by Tish MacWebber | Apr 3, 2018 | Weekend Warrior
This Weekend Warrior is going to be about a little bit of rock and roll. This past weekend was Easter Weekend. I did have to work on Good Friday. I also went to a concert. One of the bands I like to support when they are in town had a show here on Friday night. I did keep the no meat rule for Good Friday, and I was not drinking. I drove myself to the show and was able to drive myself home after. Having the car made me not have to think about having anything stronger than ginger ale. I am still taking antibiotics, and have decided to stay out of the wine until I am better. One of the prescriptions I had taken for a week was not to be mixed with alcohol, and I am just trying to be careful when I am not feeling my best.
Although I did not see The Hypochondriacs play, I bought their CD. I also bought the latest CD from The Stanfields, Limboland. I decided to buy a t-shirt and got a tote bag for free. Then I made sure both bands signed the new CDs. It is something I have always done when I buy the CD at the show if I am able to do so. Here is a picture of what I brought home.
The Stanfields Swag and The Hypochondriacs CD
Late into the night, I had a chat with a new friend. It is something I have really liked about taking on the journey to becoming a published author. I am involved with a few writing groups, and the ones that I am wanting to be more involved with are providing me with a safe place to vent, share my projects, the highs and the lows of my journey. Friday night, I discovered another perk. I have a new friend that I started chatting with.
I have been going through some stalling on my projects. I have picked up the beads, which is okay, but I still haven’t done any writing outside of the blog, and the E-Zine I wrote an article for. (If you missed the Creatives Rising E-Zine Spring 2018 Issue, the online publication FOR Creatives, BY Creatives in affiliation with @CreativesRising and @CreativeEnergyGoddess
#CreativesRising2018 #CRZine #amwriting #HappyWriting)the link to subscribe and check it out can be found in Treasure Seeker Tuesday #24 When Opportunity Knocks. I have a pending Guest Blog that I really need to find time to work on, but the thing I am not giving the attention it needs is the book writing. I had some revelations about this while I was chatting with my new friend.
I realized that my cover for book 1 has me feeling doubt. I played a little in Canva. I am finding my way and doing as much as I can. I had some criticism when I was getting down to my final choices. The picture is not high quality. The fonts are too hard to read. The tartan is too much. I should just write the book, and not try to do all of the different things involved with it. I tried not to let on that it bothered me, but it did. Not enough to make me quit. It did slow me down, though.
I realized that I need to go with my gut on this. I am still a little nervous, but I finally realized that not everybody gets me, and that means that not everybody is going to get my design choices. That is okay. If they don’t get it, maybe it isn’t the book for them. I know in my heart that I need to write, and I need to tell the stories inside of this book. People have heard me tell some of the stories over the years, but nobody has heard them as the cats might have narrated them. That is why this book is going to be special. It is from my heart, and it uses the talents I was born with to tell the stories.
I made a decision in the wee hours of Saturday morning. I decided to set a deadline in September. I don’t want it to be released too close to the day that my friend passed away, but I do feel that it is the best way to honour her by releasing it on September 30th. That is my tentative launch date for my first book to be published.
I have been speaking with a colleague that does editing in her spare time. We haven’t discussed details yet but she is interested in editing the book for me. I will be glad to have someone I know to give it a good read through. I will do my own editing first, and then I will need an editor to help me perfect it before publishing. I am hoping that this plan will work out.
Then I got up Saturday, with the idea for the second book cover. I plan to have book 2 published in December. I have it drafted, I just need book 1 finished so I can get right into writing book 2.
That Tartan that I designed for my pen name? It’s going to be sticking around. I will have help to get the perfect pic of me for the cover of book 2. The idea is going to be something I don’t share with too many people yet. I can say it is going to be fun!
Saturday I didn’t do a lot. I preoccupied myself with reading the latest Writer’s Digest Magazine for a part of the day. It was a quiet night at home. I have been trying to rest up as much as I can. That doesn’t always add up to sleeping in. I didn’t sleep too late on Saturday.
Sunday was fairly quiet also. We just needed a quiet weekend. I needed to sort out what was holding me back, and figure out how to get things going again. I think I was able to get a good amount of time to figure out what I need to get my momentum going again.
