Our Identities

This will be a short post, just putting this thought out there, for you to contemplate and maybe for me to expound upon later.

I watched a Hallmark movie recently, with a very intrusive mother trying to fix up her grown business-oriented daughter, getting her into a relationship. The mother was being pressured by the father into retiring from her real estate business just for six months this year so they could go to Italy. But the mother had problems with the word "retirement," even on a part-time basis. The movie is Love by Chance and stars Beau Garrett as the harassed daughter. Watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAYLXIS2-VY.

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Then the next day I watched a Hack Your Sleep video by Dr. Mark Hyman with Shawn Stevenson. Very interesting. If you have an hour, check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LERJSdRdeB0. Shawn had been this promising young athlete who suffered a major injury early on. He had to reidentify himself.

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And thank goodness for that. His background as an athlete gave him a great insight into his later endeavors in researching medical advances and scientific data regarding sleep. It affects, ... well, everything. Our body is a miraculous system of systems.

Plus Shawn touched on how active and vocal our brains are. Not like the other organs of our body. And how the placebo effect works 30 percent of the time. How to "decide" is to "cut off other possibilities."

What I get from that is: Tell yourself what you need to hear to heal. To prosper. To be happy. Be your own cheerleader. Exhort, uplift and encourage yourself.

Watch what labels you affix to your self-identity.

To others' sense of self.

Like that old saying, Don't throw out the baby with the bathwater, we must be careful not to label a person (us or anyone else) by one measuring stick. Like I'm an author, blogger and copy editor. However, I'm also this eternal student, sucking up myriad topics from various sources; a voracious reader; a lover of coffee, cats and antique cars; a movieholic; and a foodie. And that doesn't touch upon my hobbies.

Don't box yourself in. Don't discount your gifts, whether because of a lack of monetization or even the current lack of time to indulge in them.

Keep your options open.

Be kind to yourself.

Be kind to others.

In closing, I ran across this Bible verse recently, and I find it applicable here:

He hath showed thee, O Man, what is good, and what the Lord requireth of thee: surely to do justly, and to love mercy, and to humble thyself, to walk with thy God. Micah 6:8 (Geneva Bible)

In other words, be nice to yourself as well as to others.

Welcome to My World, Readers and Authors, Where Every Day Is a Saturday

Denise Barker

Author, Blogger, Copy Editor

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A Quote for America, for the World

With the recent tragedy at the Boston Marathon on my mind and in my prayers, I came across a special quote and am sharing it here for all of us.

When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, 'Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping." Fred Rogers (1928-2003), educator, minister, songwriter, author and television host

The Bible speaks of us not knowing all until we reach heaven. I guess that means we will always have some unanswered questions in the meantime here on Earth. Don't lose faith. Good does overcome evil. 

We will see our loved ones again.

Denise Barker

The Blood Sugar Solution (and TBSS Cookbook)

Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food. Hippocrates

I have read both of these books (including the many recipes) written by Dr. Hyman and it confirms what J. J. Virgin recommends via her sensitivity diet plan while also tracking other healthy eating plans such as the Mediterranean, the Paleo and the Daniel diet noted in the Bible.

As Dinner Diva Leanne Ely said on one of her recipe videos (see her website at SavingDinner.com), no one yet knows even 20 percent about our whole foods--veggies, fruits, spices, herbs. We have uncovered very little knowledge regarding all their ingredients, all their medicinal values. As evolved as we are in many ways, our knowledge base here is stunted.

But we don't need to know how they work to make use of them in our bodies, in our lives. Just like electricity, computers, cars, indoor plumbing.

So here is one tip for you as I begin the preparatory phase of this Blood Sugar Solution reset plan. I eat three whole walnuts in the morning while I'm waiting on my (now decaf) coffee. First, the author recommends we break our fast within an hour of waking. Not sure this snack counts, as I figure he means a meal, but there you go.

The reason I start my day with walnuts is because I have been experiencing nighttime leg cramps. They are not fun and the known magnesium in walnuts is the cure in my short experience. And since it is working, I'll continue with my walnut therapy.

The next thing I'm tackling is my nighttime congestion problem. Something about becoming horizontal stops up my nose and throat. I'm hoping removal of diary products will stop that. I'll let you know. If three days can confirm a food sensitivity (see Dr. Hyman's books for the particulars), then I'm hoping within three days of being fully off dairy in all its (sometimes hidden) forms, will lessen my overnight "sinusitis."

