Now that the states and countries are starting to open up–to varying degrees– it’s time to look back and assess.
I hope you took the time to care for yourself, deal with your anxieties, and accomplish some goals. It’s okay if you didn’t, too.
Do you see where I’m going? However you dealt with the stay-at-home orders, you did what was best for you. Don’t let anyone judge you differently. They don’t matter. The only judge you need to listen to is yourself.
I’m constantly battling a need to please others. It’s difficult to change. I figure it’s like any habit that’s been ingrained for decades–it will take a lot of time and effort to change it. It’s okay to make mistakes as long as you recover and continue to move forward.
There are so many stories that could describe this landscape.
What comes to mind for you?
Leave a comment, or email it to sonjadanielson@gmail.com!
It’s so intriguing, from the swan, to the buildings emerging from the mist, to the mystery of who lives there. Is it winter? Where is this, what country?
There’s no prize, except for the adoration of others who see your creativity.
What do you want to accomplish? What do you want to have done by the weekend?
I guess you could call this a weekly bucket list… to do list… success list.
I have my goals: finish editing my current work in progress (WIP), write the next installment of the Guinness the Therapy Dog series, continual communication with the folks who like my books (I love to hear from them!), reach out internationally… the list is long and continually growing!
I’m also working on my lifelong learning. I’m refreshing my French and German. I’m getting my classes lined up to learn Japanese with my son (a huge leap on my part) and I’m taking some writing classes online since there’s always something new to learn and improve on.
Today is the day to thank your mom for everything she does, and has done, for you. It’s Mother’s Day in the United States and was initiated as a holiday in 1908 when a woman named Anna Jarvis wanted to memorialize her mother.
The day is meant to honor mothers and motherhood or, as Jarvis said, because a mother is “the person who has done more for you than anyone in the world”.
Mother’s Day is celebrated in more than forty countries, not all on the same date but usually in the first half of the year. There are a handful of countries that celebrate mothers and mothering in the last quarter of the year (October-November-December).
In the United States, carnations are meant to be given. White carnations remember a mom who has passed, and colored carnations thank those who are living.
Jarvis, the creator of the holiday, lamented how commercialized it became, and protested at a candy makers convention in 1923 and at a meeting of the American War Mothers in 1925 when they sold carnations as a fundraiser.
There are some who even credit commercialization (especially by the floral industry) with keeping the holiday current and not allowing it to fade away.
Here’s another look at the journals I keep for each story. The photos show the journals for the Fairies of Carlow series.
I keep one journal for each book, with the pages divided into several sections: main characters, settings, events, chapter summaries.
They help keep continuity while I’m writing the book, and any books that may share characters or settings. (I’m a big fan of series’!).
By using a journal I can make sure the eye and hair colors of each character are consistent as I write. Sometimes, these things get lost inside my head and I can’t remember if I made someone a blonde, redhead, or a brunette. Also, I include height, preferences, things they hate/love, etc. Some characters get a full page, others get a half-page. It depends on how much I need to know about them.
For the Fairies of Carlow books, I found journals with covers that match each fairy’s signature color. (Confused? Now’s a good time to buy the books and find out what I’m talking about!)
I happen to love journals and tend to buy way too many of them. I have a stack of blank journals and a ton of pens that I need to find a use for. Did I mention my love of pens?
I have found that I don’t like gel pens… and try to find anything but those these days! I don’t know, the ink smears, it bleeds when you drip tea on it… But I love ballpoint pens and feel so posh when I use a fountain pen. I was given a Mont Blanc decades ago and feel so special when I use it. (But talk about wet ink and bleeding under drips of tea!)
Anyway, consistency is the key to good writing. Floor plans need to make sense. The barn needs to stay in the same place. And the sun needs to set in the same direction every evening.
Friday night under ‘stay at home’ orders. Much different from ‘before’. Ew, that was a little Handmaid’s Tale. Okay, prior to the orders, Fridays were for friends and fun.
Now, the only friends we can see is the series Friends, which used to be on Netflix and is now on Warner’s streaming. Or you can catch one of the many reruns that are showing every day on other channels.
These days, Friday are for hobbies. Whatever your flavor: photography, reading, knitting or other needlework, binge-watching Netflix…. no judgement… lol.
I write (of course) and love having this time to steam through edits and creating new stories. I took a risk and entered a manuscript into a contest, #revpit. The results were announced this week.
I’ve also watched more classes on my favorite teaching website, masterclass.com, and found a lot of motivation from James Patterson and Margaret Atwood. Name dropping? Sure. Advertising the site? Probably, but I pay the annual subscription to watch any lesson.
