From upcoming book:

Ten Steps to Get from Here to There

“When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.” – Audre Lorde

Feelings cannot kill, they only feel that way. Climb out from the dark, cavern of fear with the following ten steps. They will lift you into the now. If and when you fall into desperation, take the next suggested paces to the other side; from anguish and discouragement to revelation and inspiration. Use this skill set to rise above your sense of hopelessness. They will endow you with spiritual muscle tone. The list of ten guidelines and the a,b,c tips are filled with practical pointers derived from my own experience. Feel free to add whatever works for you, as well.

Use this next time you are in an emotional quandary or existential jam.

• Allow yourself time. There is no timeline to working through turning points or life changing events. People who urge you to “get over it already,” either directly or insinuated, are shallow and intolerant. Clueless to your pain or modus operandi, they have no right to tell you when you need to be past a death, an illness or other momentous (to you) occasion.

Here I am living the writerly life as I and some other people call it. It can be lonely. It can be exciting. It is hopeful. It is revealing.

Everytime I put down the pen, closed the laptop, refused to write a complete thought because I believed mundane tasks or other people’s needs were more important than my own passion, I felt less than centered.

When I thwart my desire, for whatever reason (it can even be my own procrastination), my frustrated soul screams. It sighs, goes back into the crevices and hides deeper into my inner cave.

I’m so lucky I get to live the writerly life now and deem it high priority. Because when I awaken the author in me, anything is a prompt to get me writing. I hear about a typical, normal day and I sense a great story. Every spin, opinion or theory sounds like an intriguing idea. Everything sparks the annotator in me when I confidently claim “I am a writer!”

Resilience is taking everything thrown at you and using it to get through to the other side of whatever predicament pickle you’re in.

The Path of Gratitude is the Foundation of Happiness.

The journey of the spirit is lit by Love.

It is simpler to start from scratch than to re-invent the wheel. The old me says,”I always make a mess.” The new me says, ” I discern and only keep what I adore,” and “all is tidy and organized!”

Even a Gratitude List made begrudgingly helps.

hell is having the enemy switch out their tactics so as to seem more attractive but still sneering, seething and swamping inside. hell is the foe who sweetens the deal because they know more about what makes you tick than you are prepared to admit. hell is allowing an autocrat to step up to a podium with relentless coverage. That is hell today.

Autocrat: someone who insists on complete obedience from others.

Synonyms: dictator, despot, tyrant.

Read The Art of War and The Art of the Deal side by side. Scary. I would use the cliche wolf in sheep’s clothing for last night’s demo of chameleon like behavior but I didn’t want to demonize the wolf kingdom, especially since they are being hunted down like immigrants in the wild these days.

Some of us didn’t find the tone reassuring or genuine. Clever fooling of the sheep but nefarious for those of us who see through the fake delivery to the actual words, the vile inhumane policies and the black heart of an ego in power and service to its narcissism.

C is for Creativity

H is for Health

A is for Abundance

R is for Relationships

T is for Time

So I will Chart my course and chronicle my adventure! Gosh I love Acronyms.