Since I had a bit of a mixed up weekend, loud and quiet. I am calling this weekend a draw. There were highs and lows. I had time to have a little fun, and I had time to think about what was holding me back. I feel good about it.
#WeekendWarrior
by Tish MacWebber | Mar 30, 2018 | Trust Your Gut
This week in Trust Your Gut I am going to write about defeating inner gremlins. What are inner gremlins, you might be wondering? Inner gremlins are those little voices that whisper negative things to you, kind of like the devil on your shoulder if you prefer that description. I have been doing a lot of work on myself, and this past winter I have been having a hard time. I have difficulty being active in the winter, and I also lack gumption. It could be Seasonal Depression, but it has never been officially diagnosed as such. It does seem to be related to the winter months, and I have noticed a change in this over the last few weeks. I am perking up with the sunshine. Or it could just be an elaborate excuse told by the inner gremlin.
In my journey to become a healthier version of myself, I can honestly say that it has been a lacklustre event since the fall. I have had spurts, but not a long-term plan of action. I think the plans up and talk myself out of them. Or rather my inner gremlin talks me out of them. I want to do things that make me feel better, but I just let lazy Tish win. She is a real pain in the ass. She doesn’t want to put an effort into anything that isn’t absolutely necessary, and she is a real downer. She listens to the inner gremlin and believes what it says. It makes her tired and cranky. Negativity will do that to the best of us. I know in my heart what I need to do, and I just don’t do it. I am perfectly capable of doing anything I want to. I just don’t believe it. Because the inner gremlin tells me otherwise.
Something I am preparing for in my journey as an author is an official author profile picture. I don’t let on that it bothers me. I am in pics all the time. I am morbidly obese. This is something I deal with internally. I don’t want my pictures to show the worst version of me, I want them to show the best version of me. I will take the time to do my hair and makeup, and wear the dress I picked out. I will make myself look nice. That is the plan. But the inner gremlins have been working against me for a while now.
When I moved away from home to go to university, I lived in a dorm for a few years. When I moved off campus, I started a ritual in my bathroom in the mornings. I turn on the water for the shower, and while it is heating I take off my glasses and take a close up look at my face in the mirror. I have been doing this for years. At first, I was just checking to see what I looked like that day and if there was sleep in my eyes or drool on my face from sleeping. Then I started looking and hearing the gremlin whispering, “How do I look today?” Not such a negative thought. It seemed harmless, so I never thought anything else about it.
Until the other morning.
I was taking my morning look, and I heard the gremlin whisper, “How bad do I look today?” I realized the whisper had changed, it was negative and hurtful. It was nasty. I thought to myself, wait a minute. How long has this been what I think when I am looking at myself in the morning? I honestly didn’t know.
This was the first time I had paid attention. I heard it, I recognized it, and I decided that I had to make a change in that thought process right away! I also decided that it was important enough to write about it here, to share this and try to help other people like me.
If your inner dialogue, aka your inner gremlins, are so smart that they fool you into thinking they are harmless, you are just like me. I didn’t even know that they were waging war on my self-esteem on a daily basis. But they were. And they WERE winning.
That is until they whispered loud enough that I actually heard the message. If you ignore them, or you don’t hear them, they can still do damage. They are there, whispering all the negative thoughts, sometimes too quietly to hear. Other times they do what mine did, and the change is subtle, so subtle that they can be missed. If you overlook them, that is where the danger lies, because you are not defending yourself, and you are not taking them seriously. They are nasty little buggers, and they need to be defeated. In this case, ignorance is bliss for the inner gremlins.
After I had that realization, I made a decision. It is going to take me a while to be able to say that I have conquered the inner gremlins, but I have a plan. I am going to say something positive to myself every morning as I look in the mirror. It will take me a long time of doing this to make it feel genuine, that it is real. I have to start somewhere. I hope that it will help me with my goals of becoming a healthier version of myself. I need to not just say that I am worth it, I have to believe it. This is the first step in a new direction on that path.
#TrustYourGut (Sorry it is a week and a day late)
by Tish MacWebber | Mar 30, 2018 | Treasure Seeker Tuesdays
After attempting to write this Treasure Seeker Tuesday once already this week, and being 700 words into it, my fingers took it out. I had it saved and typed it right out of existence. Sometimes, things don’t work out the way you plan them to. This was a perfect chance for a rewrite. It’s too bad my eyes were the only ones that saw my first crack at this story. It was pretty good. Now I have the challenge to make it better. When opportunity knocks, you should really answer that door.
