Hi there! Welcome to my blog! I love, love, love talking about all things metaphysics, writing, and blogging. My hope is that you leave here feeling much better than when you came. It's great to see you!
I’D LOVE TO…
You wouldn’t be able to tell by looking at this post, but not being able to work on my blog has been killing me. Right now, I’m blogging from my tablet, because I haven’t bought internet yet, and I’ve been having no luck using the apartment wi-fi with my PC. This means this is going to be a very short post, because typing on this thing is incredibly tedious.
This also means that my posts are not optimized for search, and the picture attached to this post and every tablet post afterward, is going to SAWK!
In other news, I hope to get full fledged functioning internetz by early next week, so I’m praying my Alexa rank holds out. I’ve worked hard for my traffic, and its a pity to see it go to waste.
The upside to all of this is that I am finally all moved into my new place! I have a few last things to pack up from the old place, but I have been sleeping here all week. Its been too interesting to not write a poem or short story about someday, or to not mention in a blog post. The first night I stayed over was the worst. I was so tired from the day and night before, that I was hallucinating things, and thought every sound was either a demon or a ghost. As tired as I was, I’d wager that I got about 3 hours of sleep.
The next night I discovered I had an ant problem. There were a few scavengers on my counter and in my tub, and I’m still not quite sure what to do about it yet. This was the same night I also busted a pipe underneath my bathroom sink after trying to fit a tub o’ shit inside it. It leaked for a couple days but I called the landlord and the maintenance guy got it all taken care of.
On the upside, I have never been so happy in my life. Everything I need is within walking distance, I feel like I’m living in New York, or some place like it. I told Bailey the Starbucks was 4 blocks away and as awesome as that is, it’s still ‘too far’. He said ‘that’s the city life! You’ve gotta walk everywhere, get used to it!’ But I totally am. I walked to the Ralph’s a couple nights this week for quick dinners, and it’s so neat to see all the people out and about. I’ve never lived in a bustling place like this, where I’m woken up at 12:45am to laughter on the sidewalk, arguments in the building next door, and random violin playing. But I know for a fact I am loving it.
I have so much more to say, but there’s a time and a place. Until then, know this: despite my absence, A Novel Quest has resurrected, like I said it would, just as Jesus said he would, and being that today is Good Friday, and Easter is approaching, I think it’s fitting.
This is the third post in a weekly feature called the Passion Series…enjoy!
This week’s Passion Series guest blogger and author, Debbie McClure, reminds me of me. She loves to write, and keeps up with the latest news in the book publishing industry (like I used to do, before obsessing over everything digital and social media). The main difference of course being, she’s actually published a book.
After working for years as a single mother in either real estate or mortgage sales, Debbie settled into an easier lifestyle with her second husband after the kids were out of the house, and took up writing. In November of 2012 she published a book called In the Spirit of Love, and was thrust into a new age of book publishing, one in which authors were responsible for creating their own buzz, versus hiring a publicist. This is where she discovered the beauty of blogging, of sharing thoughts, ideas, goals, and dreams with an audience, and how it has in turn helped her connect with more readers.
Has blogging helped you in any emotional or creative way?
Initially I was wary of blogging and apprehensive about the how, where and what, however, I slowly started realizing that my weekly blogs really did provide an emotional outlet for me. I started thinking about what to write, jotting down ideas, and looking forward to the exercise of blogging. My blog posts tend to relate to my writing, to life in general, forcing me to think about the connections between the two. At other times, I’ve written about industry news that I’ve found interesting, or provided book reviews on books I’ve just read. Blogging has given me more than just a platform to share my thoughts, I am also able to share information with readers about other bloggers and writers on timely subjects.
Has blogging daily/weekly helped you achieve any personal goals?
I didn’t think it would, but once I started gaining a few followers, I realized I had an obligation to uphold my promise of creating new blog posts. After all, if readers signed up to get my blog, they must be interested in what I had to say, or at least have enjoyed previous posts. Blogging has given me a forum for discussion, or to answer questions readers have posted, which has been amazing. Because I love connecting with others on a variety of levels, blogging has opened up an area of one of my personal goals of connecting that I hadn’t considered before. It also allows readers to connect with me directly, which I think puts a human face behind a name on a book, website or other social media forum. To me, writing is about connecting, so blogging has given me an immediate sense of having done that, on a weekly basis.
