Just before the end of the year I had a routine doctor's appointment, as I prepared to leave, I thanked the doctor and I wished him a happy new year. As he walked out the examination room door on the way to his next patient, he responded to me over his shoulder, by saying "Guaranteed."
I was so surprised and impressed by his attitude. He had just removed a suspicious sun spot from my back that ultimately was benign but in that moment he completely inspired me to renew my outlook on the new year ahead.
How many of us do our job that way in light of the world around us? With the sluggish economy, so many people out of work and scrapping to get by, businesses closing all over our neighborhoods, soldiers in harm's way over seas and friends stricken with illness it would be an understatment to say some days are downright dreary.
My doctor blessed me in that moment and I knew before receiving the lab results that I had absolutely nothing to worry about. He was right.
He reminded me of a quote by Martin Luther King Jr. that I had first seen 13 years ago posted on the home page of my police department network computer:
“If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.”
This motivational quote was not lost on me, I was inspired to be a better public servant. Some days I was so worn out by the constant reports of crime and abuse it was easy to fall into an attitude of indifference. I wrote that quote down on a yellow sticky note and taped it inside the lid of my metal report case as a reminder I was in fact the person taking the report and not the victim who had called me for help.
I could picture the street sweeper with a smile on his face, whistling a tune as he pushed trash out of the street, pleased, in full realization of his grand place in the scheme of things, the beauty of his link in the chain of the universe. This image always lifted my spirits. It humbled me to imagine how Martin Luther King Jr. himself would not have been ashamed to be a street sweeper, in so many ways that was exactly who he was, the ultimate public servant.
I do believe if we throw our hearts full tilt towards our dreams for the new year and share our love for each other unabashed, in words and deeds, that the faith we carry in those our best intentions can transform life all around us. Many of my friends and family consider me the ultimate "Pollyanna", it's true and for this confession I will not apologize or repent.
Some say there are no guarantees but I say "attitude is everything".
Have a wonderful and prosperous new year!
Sincerely,
Jennifer
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Harvest
October has always been one of my favorite months of the year. Summer is definitely over and in the neighborhood I grew up in, the leaves would begin to crunch under your feet and a mysterious smell of the season started to permeate the evening air just before we were all called in for dinner. Perhaps the smell came from the pumpkins sitting on everyone’s front porch, fermenting through their first and last great performances, or maybe the smell was a bi-product of the chemical reaction from the change all around us in the trees, the air, the times---I never figured it out but it was intoxicating and spoke only October to me.
October was our friend. Halloween was in the air all month long and the fall marked our survival of the first month back to school. We were comforted once again by things familiar as we all fell back into the routines of everyday school life. By October you realized if you just kept your nose down in your work, the newest school year to present itself would pass, and do so quickly, lost in time flying by unnoticed, sailing us right through to Christmas and beyond.
Maybe I love October because it was the last time I saw my father, his last birthday in 1983. Dad came home from the hospital for a few days and my brother and I thought, maybe just maybe, he was getting better, he would make it. October was full of hope. Hope that all things change, good or bad, like the color of the leaves and the weather.
Despite losing our father the day before Halloween, my mom encouraged us to dress up and go out trick or treating with our friends and try to enjoy ourselves. She told us that Dad would have wanted it that way. I'm sure she was right. Even though I was 10 and my brother was 13 we knew we weren’t really kids anymore. So I dressed up in my Grandfather’s clown costume, 15 sizes too big for me, and my friend Julie and I followed my brother and a few friends door to door trying to fill old pillowcases with the magic of the holiday. With every step around the neighborhood, my brother and I silently promised ourselves we would not hold a grudge against October.
Now I am 27 years older and the calendar pages seem to turn with no effort. October is still a welcomed visitor for me and this year I am beginning to appreciate it even more. I feel the harvest. Although I never lived or worked on a farm, I find myself taking inventory of the past year long before Thanksgiving. What did I cultivate in my life this year? What still needs to be nurtured? October seems to be my time to stop, take a deep, grateful breath, and count my blessings for all I have accomplished and experienced. Good and bad.
This past year and its challenges as well as its triumphs have been gifts from God and the hurdles I have yet to scale are comforting companions as I look to the years end. I am ready to hunker down into cooler temperatures and complete my writing goals for this year with a steaming cup of coffee sitting on my desk. I am also looking forward to the benefits of the seeds I have already planted coming to fruition next year. I realize now more than ever that every triumph, tragedy and ordinary, poetic moment in between shapes us and reminds me that where ever I am in life is exactly where I am supposed to be.
October was our friend. Halloween was in the air all month long and the fall marked our survival of the first month back to school. We were comforted once again by things familiar as we all fell back into the routines of everyday school life. By October you realized if you just kept your nose down in your work, the newest school year to present itself would pass, and do so quickly, lost in time flying by unnoticed, sailing us right through to Christmas and beyond.
