Find Someone Else

If you knew someone who lost their spouse just a few weeks ago, would you say, “I know it’s hard, but there are other men/women out there looking for love. Get on eharmony and find one who needs you?”

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It Happened at the Beauty Salon

Mara climbed out of her car and blinked up at the powder blue sky. A gorgeous September day. She almost wished she didn’t have to go into the salon to get her hair done.

She shrugged; at least she enjoyed the company of the people there. The old fashioned, independent boutique had their regulars, and everyone knew each other. Even the door clanged with a bell when she entered.

“Hi, Mara.” Her stylist waved as she swept up her station. “I’ll be right with you.”

“No problem.” Mara stood near the checkout counter where a gray-haired woman was paying for services. She looked familiar from behind, and then when she spoke, Mara recognized her cousin. “Hello, Gloria. How are you?”

Gloria pivoted slowly, a scowl on her face, eyes squinted, and then she turned right back around toward the cashier without a word.

“Gloria? What’s the matter?” Deep down Mara knew. She didn’t mean to hurt her cousin’s feelings. She had apologized profusely, and Gloria said she accepted her apology. “You’re not going to talk to me anymore?”

With her back to Mara, Gloria spat, “No, I’m not.” She finished paying the cashier and stamped out the door.

Opposites Attract

While chatting in the comment section with friends about my Looking Inside post, another subject crept it’s way into the conversation.

Give and Receive

This is being written off the cuff, so bear with me.

I don’t have a lot of time for blogging this month, so this will be brief. I’m feeling emotional and confused about humans today.

Ugly is Beautiful

Self-awareness. Does anyone possess this quality anymore?

Get ready, we’re going deep today.

Interactions

It was one of those days. You know, when things just don’t seem to be going right. I don’t mean that everything was going wrong, really. Physical things actually went pretty smoothly. It was my interactions with humans that took a turn for the worse that day.

Brothers vs. Sisters

Do you have any siblings? Sister(s)? Brother(s)? Both?

I observed something regarding siblings over the weekend that I found fascinating. Another intricacy of the human mind and relationships.

Relationship Challenges

Have you ever been baffled by someone in your family? Okay, let me clarify.

My Celebrity Family

I’d love to say that I come from a perfect family, but I’m a realist. I know my family can be dysfunctional. This is not to say that I don’t love my family, or that we didn’t have some wonderful “Leave it to Beaver” times, because we had some of those moments, too. The key is, to accept all the moments, and I’m grateful for them. They are a part of this journey called, Life.

Now, onto the celebrity portion of this post. You see, some celebrities have actually taken a part in my family life.

Missed the Mad Men Mania

While we temporarily stayed with my mom, the three of us decided to dive into Netflix. Since none of us had seen Mad Men, we started from the beginning.

Important side note: We’ve only watched the first two seasons, so please no spoilers in the comment section.

At first I was frustrated with the show and wondered how it attracted so many viewers. An important rule in writing, is that the main character needs to be likeable. Who would want to continue reading a book if they hated the main character?

A Personal Growth Story from the Way-Back Machine

You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude toward what happens to you, and in that, you will be mastering change rather than allowing it to master you. ~ Brian Tracy

A while back, Carrie Rubin blogged about being an introvert and the fear of talking to a group of people. I commented to her, that about twenty years ago, I used to attend al-anon. I brought it up, because I related to her fear of talking to a group when I used to attend those meetings. Since my blog theme and most of my writing (memoirs and fiction) is about personal growth, my al-anon experience is something fitting to share.

Seeking a Title

I appreciated the input about my WIP on last week’s blog post and thought I’d try asking for advice on my finished novel this week. I’m struggling to come up with a title. I’ve had a few different working titles, and I’m not really sure I like any of them.

Here’s what I’m going to do. Below is a blurb about my finished novel. Beneath that is a clip from the prologue (some of it has been removed for brevity), and then beneath that is a poll to choose a title. I highlighted keywords in pink font that may be important for a title. I’d like to avoid the “fork in the road” cliche.

On the poll, there is an option that says ‘Other,’ and it would be great if you had an idea you’d like to share, too. Thanks in advance for your help.

The Art of Arguing

After my post of Mystical Tours 3 (a week ago Monday), a couple of people were surprised to find that I confronted my supervisor about lying to me. Thank you for bringing this up, because it gave me the opportunity to share the video below.