To Everything There is a Season…and a time to every Purpose: BLOGCATION!
Greetings to all in the New Year. Hopefully you had a peaceful and happy holiday with those you love best. It was great hearing from so many of you. Many thanks to Ginnie for this “Squash quoting Shakespeare” photograph, as my friend Marilyn called it. It didn’t occur to me to see it that way, but now that you mention it….
Usually I have some level of panic about my goals for the new year, but this time things were different: I saw very clearly that since I started the blog that I haven’t been doing my own writing to the same degree as before.
The whys are unimportant; there is only a certain amount of energy in each day and somehow the blog began to dominate my time, even as I reveled in the incredible work of others in the amazing blogosphere. It IS an online community and I would never have guessed how much pleasure I would get from it. I am delighted by the generosity and by the kindness of my readers and the writers that I follow on a regular basis. How else would I see so many photos from New Zealand, learn gardening phrases from a terrific writer in Wales, make friends in Ireland and the Netherlands?
That said, I started the blog as an Author Platform yet where was the author? Well, she was writing to be sure, but not finishing her ebook. If you take a look at my Welcome Page, you’ll see the rationale behind starting the blog two years ago. Many of you may not follow the book publishing websites like I do, but I can tell you that having a blog is considered de rigueur. Translation: gotta have one!
Having my book of essays in the hands of a wider audience has been a long held dream, and I’d like to use this next six months to see what progress I can make. One of the fun things about an ebook is that I have terrific video material to go with one of the essays; the story of my mentor in Rome, Italy. Beginning in January, I have appointments with a videographer to help me refine that documentary, which was filmed in 1992 before the Internet was the dominant force that it is today.
I plan to stay in touch with your blogs. As a friend once told me: All bloggers LOVE comments—yet my priorities will shift a bit. I wish I was the kind of person who could do it all, but I’m not and blessedly I recognize that about myself.
In the meantime, I’d like to leave on my Blogcation by reprinting an excerpt from my book Growing Down Stories called “Katie and the Blue Buddha.”
It seem appropriate to include a story already published about longstanding friendship, since this is the season for renewing our friendships.
If you like the story, I hope you’ll encourage your friends and family to subscribe. In that way, when the book is complete, you’ll hear about it first.
Thank you for being here and for your ongoing support. See you in the Summer!
Katie and the Blue Buddha
(an excerpt)
I’ve been thinking a lot about friendship lately. Seeing the seasons come and go and getting photo Christmas cards of other people’s children will do that to you. One day you wake up and realize that you have known many wonderful people in your life, but only a few of them are still a daily part of it. It takes a lot of care and tending to say that you can still see into someone else’s heart after many years. Or that you still know what makes them get out of bed in the morning, what gives them hope.
I’ve discovered that there is more than one way to keep friendship alive and thriving. On the one hand, there is the connection that is kept alive through effort—surviving relocation, divorce, the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, and all that Life can dish out. On the other hand, there is the mystery of souls that become linked by God-only-knows what grace, what bounty. When this occurs, you can only be grateful that, no matter what else may happen, or how far apart you and your friend may live, someone exists who knows you as well as you know yourself. And even after that, they still love you.
This story is about my friend Katie. We have found ourselves in that second category—linked by grace. This story is also about prayer, because Katie united friendship and prayer forever in my mind. If you think about it, prayer and friendship are similar: in both we seek to know that we are not alone.
I met Katie when I was living in Scottsdale, Arizona, for a brief period of my life. She was a silversmith in those days, living in a trailer in the red mountains of Sedona with two dogs and—most likely—a Remington under her bed. I suspect Katie shares the same DNA as the pioneers who settled the West. When she first came to stay at my house, she was so used to being outside that we set up a mattress and sleeping bag for her on the porch.
Katie once spent an hour trying to teach me to whistle until we finally collapsed into giggles because I was so utterly hopeless at it. She told me I couldn’t ride shotgun in her pickup truck until I learned, but she gave in when she discovered I could sing a damn good rendition of “You Ain’t Woman Enough to Take My Man.”
Katie has curly hair the color of wheat and blue-grey eyes with smile-crinkles all around them. She moves at the speed of glaciers, or very big mountains anyway. There are days when it can drive me crazy, but I have learned to wait. I wait for the thoughtful response that almost no one else has—the point of view that comes from being a mountain, I guess.
Her back and shoulders are a testimony to all the weighing in of gray matter—hard and bony and knotty like a burl, and nestled in upon a frame that is as light as leaves. I don’t know how she does it, but she stays limber with Yoga and Qigong and all those timeless Eastern practices that coax the lumps out of you like grandma coaxed the lumps out of Sunday’s mashed potatoes. Whenever I am playing back the messages on my answering machine and I hear a long pause—a very long pause—I know there is a message moving along the wires, over hills and valleys, making its way to me from Katie.
