What's Your Excuse?

This weekend spoke with someone that was expressing dismay at the condition of one of his acquaintances.

He said the young lady inherited a convenience store (rent free) in a highly populated area and she closed up shop early last year claiming some recent road works hindered her business. He said he remembered sitting in her store on a number of occasions never seeing one car pull up to her store but he was impressed with the amount of foot traffic from the neighborhood. So he questions her claim.

He said January will make two years since she has been jobless
, complaining that she can't find anything to do. He suggested that she sell snacks to the school kids given that she lives right around the corner from two schools. She shrugged him off.

I think we can always find an excuse, so what's yours? I always hear people saying they can't find a job, I wonder how many of them are like this lady? I ask you I'm sure no matter how many solutions he comes up with, she'll find an excuse to just stay in her condition.

You're overweight and all you need is 30 minutes a day to make a change to your exercise plan. But you can't find the time. At the beginning of the year you promised this was the year you were going to stop eat so much fast foods and get healthy. But fast foods are convenient, you say as you eat your 2 for $ .99 hamburgers. You said you want to go back to school and finish your education, but you don't want to be the oldest one in the class. You said you were going to start a savings plan but the new pair of shoes were calling your name. There's always something else, so, what's your excuse?

Bills Mean...

At the end of the month there always seems to be a new bill. After I've paid utilities, insurance, grocery, credit cards other living expenses then some other miscellaneous shows up. Today at the mailbox, I threw them all up and laughed.

I could complain about them because something just hit me. Every month the bills come, and every month I pay them. But that wasn't what hit me this morning. What made me happy was that every month the bill collectors knew exactly where to find me. I know the neighbors may have thought I lost my mind, but I haven't.

As I collected the envelopes from the freshly cut grass and walked toward the door of where I live, I smiled. Bills are good, I thought. Bills are good. My grandfather told me that once but I have thought of it since he died.

I never thought of it this way before and I'm grateful for my blessings because next month when I see those bills I'll remember....

I'm not homeless.

Ladies... Really.

As promised I decided to dedicate a whole post to one type of internet crazy. Sorry if I'm not PC about it, but it's ridiculous. I've been following this story for a few months now and all I can say is that the internet is better than any soap opera you could ever imagine.

I have this person that I follow on one of my networks and I actually look forward to watching their breakdowns daily. From what I've gleaned this woman is having relationship issues. And depending on the day and how she feels, she'll submit for the viewing public a veiled list of grievances. Sometimes it's poetry, sometimes it's just a quick sentence but most days it's a dissertation.

Now I love to read, especially if it makes me laugh, hysterically. Her updates do the trick. I actually go back to the ones I find most hilarious. From what I've gathered, her guy cheated on her (mind you I could be wrong but not likely). Her updates are filled with phrases like, "out in the streets", "stand with the woman you married" "trust" "ultimate deception". Perhaps I'm reading too much into it.

Back to the story. I'm sure I'm not the only person that awaits her drama daily. But what gets me is the blatant egging on that she gets. People are encouraging her to self destruct for the online audience and she is clueless. She's visibly changed from single to married to in a relationship to divorced to interested in men only to whatever she is this week. Hold on let me check......

Okay she's in a relationship again.

Here's my final thought on this. You don't have to live out your life on the internet. This public diary policy we've adopted isn't cute. As a matter of fact it isn't healthy. Especially when all you project is anger and hate. But it's really your page, your life, your freedom. Just don't get upset when I use it all for my blog!

Talk to you guys next time.

The Internet Has Me Wondering...

WE'RE PEOPLE ALWAYS THIS CRAZY?

There are some days that I think maybe, just maybe I'm a little too honest. But then again, I'm not gonna let that stop me anytime soon. I'm part of a number online groups and I'm beginning to wonder if sanity is reserved to me and possibly four other people on the planet. Because I'm a writer, I'm always interested in characters and some of the characters I come across online are well, for the lack of a better description, NUTS!! I wonder if people have evolved into these characters or is it just that they're now getting access to the world.

In one group, there's this character that at first I thought was bipolar, because almost daily he goes from calm to violent in a matter of minutes. Then I figured, it was his character, his shtick somehow. After I figured that out, he didn't matter. As a matter of fact my eyes don't even linger on the things he says anymore.

In another group there's this clique of twenty-somethings, that live all across the country but they call each other 'bro" and "sis" and harass people outside of their little group. These are people with kids. Some of them have multiple children. But they're cyber bullies to say the least. Something to think about when you hear your kid has been bullied in school. Who are the parents? They call themselves "Keeping it Real".

Then there's this woman....

She needs a post all to herself. Come back tomorrow I'll tell you about her.

Stand Up To Write Preview

Just giving my followers a sneak peek of my book Stand Up To Write.

Stand Up To Write is a collection of my personal thoughts coupled with quotes from some of my favorite authors. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did.

There is nothing to writing.
All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.
Ernest Hemingway

Every day I hit a blank page like a wall. 

Like a wall, depending on your impact, it hurts a little or it hurts a lot. I think with all creative arts (acting, music, writing, dance…) if you’re passionate about it, you leave DNA in your work. Sometimes it’s your past that you leave; sometimes it’s hurt or present anger. There are times when my un can’t be contained and it shows in the writing. 

When I think of the many pained days I've spent with my legal pads just telling the yellow sheets how I felt. Sometimes I published, sometimes I didn't  But I just let the emotions go. I found a legal pad when I was moving the other day and I could see the stains and places where the ink ran. I guess those were extra emotional days. 

No matter how it’s expressed, writing gives us the opportunity to pour out of ourselves. It gives people a chance to see what we’re made of. I don’t think I’d do it if I couldn't leave a little of myself on the page. 

So maybe today I’ll bleed a little, just a pin prick amount. But my DNA is in even that tiny drop. 

Look for Stand Up To Write on Amazon and Google Play, 11/1/2013

Writers On Writing

“How vain it is to sit down to write
when you have not stood up to live.”
 Henry David Thoreau

One day I decided to live. I've always written but until that point I felt trapped. Somewhere during my entrapment I realized that my tools of escape were always with me. They were the words that danced in my head. They were the characters that forged their way and made their own stories and created their own scenes. And for them to be free, I had to first allow myself to roam and experience and LIVE.

No longer could I let fear of acceptance and failure, rule or guide me. I had to learn to allow myself to experience the path as it was laid out and not worry about the road ahead. I had to make up in my mind to smell every rose and risk being stung by quite a few bees. It wasn’t walking blindly but walking wide eyed and alert.

I no longer remember, with clarity, how it felt before I lived but I do know that I made a good choice. The words on the paper have also begun to live and they thank me, because I gave them life. But I thank them because they helped me to live.

I'm A Princess

I remember as a kid reading the story of the princess and the pea. As the story goes a girl's true regal nature was determined when after spending a night on 100 mattresses, she was unable to sleep due to some discomfort. The reading audience knew that a pea had been placed under the bottom mattress. As absurd as it sounds it made me think, that's it, I'M A PRINCESS!

I've been a creator all my life. Whether it's been song, prose or story, I live to make my words come alive to people. And as comfortable as other people would be in my exact situation, I'm uncomfortable. There are nights when I fall asleep at 3 a.m. because I have to get it on paper. Or I'll wake up and have to start writing. Writing is my pea. Unless I get it out from under me, I can't sleep.

Everyone's pea isn't the same. But I think everyone has one. It tells you who you are and who you're meant to be. So I'm a writing princess.

Now tell me what's your pea?