Several years ago (in 2004 to be exact) I participated in a 6-week class at my church called You Can Make a Difference.  It was designed to help people determine their gifts and strengths/weaknesses, their personality type, and ultimately identify their passions.  The class culminated in the writing of a personal mission statement.

I found the class very enlightening and inspiring – so much so that for several years thereafter, I facilitated the Passion session of the course.  And, I do say I “facilitated” the class as opposed to “taught” the class as in reality, I probably learned more from interacting with the class participants, than they learned from me!

Every now and then, I look at the mission statement I wrote for myself at the end of that course.  Amazingly, it still feels valid to me today, many years later.  I know that doesn’t necessarily have to be the case.  Companies and organizations do change their mission statements as circumstances change; likewise, a personal mission statement can be always evolving.

I’m wondering if you have written your own mission statement and if so, what your thoughts are on the process?

If you haven’t written one, it is an interesting exercise you might want to try.  I would guess most of you reading this have lived long enough to figure out what you’re good at (or not), what you believe in, are passionate about, whether you’re an introvert or an extrovert, and what roles you play in life (spouse, parent, grandparent, employee, volunteer, etc.)…all things you might consider and incorporate in your mission statement.

From the You Can Make a Difference curriculum, a mission statement:

• Is a blueprint for your life
• Is a compass that provides direction when making decisions
• Is a motto stating what your life is about

Here is my mission statement as an example –

My mission is -

To show love, understanding and respect to all people with whom I interact so as to create and encourage harmony.

To respect, value and care for my own emotional and physical being so as to continue to be a contributing, valuable member of all groups with which I associate.

To be respectful of nature and to always find ways to enjoy it.

To complete any work I endeavor to do in an organized fashion with accuracy and efficiency.

To do all of the above so that my light will shine before others, so they may see my good works and give glory to our Father in heaven.

A mission statement can help to keep you grounded and serve as a beacon when you may be floundering.  I encourage you to write one if you haven’t already.  It would be great fun if you felt like sharing it …use the opportunity for comments below.  Other people’s missions statements can be inspirational!

Thursday mornings at 8:30 am finds me gathering with 3 to 5 other women, depending on who shows up, spending a half-hour in contemplative prayer.  Our two inspiring leaders, Gail and Kathy, always provide us with a theme for the day along with applicable Bible verses and other quotes.  Today’s theme was fitness – taking care of our bodies…a topic near and dear to my heart, and on which you will hear me harp frequently.

In one of my posts nearly a year ago (see: Taking Care of My Vessel), I wrote about the idea of our body being the vessel that carries us through life, so we need to take good care of it.  One of our Biblical references this morning was from 1 Corinthians 3.  Paraphrasing – each of us is a temple housing God’s spirit; God’s temple is sacred – so, in essence, our body is sacred!  What better reason do we need to handle it with care?

My suggestions for taking care of our body both physically and mentally are listed below.  (This is the repeating part – I know I am reiterating here, but I feel it is a worthy endeavor.)

• Eat lots of vegetables, a few less fruits; and, don’t forget to include protein and a good fat with each meal and snack.
• Drink lots of water each day.
• Get a good night’s rest – 7-8 hours of good sleep.
• Exercise regularly.  Include enjoying the outdoors as often as possible – walk, golf, ski, garden, jog, bike, play ball with your kids or grandkids, etc.
• Pray, meditate, sit in silence (no technology/social media!) for several minutes or longer each day.
• Keep a mental or written gratitude journal and add to it each day.
• Spend time regularly interacting with other individuals – family, friends, co-workers, community.  Studies have shown that for a variety of reasons, maintaining friendships can increase longevity!
• No texting or sending/reading emails while driving!  In fact, how about NOT using cell phones at all while driving!?!
• Relax!

Cassie sits on my lap as I write this.  We should all take a lesson from her in how to relax!

Take good care of yourself!

Your body is sacred.

I walked into a co-worker’s office the other day and was curious to see a package of colored pencils on her side desk.  I was amazed to see the beautiful array of hues in the package – there must have been at least 36 different colors!  It reminded me of how fun it was as a child to get a new box of crayons to begin the school year.  The big box of 64 crayons, or however many were in that box, was an extra special treat.  Remember how besides the primary colors, there were crayons called Carnation Pink, Cerulean or Scarlet, along with Blue Green, Green Yellow, and Violet Red?  Oh, the possibilities for creating colorful pictures!

