Cheese Clouds

I seem to be in that vacuum of space between the feast and the famine––that weird phenomenon of time that seems to happen when there's this building cloud of assignments that you just know is coming, waiting...looming...growing. And yet, the actual time you'll be given to deal with the cloudburst is unmoving. While the knowledge of upcoming work (and the resulting reflection in the greenery of my bank account, of course) is always nice to have, there's that downside of stressiness that happens. Maybe it's just me, maybe it's not. I'll be the first to admit that I'm sometimes too easily launched into that black hole of anxiety, even though the reality is that I can truly handle the workload, if I attack it methodically and with a clear head. I.E., trading in stressy-me for rational-me. Stressy-me seems to be my default setting, and that's something I definitely would like to change.

I've never personally read Who Moved My Cheese, but if I wrote it, I'm sure the dialogue would go something like this: 
My. Cheese. Has. Moved.
Where?
Why? 
Who touched it?
What if they had germs?
What if it's not the exact same cheese?
Can I move it back?
When?

As you can guess, change is not something I embrace easily. And neither is lack of details. Both of which occur with maddening frequency in life as well as in work. Especially in the ever uncertain world of a freelance writer. Which begs the question: why do I do this? And how do I not have a bleeding ulcer? Who knows, maybe it has something to do with my very contradictory love of the adrenaline rush that comes from knowing I met the tightest deadline, that my clients were impressed. That I proved I could do it.

The cheese moves. The thundercloud builds. Life can't be planned. But I'm trying to learn again how to cope with all of those things. To not worry about who or why or when the cheese was moved. To be thankful that the cheese is, in fact, still out there and available. It's still cheese. To not worry about when the rain will come. Just to be glad that it's coming and realize that it's needed to water this thirsty ground. And to embrace the unplanned moments of life––since sometimes those turn out to be the best ones. 

I'm just going to have to see if I can keep the cheese from getting soggy in the meantime.  

More Than Words

Call it a hazard of being a writer, but I'm always amazed that people can put so little stock in the importance of words. Words are amazing, yet so many people treat them with such flippancy. Really, though, if you think about it, words can change everything. 

They have the power to persuade, the power to hurt, the power to heal. The power to kill, and the power to give life. Whether spoken or written, words are essential to how we relate to one another, to how we connect. Maybe that's why I love them so much. They are truly a powerful thing, and I'm reminded of that on a daily basis as I boot up my computer to start my work day or crack the spine on a book.

What would life be like without words?

As one who makes a living from my ability to spin them together, I shudder to think. But even as a simple human being, I've often reflected on a world suddenly robbed of words–-one where they could not be spoken, heard, read, or written. It would be a lonely thing, I think. We would never really know someone else, would we? How could we fall in love or really feel anything about anyone or anything?Death of words would, I think, literally mean death. They're required for technology, for entertainment, for relationship. 

And still, they are so undervalued. Think about it, though, next time you're about to say something or write something. What do those words mean, and what will they cost you? How will they be received? Hold them in your mind's eye and measure them. 

Words are a powerful thing, a gift or a curse. 

Words are never just words. Be wordly wise.

Bubblegum Bubbles

I'm always amazed at people who can just walk around in their own little bubble without ever talking to anyone. I'm just not built like that. Yes, I'll admit that I'm often guilty of the bubble thing, but I like talking to people far too much to operate my day on Mute, in a shatter-proof bubble. 
So I may have a bubble, but it seems to be made of gum.
And like all bubblegum bubbles, my bubble frequently pops.
Which means a fresh bubble later on, sure. But who doesn't like fresh?
Fresh is better, right?

I guess that's one of the hazards of being a writer. 
Or maybe it's one of the advantages.
I talk to so many interesting people and learn so many different things. And Lord knows it keeps my days from stagnating and my conversational level above a grunt. 
I find sources for articles I'm working on, get ideas for characters, make friends, and network. I've gotten some really great content, and I've met some truly inspirational people that I wouldn't have, if I'd kept my bubble intact.
Shatter-proof bubbles are overrated.
Sure, they may seem like a good idea, all protective and impenetrable.
But bubblegum bubbles can grow. 
Bubblegum bubbles are pretty colors.
Bubblegum bubbles are fun.

If we constantly operate within the confines of our own bubbles, the world would be a sad place. 
We'd lose connections, and I like connections. 
I like knowing that there are people who care about me, and people I care about. 
I like knowing that, as sticky as things can be, as difficult as life can become, there are people I can reach out to. People who don't mind that my bubble popped and I got stuck in their hair or on their faces. They get stuck to me, I get stuck to them. 
And then, we get stuck to the shatter-proof bubbles and prove that sometimes being bubblegum can fix holes. 


   

What's Cookin,' Good Lookin'?

Slow cookers are a thing of beauty for anyone who has one, and this new cookbook takes the slow-cooker meal to a whole new realm of possibilities. Packed with page after page of healthy, gluten-free dishes that taste divine, The Healthy Slow Cooker, Second Edition: 135 Gluten-Free Recipes for Health and Wellness by Judith Finlayson will be one of your favorites on days when you want to have dinner ready and waiting when you walk in the door. There are great variations on recipes that might not have ever crossed your mind as slow cooker possibilities, like "New World Leek and Potato Soup," which is not only vegan and gluten-free, but great because it uses sweet potatoes in place of the standard yellow or white variety found in most recipes for this soup. You can even try your hand at a Thai-inspired dish like "Mixed Vegetables in Peanut Sauce." Easy, delicious, and a fun way to get tons of veggies onto the plate! 