Does the ritual of daily/weekly blogging give you motivation to pursue things you are passionate about?
Absolutely. Even as I’d once dreaded sitting down to write a new blog and was terrified of the response I’d get, I now look forward to it, and the comments that come in after the posts. Although I don’t have a hard and fast ritual or schedule for blogging, or a particularly large following, I do write something every week, or week and a half at most. This gives me direction and purpose, and those who’ve opted to follow me know there will be updated content on a regular basis. There’s nothing worse than going to someone’s blog, only to discover that the last time they posted anything new was months ago. We all get busy and distracted with work, life, etc., but outside of health issues, I’ve always believed that once you say you’ll be doing something regularly, you should keep your word. Give readers a reason to continue following you, and hopefully share a little information, a smile, or offer food for thought on a subject. Really, it’s all about the human connection, and that’s what blogging, and writing, is all about, no matter the subject.
Blogging has also given me a forum to explore other areas of writing I hadn’t considered before, and to learn more about this business of writing and publishing. I’m constantly discovering new information and new ways of thinking about writing, while connecting with other writers and bloggers, in an ever widening circle of forums. From blogs to on-line magazines, and articles in publications such as Writer’s Digest, I am constantly amazed at how connected we all are, despite our geographical distances.
Since connecting with Debbie, she has renewed my love for telling stories, and embracing the publishing/writing online landscape. Reading about her learning experiences on her blog reminds me of the days when I would research ways to promote my own writing, and I know I can learn a lot from her since she has already taken the giant leap of penning an entire novel. Good for you, Debbie, and best of luck with the writing! You’ve certainly got a fan in me. 
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This post is part of a series on bloggers who have found direction or passion through blogging. If you would like to be featured in the Passion Series, please contact me through this form with responses to the above questions, and share your passions. Thanks!
See all Passion Series posts >>
This is officially my 100th blog post! Wow, I am impressed. I’ll admit, I never thought I’d see the day, but nearly two years after I started this blog, I have finally hit the big 1-0-0. Should I buy a cake? Maybe I’ll just have a beer.
I want to tell you that on this day of 100 blog posts, I have received the most beautiful quote from a fellow who runs a great blog called Zen Pencils. Get this–the guy just draws famous quotes, sometimes in comic-book style, and people love ’em so much they buy them. Initially he just wanted to mess around and just draw for a living, so he started a blog to post all of his drawings, and it completely took off. He gets people asking him to draw images from their favorite quotes all the time, and he sells them!
I’m such a sucker. He emailed his subscribers (I am one of them) last weekend saying we could buy his drawings with free shipping till like March 20th or whatever it was–so I jumped at the opportunity and bought one. And I love this quote. It’s by Albert Einstein if you can’t tell. Don’t judge people based on things they can’t do, when they weren’t meant to do them in the first place. In fact, don’t judge people. Ever. Surrender to who they are, and go about your day (unless they do something harmful to you, in that case smack a bitch and go to the police). You get the gist.
Tonight I have so many things going through my amygdala, medula oblongata, and every inch of my cortex that I can barely see through the chaos, but I am surrendering to it. I think chaos has a right to be what it was meant to be–just like the fish. Let chaos be chaos, don’t try and perfect it. Too chaotic. I’m living in an absolute mess in both of my places right now–the old apt and the new one–but these are the moments I need to savor. I’m going to miss this old apartment, and I can feel it somehow–it’s going to miss me too, and that’s kind of sweet.
So even though I’m going to have the most ultimate epic rager of a party tomorrow night to celebrate my final hours in this place, and even though I’m doing laundry till 11pm and all of my personals are in boxes, and I am sleeping on a mattress on the floor that does not belong to me, I am somehow doing it all with love, and some kind of crazy inner peace that was not always there.
Happy 100 posts you ole’ blog you. And congratulations to you reader, for reading them all
This is the second post in a weekly feature called the Passion Series…enjoy!
