in good shape is the real number you should be worrying about.

Do you have any suggestions for things to avoid that have made your workouts better?

There are five primary areas of practice to the Writer Wellness plan. Every other week I will post an idea for relaxation (Monday Meditation,) creative play (Tuesday Tickle,) fitness and exercise (Wednesday Workout,) journaling and misc. (Thursday Thought,) and nutrition (Friday Feast.)

 

Meanwhile, remember to look for a digital or print copy of Writer Wellness, A Writer’s Path to Health and Creativity at Who Dares Wins Publishing, http://whodareswinspublishing.com.

And check out these great blogs for ideas to keep your writing and publishing healthy and prosperous.

http://writeitforward.wordpress.com/ Bob Mayer

http://jenniholbrooktalty.wordpress.com/ Jenni Holbrook

http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/ Kristen Lamb

http://inspiration4writers.blogspot.com/ Inspiration for Writers, Inc.

http://pentopublish.blogspot.com/ Natalie Markey 

http://amyshojai.com Amy Shojai

Check out my new website Joy E. Held

Have you subscribed to this Writer Wellness blog yet? Get email updates when a new post is added. Click “subscribe” and leave your email. That’s it and thanks in advance!

Be well, write well

Tuesday Tickle: Heat Up Creativity With These Jan. Celebrations

Who doesn’t need a moment or two of mental game playing to relax the mind? When we are deeply engrossed in a project and start to feel bogged down or out of focus, taking a mental play date with some fun or nonsense notion can provide the respite we need to feel refreshed enough to finish the chores. These out-of-the-box January holidays may be just the ticket for giving you a moment of merriment and perhaps provide you with an idea or two for conversation or blogging like this first date did for me.

January 4 Trivia Day

I’m always looking for connections and synchronicity in my life. I needed something to jump start my blogging for the week and my husband has been obsessed this holiday with reading a particular book. It’s wonderful when my husband reads because usually he’s quiet, and I always know where to find him-in his comfy reading chair in the family room. But this book has been a noisy intrusion. He’s reading BRAINIAC, ADVENTURES IN THE CURIOUS, COMPETITIVE, COMPULSIVE WORLD OF TRIVIA BUFFS written by Jeopardy game show phenom Ken Jennings. Like I said, it’s fine when my husband reads, but he’s way too excited about this book. I know because instead of being quiet, he’s sharing out loud as he reads. And there are obviously many banal trivia questions in the book that he simply must ask me if I know the answer to. The holiday break has been a daily game of Jeopardy in my TV room while I’m trying to watch something serious like the New York Jets get their rears handed to them on a silver platter. But I’m patient because trivia, I’ve decided, is a form of higher intelligence. After all, as my daughter said during one of the quiz sessions, “I’m not so sure there is such a thing as useless knowledge.” Okay. I can agree with that because I’m a word person and the juxtaposition of ‘useless’ and ‘knowledge’ intrigues me. But when she immediately searched for useless knowledge dot com and started to add to the trivia swirling around the room, I went to another room to finish the cooking show I was watching. Cooking and food. That’s important.

In all fairness, Jennings’ book is well written and who would have thought to organize the world of trivia into a “Trivia Timeline: A Brief History of Time Wasting”? And I admit, I finally picked up the book and as my habit, read the last page first and was rewarded with trivia I consider valuable.

“Trivia, to borrow a phrase from Walt Whitman, is large. It contains multitudes. In fact, it contains everything. That’s what we love about it.” (Brainiac, Adventures in the Curious, Competitive, Compulsive World of Trivia Buffs, Ken Jennings, The Random House Publishing Group, New York, 2006.)

January 20 Penguin Awareness Day

Again the connections and synchronicity of this observance caught my attention. I don’t typically have much use for penguins. I don’t understand how they can be so content waddling everywhere, but I guess if that’s all you know… The holiday information site Holiday Insights provided me with the loosely structured information about this day. While not a holiday or a national recognition of penguins, it provided me with a bridge to this post. I received a copy of the dvd The King’s Speech for Christmas which has an endearing scene in it where the king (played by Colin Firth) tells his daughters, (the princesses Elizabeth and Margaret) a bedtime story about a father who had been turned into a penguin by an evil witch. He is subliminally complaining about having to wear the tuxedo he is dressed in and claims that in the story, the papa is heartbroken because as a penguin he can’t hug his darling daughters because penguins have no arms. I loved the movie but I still don’t have much use for the poor penguin except to notice how the image cropped up twice in as many days on my personal radar. Well, that’s my contribution to Penguin Awareness Day January 20.

