Hard Is Good And Here's Why.

Did I just say that?
I did.

I said it's good, not fun or easy.
So if difficult is no bag of giggles, what's good about it?

Adversity is what brought you to this point in your life.
It's what forged your character, strength and honed skills.
Lounging on a beach doesn't bring you anything,
 but a sun burn and age spots.

Suffering is good for the soul.

Yeah, great.
Heard it, done it, bought the t-shirt.
Blah, blah, blah.

Difficulty alone won't do it.

We must drag ourselves up from the depths battered,
 bruised and bleeding to be transformed.
Definitely not a good time.

Why go through all this effort?
Why not stay at the beach tanning until our skin is leather
 or wallow in self pitty and do nada?

Because we are writers.
And we don't fold, at least, not for long.

We understand the hero's journey and we are on a quest to publication.
Life may kick us in the teeth,
but we overcome by force of will,
 spunk and all the atributes we give our characters.
We are them and they are us.

We are on our own heroic journey.

We've heard the saying that life is hard and then you die.

Bull!

I say:
Life is hard and then you write!

Countless top selling authors went through
 a dark night of the soul experience prior to publication.

Dickens faced financial ruin when he wrote, A Christmas Carol.
Poe had lost his wife and suffered with drug addiction.
Rowlings was a single mother trying to make ends meet.

Hard in life makes captivating prose and real, heroic characters.
It also makes for a talented writer.
Use that strength and experience.

This week, embrace trials you've overcome
 and let them guide you in a manuscript.

No experience is ever wasted.

Learn from the past and use difficulties to your advantage.
Working through your personal hero's journey
can bring multi-dimensional characters and real heart ache to your work.
Readers love it!

And in the end, when you've lived through hell,
 trudged over blazing coals, and come out with burned tootsies,
 and a unique perspective, use it.

 You are Scrooge, Bella, the Bennet sisters, Katnis, George Baily, and Harry Potter.

And in the words of Winston Churchill during World War  2,

"Never, Never, Give Up."

Follow Your Gut.

With the new year, most of us are making resolutions for change.
What doesn't work must be evicted from our lives for our true passion to grow.
But how do you know the proper course?

Intuition.

It's that still small voice,
that burning in your chest or sinking feeling in your stomach.
All are signs your body enlists to gain your attention to act.
You use intuition all the time, but you may not realize it.
If you're a writer, your vibes lead to plot,
character and emotion in your story.
There is a feel to things going in the right way.

This same creative force is available in the rest of your life.

I hear grumbles.
No. I'm a plotter, I strategies, use logic to create my tales.
Even if you do outline in length, you still use a burst of creativity.
The muse dwells in your gut.

It's not mumbo-jumbo, it's science.
In The Molecules of Emotion, by Candace B. Pert, Ph.D.,
she explains the molecular association to our emotions.
Joy, fear, sadness and those niggling feelings that make us wary.
Molecules are behind all that,
chemicals sending messages and it can be measured.

For ancient man to survive,
he needed awareness on a deep level to avoid being eaten.
We still have those abilities.
Follow your gut.

When we're writing and feel stuck,
it's intuition saying we've taken the story off track.
Don't force it and plod forward.
Stop, listen and find what's off.
Your body knows--trust it.

The other week I delivered Christmas goodies to friends.
Though my friends office was close by,
I felt impressed to go out of my way and visit there last.
Was it logical?
Not at all.
 I did it anyway.

 I arrived to find an old school chum at the desk transacting business.
We'd lost touch some years ago.
Had I arrived five minutes sooner or later,
I would have missed her.
We hugged, traded information and reconnected.
It was meant to be.
But only because I didn't argue and chose to listen and act.

Intuition always has our best in mind.
It's what kept cave men alive, what moves you to call a friend,
take a different rout home or  any number of small things in a day.

It is the small things that bless our lives.
The more you act on following your hunch the easier it becomes.
Intuition has one purpose,
to make your life better.

Who doesn't want that?

Following those feelings brought me to an awesome critique partner,
and told me to write.
It's how I met my husband,
avoided a car accident, found countless lost items,
and a plethora of other small but valuable experiences.

This week start keeping track in your journal of those feelings.
Follow them and write down what happens.
When you act on them, they will increase.
Like a muscle, the more you use it the stronger it gets.

Following your intuition will improve your life,
your writing, and you'll learn to trust your self more.

All good things.

Start small. Before you act, ask if that's the best thing.
Wait.
See how you feel.
Then move forward.

Record these experiences in your journal.
The more you do this the stronger your impressions will become.

My new years resolution:
To listen to my gut even more and act quicker.

Let me know of your experience.
Comments always valued.