Blog anniversary, a summer challenge & thoughts on blogging

Happy one-year blog anniversary to Commonplace & Curious!  I first blogged on June 18, 2014.  But today is a good day to officially recognize my blog anniversary, because it was on June 23rd of last year that I started my thirty-day blog challenge.  The blog challenge really helped me gain some momentum.  It's true that I didn't blog on any specific schedule after that.  Still, this is my 56th post.  That means an average of at least one post per week.  I'll take it.  In fact, my official summer goal is to blog once per week.  With a new part-time job and lots of necessary running around with the tween & teenagers plus (hopefully) some doses of summer fun, I think once a week is a realistic goal.  Plus, I have another creative project that I hope to work on this summer; more to come on that later.

What have I learned from blogging (if sporadically) for one year?  I could think of lots of things...  Since it's already getting late, I'll limit myself to what comes to mind quickly:

1)  Momentum is key, as it is with so many habits.  The more frequently I blog, the more motivated I am to keep up with it.  It's very hard to get back to blogging after neglecting it for weeks or a month at a time.   

2)  My motivation to blog has to be simple - write it and share it.  (Why write at all is a topic I covered in this blog post.)  It's best not to have any expectations about whether any one reads it or not.  However, I am so grateful to those friends, family and acquaintances who have taken the time to read any of my blog posts.  At times, I have been disappointed by what seems like a lack of interest or support from some people in my life.  And by support I mean - maybe read just one post and mention it or comment?  With that in mind, I asked a writer-friend about this feeling.  I loved her advice - show people the support that you'd like them to show you, and then let it go.  Brilliant - the golden rule!  So I try to be intentional about doing that - support friends when they tell me about or post about their lives, whether it be work, hobbies, art, music, business, family, travels or whatever means a lot to them.  

3)  I'm still learning to let go of being a perfectionist when it comes to writing, and blogging has certainly helped me make progress in that regard.  And I'm going to let go right now, by wrapping up this post here.

Happy summer!

*****

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Open windows, silver linings, lemonade & rolling with the changes

a cloud with a silver lining 

"Reverend Mother always says when the Lord closes a door, somewhere he opens a window."
"Every cloud has a silver lining."
"When life gives you lemons, make lemonade."
"Keep on rollin', keep on rollin', oh you got to learn to roll with the changes."

What do a quote from The Sound of Music (variations of which are attributed to Alexander Graham Bell, Helen Keller and King Ethelred the Unready), two somewhat overused idioms, and song lyrics from REO Speedwagon have in common?

Change is constant, and life doesn't always turn out the way we thought or planned; but, if we have a fluid attitude toward change and disappointment, then we can find our way.  I include myself among those who find change and disappointment to be difficult.  But the older I get, the easier it is to roll with the changes.  Perhaps my standards are lower, or my expectations are less lofty.  I'm more used to the idea that things almost never turn out exactly as planned.  My hopes and dreams are heavily intertwined with the lives of the people I love, my family, and are less about me personally.  As my children are growing into young adults at a rapid pace, change is ever present in our family.  On a personal level, in a world of seemingly endless opportunities, some of my choices have been made.  Not entirely, but to some extent, my decisions along the way have created my life circumstances.  Whether I am content about my choices or regret them is immaterial, certain doors have been closed while many windows remain open.  

By nature, I'm not an optimist.  I'm a bit of a dreamer, though, with a side of melancholy for good measure.  Despite that, I do have this optimistic attitude that everything I have done or experienced (good and bad) helps me learn and grow and makes me who I am.  It's a more measured version of "what doesn't kill me, makes me stronger."  For example, various jobs I've had over the years helped me realize that certain types of work or work environments were not a good fit for me.  Another example - negative experiences with certain people or personalities have taught me about relationships and what kind of person I want to be.  To be very clear, however, I'm no Pollyanna.  I don't believe that every bad situation has some good or positive aspect to it.  War, genocide, abuse, starvation - no silver linings there.  But there are many situations in which we can indeed make lemonade from lemons.

I had been looking for a part-time job for several months with little success.  During the fall and winter months, I applied for several jobs.  I had very high hopes with two of them, for which I thought I was very well qualified.  The first job was working from home and involved transcribing meetings from audio files.  After applying, I was contacted to do an online test.  I completed the test and felt quite confident.  I could follow the audio, I'm a quick typist, and I have good grammar and writing skills.  I felt pretty deflated when I found out that I did not pass the test and wouldn't be considered for the job.  A few weeks later, I applied for another job for which I thought I was well-suited because it required both education and library experience.  I have an extensive variety of experience in both of those settings.  I went through an extremely detailed and bureaucratic application process, and then I didn't hear back for two months.  And although I didn't take any actual test this time, I received a response in April that my rank for the job was "10," but that only the top five candidates would be considered.  Again, I felt a bit deflated and started thinking that I might not be as qualified as I think I am.

