On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.
Originally designed for entrepreneurs, the following infographic can be also be applied to creative ventures.
This month’s name comes from the Latin “aperire” which means “to open.” An appropriate choice for a time of revival after a cold winter season.
Here are 10 interesting facts about April:
1. Originally the month had only 29 days. A 30th day was added when Julius Caesar established the Julian calendar.
2. During April, birds migrate north and smaller animals come out of their burrows.
3. The month’s birthstone is the diamond, a stone well-known for its longevity, strength, and beauty.
4. There are two birth flowers for April: the daisy and the sweet pea. The sweet pea signifies bliss and pleasure while daisies represent childhood innocence, loyalty, and purity.
5. People born between April 1 and April 19 fall under the sign of Aries, and those born later in the months are under Taurus. Aries are seen as passionate and independent trailblazers while Taureans are often ambitious and trustworthy.
6. Famous people born in April include Sir Alec Guinness (April 2), Marlon Brando (April 3), Bette Davis (April 5), William Wordsmith (April 7), Loretta Lynn (April 14), Leonardo DaVinci (April 15), Queen Elizabeth (April 21), and William Shakespeare (April 23).
7. After a 1500-year break, the first Olympics of the modern era took place on April 16, 1896 in Athens, Greece.
8. One of the most well-known dates of the month is April Fools’ Day. Some believe the date was inspired by Geoffrey Chaucer’s story, “Nun’s Priest Tale,” in Canterbury Tales. The whole month celebrates comedy: April is National Humor Month.
9. April has also been designated as Alcohol Awareness Month, Financial Literacy Month, National Autism Awareness Month, National Parkinson’s Awareness Month, National Volunteer Month, and Stress Awareness Month.
10. Earth Day is celebrated on April 22. Other April observances include National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day (April 2), National No Housework Day (April 7), National Hug Your Dog Day (April 10), National Garlic Day (April 19), and International Jazz Day (April 30).
On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.
A long-time fan of bestselling authors and coaches Marc and Angel Chernoff, I look forward to reading their emails and blog posts. Here’s an excerpt from a recent email:
No matter what the specifics of your troubled times are, taking a moment to look inward at what you could have done differently and how could potentially avoid similar situations in the future can be a healthy exercise. This is not to blame yourself or to shame yourself, but simply to give you the opportunity to learn, on a higher level, from your experiences.
It’s about learning to choose the most effective response in a difficult, uncontrollable life situation.
It’s about learning to think better so you can ultimately live better, not matter what.
The key is to realize that no matter what happens, you can choose your attitude and inner dialog, which dictates pretty much everything that happens next. Truly, the greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another—to train our minds to see the good in what we’ve got, even when it’s far less than we expected.
It’s about choosing: Will I allow this to upset me? Will I choose to make this bad or good? Will I choose to stay or walk away? Will I choose to yell or whisper? Will I choose to react or take the time to respond?
Note: I highly recommend subscribing to Marc & Angel’s website.
A woman of great passion and intelligence, Madeleine Albright served as the first female Secretary of State in American history. During her tenure (1997- 2001), she worked to advance human rights, curb nuclear weapons, enlarge NATO, and mend Arab-Israeli relations. A fierce advocate for democracy, she received many awards and accolades, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Madeleine Albright passed away yesterday (March 23, 2022) at the age of 84.
My favorite quotations from Madeleine Alright:
It took me quite a long time to develop a voice, and now that I have it, I am not going to be silent.
Our collective experience has shown that when women have the power to make their own choices, good things happen.
I have very set and consistent principles, but I am flexible on tactics.
I was taught to strive not because there were any guarantees of success but because the act of striving is in itself the only way to keep faith with life.
Whatever the job you are asked to do at whatever level, do a good job because your reputation is your résumé.
There is a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women.
The difference between humans and other mammals is that we know how to accessorize.
The best book, like the best speech, will do it all—make us laugh, think, cry and cheer—preferably in that order.
History is written backwards but lived forwards.
The real question is: Who has the responsibility to uphold human rights? The answer to that is: Everyone.
On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.
Here’s a motivating excerpt from Heather Havrilesky’s best-selling book, How to Be a Person in the World:
Make this your new religion: You are funny and talented, and you’re going to try something new. This is the exact right time for that. This is the most important year of your life, and for once you are NOT going to let yourself down. If you fall down and feel depressed, you will get back up. If you feel lethargic and scared, you will try something new: a new routine, a healthier diet.
You will work tirelessly and take pride in your tireless work. And you will take time every few hours to stop and say to yourself, “Look at me. I’m doing it. I’m chasing my dream. I am following my calling.”
It doesn’t matter if your dreams come true, if agents swoon and audiences cheer. Trust me on that: It truly doesn’t matter. What matters is the feeling that you’re doing it, every day.