My friend, Lisa, had ordered the pencils I saw on her desk online, and had just received them.  I immediately exclaimed over the wonderful pencils, so we chatted about them for a minute.  Her intent is to also order some coloring pages (or maybe she already has) and to create pictures using the pencils as a way to relieve stress, relax and create something beautiful.  It isn’t that she is an artist; she just wants to enjoy coloring again.

I can understand Lisa’s excitement about receiving the pencils and the coloring pages, as I have gotten hooked on coloring mandalas in the past few years.

Mandala is a Sanskrit word meaning center, circumference or magic circle.  Mandalas are indeed, always circular in shape, and then have a design – some simple, some quite complex – within the circle.  The designs beg for use of multiple colors to complete them.  I enjoy considering just what colors I should put together, and how to space or repeat the colors in the design.

I use coloring mandalas for relaxation…and sometimes, to entertain my grandsons.

Just last week I spent the day with Jack and Max and my daughter, Amy.  Amy had a couple of errands to run so the boys and I had some time to kill while we waited her return when we would all leave to go to a movie.  One of the boys pulled out their box of crayons and colored pencils and again, seeing an array of colorful pencils delighted me.

“Let’s color mandalas,” I suggested.

It’s very easy to Google mandalas and find free printable pages of them – and, in fact, some specifically meant for children that have less complex designs.  So, we printed off three different designs and spent the next 45 minutes or so coloring!  When Maxie finished working on his printed mandala, he drew another one free-hand that he proceeded to color.  Actually, so did I though I cheated and traced a glass to get a nice round circle, before adding my own custom design to the inside.

I have a book called Creating Mandalas by Susanne F. Fincher, that I purchased soon after I was introduced to this concept at a silent prayer retreat I was attending.  The author explains the history of mandalas and how various people use them (e.g., insight, healing, self-expression).  In Eastern religions like Hinduism and Buddhism they are used as an aid to meditation.

Ms. Fincher’s book is fun because she goes into detail about what various colors, numbers and forms one includes in their mandala design, may mean.  I find myself using the color yellow often when I work on my mandalas.  Fincher says using yellow  “reveals the capacity for consciousness,” or “may reveal a readiness to learn, the dawning of awareness about something, or a willingness to own your unique point of view”.  I just happen to like yellow because it reminds me of the sun and I love bright, cheerful colors.  Fincher also has theories about what it means to put different colors together when coloring or designing a mandala.

In essence, if I were to create my own mandala rather than using one someone else designed, I could psycho-analyze what my work was saying about me.  I don’t really get into the analysis of my coloring that deeply other than to occasionally see what the colors I used on any specific piece may be saying about my state of mind on that particular day…bored, depressed, happy, excited, etc., etc., etc.

Mostly, I just use the mandala as a tool to allow me the opportunity to utilize all the brightly colored pencils!  I am no artist, but coloring allows me to be creative and it is very calming.

I would encourage you to get out the crayons or colored pencils, markers, whatever – buy some if you don’t have any, and color like you did as a kid.

IT’S GREAT FUN!!

My instructor and some of my classmates from the recent class I took on blogging think I should be posting a piece on this site once a week.

But sometimes, life gets in the way of that goal – as it has recently; and, then, 3, 4 or 5 weeks pass and I have had neither the time nor the inspiration for writing a blog post!

There was hospital time in January for hubby who had a couple of stents put in his heart. Though I wasn’t the one being hospitalized, I did have to spend time worrying, and visiting him.  Then, there was work, appointments, errands, cold/ugly winter weather and various other distractions that either affected my time or mental state to keep me from writing.

Fortunately, not all of life that got in the way was negative stuff.  There were a lot of fun activities that occupied my time also – like making Valentine cookies with my two grandsons…

taking in Gopher basketball games with my husband, attending the grandsons’ basketball games, having dinner with friends, etc. etc. etc.  Not bad stuff, but still, accounting for some of the life that got in the way.

I consider my blog a fun hobby or pastime; so, thinking I don’t have the time to take for it, can get in my way of writing.

BUT, life was made up of the good stuff as I wrote this piece.  I was sitting in sunny southern California, feeling relaxed.  Plus, since I was on a vacation and away from home, I had the gift of time – no distractions of work or every day living.  I begin writing my posts by doing a very rough draft long-hand, then, do my editing as I type it into this blog site.  Since I had my trusty red notebook with me, I was able to take advantage of my free time in CA to write this.