Got Chicken? Of course you do! The real question would be what to do with that chicken...And here's a great way to solve that mealtime mystery: 125 Best Chicken Recipes, by Rose Murray. It'll give you quick, tasty ideas for chicken that you'll love, like zesty tacos and fajitas, flavorful burgers, soups, and even stir fry dishes. No more boring chicken! 

Try your hand at becoming a queen of the casserole with 125 Best Casseroles and One Pot Meals by Rose Murray. You might find yourself scratching your head about what to do with all of those unused pots and pans after browsing this book, which is packed with great recipes that make mealtime and clean-up time a breeze. It'll be hard to pick a favorite!

For more info on all the books above, visit www.robertrose.ca 

Muddle On

I seem to be having one of those days where it seems that every word I type is laborious and not-quite-right. Which is a bad thing when you're staring down the business end of a deadline. It leaves you with little choice but to muddle through and hope that something magical happens between the time the thoughts squeeze out of your brain on their way to your fingertips as they hit the keys. Unfortunately, there is no app for writer's block. There's only sheer force of will...That, and the oh-so-galvanizing reality that if you do not work, you do not get paid. And paid is good. Paid means I get to keep a roof over my head and food in the fridge. All of which I like, so I muddled on. 

All morning and into the late afternoon, I have muddled on. 

Fortunately, I can now cross the muddling off and breathe a sigh of relief for a little while. I can try to think about something else...like who might next get booted from the teams on "The Face." You know, the really important stuff. Sometimes it's refreshing not to have to navel-gaze, okay? It keeps things a little more balanced, a little more sane. Yes, insane reality TV can keep you sane; there's a study on it, I'm sure. 

But even if it's not a proven scientific fact, it's fun. And fun is sometimes precisely what you need, especially after a long day of un-fun brain squeezing. So as you can imagine, I'm quite looking forward to going home later and planting my rear on my Ikea couch to watch the next installment of "The Face" that awaits me on my DVR. There are worse things I could be doing; so this particular vice is, in my opinion, a healthy one. It keeps me sane. 

And sanity is necessary to good writing. And good writing gets the bills paid. And paid bills includes paid cable bills, which means more of "The Face." It's good to have goals, isn't it? It keeps you muddling on.

Escapism

There's a lot to be said for lack of focus. Or maybe it's just me. Today, I'm so unfocused that it's distressing––I have too many things to do to feel this scattered. I'm terribly happy about the fact that I have a full list of assignments, but none of them seems to be taking any particular shape at the moment. I'd call it writer's block, but can I call it that if I'm actually writing right now? Hmmmm...interesting thought. 

As I sit here in my home-office away from my home-office, I'm chugging coffee, trying to warm up both my brain cells as well as the body that holds that brain––non-functioning though it might be at the moment. For some reason, every public place in the free world seems to feel the need to run their A/C at maximum, never once considering that their patrons might actually welcome the idea of tolerable thermostat settings. Some of us actually think better when we're not tying to thaw out, but I guess maybe we don't count. We're the minority, perhaps, but still.

But I digress. This was not actually what I intended to be writing about for today's post, but sometimes things have a mind of their own, don't they? The mind runs away with itself, taking the fingers with it and whipping across the keys to compose something entirely unintentional. Sometimes that's a good thing, sometimes a bad one. Whatever the case, it is an unescapable part of reality.

Speaking of escape...I am now the proud owner of a Ford Escape. In all the torrential rain activity that plagued my sector of the map last week, my car was part of the toll. And while the thought of being able to get a different car in place of my Suzuki was an appealing one, the way that it happened wasn't quite ideal. Normally, the purchase of a new car is a planned one, not an emergency one. But God was certainly watching over me as I made my search, and everything went much more smoothly than I could have imagined. It was an amazing blessing, a silver lining at the edge of the rain clouds. Fittingly enough, the Escape is the color of a storm cloud––a rolling reminder that life is full of storms, but faith will see you through them. You only have to believe and pray. And remember to be thankful for the miracles God can work, even in the middle of all the storms.

Mug Shot

As a self-employed freelance writer, I'm tight on time; tight on budget; tight on space; and maybe just a little bit tightly-wound. Okay, a lot tightly-wound. I make coffee nervous. Which is why the idea of giving the coffee a bit of a vacation and using that mug to all its potential is so intriguing––who knew that, when it comes down to dinner, the mugs have it made? Take a flip through Camilla Sausbury's new cookbook 250 Best Meals in A Mug: Delicious Homemade Microwave Meals in Minutes, and you might just rediscover your love for this under-valued member of your kitchen. It's packed full of fun, easy recipes for one––all developed to be made and served in a coffee mug. There are gumbos and chowders, casseroles, and even cakes. Break out (but don't break) the mug and fire up the microwave, this cookbook has dinnertime handled (literally). For more info on the book, visit www.robertrose.ca