Hello? Is Anybody Still Reading? Am I Still Writing?

It's been just over a year since my first book was published. At first everything was so exciting!

Books were selling better than I had ever hoped for, I was being interviewed on television and having professional head shots made by a professional photographer ( no more selfies, this was the big time baby!)

Then, as was to be expected, the hype died down a bit. About once a month I was asked to do an interview or podcast. My monthly sales were erratic. Some months I'd sell a shockingly high number of books, other months I'd squeak by with one or two sales.

Now, to be sure I'm not being all negative, I have surpassed every sales goal I set for myself. I have reached audiences I never expected and had my essays published in big-time places like YAHOO! and Dr. Oz.

And, again to spotlight the positive, the money earned from book sales this past year is paying for a mini vacation for me and the kids this week. That's a very good positive!

It's been a good writing year!

But... it's been a slow past few months.

It started with taking on a temporary yet crappy overnight job which left me exhausted and in a perpetual bad mood. Finally I was offered more hours at my day job that I love and even though I gave up the crappy night job, my writing didn't pick up as much as I'd hoped.

A few interview possibilities I had hoped for fell through and a few pitches to other outlets were rejected.

So, basically, crickets.

I know this is normal. It is normal, right?

And I know the solution is to sit my butt down and get back to writing regularly. That is the solution, right?

And... I just looked and it's been a month since my last post.

OK, I need to shoo these crickets away and get busy again!

Procrastination As A Writing Method

Early March 2016: I have the honor of being asked to contribute to another author's book. This author is also host of a popular radio show, so it's kind of a big deal.  She asks me to write anywhere from 2,000 - 6,000 words and gives me the general idea of her theme. The deadline is only two weeks away but I tell her I will do my best.

I don't come anywhere near to trying my best.

Late March 2016: I completely miss the deadline. I have some guilt about this but use the excuse I wasn't completely clear on what specifically she wanted me to write.

Mid April 2016: The author, who again has a much bigger audience than I do so it really would benefit me to have my writing linked to hers, gets in touch with me again to say she got her editors to extend the deadline for me. She really wants my work included. The new deadline is May 26.

I promise her I will get it done.

And I do nothing.

I jot down some notes.

I decide 2,000 - 6,000 words is too vague, too much, too general.

May 8, 2016: My Mother's Day present to myself is to sneak off to Starbucks for the afternoon with nothing but my laptop, a book and my new Starbucks gift card.
My muse finally joins me and I write and write and write! This feels great! I'm not a bad writer! I can do this!

May 13 - 22, 2016: I travel to Chicago for Kid 2's boot camp graduation, return home for Kid 3's high school graduation, host a graduation party, attend Kid 4 and 6's dance recital. Writing deadline looms over me, but I am legitimately busy.

Monday May 23, 2016: I'll finish writing it tomorrow.

Tuesday May 24, 2016: I explain to the kids I need writing time and will be closing my bedroom door to get some work done. For the next few hours I: scan Facebook, watch Grey's Anatomy on Netflix, scroll through pictures on my phone, check emails, scan Facebook again, check my bank balance. Finally sit down and write about 11pm. I complete the piece but decide to wait until morning for one last review before submitting it.

Wednesday May 25, 2016: Awaken 30 minutes earlier than I normally do to read what I wrote the night before, decide I am pleased with it, spell check it, and send it off.

With a full 24 hours before the deadline!

The procrastination method worked again!

But, why oh why can't I be one of those serious writers who has a daily quiet writing time, a dedicated writing office and never, ever stresses over a deadline?

The Sky's The Limit Radio Interview

I never really know what to expect when going for an interview. Sometimes it's very obvious the interviewer has no idea what me or my book is about. Other times the interviewer has done her homework and the time flows smoothly and easily.

This radio interview was one of those smooth, easy, enjoyable interviews.

Karen Leavitt's show The Sky's The Limit airs on VoiceAmerica. She books guests who she feels empower resilience and courage. So I am quite honored she chose to interview me.

Of course we talked about my book Creating A Joyful Life: The Lessons I Learned From Yoga and My Mom. But we also talked on some pretty heavy topics like depression and divorce. But the theme through it all was creating joy out of chaos.

Please click here ----->    Crazy Can Be Joyful  and take a listen. As always, if you like what you hear, PLEASE share it on your Facebook, Twitter and other social media. Word of mouth is the best recommendation I can ask for!

Kid's Yoga Stories

Today I unexpectedly and last minute taught a preschool yoga class. I haven't taught kids yoga in a really, really long time and I have (not even) jokingly told everyone I don't want to teach kids classes anymore. Now that my kids are older I'm kind of over the whole little kid thing. And I'm totally not joking about that.

But, about 10 little kids were waiting on yoga and no teacher today. So, I grudgingly  willingly volunteered.

At first I didn't remember how I used to teach kids yoga. I did remember meowing in cats pose and mooing in cow pose. And since the little ones weren't sitting on their mats quietly in meditation waiting for class to start like my adult classes do, I had to think quick.

OK everyone, mountain pose.

Surprisingly they all quickly stopped running around and found mountain pose.

And on top of the mountain there was a... tree!

We all found tree pose.

Hey, this is working.

OK, so we are on a mountain. And on top of the mountain is a tree. Standing on the mountain I see a... star!

We all find star pose.

This is really working!

We are all standing on a mountain. On the mountain is a tree. And we can see a star. Also on the mountain is a .... dog!

Ten little butts are quickly sticking up in the air for downward dog pose.

Eventually we came up with quite an interesting yoga story full of yoga poses.