It’s amazing to me how revitalizing it is to “get away from it all” as they say.  (Who is “they”, by the way?)  A day before we left home on this trip, my body seemed to be aching all over – especially in my neck and shoulders where I tend to carry stress/tension.  A half day after arriving at our destination, all those aches disappeared.  Granted, sitting in a hot tub might have helped ease the situation; but, just clearing my brain of worry and scurry removed the effects of stress.

The trick now, and I know it is not easy, is to find at least some blocks of stress-free time in everyday life.  Vacations are not always possible; and, Roger and I are not fortunate enough to be able to spend extended periods of time away from the Minnesota winter.  (However, we do have  the extreme good fortune of having wonderful friends who invite us to share part of their away time during the winter months.)

As I pondered ways I could take the good vacation feelings home with me and escape now and then from the negative aspects of life, I came up with some ideas that may help me.  See if any appeal to you.

MAKE time to: (notice the word – make)

• meditate (yoga, contemplative prayer)
• immerse myself in a great novel
• exercise – doing something I like to do (like walking outside), not something I think I should be doing (like the elliptical machine)
• get together with friends for a cup of tea, a meal, or a nice long walk
• take in a movie
• keep a gratitude journal – regularly noting 3-5 things for which I am grateful.  (Psychologists say you cannot be anxious if you think of the things for which you are grateful.)
• get a massage or other spa/salon treatment
• work a crossword puzzle, put together a jigsaw puzzle, or play a new game with family or friends
• try a new recipe

And, my favorite:

• ignore the to-do list for a day and just do whatever comes to mind and go wherever the wind blows me!

Oh, and be thankful for the fun activities already in my life which I mentioned above!

As I said, I was on a vacation as I wrote the list above.  It remains to be seen, now that I am home, just how many of these ideas I’ll put into play to create feel-good, vacation-like scenarios.  But, I have good intentions.

Do you have any ideas to add to my list?  I’d welcome your input.  You can leave comments below.

So, several months ago, RC and I purchased two flat screen TVs – one for his TV room and one for our living room.  Two because it is almost impossible for me to watch TV with RC who successfully watches 2 or 3 programs simultaneously by clicking back and forth with the remote.  This drives me crazy!

And, yes, I know some of you are horrified that we put a TV in our living room; but, we have a very small house that does not include a family room.  If we are ever to entertain friends for a Super Bowl or Oscar night party or the like, we need to have a TV in a room big enough to provide seating for more than two people…thus, the living room.  Not to mention the fact, I previously watched anything I was interested in on a small TV in our bedroom while sitting propped up by pillows on our bed – not a good posture for my back; now, I can watch in the comfort of an easy chair.

Anyhow, that is just backstory for how and why we acquired two new TVs – probably TMI for you.

When we purchased the new flat screens we added a Blu Ray player.  Though I love watching movies, it’s not often we rent DVDs – in fact, very rarely; and wow, other than Red Box you don’t see video stores anymore, do you?  We thought it might come in handy though, to be able to entertain our grandsons when they are over, by slipping a DVD into the Blu Ray player.

Turns out, now, several months later, we have never used the Blu Ray player.  I turn to DirectTV for my movies and, as I indicated in a previous post, I am content to watch some movies multiple times.

Well, though I am a library user for borrowing books, it just occurred to me the other day the library also has a DVD section with scores of selections available for 7-day rental.  I’ve never taken advantage of this opportunity.  In my mid-winter doldrums (see previous post) I find great escape in watching a movie.  ZOWIE, I suddently have discovered a cheap resource for obtaining and watching a variety of films!

So, to get to the point – yesterday, I went to the library and checked out three DVDs (Nebraska, 42 and How Do You Know – in case you’re interested).  I brought them home and sat down to discover how to use this Blu Ray thingamachig  that has been sitting idle.

This is where the “uff da” comes in – after 45 minutes of both RC and I attempting to figure out how to make this thing work, we were unsuccessful and gave up.

What dolts we are!!  We even have the instruction manual, but that didn’t seem to help us.

I find it rather embarrassing or maybe discouraging because it appears we are now the old folks that can’t keep up with how to use new-fangled equipment, but we are going to have to find someone to assist us in learning how to use the technology we purchased.  It will definitely be someone from a younger generation – likely, our 9-year-old grandson!

I hate admitting defeat and I hate being classified as a silly or dumb old lady!

I have never had much interest in science or technology and how or why things work.  I just want them to work when I want them to work!

