As part of learning more about this brilliant woman, I read a bit about her and found that there are many things that she’s done to position herself as a woman of status and influence. I made a video highlighting five of those qualities.
The qualities I discussed are as follows:
Learn a foreign language
Take up a luxurious hobby
Eliminate or reduce meat from your diet
Wear blush
Start a blog
By engaging in one or more of these activities, you can live a little more like Meghan.
Do you have any Duchess-worthy tips? Let me hear about it in the comments below!
Hi friends! After sharing that I’m a little behind on my book reading, I decided to buckle down and read at least ten books this month. So I’m already done with one book and working on my next one, four days into the month. That’s what I’m talking about!
This book is titled Synergy, written by C. O. Clark. This is a book of poetry that describes the experience of daring to live boldly and claim our authentic selves. The book description on Amazon states:
“Synergy is the third and final volume in the Equilibrium series. This three volume series is a poetic approach to articulating life, and emotions we bury; afraid of ridicule and rejection. Together we bring down the walls of what it means to remove the veil of being vulnerable — the false equating of vulnerability being weakness. We create a safe space to be authentic and to express our beliefs, fears, doubts, and all the what-ifs. We lay the foundation to voice our troubles, pains, and burdens.”
Because this is Black History Month in the United States, I am focusing specifically on works written Black/African-American authors this month. For the entire month, I am reading works by Black authors exclusively, and I’ll be featuring authors that live locally for this month’s book reviews. As it turns out, I attended the book launch for Synergy back in 2019, and the author read a few of the poems to us. I purchased the book that night, and I’m thrilled that I’m finally reviewing it.
I love the journey that Clark takes you on when you read her work. She goes through a range of emotions, from pain, fear and rejection, to joy, romantic love, and spiritual awakening. This is a wonderful book that I’m looking forward to reading again and again. I definitely recommend it!
That’s all for today. I hope you all are doing well. I’ll talk to you all tomorrow!
Actually, I don’t mind editing. If anyone is going to kill my darlings, let it be me, so the death will be merciful. As it turns out, I’ve been blessed (and cursed) with a critical eye, so I’m a natural editor. So, this experience isn’t so bad.
Editing is time-consuming, but rewarding. I love seeing my ideas come together more cohesively, so the editing process is fine with me. I’m giving myself the entire month to get it done, and even a little more time, if necessary.
For my fellow writers, do you all do your own editing? Or, do you hire an editor to do it for you? I’m curious about what works for you.
I posted this on my YouTube channel and now I’m sharing it over here. I speak specifically about how I manifested this trip because yes, it was a manifestation. I used the power of intention and focus to bring my dream trip into fruition. I loved this manifestation, and I’m excited that I get to share those details with you all!
That’s it for today. I hope you all enjoy this post, and I’ll talk to you all tomorrow.
Happy Monday, and Happy First Day of February! We made it through the first month of 2021 and so far, so good. I’m anticipating that the remaining months will go smoothly and will be absolutely AMAZING!
So as you know from my 2021 goals post, I had a goal to read 100+ books this year. Of course, I don’t anticipate that I will read exactly 9-10 books every single month, though that would be nice. But, if I can get close to that amount, I count it as a win.
For me, acknowledging the progress I’m making is important to keeping me accountable. So, in an attempt to continue with my accountability, here are the books that I read in January:
As you can see, I only read 4 books this month. But, compared to last year, this is fantastic! I finally have the energy and time to read through books, and eventually, I’ll read even more books throughout this year. I’m already working on my February books, and I think I’ll get closer to reading 9/10 books, even though there are fewer days in this month.
I think that noting progress is crucial for all of us. Any improvement puts us closer to our goals. It’s so easy to focus on what’s wrong instead of focusing on the ways that you’re getting better every day. Why not choose to look at what’s going right?
That’s my brief book update. I’m looking forward to listing more books for February!
That’s it for today. I’ll talk to you all tomorrow!
Happy Fibro Friday, friends! I sincerely hope that you’ve had a great week, and I hope that your weekend is amazing!
Recently, I shared with one of my favorite vloggers, Deena from Adventures with Fibro, that I make a body balm that helps with both muscular and neurological pain. I also promised her that I would make a video. And yes, I kept my word.
If you have fibromyalgia, you are already intimately aware of the pain that occurs due to the condition. But if you don’t have the condition, I’ll try my best to explain it to you. The pain that comes from fibromyalgia is often diffuse: it’s not usually concentrated into just one spot. And the pain goes beyond just soreness (as if you overused a particular muscle group): the pain can include stinging, burning, prickly, tingly, or throbbing sensations.