Of course, the main agenda for the two books, as well as the titles of each, focuses on our abuse of sugar in its many forms (actual sugars, then of course pastas, breads, grains, white potatoes, other starchy veggies, etc.). The doctor compares our ancestors' consumption of sugar to our present-day figures and it is a showstopper.

The Paleos of old ate 22 teaspoons of sugar a year (truly treating it as a spice not as a meal) to our present-day addiction of 150–180 pounds a year.

That's per person, folks.

Which means a minimum of thirty of those five-pound bags over a year or 1.7 each week. Granted we eat sugar is many forms, but I think this visual helps us all to see the folly of this continued practice.

To further add perspective, for example, take one 16.9 ounce Coke with its 55g of sugar or ~14 teaspoons (4g = 1 tsp) or 4.66 tablespoons (3 tsps = 1 T) or more than 1/4th cup (4 Ts = 1/4 c)! Comparing Red Diamond Sweet Tea, one 8-oz serving has 17g of sugar, or 34g if the serving size is doubled to 16 oz. to be closer to the Coke serving mentioned above.

If you can't go cold turkey off ALL sugars, as Dr. Hyman advises, then I would suggest cutting back. Instead of Coke, drink sweet tea, which would save you 21g for every 16 ounces. Then as you make your own sweet tea at home, keep reducing the sugar you add until you wean yourself off the sweetened variety and enjoy it unsweetened. In my mind, it is about finding better substitutions.

Of course, high fructose corn syrup should never be allowed into anyone's diet. Read labels. You'll be amazed where HFCS has been added.

I was surprised to find that Dr. Hyman didn't allow Stevia (an all-natural sugar) in his program. Although, after the initial reset program, 70 percent chocolate and honey are allowed in moderation. Even the Bible speaks of not eating too much honey, yet this is good food for us. In fact, the manna God made and gave to the Hebrews for decades in the wilderness was probably made of honey.

Proverbs 24:13 My son, eat honey, for it is good, and the drippings of the honeycomb are sweet to your taste.

Proverbs 25:16 If you have found honey, eat only enough for you, lest you be sated with it and vomit it.

Proverbs 25:27 It is not good to eat much honey, so be sparing of complimentary words.

Exodus 16:31 Now the house of Israel called its name manna; it was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.

Exodus 16:35 And the people of Israel ate the manna forty years, till they came to a habitable land; they ate the manna, till they came to the border of the land of Canaan.

But a small amount of fruit is allowed on this program, so that was a huge selling point for me.

There is a sage saying about a mind newly stretched by a fresh idea, a novel thought, can never resume its old size and shape.

There are many mind-stretching statements made in Dr. Hyman's books, but here's two I leave with you. First, even if you don't see a corresponding weight loss in the first three days, your body is already being greatly changed (my paraphrase here). Second, 80 percent of the people who follow Dr. Hyman's plan can reset their bodies within six weeks. (The other 20 percent may need another six-week session, or maybe three months. The more stubborn cases require a health care practitioner.)

With my many thanks to Dr. Hyman, let's see now about reshaping the body....
 

Denise Barker, author + blogger + copy editor

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Put Your Goals Where You Can See Them

If you want to produce speckled yet strong sheep, cull through them first, then set black and white reeds before their watering (and mating) trough. See Gen. 30:25–43. This "in your face" technique works for people and their goals, too. See Deut. 27:8, but I especially like Habakkuk 2:2 where (paraphrased) it states to write the vision/goal plainly so that anyone can understand.

For a personal example, I love using Yahoo! Calendar for daily reminders, some more affirmations than To Do list entries. But one recent item (within the last two to three weeks) related to spring cleaning three rooms of my home. Guess what? I've done 1.5 of them. Not bad for someone who had no intention whatsoever to get to these rooms until next year at best. Hence the use of the calendar, so I don't have to remember this particular whimsy twelve months later on my own.

And let me repeat that these reminders are daily. So I tend to skim over them following that initial appearance. Even so, it is working. It is not only reaching my conscious and my subconscious, but actually prodding me to get up and do something singularly related to this designated chore. Wow.

