Odds & Ends

well...i am feeling better physically only to have my mood plummet. go figure. riding the rollercoaster all the time....not fun.

while i was sick i had some time to do some things i normally don't give in to...like reading the stack of magazines by my bed. and i thought that whenever i do read something good...i will save it...here. i have labeled this as odds and ends. you never know what you might find...kinda like a favorite drawer of trinkets.

i actually used an "odds and end" from a magazine i haphazardly was reading over the holidays. there was a christmas snippet which said to write to someone you normally don't write to. and so i did! i had lost contact with a childhood friend for some years now but did find her parents old address from years and years ago. i had low hopes of ever finding my friend again but thankfully her parents still live in the same house as when we were twelve year olds. imagine that! i just got her letter today.

so who knows...maybe the information i post will be useful to someone...perhaps even me. i just think it is a shame to waste a magazine...why not write down a few good ideas from it.

Here is a little snippet from an article by Stephanie Losee entitled, The Willpower Myth: " Alan Deutscman in his book Change or Die: The three keys to change at work and at at life, out this month in paperback from Collins, Deutschman, executive director of the Atlanta consulting firm Unboundary, decided to get to the bottom of whatever it is that makes people and corporations change-especially after they have tried and failed.

What he found was that people get unstuck not through willpower but through a relationship with a person or a group who shows them the way. Not just any relationship will do. It has to be an emotional relationship who inspires hope and belief, who makes you say, if she can do it, I can too."
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This really hit home for me especially here in the blog world. The things you do and say here could potentially really help someone. Anyone can look up a quote or spout off cliches. But only *you* can share elements of your life which have meaning far beyond your experience. Integrity is very critical here. This is why I am very choosy about who I give my respect and admiration to.

I really do feel strongly as well that it is the connection we find with others...relationships...which ultimately help us to change and grow. None of us grow in a vacuum. We need help along the way.

My second Odds and End is a quote (lol...secretly I do love quotes) from Richard Bausch from Off the Page: Writers talk about beginnings, endings, and everything in between, edited by Carole Burns:

"I don't teach writing, I teach patience. Toughness. Stubborness, the willingness to fail. I teach the life. The odd thing is most of the things that stop an inexperienced writer are so far from the truth as to be nearly beside the point. When you feel global doubt about your talent, that is your talent. People who have no talent don't have any doubt."

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I love that quote because...it is so true. Nobody has all the answers. Don't let anyone fool you to think otherwise. So many "experts" have no clue how to write, live their own life, connect with others, etc. I love this quote because it says to me...it is okay not to know. It is okay to feel doubt about one's talents. From that point...you proceed.