Do What is You For the New Year

So I was trying to figure out what has been holding me back with a novel I am writing.  I really like my characters, it flows well, and I think it is a story that people will like.  Why have I been picking at it for five years and never really been excited by it?  Why am I so unenthused with it?  Why do I look at it and say, "What the heck is missing?" 

Guess what is missing?  Me.

It is a good story....but not one that I would pick up off the shelf and read.  WHAT?!!  I finally figured it out.  I've been writing a story in a genre that doesn't thrill me.  It is a contemporary fiction piece, some would call it chick-lit, and it isn't really a romance novel....though there is romance in it. It's got a strong leading woman character, suspense, drama, twists and turns and unexpected surprises, hot men, money and so on. So why don't I like it?

I decided to take a look at my own bookshelf and see what the general themes were of things I like to read.

I like dark, supernatural stories that are rich in history, or I guess you could say historical fiction with a supernatural twist.  Long before the Twilight series I was crazy about Dracula.  As long as I can remember I've been fascinated by vampires and ghosts. I love to read anything and everything that involves old Europe, especially England, and I love to think about how similar themes have evolved from ancient history to current day. 

That being said, I decided I needed to write more about what I love to read.  I know these types of books are trendy right now, so I don't want to write anything cliche. I also think, for a long time I was worried about what people would think of my darker sided interests.  Since making this self-discovery, I've thought of nothing else other than how to shift the focus of my characters in my novel to bring in my passion for history and a bit of the super-natural.  Guess what?  I am now super excited and am writing much more enthusiastically, because I decided to do what was "me".

That is what I'm wishing for you in every aspect of your life for 2012.  Don't afraid to "do what is you".  By making decisions in your life that reflect your true self, you are exercising serious self-acceptance, which is at the root of all success.  Whether it is in the relationship you choose to be in, the way you perform your job, how you parent your kids, or the way you plan out the steps to your "next great thing", do it in away that is true to who you are.

Wishing you the absolute best in 2012! Happy New Year everyone!

The Sparkly People

It’s funny, if we take a moment to step back and look at our lives, where we have been and where we are now, we start to see certain people that touch us, that create a spark, again and again.  They stand out from the rest. These people light up. They sparkle. When we are around them, connected to them, we light up too.

The easy ones to spot are the loves of our lives.  Our mates, if with the right ones, certainly light us up in every way, but this isn’t what I’m talking about here.

There are others.  There are a few, maybe even only one or two sparkling people, who bring us energy, strike our chord, create instant flows of creativity, and make us laugh.  They have the power to make us feel wide awake when we thought we were dead tired, to bring a smile when we thought we were bummed out.  They are our sparkly people.

The cool thing about these people is that it doesn’t matter how long we go between seeing them, talking to them, or hearing from them.  It could be ten days, eighteen months, or even twenty-two years, and the minute we connect the sparkles fly just as if they never dimmed.  It doesn’t matter how far away they are, or where they’ve been.  When they reappear it is as if they never left.

I strongly believe in timing.  There is a time and a place for everything that happens in our lives, even though we often don’t know the reason.  Think about one of your sparkly people.  There is a reason they were in your life at a certain time, a reason they are absent, and a reason they are, or will be, back again.

It is not about going on a social network and looking up an old pal, or a favorite teammate, or an old girlfriend.  Even if we thought they were good people in our lives at the time, finding people from our histories doesn’t mean we will instantly click once we’ve found them again.  People change.  Chemistry changes.

But not our sparkly people.

They are lightening bolts that just appear when they are supposed to, like they were never gone at all.


:-)

It is okay to relish in the Royal Wedding / Romance

I didn't think I'd be so wrapped up in it.  The royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton has been in the works for months, and I was kind of getting tired of it instead of building anticipation.  That changed however, the beginning of this week, when all of the media outlets headed to England.

So, like many others, I found myself setting my clock to rise early enough to see Kate being picked up from the hotel.  With family asleep, I snuggled up on my couch with a fresh cup of coffee to watch ALL of it. 

I know there are terrible things going on in the world. I know there is important work to be done in all aspects of our lives.  I also know we all deserve a chance to be inspired, to be touched by a real life fairy tale coming together in our midst.

Today we got to see a Prince, who really loves his princess. And he was in uniform, and she was dazzlingly lovely, and there were red carpets and carriages and balconies and kisses.  The readings were touching. The music was spirtiual and uplifting.  The pure passion and enormity of unity among thousands at this one event was energizing.  It was a feast for the eyes, ears and hearts.

And for those of us who remember and appreciated Diana...well, we thought of her today too.  For those of us who are parents, I think we felt her absence even more, wishing she could see her boys up there so grown, sharing a private laugh as they waited for the bride to make the long walk up the aisle.

Today was a day to celebrate romance, to believe in love, to rejoice with people all over the globe who, if even for just one day, let themselves believe in fairytales.