We are standing on top of a mountain. On top of the mountain is a tree. We can see a bright star. Also on the mountain is a dog. Sitting next to a big rock. On top of the rock is a cat. Looking at the cat is a cow. The cow starts mooing to warn us there is a snake nearby. But it's OK because a lion scares away the snake. Then a bee scares away the lion! The bee lands on a warrior. The warrior flies away on an airplane. The airplane lands on the sun. The dog, the cat, the cow, the snake, the bee and the warrior are all so tired they have to lay down and take a nap.

I ended up having as much fun as the kids did and it made me smile when I heard one little girl say she wanted to take yoga again with Miss Jennifer.

Although that was sweet, I am ready to return the kids yoga class back to the current teacher.  I won't hesitate to fill in again when needed, but there's a lot less meowing and mooing in my adult classes.


English/Kids Name to Sanskrit

Mountain - Tadasana
Tree - Vriksasana
Star - Utthita Tadasana
Dog - Adho Mukha Svanasana
Rock - Balasana
Cat -Marjaiasana
Cow -Bitilasana
Snake - Bhujangasana
Lion - Simhasana (pranayama)
Bee - Brahmari (pranayama)
Warrior -Virabhadrasana
Airplane - Virabhadrasana III
Sun - Utkata Konasana
Nap - Savasana

Small Accomplishments

I think sometimes we get so caught up in the highlights we post on Facebook that we forget to acknowledge our small accomplishments as well.

Today Kid 1 did something that just 4 months ago would have caused him such anxiety he'd certainly have chosen drugs or alcohol to self medicate himself. But today, he took a deep breath and he took a chance. When I told him how proud I was of him, he tried to downplay it. No, you have to give yourself credit for all the day-to-day small accomplishments that get you through life.

As I was thinking about that, I realized we all need to give ourselves more credit. I only post to social media when something I've written is picked up by a "big" outlet or I've done a TV or radio interview. Those things are way cool don't get me wrong.

But today, I took a pitch that had been rejected, carved time out of my day to be alone to work on it, and I resubmitted it somewhere else.

1 - I didn't let the rejection discourage me
2 - I made writing time a priority
3 - I took a chance and resubmitted to an outlet that's probably a better fit anyway

Three small accomplishments in one!

For now on, I'm going to stop feeling like a failure between the big moments and starting appreciating the small accomplishments in my life.

6 In The City TV Interview

Earlier this month I took the day off work, put on some girl clothes, a little (a lot) of make up and sat down for an interview with 6 In The City, a local Jackson, Tn television station.

Since it was a local station and not a network I wasn't sure what to expect. (How diva does that sound! It wasn't a network interview, like I'm some big celebrity or something. Ha!)  But, in an interesting and unexpected twist, my Amazon book sales took a big jump in the few days after the interview aired.

Lesson learned? You never know who is watching!

Another lesson learned? Wear clothes that you are comfortable in and make you feel good. Fortunately you can't see me tugging at my shirt or trying to sit in a better position on the couch.

YouTube was giving me difficulty embedding the video directly here. But you can click the link and give it a watch!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_fIv5u4m50&t=20m45s

Financial Abundance In The Midst of Financial Struggles

I've written often on this blog about my financial struggles since becoming a single mom. It sucks. And, I didn't realize how "good" I had it when I was working full time. Now that I'm just working a couple part time jobs it's been even tougher. 

Panic set in a couple weeks ago when I realized that my health insurance plan I had from my over night crappy part time job wasn't much of a health insurance plan at all. Even though it said it met the Affordable Health Care Act standards of minimum coverage, I guess I didn't quite understand what "minimum coverage" meant.

So after going for my first well woman annual exam in three years (since I've been without insurance), I am now a bit more than $2,000 in deeper debt that I was a month ago. It turns out the plan paid for me to walk in to the doctors office, but not the lab work, mammogram, doctor to read the mammogram, etc that is normally done in a preventative annual visit.

I've called each bill I've received and told them I'll be making payments to them. Small payments for a long time. 

But still, I was in full blown panic mode about it all.

Then I remembered I've always managed to pay my bills in the past. There's always been enough. So I can believe there will always be enough in the future.

I'm a big believer in affirmations. As I was trying to pull myself out of panic mode, I came up with this affirmation that I've typed into my phone as a reminder for when I need it:

There is an abundance of wealth continually flowing to me. 

I am financially comfortable and secure. 

As the Universe does, I was quickly put to the test. One of my regular yoga students is collecting money for a very worthy cause. A cause I've donated quite a bit to in the past. She asked if she could ask the other students in class to donate. I was a bit uncomfortable with that but I knew she was going to ask no matter what I said. I also knew she'd be expecting a donation from me. That class is a donation based class. Some people pay more than others, some nothing at all. I don't keep track of who pays how much, there's just a basket on the floor to put the money in.  I usually make enough to put gas in my car for the week and buy some grocery essentials. I depend on that money.

As I knew it would, at the end of class she was once again asking for donations. She looked at me, looked at the basket of donations, and then back to me. 

I didn't hesitate. I just picked up the cash and handed her half. I didn't even count it first just handed her half the bills that were there.

And I felt OK with it. Not just OK but I felt that it was the right thing to do. I repeated my affirmation and went about my day. And no major financial catastrophes happened. 

Again today, in the same class, two students told me they forgot their wallets and would just pay me next week. OK, no problem. Maybe they will pay me double next week, maybe they won't. Either way, I continue to remind myself:

There is an abundance of wealth continually flowing to me. 

I am financially comfortable and secure. 

Now, when I get panicky about money, which happens at least once daily, I stop and reframe my thinking. Instead of always being in "poor" mentality mode, I'm retraining myself to be in "abundance" mentality mode. 

There's always been enough. There will always be enough. And there will be more than enough in the near future.