(Giddy) Purposefulness Equals Progress

You know that feeling of deja vu?  Well, what is it when you know you did a thing before, decided to stop doing it, then re-decide to do it again?  That’s how I’m feeling! 🙂

Once upon a time, when I was married, my then-husband and I, would work together on our family business.  I baked vegan confections (cakes, pies, cookies, cobblers, cupcakes, etc.).  He designed all of the marketing materials.  We talked about and implemented business development, strategy and planning.  We were a good team.

Fast forward to today.  I miss those days of being a part of a great team that worked passionately towards a goal.

Sure I write books, and I blog.  However, it’s not the same as being a part of a larger whole.  I realize I enjoy working with others very much.  This is why I loved working on the #IndieRoar Challenge with the great supportive group #IndieBooksBeSeen headed by Mark Shaw.

This is also why I was right there with Tome Tender in promoting other authors, their books and giveaways.  The pace was fast, furious and FUN!

I had great fun when I  pal’d around with the E-Squared group on Twitter created by author New York Times best-selling author, Pam Grout, a positivity guru.

While I still enjoyed what I did with these groups, I still didn’t get that feeling.  You know what I mean.  That deep gut-level sense of rightness.

A shrug of my shoulders is all I gave to this niggling-nagging feeling of incompleteness.

Okay.  This year.  I get sick, and then I got better.  However, I have to get on a strict healthy diet which includes getting filters on all of the water outlets in my home and re-evaluating everything I do.  Then, the Solar Eclipse happens.  It’s almost as if my eyes opened as the sun re-emerged.  Everything in my life felt different.  Yet, nothing really changed…except I had the beginnings of that feeling of rightness — for no reason at all.

Since the 21st, many things began to happen that took no effort on my part.  I just sat/stood (with my mouth hanging ajar) and watched almost as if I were a bystander.  Things got better.  I felt better.  My viewpoint clearly made some sort of shift.  And somehow, by the 26th, I was a part of a group of people who call themselves Diamonds.  (Don’t you just love that?!?)

I am back in the fold of working passionately with a group of people who strive to walk more lightly on the planet while helping people make money along the way.  My writing has shifted focus and my new works are geared around health & wellness topics.  [I still love my fiction and my horror novel though!  But, that’s another story.]

The feeling of being stoked is strong!  My family asked me why I was in such a giddy mood.  I just smiled because it feels good to feel happy.

 

 

 

Weekend Inspiration: Joyous Dancing From DRC and Singer Fally Ipupa

Well, maybe not Fally himself. 🙂

Let me start with the inspiration…

Yes, the sensual movements are inspiring.  The music is cool, relaxing yet invigorating.  Eloko Oyo is a beautifully melded piece of the traditional and the ultra-modern from Fally Ipupa’s latest album (released in July 2017) Tokooos.

Yet, what inspired me most was the question of where did the original inspiration come from?

The lyrics (translated to English here) are simple but they shield the source of inspiration…

Here it is

The time has come, here it is

The thing that’s worth more than diamond, here it is

It has bought cars, here it is

It has bought plots, here it is

Wonderful places and abroad, all credits to this thing

What’s that thing eh music

What’s that thing eh music

I love it about us

Fally Ipupua

My mind wonders if this dance originated as a traditional Congolese dance for fertility, or reproductive health/healing.  I wonder if this is a dance to remove blockages in the pathways of joy (which if blocked can lead to ill health and reduced reproductive capacity).  I wonder.

Yes, the sensual gyrations are mesmerizing to watch but with most traditional dances, there is a purpose, a function that the dance serves.  I wonder what this one is.

Whether I find out, or not, I will say that it inspires me to find the spring of joy within my being and coax it out to play…a lot.

What is life for if you don’t experience joy each and every day?

 

 

Thank you, Pam Grout…

Reading Pam Grout’s Thank & Grow Rich while eating my breakfast smoothie bowl.  I’ve been reading it for the past week, or so.  On and off.  Reading.  Taking it in.  Pausing to reflect.  Picking it up, going back a chapter, or two, and re-reading.

As the title implies, the focus of the book is to be grateful to increase your own ‘capital’.  Grout has a very different portfolio that she suggests we review, and hopefully adopt, as our own.  What sort of capital could she be referring to — a self-help guru?!!?@**?!

Glad you asked.

Pam has 5 different types of capital for us to consider.  I’ve taken a stab at summarizing my understanding of each one.  They are:

1. Alchemic Capital – the capital of change; of evolution.  We should be in a different place in our lives/in our thinking/in our behaviors than we were 10 years ago.
2. Spiritual Capital – the capital that creates beautiful art, that has inspiring conversations; that contemplates meaning; that strives to be in service to other people.  Most important, follow your joy/bliss to connect with this part of ourselves.
3. Creative Capital – to bring new things to light in the Universe.  To birth new ideas/movies/plays/inventions.  It’s the thing you’d want to do if you never heard of the word money.  Follow your (internal) beeps; the ‘Divine Buzz’ (your internal GPS) and feel the chills and excitement.  That’s how you access and know it’s your creative capital.
4. Social Capital – Friends.  People to have beautiful food with; to have meaningful conversations with; to have fun with.  If we’re not having fun, what’s the point??
5. Adventure Capital – Step into an unfamiliar place; shake things up.  Try a new dish.  Say ‘yes’ to something you normally say ‘No’ to.  (And, maybe say NO to something you normally say YES to.)