Part of being an adult is knowing when to admit when you are wrong, and more importantly, apologizing. I was recently invited to be a featured creative in a brand new E-Zine, called Creatives Rising. In my excitement to help spread the good news, I approached it incorrectly. It was a bit awkward, and I had to delete the initial post to write it again. That wasn’t the hardest part. I then had to apologize.
The publishers were very gracious. I was honest and upfront about not trying to do the wrong thing. They understood that I wanted to learn how to do things properly, and provided instructions on how to correct the posts. It crossed my mind to just bail, but that would not have been a way to learn how to work with people. I held my breath and when the dust settled, I submitted my article.
Then I had to wait. Patience is tough when you try something new and get off to a bumpy start. It is even harder to wait when it is something that is really important to you. I worked hard on that article. I put a lot of thought into writing generally, but when you are writing for someone else, it feels like it is really important, and you want to put your best effort into it. I was given the Topic Creative Highlight and the subject was Peace. It was a challenge, but I worked on it, then sent it in. I didn’t know how it was going to be received, or what to expect, really. This was my first time submitting an article for an E-Zine, and I was really nervous. I didn’t know if what I wrote would be up to the standards that were expected.
Miscommunications and misunderstandings happen to everyone. The trick is to learn and grow from the experience, instead of letting it hold you back. I learned this a long time ago, back when I started dating my husband. He would say things, I would not understand what he meant, I would get upset and cry. Then we would talk, and he would explain what he meant. Back then I think we might have spoken different languages, even though we are both very fluent in English. He is bilingual, with French also, but I am not. We also had a bumpy start. I have to tell you, I have no regrets, our communication with each other has grown and matured with our relationship. I do not back down from him, I question him if I don’t understand what he means. We have been together 25 years and married for almost 8 of them. We had a lot of time to learn about each other, and practice our communication skills.
See what I did there? I made you wait too.
When I got the draft back, there were suggested edits, and they wanted to drop a paragraph. I thought it was reasonable, so I revised the draft and sent it back in. With one sentence needing finalization after the second round, the article was complete. Then I waited with everyone for the launch of the Creatives Rising E-Zine Spring 2018 Issue. It’s an online publication FOR Creatives, BY Creatives in affiliation with @CreativesRising and @CreativeEnergyGoddess
#CreativesRising2018 #CRZine #amwriting #HappyWriting
I am very proud to be a Featured Creative in this publication and am so honoured that I was invited to participate. It is available through an online subscription. The file is large, and your computer will advise you of this. It is so worth downloading, and not just because of the article I wrote for it.
How to Avoid Creative Barriers: Peace out! …is the name of my article.
You can subscribe here:
If you do subscribe, let me know in the comments, so that I can thank you. I would also be interested in reading any thoughts you have on my article and the whole Creatives Rising E-Zine. I am really glad that I pushed my own boundaries to take a step forward in my own writing goals. I plan to keep writing. Who knows what opportunity is going to come knocking next? I am ready.
#TreasureSeekerTuesday (On a Friday morning…because of circumstances and a finger trip)
by Tish MacWebber | Mar 18, 2018 | Trust Your Gut
In Trust Your Gut this week, I’m writing because Something Has Changed! The Shrinker is working! The Shrinker must be working! I am not talking about the scale and the pounds here. I am talking about my metabolism. I feel real hunger again. It can mean different things. My activity level has not increased dramatically. I have started drinking the Shrinker to boost my metabolism. I am choosing to believe that it is what is happening. The only other option is that I am not eating enough. I can’t say I am totally convinced one way or the other on this. I do eat 3 meals a day. I have snacks. I don’t think that is the answer. Which leaves the possibility of the combination of foods I am eating as wrong. I am open to that also.
*Note* My apologies for being so late with this blog post this week. I was having a hard time collecting my thoughts, but I figured it out!
I’ve been eating fewer carbs and more protein. I cannot eliminate carbs completely. I start losing control of my hunger and my sugars when I do that. That is something that makes THM different from protein-based diets like Atkins. I need the balance. I learned today that Keto may be similar to THM. I might look further into that.
