Z is for Zola

Happy last day of the 2015 Challenge! Thanks to everyone who came by here throughout the month and thanks as well to the A to Z hosts and their minions for all the work they do to make the challenge a success.

"If you ask me what I came into this life to do, I will tell you: I came to live out loud." ~ Emile ZOLA

I spent most of my adult life trying to be as silent and as invisible as possible. While I'm still far from an extrovert, I've taken steps toward living out loud in recent years. Life is definitely better when you're not trying to disappear. 

And that's my last quote!

I'm also at Untethered Realms today to finish up our group A to Z. Visit me there for another teaser from Polar Day.

Thanks again to everyone who made this year's challenge another success. Well done, all!

Y is for You

“YOU can, YOU should, and if you’re brave enough to start, YOU will." ~ Stephen King

This is one of my favorite writing quotes and one that inspired me a great deal when I was trying to get the courage up to write my first story. Thanks, Mr. King! :) 

X is for eXperience

We're close to the end of the A to Z Challenge and I admit that I didn't have the energy to look for a photo to go with this post so I'm thankful to the AtoZ team for providing the letter badges for us to use. I also know I'm cheating with my X word but I couldn't find any way around it.

“Never regret. If it's good, it's wonderful. If it's bad, it's EXPERIENCE.” ~ Victoria Holt

I've spent lots of time beating myself up over regrets in my life. There's no question I'd love to have some do-overs, but in recent years I've tried to focus on the fact that without my experiences, good and bad, I wouldn't be who I am now in the place I am today. 

But I still regret taking out so many student loans. ;) 

W is for Warm

Clancy

Happiness is a WARM puppy ~ Charles Schulz

And a warm middle-aged dog. :)

I'm also at Untethered Realms today with a short teaser from Polar Day. Visit me there for W is for Witchcraft. 

V is for Vase

Nate

“Like a graceful VASE, a cat, even when motionless, seems to flow.” ~ George Will

This is another quote that I don't have much to add to. Except that I wish I could be even half as graceful as my Nate or any other cat. 

I'm at the Ohioana Book Festival in Columbus, Ohio today so I scheduled this post and I hope I'm having a great time when it's live. I loved the Ohioana fest last year and I hope to love it even more this year. I'm on a panel again this year but unlike last year I'm not a nervous wreck about it. I hope I don't jinx myself by feeling that way LOL. 

Hope everyone is enjoying the weekend! 

U is for Universe

“Do I dare 

Disturb the UNIVERSE?" 

~ T.S. Eliot

This is one of my favorite lines from my favorite poem, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Eliot. I first read this poem when I was in college and it's stuck with me ever since. For the narrator of the poem, the answer to the above question was no. As he says himself, "in short, I was afraid."

I've spent most of my life being afraid to disturb my own universe but embarking on this writing journey was the one time I took a leap and dared. I'm so glad that I was finally able to get to the point where I could answer yes to Eliot's question.

I have been crazy busy this week and am participating in the Ohioana Book Festival this weekend so I have fallen way behind on my blog reading and I'm sorry for that. Thank you to everyone who has come by here and commented. I will get caught up next week before we come to the end of another challenge!

Have a great weekend, all. 

T is for Try

"Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to TRY just one more time." ~ Thomas A. Edison

I don't really have anything to add to this one. :) 

S is for Staircase

"Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole STAIRCASE, just take the first step." ~ Martin Luther King, Jr. 

This is another quote that was a mantra for me when I started this blog and my writing journey. After four + years I still can't see the whole staircase, but I'm excited to imagine what I might find at the top. 

R is for Reborn

“I can shake off everything as I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is REBORN.” ~ Anne Frank 

While I certainly can't imagine the horrors Anne Frank wanted to "shake off" when writing, I can relate to the feeling of freedom and excitement that comes with it. I can shake off boredom or lethargy and be transported to other times and other places simply by sitting down with my laptop. It's one of the greatest gifts writing has given me.

Q is for Questions

"For true success ask yourself these four QUESTIONS: Why? Why not? Why not me? Why not now?" ~ 

James Allen 

I love this because I have a bad habit of telling myself "I can't" or "not now." Whenever I tell myself those things I need to remember to then ask "Why not?" There's usually not a good answer to that question. 

And I couldn't resist this picture to go along with the quote because I love when dogs cock their heads and give us this kind of quizzical expression. When Clancy does it I get the impression he thinks I've finally gone off the deep end. :D 

P is for Passion

"There is no PASSION to be found playing small - in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living." ~ Nelson Mandela

Before I started writing regularly I felt as if I'd spent my whole life settling. While I was lucky to have a nice job, I'd never felt passionate about it. I envied people who seemed to feel that way about their careers. While I can't say writing is my career (yet!) I can now understand how it feels to have a passion for something. And there's no question it's a good feeling. :D

O is for Old

"You are never too OLD to set another goal or to dream a new dream." ~ C. S. Lewis

While all of the quotes I've used in my challenge posts are favorites, this one is right up near the top in terms of being inspirational to me. It's safe to say I got a late start with writing and there are times I still feel like I waited too long and I'm too old. I scold myself for not starting earlier. Mr. Lewis' words are nice to have around during those times.