Many of the products available for pain address the muscle component exclusively. So the neurological pain (or neuropathy) remains unaddressed. You usually have to use medication prescribed by a neurologist or a rheumatologist to alleviate the nerve pain. Sadly, these medicines do a poor job of offering relief, and can have a range of awful side effects.*
So I opted to create a product that could give me relief for both body systems (musculoskeletal and nervous). In this video, I give a nice, customizable recipe that can offer you some relief and hopefully make your flare days a little more tolerable. I’m writing out the recipe and instructions on this post, to be followed by a link to the video.
Magic Body Balm (makes 4 ounces (120 ml) of product)
2.5 oz (75 ml) cocoa butter (shea, avocado or any other nut butter can be used)
A few weeks prior to making this balm, purchase dried arnica and place 1 or 2 ounces of the dried plant into 2-3 ounces of avocado oil. Let it sit for several weeks in a dark, cool spot, gently shaking the oil every couple of days.
Start by placing the nut butter into the glass bowl.
Fill the bottom of the shallow bowl with less than 1 inch of boiling hot water. You only need enough hot water to cover the bottom of the shallow bowl.
Place the glass bowl with the nut butter into the shallow bowl, allowing the hot water to heat the bottom of the glass ramekin and start melting the butter.
THIS IS CRUCIAL – Avoid getting any water into the liquefying nut butter, the oil additives, or any other ingredients. This will prevent bacteria from growing in the balm.
While the nut butter is melting, strain your arnica infused oil. (Skip this step if you’re using pure arnica oil that you purchased).
Once the nut butter is liquefied, combine it with the arnica infused oil (or the pure avocado oil and arnica oil drops), copaiba oil, davana oil, and fragrant oil of your choice (I prefer tangerine, lavender or peppermint oil). Stir well.
Pour the mixture into the container of choice. Place in a refrigerator to let it cool and set (roughly 1-2 hours). Remove and use on achy, sore body parts.
This recipe is mostly relying on eyeballing the measurements, so if it isn’t exact, try adjusting individual ingredients until you get the consistency you prefer. I’m linking the ingredients and tools above, so you can easily get what you need. I hope this helps you! Take care, and enjoy your weekend.
* Disclaimer: I use two medications for neurological symptoms. I weighed the efficacy versus the side effects, and I determined that it was worth the risk. Discuss the options with your doctor to see what is recommended for your condition.
Happy Writers Wednesday! Can you believe it’s the last Wednesday of the month? I can hardly believe it myself!
I’ve been hard at work trying to hit my January 31 deadline. I’ve been managing my time more carefully, doing my daily word requirement, and getting hits of inspiration here and there. My deadline is quickly approaching. And guess what?
It’s not gonna happen.
I need a solid rough draft before I even try to start editing. I’m only about 70% done with my draft. Unless I hype myself up on caffeine and power through the next few nights, I won’t be finishing this draft by January 31st.
And I’m okay with that.
A few years ago, I would have been so hard on myself, kicking myself for what I *could* have done differently. But I’m in such a different space now: I realize I live a busy life. I care for myself, my grandmother and her sister, my daughter, and my dog. I have a job, a part time tutoring gig, and several small businesses. I have a chronic illness.
Basically, my cup runneth over, even before I throw book writing into the mix.
So yes, I’m racing to the finish, but I’m not breaking my neck or any other body part to do it. I’m giving myself an additional week, which should be enough time to get this done. And if not … I’ll give myself another small extension (I’m pretty sure one more week will be enough). Then I’ll move onto the next step.
On this path, I recognize that my biggest ally is to give myself lots of grace and treat myself as kindly as I treat others. I had to literally sit and think about the time when I would ask colleagues for information colleagues that I need, and when they asked for a little more time, I gladly confirmed that extensions are okay. Of course, that isn’t always possible, but for this writing project that I have, it’s fine. Not only am I okay with giving myself an extension, but I’m always looking forward to the fact that this extra time will really help me get a great first draft.
Editing is hard enough: writing while editing is torture. I’d rather get this done well than to try to rush it and have to end up rewriting almost all of my manuscript.
That’s it for my Writers Wednesday for this week. I hope you’re having a fun and productive day. Take care!
Hi friends! I’m really excited to discuss today’s book with you all. As you all may know, I’m still a new(ish) homeowner, and I love flowers and gardening. So instead of waiting until March or April to start thinking about my garden, I decided to begin my garden planning now, so that I can hit the ground running after the first frost.
The book I’m reviewing is Lunar and Biodynamic Gardening by Matt Jackson. The book focuses on gardening in a way that allows you to create an optimum environment that supports the plants organically. This focus on healthy soil, working with nature’s natural rhythms, and disturbing the environment as little as possible makes it so that both the plants and all wildlife thrive.
