Creative Vision for 2013

Okay so I'm little late on this, but I finally got around to making my vision board for 2013. Writers aren't suppose to use cliches but this one sure fits, "better late than never." Vision boards are super fun to make, and I had the opportunity to make this one with a lovely group of people one rainy Friday night in January. (A rainy night in Phoenix is a rare treat in itself!)

The group of us sat and clipped pictures from stacks and stacks of magazines, nibbled on snacks, of course, cause life is more fun with food, and then after a few hours we showed off our work and shared our 2013 goals, hopes and dreams with one another. Sweet! Making a visual representation of your desires is a great way to allow yourself to move beyond limited thinking. I look at my vision board each day, even for a few seconds, and it reminds me, even on the most dismal of days, to keep dreaming, especially when tying on the waitress apron.

The White Stone Ceremony is another ritual I do at the beginning of a new year. On the stone  you write your word for the year. It's a helpful way to stay focused. (I used this same word in the center of my vision board) I chose COMPLETE because, as mentioned in a previous blog, I've yet to finish my novel. I've had friends who've chosen such words for 2013 as acceptance, or adventure or health. Whatever feels right for you.

Do you have a word for the year?

Reaching our goals, to earn a degree, or lose weight, or plant a garden, sometimes is quite the challenge in our complicated lives. We can get so darn busy earning a living and caring for people and/or pets, we forget to nurture our creative selves. Sometimes we sabotage ourselves, the toilets must be cleaned, the dog groomed, and the grass mowed before we can be creative.  Really? Sorta crazy, but typical.

 Having something to remind us of what we want to achieve, the end result, can be helpful. Or so a wise woman told me the other day. So, in response to her suggestion, I've placed several framed titles of my book around my house. I'll tell you it seems sorta silly, but why not! Now I just have to believe my completed novel can come true.

There is no magic wand. All the above motiation devices are fun, but the bottom line is  I have to work, write, work, revise, work and then strive to be published. I need to spend a lot of alone time in my office which, as you can see above, is nice but can be lonley.

 

For a social person like myself, that's a challenge. Sometimes I'd rather be making a vision boards, or having wine with my friends, or hiking in the desert. But if you don't plant seeds, you won't get a garden. Also, there is that pesky thing called money and earning a living.

 

 When you tell people you are a writer, they often look at you as if you are blessed with some magical talent, as if the words just float on to the page.  Writing requires one to spend hours alone sweating blood. Well, it's not that bad, but it's not at all that easy or glamerous. Often it's more fun to finish than actually write. For me at least.

 

  Right now I am in my strechy pj pants, sweat shirt, hair pulled back, no make up. I haven't even brushed my teeth yet. Next time you see a writer on Oprah, remember that. I'm certain he or she didn't look so attractive while sitting at the keyboard for hours. I'm sure the middle age gal who wrote Fifty Shades of Grey wasn't wearing a g-string and red lipstick, a whip by her side, as she wrote. She probably wrote alone in her raggedy old bathrobe, her husband (is she was super lucky) bringing her cups of coffee, not kinky masks or rope.  Writing is work, plain and simple.  

The best writing advice is as follows: put your butt in a chair and write, write, write. It's the same advice for anything you want to accomplish. Do it.  Now I just need to take my own advice.