Maybe I love October because it was the last time I saw my father, his last birthday in 1983. Dad came home from the hospital for a few days and my brother and I thought, maybe just maybe, he was getting better, he would make it. October was full of hope. Hope that all things change, good or bad, like the color of the leaves and the weather.
Despite losing our father the day before Halloween, my mom encouraged us to dress up and go out trick or treating with our friends and try to enjoy ourselves. She told us that Dad would have wanted it that way. I'm sure she was right. Even though I was 10 and my brother was 13 we knew we weren’t really kids anymore. So I dressed up in my Grandfather’s clown costume, 15 sizes too big for me, and my friend Julie and I followed my brother and a few friends door to door trying to fill old pillowcases with the magic of the holiday. With every step around the neighborhood, my brother and I silently promised ourselves we would not hold a grudge against October.
Now I am 27 years older and the calendar pages seem to turn with no effort. October is still a welcomed visitor for me and this year I am beginning to appreciate it even more. I feel the harvest. Although I never lived or worked on a farm, I find myself taking inventory of the past year long before Thanksgiving. What did I cultivate in my life this year? What still needs to be nurtured? October seems to be my time to stop, take a deep, grateful breath, and count my blessings for all I have accomplished and experienced. Good and bad.
This past year and its challenges as well as its triumphs have been gifts from God and the hurdles I have yet to scale are comforting companions as I look to the years end. I am ready to hunker down into cooler temperatures and complete my writing goals for this year with a steaming cup of coffee sitting on my desk. I am also looking forward to the benefits of the seeds I have already planted coming to fruition next year. I realize now more than ever that every triumph, tragedy and ordinary, poetic moment in between shapes us and reminds me that where ever I am in life is exactly where I am supposed to be.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
"The Call of the Writer’s Craft" by Tom Bird reviewed by Jennifer Beichner
My Hippie Muse
Almost four years ago I found out that the women in my family, myself included, were all hiding something. Secrets that kept us emotionally apart from each other but unbeknownst to one another gave us so much in common and finally we were all ready to start talking about it. This epiphany became the premise for my first novel, "The Sister Within". It was then that I set a goal for myself to write a book about the trials and tribulations of being a woman, the experiences of motherhood for so many and the conflicts of my own heart in deciding to not have children of my own.
I had always possessed an ability to write. Whether it was creatively in honors English classes in high school and junior college or in my career writing police reports, business proposals or letters. It came easy for me and held my attention with enthusiasm. For whatever reasons, I never completed a college degree although my desire to do so is still strong. But one thing I knew, I was going to write and complete a novel based on the amazing women in my life and hopefully publish and parlay that piece into a fruitful writing career that fit my life with a retired firefighter to a tee. I just did not how I was going to go about it?
I started with journaling. A scene would come to my mind or pieces of dialogue and no matter where I was I would stop whatever I was doing, pull out pen and paper and write it down. It was my gut instinct that led me and I knew as I had been previously taught in law enforcement, gut instincts were meant to be obeyed. A few weeks in, a flyer from the local community college here in Scottsdale found me and I enrolled in a one day class on writing and publishing taught by an author named Tom Bird. Bird immediately held my attention and I bought both his books, read them quickly and put his method to work in writing my first novel. I finished the first draft of "The Sister Within" a few short months later. I even queried my story to several literary agents using Tom’s method and received a huge positive response.
I went on to attend two of Tom Bird’s Sedona weekend retreats for writing and publishing and eventually hired Tom as my personal writing coach. During my work with Tom on an individual basis I wrote my second novel "A Dark Place of Promise". My second book, a civil war novel, about two sisters orphaned at the end of the civil war outside of Savannah, was written in less time than the first. This book helped me to hone my craft and find my voice as a writer more than I could have ever imagined.
Now I find myself nose deep in editing and research with my life completely changed. My goal of being a successful published author is just around the corner thanks to Tom and the repercussions of the journey thus far are immeasurable in the peace that I now find in every day. I have faced the worst critic, which is myself of course and have silenced her with every new word I put to paper in one of my stories. “I can’t” is no longer in my vocabulary.
Tom now has a new book out which puts his easy to follow writing method at every readers fingers tips. "The Call of the Writer’s Craft" is brilliant in its comprehensive style and amount of resources all contained in one easy to read book. I have read dozen of books on the market for novice writers and nothing has come close to delivering the reader into the seat of the writer better than Tom Bird’s "The Call of the Writer’s Craft". It has been my pleasure to work with Tom and his guidance both in print and in person, invaluable to my work and pursuit of happiness. He is a writer’s guru, a hippie muse from way back but boy, does he have it “write on.”