I am a spiritual person, without a doubt. Possibly even more so after reading New Self, New World. What I love about this week’s Passion Series blogger, Anjana Dixon, is the impeccable voice that comes through her writing, and her passion for sharing her holistic and spiritual passions to an audience that is growing by the day.
Lately I’ve been under all kinds of stressful energy, what with the big move, and the recent two-year anniversary of my father’s passing. However, after reading a few of Anjana’s posts, I felt rested. At peace. She has a way with words that soothes the soul, and really makes you want to nourish the spirit, and see the poetic beauty in all that is living. She is a Holistic Relationship and Lifestyle Expert, and a wonderful writer. She deserves every bit of success she’s garnered from her thriving blog. I’m happy to share her thoughts and motivations with you in this week’s Passion Series!
Has blogging helped you in any emotional or creative way?
Absolutely, writing is very cathartic for me. It is one of the ways that I channel healing for PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder).
Has blogging daily/weekly helped you achieve any personal goals?
Yes! I blog daily and it has not only helped me maintain discipline, it has also helped me identify who I am in the goals that I pursue. Through blogging, I have been able to parlay celebrity interviews into media appearances, and through interviewing amazing celebrities like Andrew McCarthy, Scott Stapp, Sinbad, Buffy Lawson, and Ashley Bell, I have been afforded an opportunity to make friends and collaborate with them. One friend in particular, Sam Russell, has invited me to participate in his project, The Giving Closet. This project gives a deserving, yet underprivileged woman, a designer wardrobe worth $10,000.
Does the ritual of daily/weekly blogging give you motivation to pursue
things you are passionate about?
Always, and I never grow tired of it. It is a way of exercising my mental muscles. I feel smarter, stronger, and more excited about writing with every post. It has most certainly placed me on a platform, a pedestal if you will, of my own confidence. Writing insights and opinions is a very vulnerable act. When I first started blogging, I was worried no one would care; I had about 100 followers. As I found subject matter that resonated with the readership I wanted to appeal to, it began to grow. That’s when the celebrity interviews started to make an impact.
The most validating aspect to me is that I am being heard, and what I say matters. We all want to be immortalized in some way, and we all will be in vastly different capacities. If you wish to put your personal signature on the world through thoughts and feelings, begin writing. Write in a journal, share with those that you love, and continue until you’ve gained enough courage to share your thoughts with the world.
If you’ve got some free time, check out a few of her posts at her blog, The Anjana Network. Each week is themed–this week the theme is Nurturing–and you can tell she puts a lot of thought and love into each post (as I like to do!), making it as poignant and insightful as possible. I can’t believe she publishes such great content on a weekly basis, it’s awesome.
That’s it! I hope you enjoyed this week’s Passion Series. Let me know what you thought of it in the Comments section below, or shoot me an email if you have any specific feedback, or would like to participate! I love you as usual, and good night.
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This post is part of a series on bloggers who have found direction or passion through blogging. If you would like to be featured in the Passion Series, please contact me through this form with responses to the above questions, and share your passions. Thanks!
See all Passion Series posts >>
But as you can see, I ain’t even mad.
Apparently the admissions committee decided early, and sent me an email last Friday night letting me know. I didn’t stumble upon that email until Saturday night, and only then because I exhaustedly decided to return some emails after a full day of moving. None the less, I freaked out because my fate was only a button click away. It was so much less dramatic when I found out, than it would have been had it come in the mail.
Either way, they wrote me a few nice paragraphs basically saying thank you and we considered your application but you didn’t make the cut. Which is both fine and unfair in some complicated way. Rejection is good for the soul, and I’m humbled by it. It builds character, and it makes me work that much harder and (insert other failure cliches here). I have until April 5th until I find out if I got into USC.
And in case you were wondering, yes, I’m still writing the e-book on applying to business school. It doesn’t mean it won’t mean something to future applicants, just because I didn’t get in. It’s not a ‘how-to’ book, after all, and I highly doubt taking a year to apply to business school was the wrong way to go about it. The book is mostly just documenting my experiences in the process, as well as areas where I could have improved were I to do it all over again. In the end, it was probably my low GMAT score, and possibly my lack of professional experience. But you must know, I feel accomplished having applied in the first place, and the end result is sort of anti-climactic and meaningless if you consider the astounding amount of motivation in my chest, stomach, calves, and ribs to succeed the fuck out of this life.
