My Weekly Update – My Life is About to Change

Bigger then this climb.

I know that it a bit cryptic considering I am not going to go into to much detail. At least not yet.  All I will say is that my life is about to change dramatically. I have a climb ahead of me and I am excited and scared, but it all for the best.

I wanted to just take this time to say thank you to all the people online who have been so supportive since I started this blog.  Everyone has been overwhelmingly kind and I appreciate it more then you know.  It is because of this support I have decided to make this change.  Don’t worry, I am not going anywhere, just feeling the urge to show some love.

How’s that for a cliff hanger?  On to the update . . .

The Healthy Writers Club

Shallee McArthur started The Healthy Writers Club; How to Push Your Writing (and Exercise) to the Next Level. I am sure my butt has expanded since I’ve been spending so much additional time sitting in front of a computer this year.  And, given the option of writing early in the morning or exercising early in the morning, I have been picking sleep every time.  (Yeah, you knew that was coming)  I thought I was a great idea to  record my workouts and find some like minded bloggers as well.

October 1 – 7, 2012:

Cardio:  3x – 60 min sessions
Strength Training:  2x – 20 min sessions
Stretching:  3x – 15 min sessions
Not a bad week.  

 

Posts to View

Two weeks ago I wrote a post about using character profiles as a marketing tool.  Dan O’Brien takes this concept a step further with his guest post on  Armand Rosamilia’s site.   He conducts an interview of his characters and the exchange between the author and the characters in this setting is fascinating.  Now I can’t wait to read The Path of the Fallen.
I, along with 300,000 other people are in the midst of pre Nanowrimo anxiety and I hope everyone is preparing and ready to go on November 1st.  I have been back and forth about whether or not I was going to do Nano.  I love the concept, but not as happy with the quality of work I put out during these challenges.  I will write more about this later, but it was one of my goals at the beginning of the year to participate in Junowrimo, August Campnano and Nanowrimio.  So, I am going to do it because it has been a pretty awesome goal achieving year for me and I don’t want to stop now.
To assist my fellow writer, here are a few post that might help with your prep:
From one of my new followers, Kim Cox provided help on  Outlining: The beginning, middle and end.
Felicia at The Peasant Revolt shared how she is Armed for Wrimo by introducing @wrimo: A 30 day Survival Guide for Writers by Kevin S. Kaiser. I bought it and am reading it now.
And, Amanda Fanger penned a motivational post on how to maintain Writer’s Momentum.    It’s about pushing on towards your dreams.
New Followers
Brenden Dunne
Julie at Julieschicklit
CDworks
Javedbabar at A Story a Day
KC Storm
Citizen Plain
Chris Humpherys at My Mind on a Plate
Editor Etc LLC
J Spencer Goff
 
 Next Weeks Schedule
Tuesday – Tattoo Tuesday (I promise not to miss it this week)
Wednesday – Sydney Quotes the Movies – Ridley Scott Goes All In
Friday – Write Practice – “Kaboom” Onomonopedia 
Sunday – My Weekly Update

T – Traveling Tips

Do you enjoy traveling? I do. I enjoy every aspect of it. From the moment I book the airline ticket to the moment I am unpacking upon my return home, traveling is my bliss. I believe it’s the aspect of living a different life whether it be for 2 days or 2 weeks that makes traveling such an attractive pursuit for me. And, it doesn’t matter if it is a business trip, a family trip or a vacation, any time I can be in a difference city, sleeping in a strange bed (not like that) or eating different food, I am happy.

About six years ago, I got a new job and was thrilled because I never spent more than three weeks at home. It was so much fun. In a year, I went to Lake Tahoe, New York City, London, Hawaii, Dallas, China, Los Angeles, Arizona and China again.

Then five years ago, I moved to China and for two years, I didn’t travel at all. It was killing me. Especially begin so close to so much that had yet to explore. It was frustrating, but I was trying to start a business in a foreign country and needed to stay put.

But, once that third year hit, I couldn’t take it any more. I had to travel. We started traveling for work. I went to Singapore, Vietnam and Tokyo and my nomadic nature was satisfied.

So, here are my tips on traveling that I have learned over the years. They have helped me travel with less stress and I hope they help you as well.

  1. Book everything as early as possible. I mean everything. Airfare, hotel, car, transportation, dinner reservations, attraction tickets, etc. On a recent trip to Hong Kong with my mom and brother, I booked the cable cars to the Big Budda on Lantau Island. When we arrived there had to be 500 people in line and we walked right past them all because I had purchased the tickets online.
  2. International flights, get to the airport early. You never know what might happen. You can pick good seats on the plan, you can upgrade if you roll like that. If you are like me, I can’t eat on the plane. Long flights and stomach issues don’t mix. I arrive early to enjoy the great choices of food at the international terminal. In Hong Kong, it is the Popeye’s Chicken. So random, but so good.
  3. When you exchange money, make sure you they are just exchanging your currency for the place you are going. I once exchanged RMB into USD and they converted it into HKD first. I lost money on that deal.
  4. Jetlag – I covered this in a previous post. In order to explore the world, you have to deal with it.
  5. Just be patient. When you travel, you are oh so on everyone else’s times schedule. And, if that schedule changes, don’t take it personally. Shit happens. Patience is the best advice I can give you.