So I'm trying another visual aid. I have two exercise DVDs on my desktop to remind me to exercise, which hasn't been working one iota, long since before the new year started. But I admit, they were hidden under bookmarks, a handheld calculator and my cell phone.

But not anymore. Now you can clearly see each like the turned-out books in a Barnes & Noble store.

This time, I'm counting the days to see when the effect from the cause first arrives.

I'll let you know.

Denise Barker, author + blogger + copy editor

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Speaking of Writer's Block . . .

I've never had "writer's block" because I'm an author.

And here's the distinction in both my mind and as paraphrased from the words of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary: An author creates, like God (check out Webster's yourself). A writer . . . writes.

Think of the terms "ghostwriter, screenwriter, copywriter." All these wonderfully artistic souls are for hire in general. Not that they can't also be authors, but these three terms are strictly for when they are working under someone else's direction, writing around someone else's creation.

For ghostwriters, they take the idea from the source (the person who hired them) and carry it to fruition. For screenwriters, they usually take a novel (again, someone else's baby) and reduce it to a 120-page script for the big screen. For copywriters, they are instructed (by their employers) to write ads for their customers, for instance.

Okay, the previous spotlighted generalities. This paragraph deals with specifics. You could order me, a romsus author, to "write like Stephen King" and my brain would freeze. Same as if you commanded me to write about death in gory details or child porn or concentration camps. First, not my genres. Second, even if you dictated that I write in my own genre--now at this very instant--a romantic suspense short story about a prince and a barmaid, I'd be a petrified, brain-dead, wordless individual.

Because I don't write on demand.

Because I'm not paid by the hour or in flat fees per job.

Because I generate my own ideas.

Because I create from data I am constantly gathering with all six senses (yes, I'm counting intuition).

Now granted, I could write something if forced and it would probably read that way . . . forced. Lifeless. No emotion. Because it didn't have the verve of a story idea that I cultivated and picked myself.

Thus, if I don't happen to be creating at the moment, I don't call it "writer's block." I call it gathering info, letting things marinate, allowing thoughts to percolate a while longer. Research. 

So, be careful what you name things.

Take Abram in the Bible for instance. When God wanted to change Abram's destiny, he changed his name, WHAT HE WAS CALLED. That is why we know him better as Abraham. God changed his wife's name, too. Sarai became Sarah for the very same reason.

Beware what you call things.

So if you think you are experiencing "writer's block," ask yourself these questions:

1. Am I working with a subject or theme or premise I chose myself, which I love, that inspires something in me, whether enthusiasm and goodwill or rage about wrongs to be righted or something in between?
2. Am I on the wrong side of the writer-author line? Like me, I work better solo, in full control, as an author. While I could function in the write-about-this role, I would not be happy and my creative genes would go on strike.
3. Am I affixing a derogatory label (writer's block) when I really need downtime, some influx of new data/scenery and my mind-body-soul are just working off that bad input?
4. Change "can't/won't/no" to "choose not to/maybe later/not now as I've decided to do something more important." Watch for those automatic responses we all tend to replicate.
5. Stop saying "I have writer's block" and that may cure a lot of ills--ha! 
6. Am I working by formula instead of being moved by emotions?

Hope something above stirred your heart as you read this. As always, take what resonates, toss the rest.

Denise Barker, author + blogger + copy editor

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You Are Your Greatest Asset

You are your greatest asset.  I love that quote, courtesy of Logan Marshall's article for Write to Done:  Unmissable Articles on Writing entitled "Instant Flow:  How to Train Yourself to Think Creatively."  Here's the link:

http://writetodone.com/2012/04/10/instant-flow-how-to-train-yourself-to-think-creatively/

All the wonderful things I love about Logan's article include:

