Posted in Personal, celebrities

Gone Too Soon

Hello everyone, I hope all is well with you. I’ve been working on my WIP and working at the day job this week. I’m just plugging along and hoping I hear some good news soon. 😊

My neck and back are so much better. The pain is gone although I can still feel it when I move just right. Since the pain’s gone, my attitude is better, and I may even begin to workout again. Slowly but surely. I don’t want to go through that again. It’s been two months, and it has been a long two months.

I had another post planned for today, but I found out about Taylor Hawkins passing away from the band The Foo Fighters. I became acquainted with him when I watched a documentary about one of my favorite bands, Rush. He oozed positive energy when he talked about the members of Rush, and I liked the relationship he had with the band. You could tell they were great friends.

I was sad to hear of his passing because he was so young and full of energy and talent. Maybe because he’s younger than me, it made me think of my own mortality. I feel like I have so much more I want to do with my life and when a younger person passes away, it reminds me that the clock is ticking.

I recently just learned he had a variety of drugs in his system when he passed. We don’t know yet if that contributed to his death, but I have a feeling it did. He just did too many. What a senseless loss.

It feels like we’re losing too many people to drugs and suicide, and I’m in no way saying Taylor’s death was a suicide. However, one of the drugs in his system was an anti-depressant. I’m not sure why he was taking it, but it does make me wonder what if he was depressed. It’s hard to believe, he was a successful musician, and loved by many, but then I think about Anthony Bourdain and Robin Williams. Depression can be organic, meaning a chemical imbalance in the brain. We are losing too many amazing people to this disease.

But I wonder if drugs are the answer to this mental health issue. In my humble opinion, shouldn’t we make sure we’re getting a balanced diet, enough sleep, and enough exercise before we resort to drugs? (This is not a criticism of Taylor in any way shape or form by the way.)

If we did that though, we’d have less time to devote to our passions. Exercising takes up a lot of time. But if our passions aren’t healthy, are they really our passions?

These are the questions I ask myself when something like this happens. I want to be there for my family. It’s the most important thing to me and I know that many people feel that way. To do that, we must take care of our bodies.

I know Rock and Roll is a demanding career, and you probably don’t need to exercise on the days you’re doing a show, but in my humble opinion, you can have a healthy diet and get enough sleep while you’re touring. You just have to set up your schedule that way.  After all, you’re a precious commodity. As fans, we should allow our idols down time to regroup and take care of themselves. Just some random thoughts while feeling sad over the loss of Taylor. RIP Taylor Hawkins. You will be missed.

What are some of the ways our entertainers can take care of themselves while on tour? Leave a comment! I’d love to hear from you!

Posted in Personal, Reading, reviews

What I’ve been Reading

Hello everyone, I hope all is well with you. I’ve had a busy week of work and writing. My pinched nerve is slowly but surely getting better. But enough about that. Today, I want to share what I’ve been reading because I’ve been reading more because of my injury to my neck.

The last book I read was Laine Moriarty’s “Apple’s Never Fall.”

The blurb and cover are below.

From Liane Moriarty, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Big Little Lies and Nine Perfect Strangers, comes Apples Never Fall, a novel that looks at marriage, siblings, and how the people we love the most can hurt us the deepest.

The Delaney family love one another dearlyit’s just that sometimes they want to murder each other . . .

If your mother was missing, would you tell the police? Even if the most obvious suspect was your father?

This is the dilemma facing the four grown Delaney siblings.

The Delaneys are fixtures in their community. The parents, Stan and Joy, are the envy of all of their friends. They’re killers on the tennis court, and off it their chemistry is palpable. But after fifty years of marriage, they’ve finally sold their famed tennis academy and are ready to start what should be the golden years of their lives. So why are Stan and Joy so miserable?

The four Delaney children—Amy, Logan, Troy, and Brooke—were tennis stars in their own right, yet as their father will tell you, none of them had what it took to go all the way. But that’s okay, now that they’re all successful grown-ups and there is the wonderful possibility of grandchildren on the horizon.

One night a stranger named Savannah knocks on Stan and Joy’s door, bleeding after a fight with her boyfriend. The Delaneys are more than happy to give her the small kindness she sorely needs. If only that was all she wanted.

