Standing in the Rain: Words of Wisdom from Writer Arthur Wooten

My dear friend Arthur Wooten's third book, Birthday Pie, is really doing great. He's also revised the play version, and the possibility of a film is still in the works. Arthur has been traditionally published, but he is also now a pioneer in the world of self-publishing, and recently formed his own publishing company, Galaxias Productions.

Carrey Parish interviewed Arthur on Goodreads, and I pulled out the last question and answer to post here because I liked what Arthur said so much. To read the full interview, go to: http://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_posts/1469967-carey-parrish-reviews-birthday-pie-and-talks-to-arthur-about-the-success

Carrey Parish: "What advice or wisdom can you pass along at this point in your life?"

Arthur Wooten: "I’ve said it before, regarding success with writing, but I find it’s true in life too. Be careful of the dominant thoughts you have running through your brain because they will tend to manifest. The law of the universe doesn’t care if they are positive or negative. So choose wisely. Also, if there’s something you want in life, keep your eyes open. Listen carefully. You have to learn to be lucky. An opportunity may be right in front of you and if you’re not aware of it, it will escape you. It could be seizing the right moment, noticing a great connection, thinking outside of the box. And in order to be struck by lighting (in a good way) you have to stand out in the rain. But you have to be willing to stand out in the rain longer than anyone else. I’ve been poured on. But I wouldn’t have it any other way. "

Lazy Days

Almost everyone I talk to these days says they feel a bit lazy. I know I do. But I'm not sure if what we feel is lazy or just overwhelmed and helpless to do anything about it. We've had excessive heat, weather calamities and wildfires. We've watched our elected leaders' willingness to lead us to the brink (or past it?) of disaster. We've watched our bank accounts take a roller coaster ride. We've watched the streets of England erupt in senseless violence. It's all a bit too much, and enough to make anyone want to just go lie in a hammock for a month or two.

I've been blogging just once a week and that feels good to me. I don't always have something intelligent to say more often than that anyway! And I'm engaging in writer-mouse activities that are actually productive - checking the final book proofs, setting up my fall blog tour, making to-do lists and checking them twice. I only have control over my own little piece of the world, so it soothes me to attend to it.

This week I also did something that I've never done before. I wrote to some politicians and told them what I thought of all that's happened these past few weeks. As politely as I could, which is to say that there may have occasionally been a bite to my words.

Anyway, I'm sure that this is all the result of Mars and Pluto being up to no good, with some surprises from Uranus thrown in and of course, that darn Mercury always going retrograde. Don't buy anything! Don't sell anything! Don't quit your job, don't take a job, don't get on a plane! Apparently, hammock lounging is actually the only sane and astrologically correct course of action, so I think I'll get back to it ....

Yin, Yang and YadaYadaYada

My last "Leap Before You Look" post was so much fun, I really just want to leave it up forever....

But, here in bloggy land, we must move forward!

Remember when Julia Roberts won the Oscar and then immediately her relationship with Benjamin Bratt went kaput? And then, the same thing pretty much happened to poor Sandra Bullock, only it was like the Julia Roberts situation on steroids.  We call these ups and downs the yin and yang of life - the good offset by the bad, and vice versa.

Is it just me, or does this year seem like the yin and yang are waaaaay more yinny and yangy?  All my friends seem to be having big swings between ups and downs, and I know it's been true for me too. We started the year with the most wonderful, long, relaxing trip to La Paz, Mexico. Yin. Not long after we got home from that, my mother passed away. Big Yang. A few weeks later, I was selected for the jury on a very high profile, very emotional Santa Fe trial. Yang. I solved some mysteries about my mother's life as a young girl in England at the start of WWII, and made some lovely friends across the pond. Yin. We've been trying to sell our house and it just hasn't happened. Yang. But then, my book will be coming out this fall. Big Big Yin.

Every year has its ups and downs. We expect it. It's just that, this year, like the extremes in weather and the extremes in economic conditions, it feels like our lives are also swinging between dramatic extremes.

In yoga, yin and yang refer to different kinds of energy. Yin is passive energy and yang is active energy. There is no judgement that one is good and the other bad, they are simply different. It's hard to look at the sad and upsetting aspects of life as anything but "bad." But, as is often the case, looking at things through my yoga lens helps me put things in perspective. All of life has its purpose, the ups, the downs, and the in-betweens. The in-betweens would be the yadayadayada part, and that's not actually a yoga term :-).

Anybody else feel like they're on the seesaw this year?