• Notice the word "train" in the title?  Yes, authors should train like an athlete.  Our mind, body and soul are connected.  We need to see to the health of all to be fully in creative mode.  Plus haven't you heard the definition of stress/worry as putting your mind and your heart at war?  Internal peace is when our mind, body and soul are in agreement.
• My new mantra is:  I am my greatest asset.  We should never lose sight of that fact.  Check the Bible:  we are fearfully and wonderfully made in the very image of God.  Check with any scientist:  we are the greatest machine ever created.  We are worth billions when you break us down to our individual parts; just the minerals in our body alone make us priceless.
• I would alter his first two steps, running and meditation, to fit my personal lifestyle and comfort level.  It would become fast walking and prayerful introspection.  Just my own take on his wise words.
• His point three:  Eat clean, healthy foods.  Amen.  Let our food be our medicine and medicine our food.  I believe foods as God made them trumps anything man-made every time.  I'd go fully organic if I could.  In the meantime, I eat from the perimeter of the grocery story, where foods don't have "Ingredients" lists with multiple entries and mostly chemical-sounding names.  A banana is a banana.  I buy beef roasts, whole chickens, eggs, bacon, strawberries, roma tomatoes, avocados, etc.  
• His point four:  Super hydrate.  The first symptom of dehydration is sometimes confused as hunger.  You are really down a quart when you have a dry mouth and are craving water.  If you've gone so far as to have a sick-to-your-stomach feeling, you are one step away from a ride in an emergency vehicle.  I once had an ND tell me to drink reverse osmosis water.  I choose for me, personally, to go with spring water--naturally from the earth as God intended, complete with minerals.  Remember the therapeutic value of soaking in a natural hot spring?  Because of all the body-healing minerals it contains?  I think drinking the cooled equivalent does a body good, IMO.  In the two to three years since I've been going this route, my normally freckled skin is much less so.  Nice!
• His point five:  Get enough sleep.  I so agree.  For decades I awoke by a dreaded alarm clock.  Hated it.  And for decades wasn't getting what my body wanted--eight full hours of sleep.

The only item I would add to his great plan is to go to bed each night thinking about the most efficient and productive and goal-rendering use of your time for tomorrow.  What two things do I really need to tend to?  Wait for the response.  If you have any snags still pending and thwarting you, ask God for the answer while you sleep.  It works for me.

I'm one of those authors who ponders my new novel in my head for a length of time.  It could be two days.  It could be over two months.  It could be remembering an idea I had in my twenties, wrote into a short story back then and have since lost, but the concept resurfaced.  Maybe I'm to write it now.

So my before-bed activity of planning and seeking is a no-brainer for me.

It is said that all our answers are within.  Any wisdom we may need resides inside us.

There's an old myth told about the gods wanting to hide treasure from God's favorites, his people.  After all, God favors us to his angels, to his animals, to everything else He created.  So the gods sought for a place to hide away this source from God's pet humans.

"In the sky?" one suggested.

"No they will go to the moon and beyond and will find it," another explained.  "How about in the sea?"

"No, their curiosity will have them delving deep into the waters," a third countered.

"What about burying it in the mountains?" a fourth proposed.

"The gold and silver will lure them there," a fifth argued.

There was a long pause as the little gods pondered this.

Finally one spoke up.  "What if we hide it within them--in their heart, their soul, their minds?"

One by one, the other false gods nodded.

"Done," they agreed unanimously.

Worth a bit of time to check it out, huh?

Good luck, athletes!

And don't forget:  YOU ARE YOUR GREATEST ASSET.

Words Carry Power

Don't believe me?  Look to Genesis.  God spoke "Let there be light."  (See Gen. 1:3.) Why?  He was alone.  God didn't create mankind until the sixth day.  He is one with His Holy Spirit and with Jesus.  They are called the Triad, yet they are called One.  If "one" in the physical sense, then who was He speaking to when He called forth light?

I believe he was speaking to the raw elements that combine to illuminate the world.

So can we.

As an alternative view, He could have been speaking to His Holy Spirit who then carries out His Word.  As the Bible tell us, the Holy Spirit leads and guides [Rom. 8:14 (Holy Spirit guides us); Luke 12:12 (in that hour, the Holy Spirit will give us the right words)].

There is also a Bible verse that states to decide based upon the statements of two or three witnesses (2 Cor. 13:1).  So within the Church (I'm speaking of the Body of Believers here, not a building), it is proper to find at least two verses to support our stance.  Also we are directed to find peace before going forth (Phil. 4:7).

Therefore, as my witnesses, here are three more verses to support my theory "words carry power."

Matthew 8:15 speaks of dealing, in private, with your brother who has sinned against you.  Not only is this verbalizing your words, but it deals directly with the true source of the problem.  Whether a mean-spirited brother or a miscommunication to be sorted through. 