My other current struggle with technology is getting this blog site set up in what I consider a pleasing, readable, easy to maneuver format.  I visit other blog sites and am impressed with how professional some of them appear.  I have a long way to go!

Some of you reading this may be affected by one of my current challenges – sending email notifications of new posts to those of you kind enough to sign up for such messages.  I managed to send you an email just one time for a previous post;  I’ll be darned (damned, really) if I can figure out what I did to accomplish that notification.  I haven’t been able to duplicate it.

Again, what a dolt!!

I can’t promise I’ll ever figure all of this technology junk out, but I’ll keep trying.  For the Blu Ray player, I just want to be able to watch a movie when I want to!  For this blog, I really just want to do the writing and have everything else just work and look good!

Am I alone in feeling frustration with this fast-changing world of technology we live in, or do you also encounter some challenges?

Misery loves company!

I don’t have a bucket list, not sure if I really see the necessity for one since I seem to already live a fairly fulfilling life.  I’m also realistic enough to know that I’ll never have enough money at my disposal to do some of the grand things I hear people put on their lists (e.g., seeing the 7 wonders of the world or visiting all the continents). But, I have long had the dream of having our whole family (daughter, son, their spouses and children) vacation together.  My vision has always been someplace warm in winter like Hawaii – 1st choice, or Florida.

Well, not warm and not exotic, but rather very cold and simple, we have just spent several days together on the North Shore of Lake Superior in two small, cozy cabins.

It really was a dream come true for me.  Lots of quality family time playing games, hiking, eating and laughing.  I think “quality time” is an overused phrase, but it does best describe the time we had.  When you’re away from Wi-Fi, Direct TV and all the responsibilities and options for things to do you face at home, you’re forced to pay attention to one another.

Yes, we did have cellular service, albeit sketchy, so tablets and phones were still being utilized when we could get service.

An amusing example of the cellular challenges:  Our two cabins were several yards apart so running between the two meant a short walk in the bitter cold we experienced while there.  (Occasionally someone would jump in the car and drive the short distance just to avoid the cold.)  Son-in-law, Dan, texted those of us in the other cabin one morning to inquire about breakfast plans.  We received the text about 5 hours later at 2:00 pm in the afternoon – long after we had actually convened and finished breakfast.  You can see, that mode of communicating wasn’t very reliable.

One day we took a walk through the woods along the shore.  Though there was very little snow – much to our dismay (snow boards remained unused leaning against the side of the cabin) – we did encounter some ice on the trail which had previously had snow and been groomed for cross-country skiing.  Six-year-old Max had fun using a stick to try and break the ice on puddles that were frozen solid.

The ice formations on the rocks at water’s edge were beautiful.  We spent some time throwing smaller rocks at these formations to see if we could break them.  We examined holes in tree trunks made by woodpeckers, and wondered at tall birch trees broken off at their base, and now resting across other trees’ branches – did they crash down during a storm or fall gradually as their trunks rotted?

Such simple entertainment!

There are 10 cabins on this property, but only two are heated for winter use.  Thus, we had the entire place to ourselves.  We bundled up and walked down the long driveway past all the cabins one morning and listened to Dan’s stories.  Dan and his mother, aunts, uncles, and cousins have been renting the cabins we were in for many, many years.  Dan has been there for annual vacations over the 4th of July since he was about 3 years old.  So, he knows the history of the place and has lots of memories to share with those of us new to the experience.

Our hike down the driveway ended at the fish house which is used by the owner of the cabins to clean fish, store his boat, nets and other equipment he uses for commercial fishing.  We spent some time tossing rocks from the shore onto the long, icy pier there to see if we could get them to skid off the end into the water. The boys, both big and small, had fun taking turns skipping rocks on the open lake water to see who could achieve the best score.  The morning’s activity ended in family pics lakeside.

Again, such simple entertainment!

Indoor activity included lots of game playing.  One evening we had an elaborate Tenzie tournament.  Tenzie is a very simple, but fun, dice game appropriate for all age levels.  Since there were eight of us and  only four can play the game at one time, our two “older” boys, Dan and Pete, devised a player bracket board to indicate who was to play whom  and show winners and losers – quite sophisticated.  When it turned out I was one of the losers, I declared it a very poorly run tournament!

Eating, napping, reading, crossword puzzles, Sudoku and solitaire filled the rest of our hours.  A very relaxing time for everyone.

I was not disappointed in our family vacation.  For us, our simple, relatively inexpensive vacation was just as satisfying as if we had spent a week (and lots of money) in Hawaii. Just goes to show you making/taking time to sustain relationships provides the greatest satisfaction!

