I got the idea for this blog post from an author talk with Jennifer Braunfels and Jen Dupree that I attended at The Wells Library recently.
Jen Dupree mentioned the blog entitled “Writers on Not Writing” and right away I thought, “Hey! I am a writer who’s not writing!”.
I thought of it again today and then I thought, “Hey! I could change that!”
So, here I am, changing that.
Today, I am a writer who is writing.
I have never pretended to be the outdoor type. My husband, on the other hand, IS.
I recently became brave and asked him if he’d like to try snowshoeing with me. He agreed, so we both got some shiny new snowshoes for Christmas. In November.
It took a while before we had some snow (and before I had some courage) to try them.
After we got about 16 inches of snow at camp, I had no excuse.
Bill was a skier, so I thought this would be a piece of cake for him.
And so it was.
I, however, was a dramatic failure at skiing and never, ever want to that again.
Snowshoeing reminded me of skiing so I think that was where my, um, lack of confidence originated.
I decided to do the thing I thought I could not do, so to speak.
I’m so glad that I did!!
It was so much fun!
It didn’t take very long to get the hang of it and I can’t wait to try it again!!
Lesson: Be brave! You CAN do it!
What have you been putting off trying because of old limiting beliefs?
Why not control your own food supply by planting a garden? Planting a garden of any size (including a potted tomato on the patio) is an act of defiance against that plan. You can plant seedlings instead of seeds to give yourself a little head start, in case you live in a state with a short growing season, like I do.
In the background of this photo are the squash plants we put in this week.
The asparagus bed took a few years to get going but now it’s thriving. This was the second bunch that I cut this week!
I find it’s best to cook it the same day, if possible, because otherwise time gets away from me.
*Note: If it’s very hot out and you don’t want to put your oven on, you can do this by pan roasting the asparagus on the stove.
What’s your favorite way to cook asparagus?
I’ve seen different versions of this quote that is usually attributed to Henry Kissinger:
To me, this suggests that it may be more important than ever to make an effort to grow some of your own food.
Planting a garden is nothing new for us. We have planted vegetables, herbs, flowers, and more, for years. Most of the credit for this goes to my husband. He is the gardener–but I am the eager apprentice. 🙂 I am notorious for over-planting, putting in way more plants than I have time to take care of. I especially can’t be trusted with purchasing tomato plants without supervision. This year I was allowed eight plants. I bought seven, because there is always one that I wish I had room for once the planting is done.
Every year’s planting is a little different. Here’s what we put in this year:
Zucchini
Yellow Squash
Cucumbers 🥒
Japanese eggplant 🍆
7 kinds of tomatoes 🍅 (Sungolds, Early Girl, celebrity, Brandywine, Lemon Boy, sweet 100, and Roma)
Annual herbs: Basil, Cilantro, Italian Flat Leaf Parsley, Rosemary
Lettuces
Spinach
Already established:
Asparagus
Strawberries
Blueberries
Cherry Tree
Apple Trees
Pear Trees
Herb garden
I started the day with some yoga, hoping it would bring me out of it, but afterward I felt the same. I continued to get ready for the day ahead, but I kept hearing “Go back to bed, Karen. Go back to bed,” in my head. Finally, I listened. I canceled my plans (regretfully!!) and went back to bed.
When I got up a few hours later, I was sitting on the couch with the day free now that I had decided to stay in. I was sitting on the couch, wondering what to do until I felt more like myself. I noticed that I had a message from a dear friend with a link to watch a movie. It’s eight years old, but she thought I would be interested in it.
It’s incredible.
I am giving the link to you to watch. Hopefully the censors won’t notice it before you get a chance to watch it.
And now that we KNOW, what are we going to do about it? How about: To hell with THEIR New World order. Let’s create our own The PEOPLE’S New World Vision!
National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) starts November 1, as it does every year.
In a nutshell, NaNoWriMo is when you commit to writing 50,000 words in 30 days, the minimum words needed to be considered a novel (according to the Powers That Be in NaNoLand).
Every year that I participate, I finish with at least 50K words.
Have you been telling yourself, “I have no time! There’s no way I can do this!”? Clearly, if you have not yet written your book, then this method is not working for you. What would happen if you start asking yourself, “How can I make this work?”
1. Decide to write your book (draft) in 30 days this November.
2. Do it!
Want help? Check out my online course (at the special price of $47 until 11.1.19–usually $97!) for how to do this: Write the First Draft of Your Book in 30 Days!
There has been a lot of great things happening on my new website, KarenCreamer.com.
If you have already signed up to follow my new blog, then THANK YOU!
But since about 1500 followers never made it over to KarenCreamer.com, I am taking a wild guess that you haven’t found my new site yet. If you didn’t receive emails that the above articles posted, then you may not have subscribed to the blog. Just click here to go to the blog page, look for the box to SUBSCRIBE TO BLOG by EMAIL section to the right of the posts, and sign up! Or, if you are already on WordPress then you can just click the blue FOLLOW ME button (in the same location). E viola!
P.S. Please read the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use when you arrive! You may even find a pop up banner tucked into the footer somewhere to accept when you get there!
I have finally decided to #BeBrave and put my own name on my online presence. I am gathering up my author website kwrites.com and my coach website karencoaches.com and uniting them into one shiny new website, KarenCreamer.com!
You can still follow me on both of my Facebook pages: K.M. Creamer, Author and Metaphysical Nurse.
You will still find all the great content you have become accustomed to: book and movie reviews, holistic health topics, my online classes, all of my books, events, and doings, and of course, the monthly BRAVE Interviews. There will also be some new features!
I will no longer be posting on these websites effective May 11, 2018 and will close them down shortly thereafter. I want you to stay with me, so please CLICK HERE to keep receiving email notifications about new posts.
I can’t wait to connect with you on my new website: KarenCreamer.com
It would have been so easy to allow this horrific experience to define me as a grief-stricken mom for the rest of my life. I’m not sure how long it took me to realize that Garrett deserved a better legacy than that.
I try to choose every day to celebrate Garrett’s life and to remember that knowing him for eight years made me a better person.
I spent a lot of time writing in a journal during the first few years after Garrett’s death. I have since turned my writing into a book and published it. It is entitled, After the Flowers Die: A Handbook of Heartache, Hope and Healing After Losing a Child. I do not want any bereaved parent to ever feel alone. I have recently created a website, promoted my book at book signings, participated in my first TV interview, participated in a live grief webinar. Currently I am working on creating a journaling course for grieving parents.
Sometimes bravery feels more like survival. While I don’t feel brave every day, I will continue to choose to move forward keeping my son’s memory alive through my writing and speaking.
Read the other BRAVE Interviews here: The BRAVE Interviews
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE INTERVIEWED FOR THIS SERIES ABOUT SOMETHING BRAVE YOU HAVE DONE IN YOUR OWN LIFE, SEND ME AN EMAIL HERE: karen@karencreamer.com
Karen Creamer Author, Coach, Speaker 
You must be logged in to post a comment.