Be Alive.
2 Oct
I was telling a friend about my web designer, Taughnee: great designer, wonderful friend, and living in love — in Paris. I admire her a lot, and this has been an incredible year for her.
Last October she wrote a great post: The Year of Becoming Unstuck
“Whether I work from a laptop in a café in Paris or from my home office, whether I could lose 30 pounds or whether I’m a size 6 … I am going to show up to life anyway. And while I’m here, I might as well do the best I can, for no other reason than it just feels better.”
Also, instead of a New Year’s Resolution, she wisely focused on something smaller, and (I would argue) more powerful: a “word of the year”.
Sure the new year is a great time to re-commit to things that are important. With enough momentum new habits are formed and in that sense, there’s nothing wrong with resolutions. If you keep them. If you don’t, you’re subconsciously programming yourself to believe that you can’t trust yourself, which erodes self confidence, and that makes you feel like ****, and that makes it even harder the next year, and … oh who needs all that?!
Nah. I’m going with a “Word of the Year” this year and see how I do.
And my word is alive.
Becoming unstuck. Being alive.
I understand that particular resolve. Man, do I. It’s what drove me to be a writer — being alive, through words, and story — and what drove me, over the last few years, to remake aspects of my life. Becoming a writer, becoming unstuck…it didn’t happen overnight for me, and it wasn’t always easy — uncertainty will plague anyone who engages in adventure — but I threw myself forward, again and again, with a little trust and faith.
Sometimes, you just have to.
A pyrokinetic and former car thief, Eddie cannot refuse an assignment to cross the continent in order to rescue an extraordinary woman in peril…even though he fears losing control of the destructive power of flame at his fingertips.
The last of her shape-shifting kind, Lyssa hides in the abandoned tunnels beneath Manhattan. Like Eddie, fire is her weapon, her destiny…and her curse. For beneath Lyssa’s extraordinary beauty are dangerous secrets…and even darker, nearly irresistible urges... (November 2011)
When the bond Maxine Kiss shares with Zee and the boys-the demons tattooed on her skin-is deliberately severed, the hunter is left vulnerable and unprotected. For the first time in ten thousand years, the boys have a taste of freedom-without Maxine’s guiding influence.
As they grow more violent and unpredictable, Maxine starts to fear the little demons will lose their minds without their attachment to her. But reuniting won’t be easy, as a great temptation waits for her little demons : a chance to return to their lives….and unleash hell on earth. (December 2011)
Taughnee’s post meant a lot to me when I read it. I, like so many millions of other people, am guilty of being stuck. Of comparing myself to others, of thinking “I’ll do that when…” but the point is… do it NOW. I realized I have wasted a few years of my life. There is so much I want to be doing, so many things I want to try, and taste, and experience… and I’ll only get through the very tip of all those things if I get started even right now.
I have made some big changes this year. It’s not helping my pocket book yet… but it will. In the meantime, the hubby is happier and we can feel life changing in a good way.
i love the sign cartoon
Marjorie: Thank you so much for posting this! I love the idea of focusing on being alive, being there for whatever happens. And I love your friend’s story. Definitely something inspirational and helpful at the moment.