Later, when Joy goes missing, and Savannah is nowhere to be found, the police question the one person who remains: Stan. But for someone who claims to be innocent, he, like many spouses, seems to have a lot to hide. Two of the Delaney children think their father is innocent, two are not so sure—but as the two sides square off against each other in perhaps their biggest match ever, all of the Delaneys will start to reexamine their shared family history in a very new light.

My Thoughts:

This was a great story about a family, and the sacrifices and the mistakes parents make with their children. It wove a tale of a family-owned tennis school run by the Delaneys. They are now in their twilight years and have sold the school. They’re struggling with the transition into retirement and dealing with their kids. Then one evening a young girl named Savannah knocks on the door and turns their world upside down.

When Joy disappears and Savannah is nowhere to be found all eyes turn to Stan. This is a great story that weaves a tale of supposition and coincidences that make Stan look guilty. I’ll let you read the story to find out what happens, but in true Laine Moriarty form this is a page turner that has you guessing until the very end.

Posted in Earth, environment, Personal

It’s Time to Take Care of Mother Earth

Hello everyone, I hope all is well with you. Today is the first day of daylight savings time where we turn the clocks ahead one hour and lose an hour. I don’t know about you, but I hate daylight savings time. It messes me up for a whole week. I don’t sleep well and that makes me cranky.

On a more positive note, my pinched nerve is so much better. I’m going to try to make it through the day without any muscle relaxers or anti-inflammatory meds. My index finger on my left hand is still numb, but at least I can still type.

But enough about that. Today, I’d like to talk about taking care of our planet. We humans sure have made a mess of things. From depleting our rain forests to the great garbage pile in the ocean, we should be ashamed of ourselves.

Why don’t we get smart and create a global organization whose primary purpose is to clean up the mess we’ve created? That way every nation would have to be involved. I wonder if that would help get rid of the wars? I mean if we’re all working toward the same goal, wouldn’t we have to get along?

Just like the trees in the forest cooperate with the fungi in the soil, we could cooperate with other countries and clean up our planet. Wouldn’t that be something?

I know, I’m being idealistic, but sometimes the answer really is that simple. If we don’t do something soon, future generations are going to be in trouble. It all starts with the forests and the oceans. They are the things keeping our earth alive. Along with our pollinators, let’s not forget the bees.

The bees keep our forests and flowerbeds growing. Isn’t it interesting that the health of the planet depends on such a tiny insect? Let’s do our part this spring and plant flowers so the bees have plenty of sources to collect their pollen. That’s one small thing we can do right now for our planet.

How about you do you have any ideas on how to keep our earth healthy? Leave a comment! I’d love to hear from you!

Posted in Personal, Writing

What do you do when the Burnout Bug Bites?

Hello everyone, I hope all is well with you. We were lucky yesterday and had a sixty-degree day where I was able to get out and go for a walk. My pinched nerve is still bothering me, so I was only able to go a couple of miles. Even so, it was nice to get some fresh air.

But enough about that, today I thought I’d talk about burnout. Burnout for writers or anyone really happens when you don’t pace yourself. Like a runner who sprints to early in the race, you can run out of gas. The joy you used to feel while creating your work just isn’t there, and the ideas are stagnant.

You’ve hit the wall and the only thing you can do is stop and take a break. When this happens, I have a few go-to activities that help ease the stress of burnout, because not producing something can be just as stressful as producing something, right?

I go for a run and get those endorphins going. Nothing beats a run for handling the stress of burnout.

I go for a hike. A hike through the woods is good for you mentally and physically. Forest bathing is really a thing and there’s nothing like a walk through the woods to calm the static in your head. FYI walking along the beach is just as good for you.

Reading is another way to beat burnout. Just reading for fifteen minutes reduces stress by sixty percent, and you get the added bonus of opening up your mind to new ideas. Most authors are voracious readers. It’s one way to improve your craft and beat stress all at the same time.

Get together with your creative community. I get together with mine and they’re so good at building up my confidence. We go hiking or paint. Sometimes we just go out for a bite to eat.

Shopping. Sometimes a little retail therapy is all you need to get those creative juices flowing again.

So, there you have it. Five things you can do when the burnout bug hits. How about you? What are some of the activities you do when you get bitten by the bug?

Leave a comment! I’d love to hear from you!