So, those doors closed.  And a window did open.  Not for a while, but it did open.  I had to see it first, which is why I like this version of the quote attributed to Alexander Graham Bell:  

When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.

It's not all about fate.  We have to do our part too.  We have to see the open doors or windows and the silver linings.  We have to be willing to make lemonade and roll with the changes.  So when I saw this other job opportunity, I didn't consider it at first.  But then I took a second look and applied for it.  From the interview, I found out that it was a wonderful opportunity and a great match.  I was hired.  It's a much better fit than the jobs I didn't get.  The work is more interesting, varied and dynamic; and, it's for a program that has a mission to serve others.  That's the silver lining. 

Sometimes the silver linings develop over time.  My husband and I sometimes joke about living in a duplex down by the river.  It's true - we live in a duplex, and it's near the river.  Our joke comes from aligning our situation with the classic Saturday Night Live skits featuring motivational speaker Matt Foley, played hilariously by Chris Farley.  If you were watching SNL in the mid-1990s, you know what I'm talking about.  If you don't know, I highly recommend that you watch some of the skits here.  The character's trademark line was that his audience didn't want to end up like him, "35 years old, thrice divorced, and living in a van down by the river!"  We're more than a decade past 35 years old, we're still married, and we are living in a duplex rather than a van down by the river.  Our joke is that this house was to be our "starter house," and yet here we are almost twenty years later.  Things didn't work out the way we thought they would when we were newly-married home buyers.  But that's okay.  It's more than okay - it's great.  Our home, our neighborhood, our little place in the city have become somewhat beloved by us all.  Staying here has meant that we've been able to make other choices that have blessed our family immensely.  Silver linings.

Some situations are just plain bad or difficult.  But sometimes we find our way through changes and disappointments.  So, when you can, look for the silver linings and open windows, make lemonade, and roll with the changes.  Wishing you all the best as you embrace your own journey!              

February through May reading notes: six-word book reviews

I heard about Six-Word Memoirs on NPR a number of years ago.  Here's the brief (albeit longer than six words) history of Six-Word Memoirs:

Since the Six-Word Memoir® debuted as a project of SMITH Magazine in November 2006, nearly 1 million short stories have been shared on Six-Word Memoirs...

I haven't tried writing a six-word memoir yet.  But in the pursuit of brevity, I am attempting to review or describe in just six words each of the twenty books that I have read over the past four months, several of which are pictured below.  

Here are the books in the order I read them, from February through the end of May:

The Untethered Soul:  The Journey Beyond Yourself by Michael A. Singer
Too new age-y, but good message.

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
A favorite classic revisited with daughter. 

Someday is Now:  The Art of Corita Kent by Ian Berry
Artist, former nun makes beautiful art.

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
Beautifully-rendered and heartbreaking war story. 

Learning by Heart:  Teachings to Free the Creative Spirit by Corita Kent and Jan Stewart
Artist's inspiring ideas that nurture creativity. 

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by Michael Morpugo
Entertaining retelling of classic for youngsters. 

Mercy in the City:  How to Feed the Hungry, Give Drink to the Thirsty, Visit the Imprisoned, and Keep your Day Job by Kerry Weber
Short, inspiring book about serving others.

Otto of the Silver Hand by Howard Pyle
I love this children's historical novel!

A Long Way to Verona by Jane Gardam
Nicely drawn characters; plot just okay.  

One Person/Multiple Careers:  A New Model for Work/Life Success by Marci Alboher
Relevant, interesting theme; author gets repetitive.

Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant?  by Roz Chast
Graphic novel memoir - sad, poignant, recommended.

Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
Children's historical, adventure novel - really good.

A Reading Guide to Island of the Blue Dolphins by Patricia McHugh
Good background information and discussion ideas.

Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
All should read - sad, inspiring, true.

Sing Down the Moon by Scott O'Dell
More good children's fiction from O'Dell.

Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver
Kingsolver writes well; sometimes gets preachy.

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
Childen's historical fiction, brief and beautiful.

The Constant Princess by Philipa Gregory
Gregory good at historical chick lit.

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed
Was hesitant to read - liked it!

The Swimmer by Joakim Zander
Great summer read - suspenseful page-turner.

**********

That was pretty fun.  Maybe I'll attempt using the six-word format for another writing project...

As for reading, I have high hopes to do a lot of it this summer.  I'm currently reading Bossypants by Tina Fey.  How about you?  What are you reading now?  What's on your summer reading list?