Also, happy belated St. Pats! After spending the morning and afternoon at mass and lunch with my family, I paraded around town with Bailey and another couple we know. I could not believe how much fun I had. We played a killer game of ping pong at the top of the Standard Hotel, a roof top I’ve never actually visited during the day.
I know it was a Sunday and everything, and I gotta say, I wasn’t feeling all that splendid this morning, but I had a terrific amount of blast.
Best of all was the Fat Burger I scarfed down after all this fun. And quite possibly all of the hilarious footage I got on camera, which will definitely be integrated into a Mursa Pie video at some point, best believe!
What did you do for the Irish drinking holiday?
Until next time folks, let us be reminded that Steven Spielberg got rejected three times from USC’s Film School, and let no god damn rejection email define our worth.
On Sepulveda blvd, they cut down all of the trees on the sidewalk, so now there’s nothing but a bunch of dead stumps in a row lining the street, reminding me of heads without bodies or bodies without heads. Just dead stumps in a sidewalk cemetery of lifeless bits of headless nature. The tree pictured above was not one of these stumps. It was just a poor tree that took a nose dive sometime between now and 24 hours ago. I thought I’d share.
Big change is afoot. Expensive change. I tell ya, the amount of money a person has to put up front to get the keys to their very own personal kingdom is ridiculous. My savings account literally won’t talk to me. But when you think about how little money matters in the world if say, a tiny meteorite were to graze our city, it kind of relaxes you a little. Sometimes, you just have to have to go blindly into your days with nothing but faith in your purse, hope that the expenses will even out, and the courage to tackle relocation. After all, transitions weren’t meant to be easy or predictable, you just have to take them as they come at you, like punches.
I’m getting the keys to my new place tomorrow. These next few days are going to be busy, and there might be a stretch of time in which I am unable to use my computer because it’s at my new place and that new place isn’t set up yet with electricity or wi-fi. But then again, I may not pack my computer until the very last minute, so there’s that too. None the less, let this serve as a warning that there might be a lull in posts (but I highly doubt it. This shit is too therapeutic for me not to be doing it).
Last but not least, I’m meeting so many cool bloggers for my Passion Series. I hope you enjoyed the post I published last night on Raegan Payne, and her mission to conquer 100 charities before the end of the year. I am learning a lot from each and every blogger I talk to, and I can’t wait to share their stories with you. They are motivating me to do more and more blog-related things, like attend conferences and maybe even speak at one of them one day! I love everything social, digital, and blog related, and I feel like this is the year I will truly be more and more immersed in it, and surrounded by people who have similar passions.
Here is the next installment of my moving videos. Until next time, remember there is salt water in your blood, and we all came from the same ocean.
This is the very first post in a weekly feature called the Passion Series…enjoy!
Raegan Payne is on a mission: volunteer for 100 charities by the end of 2013. (And I thought my quest was intense.)
Perhaps the first sentence that caught my eye upon reading this lovely lady’s blog was in her About section: “In the coming years Raegan sets her sights on writing more stuff and someday being cool.”
I love it. She’s a writer, like me. We cyber bonded. Okay the bonding was one-sided. But still, I love connecting with other writers and seeing how they are using the web to explore their creative side.
I chose to feature miss Raegan Payne as my very first blogger in the Passion Series because not only is she on a quest as well, but a charitable one. After her grandfather’s passing in 2008, she wanted to pay tribute to him by completing 50 different volunteer activities before 2010. (This aspect of her quest spoke to me because I know exactly what it’s like to want to pay tribute to a lost loved one!) Not only did she complete her goal, but she couldn’t stop. Her blog is dedicated solely to volunteering for 100 charities by the end of the year, and she has dedicated tons of great pictures and blog posts about each of her volunteer events. (The polar plunge is my favorite!)