What matters is the work—diving in, feeling your wary in the dark, finding the words, trusting yourself, embracing your weird voice, celebrating your quirks on the page, believing in all of it. What matters is the feeling that you’re not following someone else around, that you’re not waiting for something to happen, that you’re not waiting for your whole life to start.
Savor that precious space. That space will feel like purgatory at first, because you’ll realize that it all depends on you. That space will feel like salvation eventually, because you’ll realize that it all depends on you.
Source: How to Be a Person in the World by Heather Havrilesky
On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.
Each Sunday, I receive an inspirational email from Reid Tracy, the CEO of Hay House. I found this past Sunday’s message a thought-provoking one:
I heard a great quote on my way to the Hay House office last week: “The grass is greener where you water it.”
Aaron Rodgers, the quarterback of the Green Bay Packers football team, said this when he was asked about the possibility that he may be changing teams and whether he felt the grass was greener on the other side of the fence.
I really love the idea that you don’t have to go anywhere to make things better; you just have to put effort into making things better where you are.
It’s so easy to look at a situation from the outside and think, “that person has it better,” and the only solution is to move in the same direction and try to achieve or get what they have. But the truth is, their success is likely a result of their actions, not simply because they are in a different place.
I know I’ve done that before while working here at Hay House. For example, I’ve attributed the success of other companies to better circumstances, not because they worked hard to nourish it.
And of course, I have also done this on a personal level (as I think many of us have). I’ve found myself feeling envious of someone else’s situation, not realizing they probably put in a lot of effort to get to where they are. Again, they took the time to water the grass.
So this week, I challenge you to think of some things in your life that you want to improve, and take at least one small step towards achieving your goals. Of course, it may take more than a week to see the result you want, but hopefully you will see some progress this week.
On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.
A long-time fan of bestselling authors and coaches Marc and Angel Chernoff, I look forward to receiving their emails. Here’s a thought-provoking excerpt from a recent email:
1. Sometimes you have to try not to care, no matter how much you do. Because sometimes you can mean almost nothing to someone who means so much to you. It’s not pride, it’s self-respect. Don’t expect to see positive changes in your life if you constantly surround yourself with negative people. Don’t give part-time people a full-time position in your life. Know your value and what you have to offer.
2. Let someone love you just the way you are – as flawed as you might be, as unattractive as you sometimes feel, and as unaccomplished as you think you are. Yes, let someone love you despite all of this, and let that someone be YOU.
3. Perspective is everything. When faced with long check-out lines, traffic jams, or waiting an hour past your appointment time, you have two choices: You can get frustrated and enraged, or you can view it as life’s way of giving you a guilt-free breather from rushing, and spend that time daydreaming, conversing, or watching the clouds. The first choice will raise your blood pressure. The second choice will raise your consciousness.
4. Twenty years from now it won’t really matter what shoes you wore today, how your hair looked, or what brand of jeans you bought. What will matter is how you thought about yourself, how you lived, what you learned, and where you applied this knowledge.
The bottom line is, despite the real-world challenges you face, the biggest and most complex obstacle you will have to personally overcome on a daily basis is your own mind. In other words, you aren’t responsible for everything that happens to you in life, but you ARE responsible for undoing the self-defeating thinking patterns that these undesirable experiences create.
YES, YOU CAN THINK BETTER, which means you can ultimately live better.
Note: I highly recommend subscribing to Marc & Angel’s website.
I’m happy to welcome best-selling author Liz Flaherty. Today, Liz shares the two acts of her life and her new release, A Year of Firsts.
Here’s Liz!
My first act was my life’s dream. I had a family I loved, a job I liked a lot, a house, and friends. It was, like everyone else’s dream-come-true, if one likes roller coasters. Fortunately, I do—or did then. Although the years were happy, there were also the days of being overwhelmed, of sitting alone in the bathroom wondering what to do, of having three teenagers in the house. In the middle of it was a year of “can this marriage be saved?” (It could.) I had months of hating the job and wept a gazillion tears over the kids. I couldn’t wait for it all to be over.
Until it was. Act One, Scene Two came with the empty nest. It was okay, much less hectic. Not nearly as much fun, but I had more writing time. I had a book published. Then a few more.
Then I retired, and Act Two happened because Act One ended.
It’s been such a surprise. Writing fulltime doesn’t mean I get more written—it means I waste more time. Marriage in retirement age isn’t easy—it’s hard! Losing friends no matter how you lose them, with death, dementia, and lack of interest taking center stage, is painful.
But those are the bad days. The good ones…no, the good years… are so good they’re hard to describe. The marriage is more fun, as is traveling, having remarkable grandchildren, and laughing with friends and family until your stomach hurts. The good days are most of them.
And then there’s the writing… And that’s where I am now. I’ve never been one to keep count of things, so I’m not sure how many books and novellas (and rejections) there have been, but, like I said before, they’ve been good years.
A Year of Firsts, Book One in the Second Chances series for Magnolia Blossom Publishing, is the story of Syd and Clay, whose own Act Twos are up the air and—for Clay at least—might be doubtful. I had so much joy and not a little angst writing this story. I hope you have that much pleasure in the reading, too.