Happy New Year everyone.

May you find ways to spend “quality time” with those you love in 2015!

Thursday, 12:00 noon, standing in line at my local post office.  I wanted to purchase 25 Christmas stamps – the gingerbread house version – to affix to the Christmas greeting cards I am sending this year.  Yes, I could have saved time by just slapping the every-day version of stamps I have on the cards, but it is so much more festive to use the stamps designed for the season.

I was about sixth in line and every one of those people in front of me had one or more packages for the clerk to process.  One guy had a large box with about 20 small packages inside that needed postage!

Oh, and it was lunch time, so there was only one clerk!  I assume the other was on his break.  (Note to self:  don’t go to the PO at lunch time.)

Really, I’m quite amazed at how patiently I awaited my turn.  Fortunately, I had no place else to be for several hours – that helped me wait calmly.

But, I started thinking of ways one might pass time while waiting in line during the holiday season.

Here are some ideas for you if you find yourself in this situation -

1. The obvious – use your smart phone to:
   • check emails and text messages
   • send an email or text message – the latter being what I chose to do in this situation
   • make a phone call – though this could be considered rude by those around you
   • make a move in your word game
   • check new Facebook posts or make one
   • take a selfie (at the risk of those around you thinking you are very self-centered)
2. Practice your deep breathing technique to relieve stress.
3. Shop for holiday cards or colorful package wrapping materials that are abundantly available for sale in the PO.
4. Eavesdrop on the phone conversation the person in front of you is having.
5. Critique the apparel of those standing in line with you (in your mind, unless you are really bold!).
6. Smile and/or chat with your fellow in-line standers.
7. Make a list – mentally, written, or in the notes on your phone
   • grocery
   • gift
   • to-do
8. Pull the book, Kindle or tablet you carry in your bag for just such occasions, and read a chapter of your book.
9. Chip off your old nail polish.
10. Try to remain calm and realize waiting in line is just part of the holiday bustle.

DON’T LET IT GET YOU DOWN!

I scurry around lining up extra chairs in my living room to provide additional seating, running the lint roller over the upholstered furniture to remove the cat hair and checking the bathroom to make sure all seems tidy there. It’s my turn to host book club and promptly at 7:00 pm the ladies will begin to arrive.

There are eleven of us in the group, all female.  We have been getting together about once every 4-6 weeks since 1999; and, though a few members have dropped out over time, the make-up of this current group has remained the same for the last several years.

We’re a diverse group, ranging in age from late 30s to late 60s. We take turns hosting.  We always have –

        Wine, M&Ms, and Red Licorice     

- a tradition since the first meeting or so; and then, whatever else the hostess wants to serve to keep us nibbling all evening.

Now, it’s unusual for us to spend more than about 5 minutes actually discussing the book we were to have read.  In many cases, not everyone has even finished reading the book (some haven’t even started it!).

I would submit that though we started out many years ago with the idea of really discussing and analyzing good reads, we have evolved into a “friendship” club.  In this day and age of social media, like Facebook and Twitter, it is sometimes tempting to just use a laptop, smart phone or tablet to stay connected with friends.  Our so-called book club serves as a constant incentive to ensure us face-to-face time with our peeps.  In my opinion, this results in much more satisfying relationships.

(Actually, I think we all take comfort in the fact that our loose structure causes no one undue angst about getting a book read before the next meeting – no pressure.)

So, though our love of reading is what brought us together, our varied interests and ages are what fuels the great conversations we have.  Sometimes the entire group will engage in talking about a topic – anything from current events/politics to pop culture to do-it-yourself home projects to family gossip.

Sometimes small groups within the large one will go off on a tangent of their own.  It’s not unusual for several conversations to happen at once.  (This can make for a very noisy room.)  Then, the only problem is – which conversation should I join in?  I want to hear what’s being discussed in each one!

We’ve done some field trips over the years.  One time we stayed in a hotel in downtown Minneapolis and watched movies all night while gorging ourselves on the pot luck snacks we brought with us.  A couple of times we have gone to movies that were based on books we have read (or not).  On one of these occasions our hostess for the evening smuggled several varieties of movie candy into the theater (think Dots, Milk Duds, Sweet Tarts and the like)and we passed the packages back and for the across the row all evening.  It reminded me of going to the movies as a kid (only maybe then, we weren’t so good at sharing our treats).

Notice how sweets are always part of our activities!