This book is broken down into six, easy-to-read chapters. The first chapter teaches the basics, explaining what lunar gardening and biodynamics are, and how these two differ from one another. The next chapter outlines what you need to start, depending on the size of your intended garden. The next chapters focus on soil and compost, growing food, growing flowers, and container gardening.
The author resides in the UK, so he is located in the Northern Hemisphere like me. But, he has generously provided resources for readers that may be in the Southern Hemisphere. He also shares resources to help readers get further clarification on certain principles.
I love how accessible lunar and biodynamic gardening approaches can be for novices. Jackson does a great job explaining how to work with various yard/garden sizes. My yard is medium sized, but my garden will be planned as if I have a small yard, and if I’m inspired, I will expand in future years. It’ll be great to start small so I can really master the concepts before I dive deeper.
In this world of law of attraction/conscious creation, it’s really easy to focus on the spiritual or esoteric sides of things to the point where we may not see the practical side of tuning into nature. But this book is a great reminder of how energy works, and how everything works together. I’m fascinated by the moon cycles, and I’m eager to see how these principles influence my garden’s success. I’ll be writing about this in upcoming posts, so look out for updates!
That’s it for today. I hope you all are staying safe and having a great day. Take care!
Step 1 – Research the stories of people that were able to reverse their fibromyalgia diagnosis
Step 2 – Relisten to herbalism/naturopath podcasts that have recommendations for treating fibro
Step 3 – Make a list of local naturopaths that may be able to help me on my journey
I’m keeping my target simple: I’ll only take one or two steps a day. That sets me up to finish my three steps for each goal within 21 days at most. So, in 21 days, I’ll share whether I did all of the steps above (I’m pretty sure I can do it all LOL), as well as my next three steps for each goal. Of course, at some point, outlining the next three steps of a goal may not be applicable, but I’ll do it as long as it is logical and helpful to accomplishing my goals.
Have you tried writing out the next three steps for any of your goals? If so, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below!
Welcome back to Writers Wednesdays! How is your writing coming along? Probably a little (or a lot) better than mine! I made up for slacking over the past week by knocking out a whopping 100 words in a weekend.
No, you did not misread that. I completed one hundred words in a weekend. And that’s ALL I could manage to write. I had family visiting (not too many members: gotta stay safe!) so I didn’t have a lot of time to devote to my writing. I’ve since made up for it over the past couple of days, clocking about 1,000 words per day. However, this still puts me behind schedule.
With that being said, I know a little about self sabotage. I often find myself throwing monkey wrenches into my own plans. Sometimes, the delays are due to health issues, but other times, it’s that mental “block” that exists when you have a big goal that feels gargantuan.
You know the ‘block’: it looks a lot like writer’s block, or procrastination, or an overloaded schedule. Whatever form the block takes, it can ruin your grand plans if you let it.
So the important question to ask is, HOW can you stop self sabotage?
For me, getting to the root of my self sabotage always starts with examining my emotions. Asking myself, “How am I feeling?” usually reveals the biggest clues behind the “block”. When I feel depressed, I usually experience writer’s block, or lack of inspiration. When I’m feeling anxious, I generally procrastinate. And when I feel fear, I overload my schedule with activities so that I don’t have the time to write.
Taking inventory of how your emotions manifest into particular behaviors will probably reveal some patterns for you, too.
After examining the emotion, I address it. For depression, more sunlight, upping my self care, and immersing myself in creative and artistic media (old Hollywood movies, art museums, music from around the world) usually does the trick. Not to mention, I have a great book by Ginie Sayles, titled, “Writer’s Block is a Crock”. I often use that to help me through those tough times. Anxiety is remedied by slowing down and being more intentional, (again) upping my self care, getting back into my yoga practice, and breathing deeply. For fear, I’ll admit: I don’t have a remedy that I can self-administer. I usually rely on a kick-in-the-pants from a well-meaning friend.
One of my favorite books for overcoming writer’s block
Fear is always the toughest one for me to manage. It isn’t fear of criticism, so much as it is fear of not being able to create a work that I’m proud of. I fear that I will write a mediocre text. And if there’s one thing I detest, it’s mediocrity.
Fortunately, I have great friends that encourage me to make my work better. They give specific examples of how it can be better. Then they trust me to make up my own mind, either to accept or reject their advice. I’ve done both, and I’ve been pleased with the outcome each time. They don’t take it personal if I choose a different strategy. But because they have great perspectives, I rarely discard their advice.
So fear is one that I’m still working on, to be honest with you. That’s what I’m experiencing right now. That’s why I made meals from scratch, two days in a row, during the time that I should have been writing. But recognizing the emotion is the first step. And I’m relying on my friends to help me through it. If you don’t have a trusted counsel to help you with things like this, I advise you build that group NOW. I promise you won’t regret it.
That’s it for today. I hope you all are well. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.
Bronze Butterfly 