Below are her answers to some of the questions I had regarding her passion for blogging and volunteering.
Has blogging helped you in any emotional or creative way?
Writing a blog does help me stay creative. Doing The Good Muse means I am constantly trying something new – looking for a new cause, meeting new people, etc. All this original material fuels blog posts, and can often be used in my plays or books later. Also, the blog must be fed! There’s no question I have to do The Good Must posts – even if I’m tired or worn out – just the act of working, putting words on a page, makes you more creative.
Has blogging daily/weekly helped you achieve any personal goals?
Completing 50 volunteer assignments in one year was a personal goal. I’m glad I achieved it on The Good Muse. Now completing 100 is the new goal. The Good Muse is also a tribute to my grandfather who died in 2008. Through the blog he’s still pushing me towards good things and helping me redefine what success means.
Does the ritual of daily/weekly blogging give you motivation to pursue
things you are passionate about?
The Good Muse is all about inspiring – me most of all. The people I usually volunteer with have overcome such incredible adversity. It’s the kind of thing where you look around and go, “Wow if they did this then I can get a novel published!” I love it.
I’ve linked the hell out of this post to her blog, but in case you were too busy reading her awesome story to click, here is the link to it: The Good Muse. I find the charitable work she’s done incredibly inspiring, and I am so thrilled that she wanted to take part in this series.
Above all, I hope you enjoyed it too! Let me know your thoughts on this first post in this weekly series, and if there’s anything you’d like to see more or less of, as I love your feedback always.
Blue skies!
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This is post is part of a series on bloggers who have found direction or passion through blogging. If you would like to be featured in the Passion Series, please email me with responses to the above questions, and share your passions. Thanks!
See all Passion Series posts >>
Moving requires going through a lot of old shit that just won’t die. Stuff you’ve buried in file cabinets or stuffed into boxes and hid in the closet so you don’t have to see it, stuff you didn’t even know existed until you’re forced to sift through every nook and cranny in your apartment cause you’re movin’ out son, and it’s time to bring all that old shit to the surface and say hello.
In my case, there have been a lot of tears. Pulling out tubs of documents and old birthday cards, I found many from my Dad and Lynne, some from old friends I don’t even talk to anymore, and heartwarming ones from my mom, grandma, and siblings. I also happened upon the many newspaper copies I have of my dad’s obituary, and a hell of a lot of “I’m sorry” and “anniversary” cards from the ex-boyfriend. It’s just sad. It’s heavy. It’s not easy having to relive every single memory for every saved item of paper, or every story behind the reason you even saved it all.
2011 was a hard time, and a lot of the old clippings, pictures and documents I’ve accumulated over the years were from that era. Era is a pretty word. It could be a dress if it wanted to, I think. Or the name of a picture framing company. Either way, 2011 was a hard time, and I’ve had some moments.
But you’d be proud of the way I’ve rid myself of a lot of it. Absolutely nothing of course, that reminded me of my father. All of that got a little psychotically saved. But I threw away some old plane tickets I’d kept around from visits to my ex, and movie stubs from the flicks we saw. I still can’t throw away the pictures though. I also donated some old coin purses, a cute sunglasses case, a ton of books (by a romance author I had no interest in), an old night light, and an old jewelry case I got some Christmases ago, probably when I was a teenager. Some of that stuff is better off getting used by someone else, rather than lying under my bed, gathering dust.
All of this has been an incredible journey, and I think every moving experience is. I’m savoring this one, because this apartment has been my home since June 2010, and it’s hard to part with it. A lot of creativity, drunk writing, tears, candles, dreams, growing up and inspiration happened in this bedroom, and this entire apartment has its own unique story to tell. It’s a part of my life where I lived free-spirited and independent, anxiety-ridden and carefree, listless and lonely, happy and comfortable. Everything about it feels alive tonight, and I’m drinking in its energy during these last few weeks.
Below is a short video I just did of my moving adventure (the phrase ‘shit’ is highly over used, apologies). But you know I’m going to document this entire fucking process and share it with you. Hopefully you can share some of your past moving experiences with me, and how the past also moved you, when you dug everything up.