So, that is what I have learned from a lifetime of traveling. For me, I can not and will not every stop exploring this amazing world we live in.

What are your best traveling hints and tips?

“Be Connected, Isolation is Sickness” – Russell Simmons

Do you ever read someones tweet and wish they would explain it?  Why did they write it and where were they coming from and what are they trying to tell me?  With me, leaving the misunderstood to my own interpretation could be a bit dangerous.  I tend to trust the writers perspective to quickly.  That is why I immediatedly retweeted this.  But, days later I am looking at this quote again and then start wondered why it made me stop and pause in the first place.  I shoot first, then looked later.  Now, that I have had a chance look, I don’t necessary agree with what Mr. Simmons was saying.  

Being connected is great.  Being connected to friends, family, the world in general is wonderful.  It make us feel alive and part of something greater.  Makes us feel like we belong and that others are going through the same thing we are going through and that is great, I agree.  But, I don’t necessarily agree that isolation is sickness.  Connected (good) versus isolation (bad).  You can live in a world connected with others or you can be by your self.  Those are the only two options.  I don’t believe that. There has to be more to life then just that.  Life is not that simple and you don’t just have those two choices and at times there isn’t a choice at all.  Life puts you in situations and circumstances and it is up to you do deal with them the best way you know how. 

Like, at this moment, I am isolated.  I am alone in my room, writing this post. I am in my own head and putting out my own thoughts just to get them out of my head.  I am not doing this to share with an audience or to be “connected.”  I do it because, this is what I always do.  I have stuff to say and I have to speak, but I speak to no one.  I don’t have anyone in my life that I can share this stuff with.  I am isolated.  

But, in my isolation, I am creative.  My creativity is energizing.   My isolation is granting me permission to indulge in my passion.  Indulge without consequence or explanation.  My isolation is affording me the opportunity to get somewhere better in my mind, do something better with my heart and spirit, and be something better then what I am.  It is not bad, it is not good, it is just the way it is right now and how it has to be in order for me to change and grow.  

Now, you could argue that I am not isolated because I am writing to potentially billions of people on the internet.  And, someone is readying it and identifying with me, so in that sense, I am not isolated.  I am very much connected.  (Come on now, no one is readying my blog. But, yet, here I am. Putting it out there anyway.)  People are readying it and yes, I hope they can related and hope that they get something out of what I say and it makes them feel better and feel more connected.    

But, really what I am trying to say is that in life you are going to go through things.  You have to. That is what life is. Experiencing things.  Good things and bad things and things that have to identifying characteristics at all.   Some times you are going to be connected to people, ideas, places and you are going to belong.  And, some times you are not.  

But, in those time that you are not and you are able to turn those times into periods of growth in your life, then you are living during those times too.  So, don’t look down on those moments, embrace them and see what comes out of them.  You might be surprise.  

“You are 8 notches above perfection!”

This was a quote from Lil C on the 8th season of So You Think You Can Dance.

Lil C is always so eloquent and I am sure he has been quoted ad nauseam.  He is quite the poet.  But, this quote touched me in particular.

I feel like there is nothing that I have ever done in my year on this earth that is “8 notches above perfection”.  No one has every said or even considered something I have done any where near the 1’st notch, let alone the 8th.  Worst yet, there is nothing that I have done myself that would make me say that about myself.  And, really that is what is important.  Not that I am striving for perfection.  I am striving to be proud of myself.  To me, that is perfection.  All levels of perfection.

Now I know what your saying.  You are being to hard on yourself.  You need to work on your self esteem.  There are people in this world that love you.  Yeah, yeah, yeah, blah blah blah!   I know and that is all great, but what I am striving for here is bigger then that.

I want to participate in something that I am proud of and where I will achieve that level of perfection that I am talking about.  I want to participate in life.  That is the first step.

In love, in relationships, in my career, in my life, I don’t think I have started to participate.  I have no idea what that person felt like hearing that said about something that she did.  I can only imagine.  I bet that she probably felt proud of herself.  She felt accomplished.  She felt that her hard work had paid off. She felt like all the sacrifices, all the shit that she put up  with him her life where so worth it at that moment.  And, she probably enjoyed the moment then pushed herself even more to feel that way again.  She participated.   I have never done any of that . . . yet!!

So, I have decided right here and now to participate.  I know what I want to do and I have the imagination and the drive to know what I want to achieve in my life.  In all aspects of my life.  Now I am ready to participate in order to achieve those things.  I feel that I can achieve perfection just by being a player in the game.  No more sitting and watching it happen to others. Or worse yet, sitting around other who don’t have the same drive.  Mediocrity is unacceptable.  I am striving for more in every category of my life.

I want to be 8 notches above perfection.  I want to see what life feel like from that height.