I plan some prep cooking on Sunday. It is the best way for me to stay on the plan. It is hard work to live a healthier lifestyle, and that is why it is hard to keep myself motivated. All I can do is my best when I feel up to it, and the rest will fall into place.
Now I am asking myself, what step should be next in my journey? THM experts say to start with one thing, and when you master that one thing, build upon it. I am having such success with the Shrinker, it is time I got serious about my beverages. I am not giving up wine. I am having WAY too much fun learning about different wines, and searching for “the one.” I drink my coffee black, and I also have a lot of fun reviewing the coffees that I try. I am going to go back to the THM basics for this one. I am talking about Good Girl Moonshine, aka GGMS.
With the Shrinker, the oolong tea, cinnamon and cayenne pepper are working together to increase my metabolism. Since I seem to be hungrier more frequently, I can assume that the fuel I am putting into my body is being burned up more quickly. That is what I am hoping is happening. The GGMS has a different recipe, and therefore a different method to how it works.
GGMS in its basic recipe, is water ginger, apple cider vinegar, and optional sweetener of choice. I use Swerve. It is Erythritol, and it does not leave an aftertaste in your mouth. It does leave a cooling sensation, which is different, but not unpleasant. I notice it more when I bake with it, rather than when I put it into my beverages.
People use a variety of different additions to the basic GGMS recipe, to make it their own. My own personal favourite is the Black Cherry Berry Celestial Seasonings tea. I add 4 tea bags to every batch, which is about 1 tea bag for every 500ML of GGMS. That was all I needed to make this beverage tasty.
Apple cider vinegar can have an effect on your teeth. It can weaken your enamel. I have talked to my dentist about it, and as long as I am using a straw, which THM recommends as well as a glass drinking container. It is also important to have water after, to make sure your mouth is rinsed out. You can brush your teeth after rinsing with water if you are really concerned about the enamel on your teeth. I don’t always brush, but I do rinse with water (which most of us do not drink enough of anyway) and because it is supposed to be helpful to losing weight, I don’t spit it out, I drink the water. I am just adding to the benefits this way.
You can find the Shrinker and the GGMS recipes on the Trim Healthy Mama Website, under the Recipes page. Check it out! I can honestly say that I know I feel better, and I start the scale going in the right direction when I am following the plan. If you are more curious, I recommend their books as well. They have several out now, and that includes recipe books. One thing I have yet to try in my healthier lifestyle is to make a recipe that includes okra. That is something I plan to figure out when I get a chance. Trying new foods is an adventure, and I love spaghetti squash, so I’m up for trying new foods on occasion. Sometimes I am surprised, and I like them. Do you eat okra? Do you have any tips for me? Leave a comment below, and it may help me get over the nerves of trying a new food.
#TrustYourGut
by Tish MacWebber | Mar 14, 2018 | Treasure Seeker Tuesdays
In Treasure Seeker Tuesday this week, it is time to tell a story. Once upon a time, more than a few years ago, I was chasing another dream. A local craft store had decided to close. I talked to the owners, I made a business plan, I presented it to a committee, and it was rejected. It was rather deflating. The dreams were dashed, and I put it away. It is hard to put yourself out there for a dream to have it crushed. Really hard.
Inexperience was probably the biggest factor in the rejection. I did not know how to make a business plan. I didn’t have any money of my own to use as an investment. From that rejection, I then tried to create my own jewellery business, which I have yet to officially launch here, on the website. It used to be known as Tish’s Treasures, which was launched years ago at the local Farmer’s Market. I gave it a good try, for 2 years, but there were restrictions. There I was, a brand new entrepreneur, chasing my dreams of turning my hobby into a sustainable source of income; stuck following someone else’s rules. I was allowed to sell beaded ornaments and suncatchers, but not my jewellery. That venture was doomed before it even started.
Tish’s Treasures turned back into a hobby, one that made appearances with me as a vendor in different craft shows. I did sell a piece or two, here and there, but it never really took off. It wasn’t until this past January, when I pulled my product out of a local store, that I realized that the old business, under the old name, was holding me back.