Here’s the website if you need some more random, synchronous connections to notice in your own world Holiday Insights.

Do you have any January observances you are especially looking forward to?

There are five primary areas of practice to the Writer Wellness plan. Every other week I will post an idea for relaxation (Monday Meditation,) creative play (Tuesday Tickle,) fitness and exercise (Wednesday Workout,) journaling and misc. (Thursday Thought,) and nutrition (Friday Feast.)

 

Meanwhile, remember to look for a digital or print copy of Writer Wellness, A Writer’s Path to Health and Creativity at Who Dares Wins Publishing, http://whodareswinspublishing.com.

And check out these great blogs for ideas to keep your writing and publishing healthy and prosperous.

http://writeitforward.wordpress.com/ Bob Mayer

http://jenniholbrooktalty.wordpress.com/ Jenni Holbrook

http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/ Kristen Lamb

http://inspiration4writers.blogspot.com/ Inspiration for Writers, Inc.

http://pentopublish.blogspot.com/ Natalie Markey

http://amyshojai.com Amy Shojai

Check out my new website Joy E. Held

Have you subscribed to this Writer Wellness blog yet? Get email updates when a new post is added. Click “subscribe” and leave your email. That’s it and thanks in advance!

Be well, write well

Monday Meditation: No Blog Is An Island

A 2011 reflection for me includes a shout out of “thank you!” to the following cyber pals who made last year great for Writer Wellness.

 

Joanna Aislinn for hosting me as a guest blogger and always having interesting things on her blog that I like to read.

 

Miriam Allen for writing a great review of Writer Wellness.

 

Wendy Hines for writing a great review of Writer Wellness.

 

Paty Jager for writing a great review of Writer Wellness.

 

Kristin Lamb for her incredible non-stop blogging energy. I don’t know how she does it but her insight, humor, and support of WW are like treasures.

 

Natalie Markey for being another great reviewer of Writer Wellness and swapping guest posts with me.

 

Cat Masters for hosting me on her blog in 2011 with a very fun interview.

 

Bob Mayer for being a wizard with the vision to create Who Dares Wins Publishing and to believe that Writer Wellness was worth the second chance.

 

Linda Rettstatt for writing a great review of Writer Wellness.

 

Amy Shojai for being the most cheerful animal lover and blogging pal I have.

 

Jen Talty for ALWAYS being there no matter what. She’s amazing.

 

Beth Trissel for hosting Writer Wellness at her blog and getting an amazing number of hits that day!

 

Sandy Tritt for being my bestest buddy in the real world and the cyber village it takes to keep the Writer Wellness world afloat.

HUGS EVERYBODY AND HERE’S TO A GREAT NEW ERA IN WRITING, PUBLISHING, AND BEING.

There are five primary areas of practice to the Writer Wellness plan. Every other week I will post an idea for relaxation (Monday Meditation,) creative play (Tuesday Tickle,) fitness and exercise (Wednesday Workout,) journaling and misc. (Thursday Thought,) and nutrition (Friday Feast.)

Meanwhile, remember to look for a digital or print copy of Writer Wellness, A Writer’s Path to Health and Creativity at Who Dares Wins Publishing, http://whodareswinspublishing.com.

 

And check out these great blogs for ideas to keep your writing and publishing healthy and prosperous.

 

http://writeitforward.wordpress.com/ Bob Mayer

 

http://jenniholbrooktalty.wordpress.com/ Jenni Holbrook

 

http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/ Kristen Lamb

 

http://inspiration4writers.blogspot.com/ Inspiration for Writers, Inc.

 

http://pentopublish.blogspot.com/ Natalie Markey

 

http://amyshojai.com/ Amy Shojai

 

Check out my new website Joy E. Held

 

Have you subscribed to this Writer Wellness blog yet? Get email updates when a new post is added. Click “subscribe” and leave your email. That’s it and thanks in advance!

Be well, write well