Happy Friday and weekend, all!

N is for Nothing

Source

“Tomorrow may be hell, but today was a good writing day, and on the good writing days NOTHING else matters.” ~ Neil Gaiman

There's nothing quite like a good writing day. :)

The Letter M & Blog the Change for Animals

"Don't tell me the MOON is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass." ~ Anton Chekhov

I love this quote because I've always loved staring up at the moon in the sky, but it also intimidates me because it relates to the thing I find most difficult in writing. To me nothing is harder than description and while I like to think I could show the glint of light I'm certainly not confident of it. I sometimes think I should try my hand at writing a script because I love to write dialogue. If I could write all dialogue and skip description all together I'd probably be a happy camper. But I'm going to keep trying to capture that light on broken glass. 

Blog the Change for Animals is a hop that is held four times a year to raise awareness about animal-related causes and issues. Today marks the first hop since I joined the BtC team as a blogger, and I am excited to be able to share my first post for the blog. You can also see the list of other bloggers who are participating in the hop and sharing their own great causes.

I visited the Sunrise Sanctuary, a rescue for farm animals in Marysville, Ohio, this past Saturday and fell so in love with the place that it's inspired me to try to make more compassionate choices in my own life. To read about my visit, go to the BtC site here.

Since I wrote about my visit at BtC I will keep this brief, but suffice it to say that the Sanctuary is an absolutely wonderful and enchanting place that I am proud to support. I hope to visit again this summer. If you would like to learn more about the farm and the cows, pigs, goats, horses, llamas, ducks, and many others who call it home, visit their page here.

L is for Loved

Nate & Clancy not long after they first met

"Until one has LOVED an animal a part of one's soul remains unawakened." ~ Anatole France

Enough said. :)

K is for Kindness

"The everyday KINDNESS of the back roads more than makes up for the acts of greed in the headlines." ~  Charles Kuralt

As I find nearly all headlines depressing nowadays, I really liked this quote when I came upon it. In the face of so much violence, hate, greed, corruption, and cruelty it's good to remember that there are kind and good-hearted people everywhere, in every corner of the world, just going about their lives. I've certainly met plenty of them here in blog land. :)

I'm managed to get way behind in my blog reading and commenting and I apologize for that! I am going to work to get caught up today. I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. 

J is for Journey

Source

“The JOURNEY of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” ~  Lao Tzu 

This quote was my mantra when I started on my writing journey and began this blog. I was very nervous about starting the blog but I told myself, it's just one step. Try it and see where it leads.

It's amazing to look back over the last four + years and see where that single step has taken me. I am very indebted to the A to Z, as I doubt I would have kept blogging if I hadn't signed up for my first challenge back in 2011. That April made me see how many great people were out there in the blogosphere and how much fun blogging could be.

The best thing about this journey of mine is I feel like it's just getting started. I'm hoping I still have a thousand more miles to go.

I is for Irish

 “Being IRISH, he had an abiding sense of tragedy, which sustained him through temporary periods of joy.” ~ W.B. Yeats

My paternal grandmother was Irish, and when it came time for my DNA to be sorted out I seemed to only get her genes. My dad had quite a few of them as well, and my sister bought him a plaque with the above quote from Irish poet W.B. Yeats as a joke. 

He couldn't deny that there was a great deal of truth in the sentiment, and I feel the same way when it comes to my own demeanor. I definitely tend towards the melancholy. When I read the quote, I know there is a great deal of Irish blood in my veins. I don't think I will ever be able to consider myself an optimist. 

Earlier this year my family and I were on a roll when it came to good news. Lots of good things happened for me both personally and professionally. I mentioned to my mom that I was happy about all of it but I also felt like it was inevitable that it would all end and everything would go to hell soon enough. She laughed and said "Well don't you sound just like that quote on your father's plaque?"

I laughed and couldn't deny it. What can I say? It's in my genes. 

Do you consider yourself an optimist or a pessimist? Or somewhere in between? That's the point I hope I can get to. 

H is for Heart

"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt with the HEART." ~ Helen Keller

After I decided to use the Helen Keller quote for today's post I came upon this quote that fit so well with the idea that I had to use it too. Nothing wrong with two quotes, right? :)

"And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the HEART that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.” ~ Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

I don't have anything to add, except that when I was younger I'm not sure I would have agreed with or understood these quotes. Now I see the wisdom of both. 

G is for Go

If you want to conquer fear, don't sit home and think about it. GO out and get busy. ~ Dale Carnegie

I am a master at sitting home and thinking, or to be more accurate, fretting, about something that scares me or bothers me for one reason or another. At the beginning of last year I spent most of my time fretting about the book events I had scheduled and the public speaking that came along with them. But a funny thing happened when I actually went out and did the events. After all the worrying, I had a great time at the events and I even enjoyed the public speaking. While I won't say I've totally conquered my fear of public speaking, I've come a long way and this year I am looking forward to the events instead of freaking out about them. 

For me at least, Mr. Carnegie's advice was right on target. I doubt that sitting home and worrying has ever solved anything. GO out and do what scares you. You may be surprised at the results.