I haven’t launched any of my product here yet, officially. I have shared my new business name, Tish MacWebber, Always Blinging…
I have yet to take pictures to post products for sale on this website. I have dreams and plans, but they are larger than life. My imagination knows no boundaries.
Writing books and being a jewellery designer is something that works in my mind. I don’t know if I am going to be able to make it work in the real world. As I started writing this, I realized what is holding me back. I’m terrified of failure. Literally terrified.
I have followed my dreams before. Not with as much conviction as I have had this time, but I have tried before. I do not like being told no, and I certainly do not like to be proven to be wrong. I can admit when I am wrong and apologize. But how do you apologize to your toughest critic, yourself?
I have grown a lot since I wrote my first business plan. One of my peers is encouraging me to use her template to write my own business plan. I have been avoiding it like the plague. You guessed right, I am scared to try.
Which sounds ridiculous when you think about it. I have spent very little money on my adventure this far, and I am not ready to give up. Not by a longshot. Despite this very thing, I am avoiding writing my books right now. I am scared of not being able to finish them. Yeah, I know, stopping is the fastest way to never finishing them. I have bailed on a lot of projects in my life. This dream is not going to be one of them.
You might think I have things all together on this side of the computer. Nope. I am not an organized planner at all, even though I have two 2018 agendas that match and are waiting to be used. I bought two sizes so that one could be portable if I needed it, and the other would be my main desk planner. One does help me to keep track of appointments and my husband’s work schedule. They are not being used to their full potential.
Neither am I. While I am Always Thinking…
I am not always doing. Therein lies one of my problems. I am not taking action. I am keeping up with the Blog, but it has been a lacklustre effort of late, and I am changing that right now. I am writing something meaningful again, not just writing for the sake of the commitment to the schedule I set up for myself.
I am at a crossroads while I write this. I have two choices. I can say to heck with it and walk away. That would be the easy option. It would lead me back to a life of putting up and shutting up. Taking whatever comes at me, and losing myself in circumstances. Woe is me, the universe is out to get me, and I am helpless to do anything about it. That really is what my life was like before I started putting myself out there and trying to find my purpose and passion. There is the teeniest, tiniest spark left inside of me. That flame needs to be fanned, and nurtured, and fed to grow. It is the part of me that makes me shake my head when I am writing about giving up. It is the part of me that fuels my passion, and I have to let it flourish. To let this spark go out is to let the creative dreamer inside of me die of boredom, frustration, and hopelessness. That is not something I am willing to do, no matter how scared I am of putting my work and myself out into the world again. A failure is only a true failure if you let it beat you. If you pick yourself up and shake the negativity off, to try something different, change your perspective and attack it from a different angle, you win at life. I want to win at life. I need to follow my dreams. I haven’t felt this good about one of my blog posts in a while, so I am taking that as a good sign, and that I am on my way out of whatever was dragging me down.
I have to share one more experience here, with you. It was from before I even tried to open a craft store on my own, and failed. I was in need of legal advice. I met with a lawyer. I told him about my issues, and he advised that it was not the kind of thing that he could help me with. We had a conversation, and he listened to me talking about this crazy idea I had to open my own craft store. I had a floor plan and had talked to people about flooring and storage and the interior design. I wasn’t ready to present the business plan at that point, but it was clear to the lawyer that it was something that lit a fire inside of me, he could sense that I was passionate about this idea. I had other friends at the time see the same thing, and they were excited for me and with me as I gave it my best shot. It didn’t work out.
The lawyer did two things that day that I will never forget. The first one was that he didn’t charge me a dime. How often do you ever hear people say that about a meeting with a lawyer? Not too many. The second thing was a little more insightful. He encouraged me to keep working on my dreams. He told me that he wasn’t sure that this was the right path for me at that time, but he was certain that I was going to be successful at something, he just didn’t know what, or when. Here I am trying something new, and pushing myself harder than I ever have before.
I might just surprise myself and do just what I set out to do this time. Write my books and design jewellery together, because that is how I want it to be. My passion, my dreams, and my rules.
This story may appear in part or in whole in my second book. I am calling it The Art Of Surprising Yourself, which I announced earlier on my social media platforms this week. This is just an example of something that you might find in my second book. What do you think?
#TreasureSeekerTuesday