Blurb
Widow Syd Cavanaugh is beginning a “year of firsts” with the road trip she’d promised her husband she’d take after his death. An unplanned detour lands her in Fallen Soldier, Pennsylvania, where she meets the interesting and intelligent editor of the local paper.
Television journalist Clay McAlister’s life took an unexpected turn when a heart attack forced him to give up his hectic lifestyle. He’s still learning how to live in a small town when meeting a pretty traveler in the local coffee shop suddenly makes it all much more interesting.
While neither of them is interested in a romantic relationship, their serious case of being “in like” seems to push them that way. However, Clay’s heart condition doesn’t harbinger a very secure future, and Syd’s already lost one man she loved to a devastating illness—she isn’t about to lose another. Where can this relationship possibly go?
Excerpt
If I fall in love again, this will be how it happens.
The thought came from nowhere she could identify, although she knew deep in her soul that it had to do with the tall man in shorts and a polo shirt walking up the incline of her yard to meet her. The man whose heart would likely not last as long as her own, whose every wince made her fear he was having a heart attack. His attitude toward exercise and diet was that of the middle-aged man in perfect health he appeared to be, not one who had a zipper-like scar up the center of his chest.
But just the sight of him, with his light brown hair that needed cutting blowing into his eyes even though his graying beard was as always short and neat, made her heart beat harder and faster. She smiled, remembering his explanation of why he had a beard.
At first he’d said it was because he had a weak chin he didn’t want anyone to notice, but then he’d admitted it had been an ongoing struggle between him and a producer of his show. “He was pushy and I was usually compliant. It was a great gig and I knew it. But it got to where he wanted to…create the brand he wanted me to be, I guess. I mostly went along because he was a pretty smart guy who knew his stuff, but when I came back from vacation with a beard and he gave the order to have it gone before I went on the air, it became the proverbial last straw.”
Everyone had last straws sometimes, she thought abstractedly, stopping and waiting for him to join her. “Rehearsal was okay, wasn’t it?” she said, thinking her voice sounded horrifyingly breathy. It went along with the movie scenario. “I didn’t make a complete idiot of myself, did I? Or mess things up for other people? I never want to do that. Where’s Toby?”
Of course, she didn’t. People who were pocket protectors protected not only themselves, but others from themselves.
During all the long months of his illness, Paul had never seen her angry. She’d confined that to times alone. She’d hidden her anger to protect him, yet it had probably created a chasm between them. She should have let him see her last straws sometimes.
“He’s asleep. Braxton is staying the night.” Clay didn’t hesitate as he joined her, just put his arms around her and led her into a dance. “You were great.”
Syd wasn’t a good dancer, by any means. When friends used to tell her to “listen for the beat,” she always said, “what beat?” because she could never hear it. But she’d loved to dance anyway. It was emotion in motion, and sometimes…sometimes after Paul got sick it had been better than running screaming into the woods behind the house, which had been both an alternative and a temptation. Abba and Billy Joel and Journey had often brought some semblance of peace to the crashing cacophony of her anger.
She couldn’t remember the last time she’d danced in a man’s arms—probably at the girls’ weddings, when Paul was already having trouble moving but had been determined to dance not only with Haley and Shiloh but with Syd as well. It had been excruciating, the fear that he would fall and be injured or become so exhausted he couldn’t stay to enjoy the receptions.
The memory was fleeting, and of happy times, and then it was just Clay McAlister. Taller and more muscled than Paul had been, his arms creating a circle of light for just the two of them as they danced across the grass.
When he kissed her in the shade of the willow tree, she wasn’t sure where the stars came from, only that they filled her eyes and, for a long and tender moment, her heart. She’d been so tired when she came outside, but weariness gave way to the magic of the clear night and being in Clay McAlister’s arms. She’d set her glass down somewhere, or he had, leaving her arms free to go around him.
It couldn’t go anywhere, whatever “it,” this meeting of hearts and minds, was. She couldn’t go through it again, the caring for and ultimate losing of a man she loved. She didn’t think Clay wanted to settle into a committed relationship, either, and she didn’t know how to have any other kind.
“Boat ride?” he said quietly, meeting her gaze in the dim lights from the deck.
She nodded. That much, she could do. Saying no never even occurred to her.
Buy Links
Amazon (US) | Amazon (CA) | Amazon (UK) | Amazon (AU)
Bio
Retired from the Logansport post office, Liz Flaherty spends non-writing time sewing, quilting, and doing whatever else she wants to. She and her husband Duane live in the old farmhouse in North Central Indiana they moved to in 1977. They’ve talked about moving, but really…40-plus years’ worth of stuff? It’s not happening. It would require removing old baseball trophies from the attic and dusting the pictures of the Magnificent Seven, their grandchildren.
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Bookbub | Amazon | Goodreads
Joanne Guidoccio 