Before and Now!

Organized Book Addiction!

Preparing the Book Addiction for Transport

And yes, I've heard of the Kindle...but I am old school and love the real deal.  I LOVE books!  What can I tell you?  I'm not ashamed of this hardcore obsession.  The bad news about being a bookaholic is it makes things quite difficult when you are trying to move.  Doesn't make me love them any less though.

BUT...

Books. Are. Heavy.  Books are cumbersome.  But books are life!  I have owned many of these lovelies for years and years and years.  I have schlepped them back and forth across this wonderful country of ours multiple times.  And now...here we go again. 

Believe it or not, I minimized as much as I could.  Donated 6 supersized shopping bags full of my lovely, precious, amazing books to my local Friends of the Library Bookshop.  Passing the love around.  But the rest...these stay with me. 

I will try to refrain from acquiring any new additions in the near future....but honestly?  I can't promise anything.  Not when it comes to my beloved books.  It's better than being addicted to cheeseburgers though, isn't it?  Well?  Isn't it?

Take a deep breath and LEAP!

photo by Philip Greenspun

I am too exhausted and full of angst to clearly express anything resembling coherence. So I shall turn to none other than Mr. Henry David Thoreau who agreed to help me out with today's post:

"happiness is like a butterfly:

the more you chase it

the more it will elude you.

but if you turn your attention

to other things, it will come

and sit softly on your shoulder..."

~henry david thoreau

I shall heed this advice. And turn my attention North...

Interview with Stage Directions Magazine

I was fortunate enough to be asked by Stage Directions Magazine and writer Lisa Mulcahy to be interviewed for a piece called "Keeping Up the Pace."

It's a great piece providing advice for actors who find themselves in a long run of a show and need to keep the motivation alive.  Other experts in the field are also quoted. 

It's a well-written article.  Thanks Lisa!  And thank you to Stage Directions Magazine!  Hope you enjoy the read!

Embracing Change...

September. It's always been a special month for me ever since I was a little kid. This particular month always represented a new year to me--even more than January. September brings a new school year. The Jewish New Year. My birthday. So many reasons to start anew.

And now here we are again. Another September and change is upon me. Major change. It took a lot of kicking up my heels before I finally was able to settle down, turn down the noise in my head, and listen to my heart. And as I listened, I realized that change was nothing to fear. It is challenging to say the least, and a bit scary, but once I was able to make my decision, I felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my chest. I'm not afraid. I'm excited for what may await me, and I know it won't be easy, but change rarely is. That's how we learn and grow.

This year I embrace September. With all the opportunities it brings for new beginnings. It's a new chapter for me, and I look forward to seeing how the story will unfold.

Happy Fall everyone! Happy Harvest! Happy Rosh Hashanah in the year of 5771! Happy new School Year! And Happy Birthday to all September-born (including me!)

Embrace the change...

New Book Promotion!

Weight Loss Empowerment: "50 Ways to Lose Your Luggage" by Kevin Graham

I recently edited this weight loss empowerment book by Kevin Graham and it is now ready for release.  I'm excited for Kevin!  He did a great job with the book.  It's easy to read and extremely motivating. This is not just another new way to diet; the book helps you change your perspective when it comes to food and it introduces a whole new way of thinking that  can really help you stay on track.  Not just with food, but with many other goals you'd like to achieve.  It's a fun and inspirational read, so check it out!  Congratulations Kevin!  I'm so happy for you!

The book is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or you can click right here to find it on Kevin's weight loss website.  And as Kevin says, "Let the vision empower you!"

FOCUS!

Does this photo give you a headache?  Yeah...me too!  Welcome to my brain! Focusing on writing takes a whole lot of discipline my friends.  Especially when there are so many other things on my mind. 

However, I recently tried a technique to help me focus which was introduced to me by a writer acquaintance. Now I will share this method with you. By the way, this technique can be used to accomplish any task; obviously I'm using it to keep my writing on track.

Start by setting a timer for 50 minutes.  During that time, allow yourself to concentrate fully on your task.  Turn off your phone, disconnect your Internet to keep yourself away from emails and other distractions, and just WORK! Fully immerse yourself in the activity for 50 minutes.  When the timer rings, it's time to take a 10-minute break.  You need to walk away from whatever it is you were doing.  (In my case, I need to leave my desk.) You can take a quick walk, go get some water or food, but only take 10 minutes off.  Then do the entire thing again.  Reset the timer for 50 minutes and once again immerse yourself in your task.

I used this technique the other day.  It was difficult, but everything worth having is difficult, don't you think?  It's really intense to work this way, but I got a lot accomplished, so it is definitely a productive approach.  I wrote using this technique for about 6 hours and I will admit it was exhausting.  But rewarding!  Not sure I could work at this intensity level every day, but for a couple of hours a few times a week, it may be the way to go.

So if you've been having trouble focusing, you might want to try this out.  It's really important to take that 10 minute break, and then immediately go back to your task.  Don't let that 10 minutes turn into 15 or 20...you'll lose your momentum and then the focus is gone, gone, gone.

Give it a try...let me know if it works for you!

And here comes another Mercury Retrograde...

I have more than just a passing interest in astrology and in another life I might have actually been an astrologer.  In this life, however, I can't seem to wrap my brain around all the nuances that astrology has to offer.  It's not just about reading your horoscope in the LA Times.  There's a lot more to it, including math...I find it hard to interpret... and oy vey...I've never been very good with math.

So, I admire astrology from afar.  I read the reports of several highly respected astrologers, and more often than not, the things I read are accurate.  I don't live my life by these astrological summaries, but I will admit that I sometimes find them reassuring.  They seem to validate what I already know about myself and my life.

ANYWAY...it's Mercury Retrograde time.  I've written about this before because I definitely feel affected by this period of time. If you don't know what this is, I will try to succinctly explain it here.  Again, I will remind you that I am not an astrologer, and you will probably find a better explanation if you google it.

About 3 or 4 times per year, the planet Mercury, ruler of Communication slows down and actually travels backwards.  The result is a slowing down in our lives, breakdown in communication, electronics go haywire, tires go flat, air travel is affected, and there is a general feeling of malaise that seems to take over our everyday lives.  Once again, I encourage you to find a more specific explanation for Mercury Retrograde, but this should give you a general idea.  This time, the retrograde occurs during August 20th through September 12th...a three week period.  We will have the final retrograde of 2010 starting December 10th and going through until December 30th.

Astrologers say this doesn't have to be a negative period.  Actually, it can be quite productive if you know what to expect.  But as of right now, I'm already feeling a bit sluggish. These feelings have a lot to do with what is going on in my life right now, but I'm sure they are exacerbated by the retrograde which will be directly upon us next Friday.

In any event, I need to push through it and get things done.  I have much to do and am allowing it to overwhelm me.  Writing about it makes me feel better...as many of you know, I advocate writing to help you deal with your stuff!  So here I am...writing to deal with my lethargy and attempting to compartmentalize what I have to do rather than allowing it to overwhelm me.  HA!  Easier said than done, right?  Well...we do what we can.

So if you are feeling a little fuzzy in the head in these last days of summer, chalk it up to Mercury going retrograde.  Or take an inventory and see if you have too much going on in your life.  I say...SLOW DOWN!  Take the time to stop and smell the roses. Trust me, your life will still be there when you get back!