May | 2015 | This Way Up

“A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit.”

– Richard Bach

I love that quote by Richard Bach. The quote is attributed to him, he uses that line a lot, although he states he didn’t actually make it up. Either way, I love the quote and I like Richard Bach, so I’ll give him credit. And yes, if anyone ever asks me to speak about the writing process, I will quote Bach, because it’s true. I’m finally going to be a published author, the team at She Writes Press is designing cover ideas as I write this post. My book will be published and out there very soon. And the reason that I will finally be a published author is because I didn’t quit. Tenacity! This has been a ten year process. It began at a bookstore, while I sat with my son Lukas, who was 12 at the time, having coffee and leafing through a stack of self-help books. He asked why I hadn’t written my own book. He said that I had been telling him that stuff in those books for years, and that I shouldn’t be reading other people’s work, but writing my own. I felt like a deer in headlights! If I didn’t start writing, I felt like my own sons would doubt what I had been saying for years:

Follow your dreams! You can do it!

Not to mention it would be a kind of betrayal to myself. So in early 2006, I started writing. Since then, there have been many permutations. I’ve felt despondent, hopeless, frustrated and very close to giving up. But I didn’t. When I felt close to throwing in the towel, I asked for help and advice; I put the book away for awhile; I read inspiring blogs about resilience and happiness and gratitude until I felt inspired to focus on it again. And I kept on going. Ultimately it’s down to tenacity. Don’t give up! A fitting, if rather whimsical closing – I’ll leave you with Bruno Mars singing Don’t Give Up – with the Muppets.

I’d love to hear about how you keep going, what has helped you not give up. And as always, thank you for taking the time to visit. I appreciate it.

“For things to reveal themselves to us, we need to be ready to abandon our views about them.”

– Thich Nhat Hanh

This Way Up! Here I go!

In my last post Smile, I let you all know that I was asked to change the title of my book. As I said in that post, I felt frustrated and kinda old. However, what I learned was as Thich Nhat Hanh explains:

For things to reveal themselves to us, we need to be ready to abandon our views about them.

What a wonderful week of uncovering and abandoning old views. I asked for help (ah there’s a novel concept!) First, I called my friend Tam in Seattle and we brainstormed together, from the red chair. Then I asked for ideas from my son Lukas. And then my incredible editor Annie and I brainstormed some ideas. And finally, I sent off our top 5 ideas to Brooke at She Writes Press. Eventually it was a bit of an amalgamation of everyone’s ideas.

So the new title of my book, as reflected by the new look and title of this blog page is:

This Way Up: One Woman’s Path to Fullness and Joy

I’m so glad I asked for help, and that ultimately I was willing to let go of feeling old and stuck and embrace the new.

To honor the concept of asking for help, I’d like to close with a wonderful video, Bill Withers singing Lean On Me.

Please let me know what you think of my new title. I’d really like to hear your opinions. And as always, thank you for taking the time to visit. I appreciate it.