We all need to remember this approach, instead of talking about our problem with multitudes of people in lieu of the sole individual we should be dealing with in secret.

Matthew 5:23-24 speaks of dealing, again in private, with your brother who YOU have sinned against.  Same procedure as above.

James 5:16 talks of "confessing your sins to one another" and I'll be the person to step up and state that I rarely do that.  First, pride.  Second, lack of trust in others. 

But the other day I did so--with my father, who is one of a very limited few I trust implicitly--and things discussed started turning around within a couple days.  Talk about seeing the power of spoken words in action!

We still need to be selective when we go this route.  As we all know, there are "Christians" who are not Christian in action or word.  Like the popular saying:  Sitting in church doesn't make you a Christian any more than sitting in a garage makes you a car. 

So true.

Besides, we as people look more to the word and deed, whereas God looks at the heart.  I've addressed that in an earlier post about the Why? of our own actions but specifically about our fictional characters.

Remember too that God spoke of calling forth rocks as being His witnesses.  See 1 Sam. 6:18.  Genesis 31:52 ("heap" and "pillar").  Joshua 24:27 ("stone").

So maybe we can confess freely to nature.  But above all, we need to know the power of our words.

It can be as profoundly simple as to stop the negative self-talk.  The Bible cautions us to watch our thoughts (Phil. 4:8, think on these things . . .).  Don't say something to yourself you would not lovingly dish out to your children.

For other great verses on minding our thoughts, visit this wonderful website:  http://www.openbible.info/topics/thoughts_and_the_mind.

The power of our words shows up throughout the Bible.  See Mark 11:23 (speak to the mountain, or in our layman's terms, speak to your problem, out loud), Mark 4:35-40 (Jesus calms the storm on the sea).  Plus there were many healed just by asking Jesus, or touching his robes with enough faith to believe in the power emanating from His body.  See Mark 5:30 where Jesus felt His power leaving Him when someone touched His robe.

Matthew 8:5-13 is the story of healing the Roman Centurian's servant.  I love this one.  First, a Roman leader, a higher-up, worried enough about his servant to find Jesus.  That is a caring boss.  He didn't send a servant to do his bidding on this one, either.  So he's humble, yet responsible.  No power-mad dictator.  Second, he tells Jesus that, like him, Jesus can give the order and the deed will be done.  No need to travel to his house and visit the ill servant.

And, you know what?  It worked.

Now THAT is the power of the spoken word.

But, you may say, Jesus spoke that word.  He had the power.  Maybe you think you don't?

I beg to differ.

And here's my argument:

"And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover," (Mark 16:17-18).

 

"And God said, Let us make man in Our image, after Our likeness:  and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.  So God created man in His own image . . ." (Gen. 1:26-27).

Isn't it funny that watching GCB (a new ABC TV series that pokes fun at Texans and Christians--and I am both) has me studying the Bible more?

God works in mysterious ways . . . and has a sense of humor.  See Psalm 37:13 (ASV): The Lord will laugh at him; For he seeth that his day is coming.

First, Love Yourself

As an author, I'm stirred to create by myriad things:  the elevated emotions from a movie, an unknown woman in an open jeep, a one-page color ad photo in a magazine.

Today, it is a quotation. 

"The price of hating other human beings is loving oneself less."  Eldridge Cleaver, U.S. civil rights leader, writer (Soul on Ice, 1968).

My main purpose with my blog is to share whatever exhorts my fellow authors.  I've posted before about self-esteem being our fundamental foundation.  The Bible speaks about how we cannot possibly love our neighbor without loving ourselves first.  The Good Book goes on to state that the most important commandment is to love.  That love defeats evil.  That love covers every sin.  I could go on.  But that should be enough examples.

What I took from the above quote is the confirmation that we must love ourselves, value ourselves, treat ourselves well.  This is not about ego, not about selfishness, but about a wholesome acceptance of ourselves as the works of wonder that God made us.  

Yesterday I enjoyed watching again one of my favorite movies, The Replacements.  It is the story of a pro football team on strike for higher wages and a temporary team is called in for the final four games of the season to try to win a position in the Super Bowl.  It's a great flick and full of laugh-out-loud moments.  What struck me last night was how optimistic the coach was, finding the silver lining in any black spot.  Until . . .