We’ve experienced lots of life happenings in all our years together – births, weddings, broken engagements, on-line dating (some great stories shared with this one), cancer, job changes, house moves, house fires, retirements.  I think, in some small measure, sharing discussion about these events has eased the stress (whether caused by joy or sorrow) of the persons experiencing the issues.  If nothing else, we can count on several supportive friends really listening and caring about our situations.

I feel very fortunate to be part of this group.  I am in awe of these smart, talented ladies I call friends, and look forward to our lively discussions each month.

The evening ends with the announcement of the next book title.  We are all eager to see what the hostess has chosen, as she gets to make the selection.

At this point, we are optimistic, with good intentions, of getting the book read!

But, really, whether we read the book or not, we look forward to getting together again next month.

I hope you all have the opportunity to get together with friends.  Don’t be afraid to find a group or start a group – use the guise of a book club!  I think you will find it very rewarding.

∗∗∗∗∗∗∗

How do you make room for face-to-face time with your friends?  Do you have a social group or groups you belong to?  I’d love to hear about them. 

Please leave your comments below.

I am feeling great today – must be eating enough protein and getting enough rest.  I just read Oprah’s What I Know for Sure column in her September 2014 magazine issue.  She talks about how we live in a state of  constant change, how we  need to make ourselves over daily in order to keep moving forward, and how to stay in that “steady makeover mode” in order to create the life we want.  She got me to pondering her advice and actually coming to the conclusion that I am working on making some changes in my life, so maybe I am moving forward!

Isn’t that special?!

So, what am I currently doing to keep moving forward?

• listening to Radio Disney on SiriusXM radio (in my car), in hopes that I can relate to the kind of music my grand kids are starting to enjoy – whatever they call today’s popular music.  This could take me awhile to learn the names of the songs and the artists who sing them; I tend to listen to music from the 50s to the 80s.
• taking a writing class – on blogging; I already mentioned this in a previous post.  For the most part, my classmates are accomplished, experienced writers, some with advanced degrees – not necessarily experienced bloggers, but nevertheless, it is somewhat intimidating for me to be in the midst of all this intelligence.  It is really interesting and fun to read what they write though, and I know I will learn from all of them.
• wearing dangle earrings – this is part of my new quest to dress differently.  I tend to dress in a very classic, conservative style.  I admire those women who dress with a bit more flair – more artsy maybe.  I can’t even accurately describe what I am thinking; I know it when I see it.  Think clothing from J Jill, maybe Chico’s – hard for me to say since I buy most of my clothes in consignment stores; but changing my earrings from tiny hoops to something bolder is my first step in this change process.
• upping the difficulty level on my elliptical machine workout.  For now, I am just raising the level for 5 minutes of the 20 minutes I work on the machine, but it is a step forward.
• trying to eliminate refined sugars from my diet – yeah, right – this change is not going so well.  I am afraid I am incorrigible when it comes to quitting sugar!  Halloween candy at work and home right now is not helping.

You know, the wonderful thing about change is, we can change our mind about what we want to change every day, every week, every month…  Next week, I may decide to work on something else.  As long as I keep my vessel in good shape (see one of my previous posts for this concept), I can do anything I want to do!!  (Okay, so maybe I missed my window of opportunity to become an astronaut…good thing that has never been one of my ambitions.)

What are you doing to keep moving forward?  

Would love to hear from you – could be my next inspiration.

It seems appropriate to have something in my life be scary during October what with Halloween occurring this month.  I have signed up for a 6-week online course from The Loft entitled, Becoming a Standout Blogger:  How to Create, Write & Grow a Compelling Blog.  (Really?!?)  Though I’m hoping to get ideas and tips on how to make this blog more interesting so you keep reading and hopefully enjoying it, I have to admit I am facing the beginning of the class this week with trepidation.

1. I haven’t taken a formal, several-week class for many a year.
2. I have never participated in an online course.
3. What if all my classmates are accomplished writers – maybe even published – can I keep up with them and not embarrass myself?

On the other hand –

1. I am rather proud of myself that I have the courage to embark on this endeavor.
2. I am grateful I can take this class from the comfort of my home.  The use of technology in this way is bound to teach me something I don’t know.
3. I have always felt that you learn more in situations where you maybe are not the smartest or most accomplished person in the group.  Watching how others do things can be a great learning experience.

So, if you can be patient, I hope to come out of this scary experience with some new insights as to how to keep you interested in my posts.

Please stay tuned!