Excerpt from Growing Down Stories © Susan Troccolo
One last note—if any of you are interested in where I am in the process of creating the ebook, you may write to me at srtroccolo at gmail dot com. I’ll be glad to fill you in.
Wonderful excerpt and I can understand that it is important for you in your process to take some needed time. I look forward to talking to you as you move along with your project. I will not be starting my book anytime soon. Just not the right time. But I’ll be cheering you from the sidelines as I work on other projects…Happy Blogcation!
I will appreciate your cheering on! You and I have made a great connection and I hope to keep that going. You’ve helped me so much to get started with my site. I’ll be following yours with great pleasure. Wish me luck Donna!
Good to start the year with some words/thoughts from you. I too have been thinking
about all the friends I’ve had going over old photos/letters and how important they
all are in my life. A professional acquaintance I don’t know very well wrote me, “do you
know how you light up a room when you enter it?” I was stunned to read that-
Now I’m about to go off to work in Michigan and meet/work with a whole new set of people who will share our art. Why does that make me nervous? Surely there is excitement within that…one can’t have too many people in one’s life…
Katy sounds appealing to me: I love mountains and especially…long pauses!
Greetings in the New Year John. Yes, you and Kate would enjoy one each others company, I suspect. That professional acquaintance who wrote to you with such a compliment is someone who has seen your essence, your sweetness. I hope you wrote to him with a big thank you–those people are to be treasured. And I can see it: that sparkle in your eyes. People would gravitate towards you. So you are off to work in Michigan, eh?….hope you take your woolies-:)) Please keep in touch John, I know we will….
Susie, this reader will miss your thoughtful posts and insights, but I am glad you’re getting back to writing your book and look forward to reading it. You have some wonderful stories to tell. Thanks for the excerpt; I love the point of view of a mountain. Patience!
Dear buddy Marilyn, I will need our friendship to help finish this. Maybe from time to time we could meet at OCAC and just visit and/or commiserate. You’ve been through this much longer than I. You’ve really been an important reader for Growing Down Stories and it is that encouragement that boosts my spirits as I undertake this. If it comes out, you will be in the credits as someone who makes my writing work–that’s for sure. You and Nan.
Susie, although I’ll miss your wonderful articles, I can see this is a smart move on your part, and one that will allow you to make use of the “platform” you’ve created here. It would be really great for us readers if you would let us know how the book is coming along, even if it’s only a 2-sentence post, not a whole article. I suspect others would also appreciate hearing about it when appropriate. Happy writing!
I appreciate hearing that Joel. Especially since you are my guide in this whole matter. I’m talking to developmental editors this week, but would really appreciate a Skype session maybe the week after next? I also like your idea of keeping people in the loop and doing an occasional post. Good thought. Helps me to keep from “disappearing” too, since this is a pretty special group of readers and I will miss them.
Good luck as you work on your book! I’ve been working on many white papers for clients during the past several years, and my husband has said, “Just think if you wrote a bunch of white papers on your own chosen topics, it wouldn’t be long to have a book.” He’s right, of course, so I think at least one book might be in my future. In the meantime, I will cheer along people like you. Enjoy the journey!
Thank you Beth. “Enjoy the journey” is such good advice. I think I’ll write it out and put it on my computer now. *Thank you for that*. All good things to you Beth…
Wonderful excerpt. I hope your new year is full of creativity, productivity, love and laughter.
Hi Soosie–so glad you liked the excerpt. It gives me the idea that I can put two or three more excerpts in a post to give people the whole story of Katy and the Blue Buddha. From the comments, it seems that many of us love reading about deep friendship that transcends all the times in between when we don’t see each other. Wish you were closer too.
I know the back and forth pull of writing a blog, reading and commenting and encouraging other bloggers, and keeping up on what friends and family are doing VERSUS devoting time to bigger writing projects. It does seem like you can’t do all of them at the same time and do any of them very well. And it’s exhausting! I may follow in your footsteps at some point so I can concentrate on my larger projects but I do get lonely and need to come up for air regardless.
I so enjoyed your excerpt on Katy. Such a vivid description of someone who sounds like a wonderful friend. Good luck on your writing project.
Hi Maery Rose, I imagine you do know this challenge. I was just thinking this morning as I felt some fear wash over me, that if I can prioritize each activity at the start of every day, that it will help. A writing coach named Nina Amir calls it “moving the big rocks FIRST.” That makes a lot of sense to me as I putter around rearranging dozens of tiny rocks! You and Kate are both horse and dog people, btw…
Happy writing and we’ll all be here when you get back. Wonderful story! :o)
Thanks Tammy–I will count on it!
It’s funny, but I too have been wandering through older memories, searching for the core of who I am. As a fairly new retiree, the latest definitions of self along with cast and company are no longer there. My show was cancelled – now what?
