Whether you want to be an actor, musician, dancer, or another type of performance artist, you probably already how challenging it is to break into this extremely competitive industry. Few can achieve a high-ranking status that equates to earning millions of dollars. In fact, according to some of the latest statistics available, the median hourly wage for an actor was just $22.15, in part because many of them only work part-time. Remember that talent can only take you so far if you hope to make a living in performance art. You’ll need a lot more than that – these attributes Read more…
It’s the 1st Wednesday of the month again. That’s when I take part in Alex J. Cavanaugh’s Insecure Writer’s Support Group. Thank you to the December 4  IWSG co-hosts:  Tonja Drecker, Beverly Stowe McClure, Nicki Elson, and Tyrean Martinson! Today we will explore living the dream: the life of a writer, as I answer the IWSG question for December 4th: “Let’s play a game. Imagine. Role-play. How would you describe your future writer self, your life and what it looks and feels like if you were living the dream? Or if you are already there, what does it look and feel like? Tell the rest Read more…
Do you prioritize your passion? Or do you let other things get in the way of the creative endeavor that fuels your excitement? Today we will be looking at how to prioritize your passion and make time for your dreams. I’ll be sharing the artist/curator who inspired this post with his timely advice as well as how to Recently, I took a class from the Emerging Curator’s Institute, with my daughter, Summer. The class was called “Curating as Artistic Practice.” This was an ideal experience for my daughter who is going to school to study Art History and Museum Studies. Read more…
My daughter Sam has charisma. When I asked her when she first knew she had charisma, she said, “It’s like knowing the color of your skin. You might not know what to call it, but you know you’ve got it.” She has always known how to get what she wants. At the age of 8, she struck up a conversation with a comedian who was selling CDs of his Christian comedy act. She asked him about one of the CDs that had a scratch on the cover. She convinced him (with very little effort) to give her the CD. Then, Read more…
When my daughter Summer was about a semester into her college experience at the age of 16, she knew what field she wanted to work in. With great confidence, she asked her professor, “How do I get your job?” The professor told her. Since then, she has been on track to work as an art historian. Visualizing success can you the confidence you need to reach your goals. In 2012, social psychologist, Amy Cuddy gave the TED Talk, Your Body Language May Shape Who You Are.[1] In it, she hypothesizes that your body language not only affects the way you Read more…
About 12 years ago, I was in the market for a new vehicle. I was newly separated from my ex-husband and a little overwhelmed by the car-buying process. I had done my research, though, and found a few candidates online. One of them was advertised wrong. When I called the number in the ad, I got a New Hampshire car dealership rather than the dealership right down the road in our Twin Cities suburb. Hmmm. My intuition told me I could get good deal on this van. I quickly went down to the local dealer who actually had the minivan. Read more…
I recently decided to reframe the problem of explaining what it’s like to live with cancer, by creating a complicated graph. In January, we had a crazy week, down at the Mayo Clinic. We had gone thinking my husband would be in a new trial. Then, the doctors discovered what they thought were more brain metastases. These would disqualify him from the trial. So, they cancelled his biopsy and other testing appointments. Meanwhile, the polar vortex hit Minnesota plunging temperatures to record lows. It was so cold that a man died in the very town where we were staying because Read more…
Many years ago I ended up being the president of the homeschool support group at our church. I say, “ended up,” because after attending only 1 meeting, I agreed to become the vice president and then the president resigned 2 weeks later. So my unexpected rise to power left me feeling pretty overwhelmed. I had to question everything in order to come up with a plan to improve the way we dd things. There were some problems As we began to question everything, we started with the attendance. It was really low. There were only about 5 of us. Yet, Read more…
Anyone raising teenagers knows the challenge of overcoming opposing viewpoints. They want things one way, but you have rules which say they have to be another. Sometimes it can feel like you are banging your head against a brick wall. Why does she insist on wearing shoes without socks in the winter? Why does he consistently come home 10 minutes later than he was supposed to? What is behind her failing grades or his bad attitude? Likewise, they probably view your rules as restrictive and think you just don’t understand what it’s like to be in their shoes (even if Read more…
Today we took one of our frequent trips to the Mayo Clinic. We sit in waiting rooms for long stretches of time each day. And each trip can take 2-3 (sometimes 4) days. So, I filled a bag with my kindle, my phone, charging cords, my purse, a sleep mask (in case I was able to catch some zzzzs in the quiet lounge), some snacks, a book to read to Dan on the drive down, another book that I’m preparing to review, and even more things that I later learned were not needed. I often overpack, as if I’m afraid Read more…
