Food for Thought Thursday

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It’s that time of the week again, folks! The past couple of months have been kind of crazy, so it’s been tough to post at least two blogs a week. I’ll get there – thank you for stopping by regardless!

Today’s food for thought comes from The Congo:

” The art of negotiating is acquired from childhood.”

This one really tugged at my brain when I came across it. The first thing that jumped out at me is how the most important habits are established in the earliest stages. Not just in life but in every endeavor we take on, whether it’s in learning how to play the piano, become a basketball player or be a dancer. Of course I’m going to apply this to writing! While some good things are learned along the way, in the beginning of a writing journey, it’s important to have your mind made up. For example, I made a plan to post at least twice a week when I first started blogging, and I’m learning how to manage my time and use organization tools to achieve this (when I’m not being pulled in 10 other directions, of course!). But the one thing I definitely had in the beginning was the mind set to do it no matter what. That stubbornness was developed early in my writing journey; to keep writing no matter what. Even when I’m not blogging, I’m doing some type of writing activity because of other projects I’m working on.

This may not have much to do with the art of negotiating, but that was what I took from today’s quote. Being able to make things happen is not something that’s learned overnight. It develops over the years until you’ve become a master at it.

What’s you’re interpretation of this quote? Share your thoughts in the comments!

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It’s the 2014 Book Festival!

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I attended the 2014 Annual Book Festival in Washington DC this weekend. It was a great experience of course. I attended years ago, so this was the first time in a while I attended such an event since I decided to get into writing. The event was rich resources, from teaching material to author meet and greets.

The Book Festival is hosted by the Library of Congress every year. This year it was held in the Washington Convention Center downtown. It offered a unique collection of poets, photographers, chefs, authors and writers for people to meet and greet. There were also informational sessions and poetry performances. It was a very resourceful even for me as a newbie in the writer’s realm. Politics and Prose, a local DC bookstore and café was hand to sell books from the festival; many of which the author was available to autograph if requested.  I stacked up on my book collection since I’ve started reading again and even got to meet a couple of authors.  Each state was highlighted in its literary contributions through the Pavilions of the States feature. There was a booth set up for each state and contained information literary contributions throughout history from the state and really drew a lot of attention for the kids. There was also a lot of good teaching educational material at hand.

Me with Ishmael Baeh, author of a Long Way Gone and Radiance of Tomorrow.
Me with Ishmael Baeh, author of a Long Way Gone and Radiance of Tomorrow.

If I remember correctly, in years past, the festival carried over into 2 days and it was held outdoors.  This year it was indoors for whatever reason. It made it a lot more difficult to get around as there was a huge section for children’s books, so a lot of parents were running around with their young children. They also decided to hold the extra poetry sessions and performances on the same day instead of doing them the following day. The hours were from 10 am to 10pm, so it was difficult to wait around for so many hours since a lot of the poetry sessions weren’t until the evening. But I walked away content with the information I obtained. I definitely look forward to next year’s festival.

Learn more about the DC Book Festival here.

Does your town or city hold book festivals? Are they enjoyable?

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Food for Thought Thursday

Source: Tumbler
Source: Tumblr

This is more like a quote of the day. I came across this wonderful quote while surfing around freelancer websites on tumblr (maybe I’ll open an account with them after fussing about social media this week :)). Think about it, writing really is hard work. Coming up with ideas, making sure they’re expressed strongly enough for the audience to grasp it….it can be draining if we don’t balance ourselves! But at the same time that’s the beauty of it, to be able to dig in and put something together for someone to appreciate. Then there’s the drafting, rejections and search for inspiration. But its challenges like these that makes writing more fulfilling and helps one to grow.

What do you think of this quote?

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Food for Thought Thursday

Happy Thursday, Everyone!

I know the posts have been slow around here lately. I’ve been extremely busy with the new job among other things – you know how life can get!

I was able to squeeze in a few minutes to post this week’s food for thought:

“A large stone is not carried by the river water.”

What’s your take on this profound saying? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

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Food for Thought Thursday

Source: Photosteve101, Flickr
Source: Photosteve101, Flickr

It’s that time again, folks! Here’s today’s food for thought:

“Avoid singing a song without a soloist”

What does this say to you as far as relationships, career or just life itself? Can’t wait to hear your thoughts!

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Food for Thought Thursday

Source: Flickr - Anne Sophie
Source: Flickr – Anne Sophie

Hey everyone. Sorry I’ve been slow this week, but I’ve been adjusting to my new position along with some other writing projects that I plan on sharing with you very soon! In the meantime, here’s today’s Food for Thought:

“If you fear something, you give it power over you.”

I’ve talked about fear recently and shared my thoughts with you all on that and how it can be handled. So while today’s “proverb” is pretty straight-forward, I’m still very interested in reading your thoughts about it.

What do you fear? Is it something you want to overcome? What fears have you overcome in the past?

As always, thanks for stopping by. Your comments are appreciated! 🙂

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Food for Thought Thursday

Source: Gajman (Flickr)
Source: Gajman (Flickr)

Happy Thursday, everyone! Here’s today’s food for thought all the way from Kenya:

“When a strong man sends a message, he sends it with a weak man.”

This one is very interesting to me. I have some thoughts on it, but I’d like to hear what you all have to say about it first. 🙂

Enjoy your day and your weekend!

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I’m Just Saying…

What better way to start off the week than with one of Weird Al’s classic parodies??? Not only am I agreeing with him 100 percent on this, I gave my own rant about it not too long ago. It really irks me as a writer to see memos, letters, emails, text messages and blogs (!) with crazy grammar and little to no editing. How do you expect the reader/audience to take you seriously?

Anyway I love how he takes a jab at this. You’ve probably seen it already (as of this post, it had over 8 million hits), but I had to post it just in case.

At any rate, happy Monday and have a great week, fellow readers, bloggers and writers!

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Daily Prompt: It Ain’t Gonna Bother Me No More

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Once again, the Daily Prompt follows up on something I just posted!

It’s not a coincidence!

Fear used to cripple me. The fact that I was extremely shy growing up didn’t help much either. But as we all know, life has a way of kicking you in the butt and teaching you a thing or two. Like a cornered animal, I started fighting back after a while. I got tired of missing out on special moments, not being able to tell someone about themselves or having the freedom to express what I really feel. Like I posted earlier, I could thank life or good people for helping me, but nothing has helped me more than fear itself. Little by little I turned that sucker around and used it to motivate me. Before I knew it, I’ve been able to establish good relationships, face oppressors and take on a new career as a freelancer. The good part is, I’m just getting started! 🙂

Yes, I missed out on things, but I don’t have any regrets. I’ve learned a lot and I still have time to deal with fear appropriately.

Fear is a natural emotion. There is nothing taboo or awkward about it. It happens, but it doesn’t stay. At least you shouldn’t let it stay. Use the hell out of it. After all, it’s part of our survival skills since the beginning of time. Fear has saved us from doing some stupid things anyway, so take that to your advantage. Fear is a friend not a foe!

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/fearless-fantasies/

 

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