Tom Bird has an intuitive gift for knowing exactly what writers need to succeed from the paper to print and everything in between and with "The Call of the Writer’s Craft", he leads us directly into the reality of writing and selling our work and becoming the accomplished author we have always dreamed of being.
Tom Bird shines a light into every dark and intimidating corner of the writing and publishing world proving there is nothing to fear but fear itself. All that is unknown quickly and concisely becomes known in this efficiently written writer’s handbook. He not only covers all possible topics relating to the creative process and securing book deals but shows the reader examples of what he is talking about in the appendix section and provides an index in the back for quick reference use of his book. Having read several separate books on writing, publishing, editing and finding a literary agent prior to reading "The Call of the Writer’s Craft", I can honestly say I have never come across a book as helpful and comprehensive as this one.
Jennifer Beichner
For more information about Tom Bird and his writing retreats and workshops, visit: www.writeyourbookin8days.com
"The Call of the Writer’s Craft" by Tom Bird is available online through Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble book sellers.
Almost four years ago I found out that the women in my family, myself included, were all hiding something. Secrets that kept us emotionally apart from each other but unbeknownst to one another gave us so much in common and finally we were all ready to start talking about it. This epiphany became the premise for my first novel, "The Sister Within". It was then that I set a goal for myself to write a book about the trials and tribulations of being a woman, the experiences of motherhood for so many and the conflicts of my own heart in deciding to not have children of my own.
I had always possessed an ability to write. Whether it was creatively in honors English classes in high school and junior college or in my career writing police reports, business proposals or letters. It came easy for me and held my attention with enthusiasm. For whatever reasons, I never completed a college degree although my desire to do so is still strong. But one thing I knew, I was going to write and complete a novel based on the amazing women in my life and hopefully publish and parlay that piece into a fruitful writing career that fit my life with a retired firefighter to a tee. I just did not how I was going to go about it?
I started with journaling. A scene would come to my mind or pieces of dialogue and no matter where I was I would stop whatever I was doing, pull out pen and paper and write it down. It was my gut instinct that led me and I knew as I had been previously taught in law enforcement, gut instincts were meant to be obeyed. A few weeks in, a flyer from the local community college here in Scottsdale found me and I enrolled in a one day class on writing and publishing taught by an author named Tom Bird. Bird immediately held my attention and I bought both his books, read them quickly and put his method to work in writing my first novel. I finished the first draft of "The Sister Within" a few short months later. I even queried my story to several literary agents using Tom’s method and received a huge positive response.
I went on to attend two of Tom Bird’s Sedona weekend retreats for writing and publishing and eventually hired Tom as my personal writing coach. During my work with Tom on an individual basis I wrote my second novel "A Dark Place of Promise". My second book, a civil war novel, about two sisters orphaned at the end of the civil war outside of Savannah, was written in less time than the first. This book helped me to hone my craft and find my voice as a writer more than I could have ever imagined.
Now I find myself nose deep in editing and research with my life completely changed. My goal of being a successful published author is just around the corner thanks to Tom and the repercussions of the journey thus far are immeasurable in the peace that I now find in every day. I have faced the worst critic, which is myself of course and have silenced her with every new word I put to paper in one of my stories. “I can’t” is no longer in my vocabulary.
Tom now has a new book out which puts his easy to follow writing method at every readers fingers tips. "The Call of the Writer’s Craft" is brilliant in its comprehensive style and amount of resources all contained in one easy to read book. I have read dozen of books on the market for novice writers and nothing has come close to delivering the reader into the seat of the writer better than Tom Bird’s "The Call of the Writer’s Craft". It has been my pleasure to work with Tom and his guidance both in print and in person, invaluable to my work and pursuit of happiness. He is a writer’s guru, a hippie muse from way back but boy, does he have it “write on.”
Tom Bird has an intuitive gift for knowing exactly what writers need to succeed from the paper to print and everything in between and with "The Call of the Writer’s Craft", he leads us directly into the reality of writing and selling our work and becoming the accomplished author we have always dreamed of being.
Tom Bird shines a light into every dark and intimidating corner of the writing and publishing world proving there is nothing to fear but fear itself. All that is unknown quickly and concisely becomes known in this efficiently written writer’s handbook. He not only covers all possible topics relating to the creative process and securing book deals but shows the reader examples of what he is talking about in the appendix section and provides an index in the back for quick reference use of his book. Having read several separate books on writing, publishing, editing and finding a literary agent prior to reading "The Call of the Writer’s Craft", I can honestly say I have never come across a book as helpful and comprehensive as this one.
Jennifer Beichner
For more information about Tom Bird and his writing retreats and workshops, visit: www.writeyourbookin8days.com
"The Call of the Writer’s Craft" by Tom Bird is available online through Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble book sellers.
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