#UpbeatAuthors: Way Will Open

I once read a book about young romance and how a Quaker community helped the college-aged heroine and hero find themselves. One of the themes throughout the story was a quote: “Have faith and way will open.”

Faith is optimism. There are those who would disagree with me, but we define faith differently. I’m not talking about religious faith (the second and third definitions in the on-line Merriam-Webster Dictionary), but faith as “complete trust and confidence”.

“Have trust and confidence and way will open.”

About a year ago, part of my life was turned on its head. I saw the signs and even acknowledged them, but when the moment came, it was still a shock. I took a deep breath. Then another one. One event led to another unanticipated situation. I kept breathing. “It’s going to work out,” I told myself. When others around me asked, I replied with the same: “Everything is going to work out.”

I had decisions to make. Options to weigh. And through it all I keep reminding myself, “everything is going to work out.”  There were times when staying positive was work; moments when panic threatened to overwhelm me. I’m only human. I refused to give in to the despair.

“Have faith and way will open.”

In the end, everything not only worked out, but my life took a turn for the better. My optimism saved me. Way opened.

Recipe: State Fair Pasta

I love to cook. I’m not such a hot baker, but cooking? I do okay.

Here’s one of my favorite concoctions.

Slice Italian sausage (I prefer sweet, but hot will do just fine) and place in a large frying pan and start cooking.

Take 1 sweet onion and two bell peppers (I’m not a fan of green peppers, so I use yellow and red), and cut them into strips.

Cook the sausage thoroughly. When it is done, DO NOT drain the grease from the pan.

Add the sliced veggies to the frying pan. Mix well.

Turn the heat to medium and COVER THE PAN. This is very important. You do not want the juices from the vegetables to evaporate into the air, but to mingle with the sausage grease to form a sauce.

Cook your favorite pasta. I think spirals work best with this sauce.

Stir the veggies occasionally. Let the veggies cook down until they are about half the size they were when raw.

You will have a juicy mix of sausage, peppers, and onions that smells exactly like a sunny day at the State Fair.

Drain the pasta when it’s done, then place in large bowl. Top with the sausage, peppers, and onions and all the liquid from the frying pan.  Mix well.

Serve with grated Parmesan cheese.

 

#Upbeat Authors: Optimism, Take 1

My dad joined the US Army and volunteered for active duty during the Korean Conflict. Instead, he was sent to Germany. He was in the Quartermaster Corps.

The way he tells it, they were always being asked to volunteer. “Who knows how to drive a truck?” Everyone would raise his hand, then be sent to dig ditches. “Who knows how to shovel out a barn?” Of course no one but Dad raised his hand, and Dad was sent off on fun adventures. He learned to volunteer for everything because the great stuff he got to do far outweighed the ditch-digging moments.

His optimism and sense of adventure served him well.

 

 

The Importance of Tribe

Apparently not everyone’s brain works the way a writer’s works. This was a shock to me. One of my writer friends told me a story about how her mother once commented that she was a weird child for always making up stories about her dolls. That blew me away. Of course one makes up stories while playing with ones dolls. Right?

I’ve been the odd duck out most of my life. I remember being in high school and not seeing things the way other people saw them. Mostly I tried to hide being different, but that usually didn’t work very well.

Eventually, there was the Internet, where I found out about Romance Writers of America. I joined the national organization. Several months later I called to find out if there was chapter in my area. They gave me the name and phone of the president of Central New York Romance Writers. I called. Turned out the president was Maggie Shayne, whom I knew from the Romance Foretold forum.

I went to my first meeting…and knew I’d found my home. These people “got” me. They understood me. They, too, saw the world in their own “off-kilter” way. Their world was a world I understood. Their world was the world in which I belonged. I had located my tribe.

Many (most) of the faces have changed since that September Saturday. Publishing has changed. The outside world has changed. The one constant is that remains is the sense of belonging. Of knowing I can ask a question about the fiction in my head and I will be presented not with weird looks, but with a helpful dialogue. Because my tribe “gets it”.

#UpbeatAuthors: Pollyanna vs Eeyore

There is a children’s classic book called Pollyanna. Disney made a movie based on the book, which I remember seeing on TV when I was a child. Pollyanna was the eternal optimist. She always tried to find something about which to be grateful. She changed a town full of curmudgeons into a pleasant place to live. The name Pollyanna has come to mean someone who is excessively optimistic.

Eeyore is a character from the classic Winnie the Pooh books. He’s pessimistic, gloomy, and depressed.

I recall a local TV documentary entitled In Defense of Pollyanna. Imagine having to defend optimism. But we do. Being a Pollyanna takes work, especially with the world the way it is these days. Optimism is frequently mistaken for naivety.

But who would you rather be around: someone who smiles or someone who whines?

And the funny thing about focusing on the positive is that it will improve your mood.

P.S. Today is Leon–Christmas is in exactly 6 month.