Pam wants us to assess where we are in each of the above areas because a full life has all of the 5 types of capital working well and vigorously in a person’s life.  She suggests we take an initial personal earnings report and using a scale from 1 (poor) to 10 (awesome), note how we’re doing with each type of capital.

Then, after 30 days (and following her simple AA 2.0 system), take another assessment of our personal earnings report.

The AA 2.0 system?  Okay, it’s 2 steps, and 2 steps only.

A. Before getting out of bed each and every morning say, “Something amazingly awesome is going to happen” to you today.  Or, change it up and say something magical will happen.

B. Become an investigator on the lookout for ‘all the beauty and largesse in the world’.  In essence, instead of figuring out what could go wrong — do the opposite.  Observe and take note of what’s going right.

Simple.  Easy.  Almost ridiculous.  However, the shift in perception and viewpoint is wonderful.

I’m still reading.  Still reflecting but I like what I’ve reading.  A lot.

 

Twitter Badass Challenge…Are you In??!?

My good buddy @KayCWise tagged me in a tweet earlier this week about a contest that was perfect for me.  I shrugged and rolled my eyes.  This lady has a lackluster love/hate relationship with Twitter! 🙂  Me?  I LOVE Twitter.  Anywho, she sends this link to join the #TwitterBadassChallenge.

Win up to $2,000 in Amazon gift cards daily for simply sending out badass tweets?  Totally doable for me! My chica friend is right! This one’s made just for me.

This is a 10-day challenge to tweet whatever is sent to us by the Badass Crew at Crowdfire (the folks behind this awesome contest).  So, you have NO IDEA what they will ask you to do.

Well, the first day was to cuss in a tweet and tag two of your best Twitter buds.  The second day was to tweet and tag two celebrities and get a selfie in the mix somehow.

It took some thought from me but here are my first two badass tweets.

Day 1:

‘Yo, what up, Shemar? Wanna hang with me? #Day2 #TwitterBadassChallenge @KayCWise pic.twitter.com/U6U0ktFWHp

— TheNotebookBlogairy (@NotebkBlogairy) March 26, 2015

Day 2:

Hey Jennifer @IAMJHUD! Like my impression of the #MonaLisa?? #Day2 #TwitterBadassChallenge BTW, luv Whatever song! pic.twitter.com/KnqIDahckY

— TheNotebookBlogairy (@NotebkBlogairy) March 26, 2015

What are you waiting for?  We’re already on Day 3!!!! Join in on the fun!

In addition to being a badass, The NoteBook Blogairy is the author of several books. Check out her Amazon author page.

Her latest book, Making Dollars & Sense Work, is available in both digital and paperback formats.

Halloween 2014: Trick-or-Treating Blog Hoppin’ Wrap-Up & Halloween Pics!

All I can say is…WOW, what a blast!

I have never participated in a Halloween-themed blog hop before so I wasn’t sure what to expect.  But what I didn’t expect was all of the FUN! 🙂

Maybe I should back up for those who don’t follow my blog. As you can surmise, for yesterday’s fun spooky holiday, I joined a group of 22 other bloggers who were giving away book-candy instead of real candy for those folks who stopped by to ‘trick-or-treat’ on our blogs yesterday. Great fun was had by all!

There were a dozen comments left for me (one person commented twice so I guess that means a Baker’s Dozen!) so I had a lot of book-candy to give out!

I want to thank YA author, Patricia Lynne, for organizing and setting up this great blog hop.  Patricia is the author of Being Human and Snapshots.

During the hop I virtually met a bunch of other bloggers and avid readers all excited about the plethora of free books to be had on ONE day with no strings attached — well, other than possibly posting a review if they like the book.  (Why? ‘Cause this helps us Indie writers so we can gain more exposure and write more books that you may just fall in love with.)

To check out the books you missed, please visit the other bloggers by following the link below.

I spent the afternoon responding to comments, tweeting, and FaceBooking to my heart’s content! Then, I headed out and finished up costume buying for my 15-month-old daughter.  I’ll share my Halloween Day in pictures with you below.

Would love to know how your Halloween went! Please stop by and comment!  I’ll even be extra nice and if you comment today, Saturday, 11/1, or Sun, 11/2 and tell me your favorite picture I will give you a copy of “Fury From Hell“.

Lastly, Fury From Hell is on a fab Kindle CountDown Deal and is on sale through tomorrow, Sun, 11/2 at midnight. You can pick up a copy for $1.99 today and just $2.99 tomorrow, Sun, 11/2.  It goes back to normal price on Monday, 11/3.

Happy Belated Halloween!  But hope you stop by for some ‘leftover’ book-candy!!  And hope you enjoy the Halloween pictures!

Planned Owl Princess Costume

Owl Princess and Phantom of the Hood

The Other Cat Woman and the Princess discards her Owliness…

A not-so-frightening Halloween Production but great fun!

The Golden Buddha made an appearance and gave us a Zen blessing.

Godzilla stopped by for a quick yawning scare…

Anyone up for an Ostrich ride? This guy was!

We even had a spot of tea complete with a Teapot and Cup on hand.

Think the pumpkin scared itself, or was it the severed hand that caused this face…

To top it all off, we were serenaded by a ‘ghastly’ Jazz band that was SUPERB! Could hardly tear ourselves away from the great music.

BOO! Did I scare ‘ya?!

Hope everyone had as great a Halloween as my friends and family did! See you next year!

Ta-ta for now,

NB