WORD PLAY LOVE. (See what I did there?) :)

Too Good To Be True?

Is there really such a thing as being "too good to be true"? We've all experienced the concept one way or another. Either we've imagined fantastical experiences like winning billions of dollars in the lottery, or surpassing Marilyn Monroe's icon status. We discount these flights of fancy as 'too good to be true' because we have no belief in the possibility of these events ever coming to be. More closer to home, in our "real-er" lives, we've had experiences of situations like a surprise job opportunity, a new relationship, or a new situation where it seemed, however momentarily, that the stars have aligned in our favor. For once. With the adage, "If it seems to good to be true, it usually is." ringing in our ears, along with our faith in that sentiment, we may actually pass up and turn our backs to those opportunities of new life situations. It never would have worked out because it was too good to be true.

But what if there was no such possibility of anything being too good to be true? If our thoughts really have any part in what goes around us, then that idea of something being too good to be true essentially becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. We judge the new event to be 'too good to be true' and it becomes so. What if there were no such thing as anything being 'too good'? Good is a relative term and it depends on perspective. What may be considered good by one person may not be good for another. Not only that, good is only noticeable because of the existence of that which we perceive to be bad. Imagine the different turns our lives may have taken if we accepted new situations or new experiences without that judgment of being 'too good'. And what if by not condemning them as unreal they really did evolve into what we almost glimpsed as a potential reality?

What if, in fact, the only reason we condemned something as being too good to be true is because of fear? That maybe, no matter how open we perceive our minds to be, in our efforts to protect ourselves from being hurt or disappointed (which is what all of the reasons basically boil down to) we have actually closed a part of our minds off to the ability to believe in what is possible?

It's All Good

Hold on
Hold back
Be still
Breathe
There's no need to rush
Be patient
Enjoy the now
The new possibilities you see
The happiness that appears within reach
The world that seems to be opening up to you
Have always been there
(you just never noticed)
And it will always be there
There's no need to look ahead
to worry, to guess
enjoy what's right now
this moment.
Hold on
Hold back your impatience
Be still
Breathe
Enjoy the ride
It's all good

TiaraMeSue

Ok. I kind of have a thing for wearing things on my head:

  Sometimes on my face:

But mostly, on my head:

And ESPECIALLY a tiara:

(Ooooohh! Spaaahkley!!)

A lot of times people look at me like I’m ridiculous. They probably think that at 46 I should’ve grown up by now. To them I say:

PBLGGHT!

and:

And:

Anyway, it started the way it always starts for any kid, in school. The teachers made crowns and hats out of paper to set you apart on your birthday (the paper dunce cap was also a means of setting you apart), and make you feel special. How many of us girls got tiaras in a dress-up set that we wore even when we weren't dressing up? Then it was the Burger King crowns. Thankfully, I grew out of that when I was about 22. It is well-documented that I wear tiaras on my birthday (birthday). I celebrate them all. But to be honest, it did start out somewhat defiantly, in a kind of “I’m worth it” thing. I certainly wasn't feeling it when I decided I was going to make a big deal out of the birthdays (and it was a conscious decision). I do now. I am worth it. It is now no longer just about reflection and kissing the previous year goodbye while fervently hoping for a better future. I DO celebrate me, and I do feel so much better about it.

Thanks to Facebook and the fact that I post a little here and there, the subject of my birthday tiaras has come up. It’s even grown; people now give me tiaras as gifts (I have a nice little collection going). This means I have tiaras to wear for any occasion: birthdays, holidays, International Tiara Day (yes, there is one: International Tiara Day), Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, or any day I just want to feel special. People always treat you ‘special’ when you wear a crown.

We never seem to do enough to make ourselves feel special anymore, it seems. (Or, most of us don’t. Maybe it’s just me.) And when we try to do something special, it usually ends up being something big, (because we haven’t ‘treated ourselves’ in a long time) which means we do it very infrequently. I’m not suggesting everyone go out and start wearing tiaras—that would take attention away from me! But do something, no matter how small it seems. Something you can do as often as you need a pick-me-up. Fun nail polish (my second choice), wearing a special piece of jewelry (even if it doesn't match your outfit), anything that you appreciate as special, that you designate just for you. It doesn't even have to be something that anyone else would recognize as special; as long as you know it’s for you, it’s special. Do it for you. Treat yourself. Treat yourself special. Because you are.