I love getting feedback on my projects, whether they are blog posts or books I’m writing. The first people I turn to are my family members. Countless times, their feedback has saved me public embarrassment and ridicule (primarily from them). Another valuable source of feedback is my group of beta readers. As I was writing Facing Cancer as a Parent: How to Help Your Children Cope with Your Cancer, my beta readers gave me feedback that made a big difference in the quality of the book. Trends in Feedback The benefit of getting feedback from several people is that you Read more…
Today’s prompt asks, “What’s your ideal scenario? Bring your vision to life by creating a drawing or collage of pictures.” I’m a little bit uncomfortable with things that don’t line up neatly, and a collage definitely falls into that category, so I’ve made it a practice to never put together a collage…ever. But, I can definitely get into visualization as I imagine the ideal scenario for my future. What I see and feel in my ideal scenario It’s 5 years from now. A treatment has been formulated to cure lung cancer and reverse the negative effects that living with and Read more…
Do you remember the OJ Simpson Bronco Chase? On June 17, 1994, most of America got to see a low-speed chase from a helicopter view. OJ Simpson, driven by his friend Al Cowlings in a white Bronco, led police, lights and sirens blazing, down the highway. Detective Tom Lange was able to contact Simpson on his cell phone to try to reason with him. Simpson had a gun and was refusing to toss the gun out the Bronco. He was obviously under distress because he knew he was about to be arrested. He was going to lose it all and Read more…
My daughter and I recently started a free 7-day trial at a nearby fitness gym. Our first visit to the gym involved a sit down with the manager/owner of the franchise. He was great at his job and asked us a series of question intended to help him learn where we were at in our fitness journeys. These questions were among those he asked. I’ll share some of my answers. What are the biggest obstacles? Pain is my number one obstacle to fitness. I have rheumatoid arthritis. Part of my treatment for over 4 years was prednisone, a steroid notorious Read more…
Today we’re going to talk about putting a deadline on our goals and incorporating them into a reasonable timeline. Then, we will combine the timeline with the other elements we’ve been looking at for the past month, in our “Goal Posts” series, and write some SMART Goals. For a general overview of what SMART GOALS are, check out this post that I wrote a year ago. SMART goals are written based on criteria using the pneumonic acronym SMART which stands for the following: S=Specific M=Measurable A=Achievable R=Relevant T=Time We will take all of the elements of your SMART goal and Read more…
In today’s installment of our “Goal Posts” series, we will look at whether or not the steps you are taking toward your goal will get you there. Each step should be relevant to your goal. I will be breaking down the process of setting SMART Goals. For a general overview of what SMART GOALS are, check out this post that I wrote a year ago. SMART goals are written based on criteria using the pneumonic acronym SMART which stands for the following: S=Specific M=Measurable A=Achievable R=Relevant T=Time Is it relevant? Do the steps you are taking, lead toward your goal? Read more…
This week, as we continue the Goal Posts series, we are going to look at how your goals can measure up to be achievable in 2019. For a general overview of what SMART GOALS are, check out this post that I wrote a year ago. SMART goals are written based on criteria using the pneumonic acronym SMART which stands for the following: S=Specific M=Measurable A=Achievable R=Relevant T=Time How does your goal measure up? How will you know that you’ve reached your goal? Your goal can measure up several different ways. Find a way in which to track your progress that is Read more…
It’s the 1st Wednesday of the month again. That’s when I take part in Alex J. Cavanaugh’s Insecure Writer’s Support Group. I encourage you to check out their website and even sign up for the IWSG Newsletter. This month, I won’t be answering the optional #IWSG question of the month. But I encourage you to check out some of the answers the other fabulous insecure writers have written. Instead, I will be continuing my Goal Post series. Each week we will be one step closer to having a clear plan for achieving your goals in 2019. This week, that step is for Read more…
As we approach the end of 2018, you may be asking where the year went. Did you set goals for 2018? If you didn’t, why not? If you did set goals, did you reach them? In this series of “Goal Posts,” I will be breaking down the process of setting SMART Goals. For a general overview of what SMART GOALS are, check out this post that I wrote a year ago. We are going to dive deep into the process of planning your year as we close out 2018 and begin 2019. We will make it more manageable by tackling Read more…
Now that we are well into November and Thanksgiving is right around the corner, I want to focus on gratitude and goals. We are going to start by looking at the things we already have that make our lives better. Sometimes we earn the things we are grateful for. Other times, we don’t seem to deserve them at all. Either way, it’s important that we recognize them and take stock of the blessings in your life. This exercise will lay the foundation for goal setting. We are going to focus on 3 areas of your life: relationships, career/finances, and who Read more…
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