I label myself a lifelong learner, and am trying to use this time at home to fulfill my desire to learn as much as possible. My interests are wide and varied, from improving my writing to learning ASL and adding to my high school French.
What are you doing?
I hope you enjoy whichever hobby brings you bliss. Sonja
Today is the day to celebrate the big blue marble that we live upon. Instead of giving you a history of the day, as is my want, I am going to take a look at the effects of the worldwide pandemic on our planet.
This is from the website: voicesofyouth.org, the underlined phrases should link you to other articles.
Photos of reduced smog in China, unpolluted canals in Italy, and wild animals roaming the streets in the United States have been shared all over Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter over the past few weeks, helping give hope to a demoralized global population.
However, many of those photos are some of countless examples of the harmful misinformation that has spread over the internet during the pandemic – they have perpetuated a false narrative of an environment saved by a few weeks of quarantine and ignored the negative environmental impacts that have instead ensued.
To begin, the pandemic has led to the abandonment of many environmental sustainability programs – in the United States, smaller municipalities have halted recycling programs due to the risks associated with the spread of the virus.
Likewise, Italy has banned infected residents from sorting their waste at all. Additionally, many corporations have overturned disposable bag bans and begun relying once again on single-use plastics, and many restaurants are no longer accepting reusable containers – in early March, Starbucks announced a temporary ban on using reusable cups.
Furthermore, with more and more consumers isolated at home, there has been an increasing number of online purchases and meal deliveries made. This has not only caused the disposal of more single-use plastic packaging, but has further required more fossil fuels to be burned for the individual transportation and distribution of goods.
There has also been an increase in medical waste – much of the personal protective equipment that healthcare professionals are using can only be worn once before being disposed of. Hospitals in Wuhan, for example, produced over 200 tons of waste per day during the peak of their outbreak, compared to an average of less than 50 tons prior.
Even if mass isolation were aiding in the reduction of climate change, it would not be a sustainable way of cleaning up the environment.
The UN news agrees. I’ve attached a link to their article. If you click on ‘UN news’, it will open a new page for you.
Now, keep in mind that both of these sites are more liberal than conservative. Apply your own political leanings as you read.
There are images that show that the air and water are clearing.
Venice, Italy PHOTOGRAPH BY ANDREA PATTARO, AFP, GETTY
From cnbc.com (click the site to find a clickable link):
As coronavirus quickly spreads around the world, it’s forcing people to stay put, and wreaking havoc on the economy. Millions are either out of a job or working from home. Factories are shuttering, and with mandates to stay inside becoming the new norm, people aren’t driving or flying.
All this has led to a massive drop in air pollution, which kills a total of 4.2 million people every year, and over 1 million in China alone. The last two months have seen a huge uptick in air quality, especially in hard-hit areas like Wuhan and Northern Italy, as well as a number of metropolitan areas throughout the U.S.
While the coronavirus outbreak will probably be a setback for global climate change priorities and investment overall, this temporary reduction in carbon emissions is notable. By one conservative estimate, cleaner air has saved about 50,000 lives in China alone over these past few months.
While experts caution against viewing these numbers as a cost-benefit calculation around pandemics, some climate scientists hope that they will help shed a light on the massive environmental impact of our everyday habits and economic activities, potentially leading to some positive change after the crisis subsides.
So, some positives and negatives to look at this #EarthDay.
Today is the day to start. Start what? Whatever you desire. It’s the day to stop being limited by your thoughts, your personal demons, your own negative ideas–basically, whatever is making you doubt yourself.
Today is the day to think you CAN!
You CAN make that change, think differently, go against what you’re told. Because you are amazing. You are capable. You are YOU!
Don’t let what other think you can do hold you back. They don’t know what lives inside of you.
Don’t let what you were told hold you back. Think about those things differently. A new perspective can help make changes.
Don’t let your ‘life’s lessons’ make you doubt your capabilities. Use those experiences to make yourself better, not bully you into submission.
You are able.
I was just listening to a book by Jen Sincero and it is very motivating for me. Find what motivates you. Sonja
There are two sides to Easter: the religious side and the bunny/egg/baby chick side.
Why both?
Typically celebrated on the first Sunday after the full moon after the vernal equinox (whew!), Easter combines the Christian belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ and some pagan traditions that celebrate birth and fertility.
So, that’s why we die and hunt eggs during the celebration of Christ’s rising from the dead?
Basically.
The name ‘Easter’ has been attributed to the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring and fertility, Eostrae. Others say the word came from the Latin phrase albis, which is plural for ‘dawn’, or from the Old High German word eostarum, which evolved from the Latin I just mentioned. (Old High German preceded English and contributed to its development).