The one time the coach was harsh was with his doubting quarterback.  Coach preached a severe sermon to him.  In the end, the quarterback finds his self-esteem.

So should we.  We are children of God.  The Bible says so.  We should remind ourselves of that birthright daily.  

One final thought.  The Bible speaks of anything that is not of faith is sin.

Have faith.

Have faith--in yourself.  It leads to success.

The Three Bullies: Worry, Self-Doubt and Fear

Worry

 

I used to worry a lot.  Thankfully, none of those imaginings morphed into my life.  Unlike poor Job in the Bible to which all his fretting was visited upon his house and lands and holdings.  What I don’t understand about that story, though, is why his verbally abusive wife was allowed to torment him with her words during this horrible time in his life.  But that is for someone wiser to explain.

 

It seems I have taken my active imagination and siphoned it off for more creative purposes:  writing.  As in this blog, my nonfiction works as well as my novels.

 

I remember from among my readings that we are taught to address the “worst case scenario” with solutions, in order to ease our worries.  You might not like the answers, but it should erase some of the angst.  Like if you were to (God forbid) lose your job, you may have to live with your parents, or in-laws.  Maybe not the best arrangement for both sides, but doable, for a short while.  You could get a minimum wage job and ride your bike to work if need be (hopefully work is close to home!).  Granted, both are not your dream life in action, but each could get you there.

 

Insulate your life by following the sage words found in The Good Book at Phil. 4:8, “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things (RSV).”

 

Although I am basically an optimist, I have perfected my outlook.  As we grow and age and gain perspective, I believe we let go of a lot of youth-oriented worry.  Worry, to me, is based on inexperience.  Worry is usually about what we do not yet know.  Like, Can I do that job they just offered me?  We may have been all bravado in the interview process but, now that we have won the fought-for position, our confidence can take a sharp dip.  Once you confront the monster (gain some hands-on knowledge), it usually leaves.  Like finally facing off that bully from the playground or school--or worse yet, the office or home.

Self-Doubt

 

Self-doubt is more insidious as we do it to ourselves, or allow others' beliefs to veto our own.  Self-doubt may remain hidden from us, too, and we all know it is impossible to fight an unknown assailant until we have more information.  This blog addresses self-respect, self-worth, self-awareness.  We must first know who we are, then I think our purpose becomes clear—or we are more confident to follow that innate yearning--and, with it, success follows.

 

I ran across this great quote that highlights my point in the foregoing paragraph.  Here it is from John Mason:  “You were born an original.  Don’t die a copy.”  Don’t follow the mainstream when making decisions about your life.  Instead, construct your life around your dreams.  That includes where you live, what you do to earn a living, who you marry, how you spend your time and your money.  You were meant to be different, unique, to offer the world what no one else can perform, produce or procreate. 

Fear

 

Fear is the worst in my opinion.  If we were to grade, somewhere between one and ten, the level of emotions attached to worry, self-doubt and fear, fear would top out the others.  It carries more dread with it, more weight.  Still, I am a firm believer that our dreams are wrapped in this formless (yet weak) fright element.  Tear through that wrapping, and you not only gain access to, but you also release, the desires of your heart.  WHAT they are, HOW to get them and eventually LIVING THEM.

 

To again quote from the RSV Bible, Ps. 23:6, I’ll close with this wonderful verse and blessing for us all:  “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life . . . .”  

 

All rights reserved.  Copyright 2011 Denise Barker dba Living the Dream Publishing

Wisdom Can Be Found Anywhere: Interesting Thoughts from Books and Movies

As a curious and studious seeker of wisdom and knowledge, I find evidence of both everywhere.  Plus I’m a movieholic so it is not surprising that I find pearls of universalisms in big screen productions.  One of my all-time favorite flicks is Sweet Home Alabama which has a great line that goes something like this:  You can have both roots and wings . . . .  I love that line.  Why do we have to choose between the two?  Why can’t we have both?  Why can’t we have it all?

These are not just kernels to create a novel from, although that is something I am likely to do.  However, learning in and of itself is useful.  It adds to our confidence level, can improve the quality of our lives and our world.  Who knows which one of us will assimilate a random collection of facts and come up with something new from that combination’s synergy? 