So I review the activities and people who brought me joy. Some are out of reach, others right in front of me, waiting to be be picked like a ripe fruit, begging me to taste once more …
The excerpt of your book leaves me hungry. I think you should finish it. Ok, I’m a little selfish, because I want to read it, but it will bring you a sense of completion at the very least. I know nothing about the world of self-publishing, but it came to my attention that my Kindle Unlimited from Amazon consists only of self-published books. I couldn’t access popular titles, but it would pair up similar types of genres. I’m not sure if it’s a rip-off, or a mountain vein full of little gems.
Follow your heart.
Nothing makes me happier than to hear that the excerpt made you hungry for more. That’s what I’m counting on with my friends and readers. I have read all this stuff with Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited and one thing for sure: I can’t be in this for the money. The market is saturated, but if you feel a window opening like I do and you want your gems in the hands of more readers…then you just go for it. It’s just all part of the Big Conversation anyway. “Follow my Heart”….another one for a sticky right on top of my computer. See you this Sunday, I hope. I know I will have to keep up my swimming as a way of “coming up for air” as Maery Rose describes it.
I love your descriptions….your writing paints such pictures:)
Cheers to you as you let the ideas flow; prayers that you find an easy joy
about it all:)
-Jennifer
Hi Jennifer, I’m going to remember “an easy joy about it all.” Where do you mine these golden nuggets. In your own sweet noggin! (A little alliteration for the easy joy of it-:) Jen, could I ask a favor? Would you be willing to subscribe so I would have your name on the mailing list and then you will know when there is anything important to share? That would be so great. I don’t think you are a regular subscriber…and I don’t blog all that often.
If this means you’ll meet your beloved inspiration then we understand and support you, but be back soon, please! 🙂
Wow, Lily. This comment just catches me off guard, it is so great and happy-making. When I read something like this, I think that I really do need to keep up the blog to let readers share in the process with me. It suddenly dawned on me also how much I will miss people-:) Lily, are you a subscriber? I don’t spot your name on the list. If you would be willing to do that, you will know whenever there is something of value for your inbox. Thank you more than I can say for your comment.
I’m not a subscriber cause I never knew how to do or manage these things, pfpth! What a disaster, I need some quick classes! But subscriber or not, I’ll be checking if you had come back, cause we’ll miss you such a special blogger, Susan 🙂
Hi again Lily, Here is the way you can subscribe: on the Home Page–the page you see when the site first opens–you will see 4 boxes at the top. One says “Subscribe.” If you click on that box it will ask you for three things only, your name (first and last) and your email address. Fill those out, click subscribe and that’s it! You will only receive a post from me if I have something good to share. Of course you can always “unsubscribe” anytime. Also, your email will never be given to any other site, never.
I’m very excited and full of optimism for you. I’m having the same pull, apart from my blog I’ve written nothing in the last two years. Busy with our new little farm, and finding my place in a new community, my reflective time disappeared. I’ve lost the rythm of writing, the pain and pleasure, the highs and lows, its comfort and challenges. Do I have the strength to reshape the passing of my days? Will my passion and desire be enough? My spirit finds joy in your decision.
It is really something how time passes and of a sudden you realize you haven’t “moved the big rocks first”, as a coach I know says. Writing and reflective time don’t always present themselves. You sound as though you are building your community and your home, and that is huge. I started this blog with the aim of the book and now I feel that it is time to move forward on my aim, but I’m sure not naive to the amount of work it takes, starting with a great editor. (Interviewing someone this week.) I hope to keep the friends I’ve made here and I really appreciate your support Susan. Saying you find joy in my decision is a lovely thing to say. Thank you.
Among the blogs I read, are some who write, who are authors. One who uses his blog as a morning pages to warm up his writing muse, another who does a daily haiku on Twitter. Different strokes. Do enjoy getting your book written, birthed.
I imagine that–with your sensibilities–that you have authors who follow your site. I can see using the blog as morning pages, but somehow the tasks became very different for me. In part, I began to understand the blog as a visual form, or at least something that people like….and photography was not my strong suit at first. So I’ve learned a lot. I’ve made a note on my screen about something Jennifer wrote: “the easy joy about it all.” That is my goal–wish me luck Diana.
Go for it Susie! Life is far too short to not follow your dreams when and where you can. I wish you joy in your writing and will look forward to reading the results.
I loved your description of your friend, nothing is more precious than those people we connect deeply with, even if we have to wait for them to speak!
Hooray to you Janet! Just what I needed to hear this morning. Life IS too short, you are right and this just feels like a window that I can seize to attempt this “birthing of a book.” I actually found a developmental editor to talk with last week who calls herself “The Book Doula”, so you get the picture that it actually IS a big effort and a big push-:) A lot of my writing is about connection with people on a deep level as part of aging with grace, humor and love, so you would most likely relate. Thanks for being here…I still picture you on your walks stopping for tea and a cake.