(I was kidding, though, about y’all not going out in tiaras! If that’s what you want then by all means, wear them!—I like seeing them, too! So spaahkley!)

*I have to thank Rob for coming up with the title here. One would think that since I was Italian something like this would've eventually come to me; but I'm a piss-poor Italian - I hate pastry!

(Off)Spring Thaw

The cold season started at thirteen

Warm hugs turned to “too cool” indifference

“You just don’t understand!”

There’s no way to bundle up against that kind of cold

So the heat gets turned up

Some days she really made me want to pull my hair out

The icy heat of disdain

Is sometimes a welcome relief from the belligerence

Seven years of this weather, the end may be in sight

Spring is just around the corner

Praying, waiting for the thaw

Unsure if I’ll last the winter

And then…

An unannounced visit to her work
And what I saw warmed me all the way through

I knew spring would come

I saw it in the warm sunshine that lit her smile

And blazed out of her eyes
The happiness and surprise

When she first saw me

I will survive this winter

We will survive this winter

Spring is just around the corner

How to Write Anything in 10 Easy Steps

You want to be a writer, and you have all these wonderful ideas in your head!  And a super-duper, extraordinary vision just came to you out of the blue and you MUST share it with the world! You absolutely NEED to get this out of your head and on paper!  The reading public is waiting!  No worries! Writing is NOT hard, no matter what anyone tells you—just follow my ten easy steps outlined below and you, too, can be a writer!

1. Sit down with your pen and paper, at your computer, or with your typewriter. Stare for a moment at the blank page/screen.  VISUALIZE the words there.
2.  Get up to make yourself a cup of coffee. (It doesn’t have to be coffee. It can be a soda or even a beer; just put it in a coffee cup because all writers shown sitting at their desks have coffee cups on them. Make sure the cup has words on it—no pictures.)
3. Sit down again and write that first line—that amazing first line that will grab the reader’s attention and win awards for the best opening line EVER!
4. Get up to go to the bathroom (coffee goes right through you).  On the way, stop and notice the laundry that has piled up and the dishes that need to be done.  When one of your cats rubs against you, give it a little pet of acknowledgment.  Find the other cat and do the same so it doesn’t feel neglected.  Do the same for your children.
5. Sit down, then get up again to go to the bathroom.  (In all the excitement of petting cats and children, you forgot to go.)
6. Sit back down and look at the page/screen.  Type one or two words. Sit back and bask in that accomplishment.
7. Get up to refill your coffee. You don’t have time to eat right now (you are WRITING), but feel free to grab a few pieces of chocolate from the candy dish.  Chocolate makes people happy.  Happy people are productive.
8.  Sit down. Sit. STAY. And WRITE.  Ignore all the shiny distractions around you (isn’t it cute how one cat wiggles its ass while readying its position to pounce on the other one? Wow! How much are cats like women??) Take your elbows off of the desk, pull your head up and FOCUS. (Why is it called “earworm”? I understand the “ear” part; but “worm”? How does that make sense?--ROCK ME, AMADEUS!)
9. WRITE, DAMMIT! Try not to cry about the words not being right. You’ll be ok. Stop banging your head on the desk, please.
10.  Go back to Step 1.

See? Easy as pie!  

Where's my coffee?

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

Well, my period ended yesterday, so I am literally starting the New Year off …fresh. That’s something.

(And if you think that’s too much, just wait ‘til I hit menopause! I can guarantee that it will only get worse!)

I don’t do New Year’s resolutions.  My time to reflect and resolve is my birthday, but if I had to make one resolution it would be to try to remember to write 2014 instead of 2013 on pertinent documents.  I can tell you I’m already off to a bad start, since I just had to go back and correct the year I just typed in.  Ah, well.

Ushering in this new calendar year will be the new moon.  I take that as a good sign.  May the New Moon's promise of this New Year guide you all, bathing you in its silvery light. And remember, every ending is a beginning, and every beginning is an ending.  Save and savor the good, learn from and let go of the bad.  Enjoy whatever you can, and no smile is too small.  Love to all of you.

Sue