A new philosophy perhaps.  Ayn Rand did it with her books, novels Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead, not to mention her nonfiction works about objectivism.  How about a cancer cure or a new fuel supply?  What about something so basic like learning to understand and communicate effectively with the opposite sex, or just our siblings and other family members or even coworkers?

We each have such a unique fingerprint—and I’m not only talking about what is under our nails, but more of a soul print.  Something so vast and complex and special and whole, in and of itself, so as to not need 

repeating.  That describes every one of us.

For the record, when the Bible speaks of the beginning of wisdom is the fear of God and that we were fearfully and wonderfully made, I question the translation from the Hebrew that led to the usage of the word “fear” in both these instances.  I find “respect” would be a far better choice.  Regardless, that is my opinion and I’m off on a tangent here.

So back to my original thought:  finding gems to live by or, in the case of us creative types, some topic to paint, research, study or write about whether in a textbook or a paperback novel.  Can you guess where these paraphrased snippets or actual quotes came from?

-         …made everything beautiful for its own time.  [Note:  I particularly believe that this means you and me.  If we are alive in this time and era, we are beautiful as THIS is our time.]

-         Sex should only be delayed by mutual agreement of the married couple and only for the purpose of prayer.

-         A new husband shall take on no public responsibilities but shall instead stay home for one year to make his wife happy.

If you guessed that all three came from the Bible, you would be correct (Ecc. 3:11, I Cor. 7:5 and Deut. 24:5, respectively).  I share this for two reasons.  One, you never know where a good idea can come from, and can be put into praxis in your actual everyday living or in an imaginary work of art—or both.  Two, I think the Bible can scare people away from it sometimes and I want to illustrate that it is full of great stories, humor, poetry and all the possible human conflicts that we depict in movies and books.

So, here we are, roundabout to the beginning of this blog.    Revering the written words found in bookstores, libraries, schools, churches, homes--or resident in our minds until unleashed--as well as the works on film or DVD or Blu-ray or whatever new technology someone else is sure to invent.

Wisdom can be found anywhere . . . you just need to focus your sights on finding it.  And the addition of YOU may be all that is needed to create something amazing.

Additional Thoughts re "I AM"

Thinking about yesterday’s blog made me remember two items I would like to add.

One, the Bible.  I seek answers from a multitude of sources.  Yet the Bible remains my personal ken on life.  In fact, when I read most self-help books, I can match up many, many, many of their foundational messages to a paraphrase of a verse in the Good Book.  It remains a resource for me, a benchmark, the raised bar to reach for.

 

Two, the “I am” statements.  I wanted to clarify that you may speak your “I am” statements LONG BEFORE anyone else “sees” them in this current reality of space and time.  Take me for example.  I am an author.  Prior to March 27, 2011, you would not have found any online e-books or print paperbacks bearing my name.  Yet years before that I was creating tales of fiction.  While my first remembered piece was a short, short mystery written as a homework assignment in seventh grade and I have written some other pieces since then, I first called myself an author about ten or twelve years ago.  I had submitted a finished short story to a contest.  I did not win.  Nevertheless, that was a major event in my life.

Even so, my actual career shift and serious writing mode began years later in 2007 where I penned eight works-in-progress totaling over 350,000 words by October 2008.  Only in 2011 did I later add my (currently) three nonfiction works.  I continue to manifest new novels and self-help checklists as we speak. 

Everything is created twice:  first in the mind, then in physical form.  That dressmaker’s pattern, that architect’s blueprint, that city planner’s projected new highway—all of them were "secrets" hidden away in your gray matter first, then a two-dimensional or 3-D model or pattern to go by that a few people were privy to before existing in the very public arena of reality.  In that same way, I would suggest keeping your goals to yourself at first while you are incubating that new idea and then expose it only to a select few of the supportive people you know who maintain positive can-do outlooks.  Then once it is a fait accompli, you can share your successful finished creation to the public.

So, keep in mind you must initially decide who you are, state your "I am" as your first step to becoming the new improved you and continue to act on that declaration.  All that foundational work is unseen by onlookers.  Like the roots of a plant are developed first before the blossom and fruit.  Thereafter, once you are reaping the harvest from the thoughts and idea "seeds" you have planted, enabling you to grow into the fullness of your declared “I AM,” then other people will see it too.  Don’t feel like a fraud for deeming it so initially.