We are All Artists

Love this, just had to include it.

Dear Readers of Wish on A White Horse,

A strange thing happened on the way to creating this blog post, I was way-laid by my other blog, The Best Damn Writer's Blog on the Block, and I noticed that more people are reading that one than are wishing on white horses.  I just post that one and leave it alone. 

Must be the content.

Every Tom Dick and Harry is a writer, and we are all trying to learn our craft, so anything that adds to that data bank is wildly needed. 

I know I have faithful readers here, and I don't presume that you want to read gobs of blogs although I have many. I know perhaps I ought to settle down to one, but they are all my children, and I want to give each attention. Perhaps I am spreading myself thin. Oh well. Anyway, I am including that Writer's Blog on this post. 

Thanks for reading, you know I love you,

Joyce

From The Best Damn Writer's Blog On The Block...(I'm the only one  writing one.)

We're all artists, but we don't want to be starving artists do we? 

Neither do we want to sell, sell, sell, bugging our friends and anyone else who stumbles upon our site.

Offer services, substance, yes, but hard sell, no.

Here I am studying to be a Real Estate Agent, and they pay on commission only so I can see why agents try to get that sale, even a short sale when it is not necessarily in the best interest of the client. But agents aren't paid to give advice, they are paid for a sale. Hum. That’s a dilemma. Am I cut out for this?

Really I want to write, that’s my passion, that’s what I love to do, but I also want to eat. Unless we have a patron to pay us to create, or a publisher to pay us a big advance we have to find a way of making a living.

This morning I opened Jeff Goins# blog—he is one of the foremost bloggers on writing, and he was encouraging his readers to begin an online business. One of his readers moved to Maui because his online business was fully supporting the family. Hum.

Jeff says you can begin an online business simply by helping people. Now, wouldn't that be a dream?

You know, we are all artists, it’s in our blood. We want to create. Why do you think people plant flowers, or decorate their house, or cook elegant meals? They want to create. Why do you think we write, even junk? Why do people paint, either houses or canvas? Why are athletes driven to perfect their art?  Why do scientists invent gizmos? It’s all creation. It’s all art.

So, back to the idea of beginning an online business. How can we be artists in that?

Your brain-power will begin it, and your pocketbook won’t suffer much in the process.

Jeff gave the price breakdown.

$0/ year you can get a domain name. They can be free if you sign up for a hosting account.

$5.00/ month for web hosting ($60/ year)

$0 to install a free web design—if you use a template

$5.00/ month for a shopping cart, so you can sell. (another $60/ year)

$0 to accept purchases through Paypal

$0 to start an email newsletter.

So you can launch a business for around $120/ year.

Better than renting office space or a warehouse right?

“Happy Talk, Keep Talking Happy Talk”*

“Ask what makes you come alive and do that.

“Because that’s what the world needs,

"People who are alive.”

                     --From THE SHIFT Movie

Perhaps I ought to explain where I’m coming from.  You know how easy it is to say what’s wrong with the world and if you watch the news you will find plenty to chew on. Daughter Dear commented this morning that in the lunch room at work, the television is always on, and it is on the news. The channel isn’t stuck there, people can change it, but they don’t. They sit during lunch with no apparent reaction while the television feeds their mind as they are feeding their bodies.

Remember the motto of journalism: “If it bleeds, it leads.” What if we led with good news?

What a concept.

It is so tempting to rail against injustices, yet I have learned over the years that pushing against something causes that something to burrow in. Have you ever tried to push a cat that is firmly attached, claws sunk into the carpeting? It’s like that.

A friend sent me the link to the movie THE SHIFT. It is in process, not completed, and is advertised on Indiegogo, a site similar to Kickstarter where people pledge to help a project reach completion. I’m not promoting or soliciting, just giving the facts. But to think that we are living in an exciting age, where “No dream is too big, no challenge cannot be overcome.” This is not only an outrageous claim but a terribly exciting one.

The movement has already begun so state the interviewees in the movie…

If you want to take a look at the movie trailer go to http://tiny url.com/k7mcmzt

And remember, we are the ones to make a brighter day.

P.S. Memories re-visited

On the home front I am having such fun with my two hens. Daily I let them out of their cage and free in the back yard. Since they have not escaped and run amuck in the neighborhood, getting me into trouble, I feel I can trust them. They go into their nest during the day, lay their beautiful, wonderful, light green eggs, come running to me when I go out the back door—guess I’m momma—and put themselves to bed at night.

As a kid I grumbled about caring for the chickens, but then you know how kids can be, whatever they “have” to do they resist. Besides they weren’t pets and a bunch of chickens can be work. But now, with two chickens it feels reminiscent of times I turned my horses loose, and how much fun it was to watch them frolic around the house, run up the drive, leap off the retaining wall, and then to my chagrin, roll in the Oregon red mud.

P.S.P.S.

If you are interested in reading of our experience with the Coqui frogs of Hawaii check out my experimental site, “The Frog’s Song.”  (If you checked it before it might have been somewhat screwed up.) 
 http://i-m.mx/thefrogsong/thefrogssong

*Title from South Pacific's song "Happy Talk."

Happy Ever After

Chicken Soup for the Soul by Jack Canfield, who hasn’t heard of it? It’s a publishing phenomenon.

I often mention it to my kids saying, “See people like happy stories.” I love Jack Canfield, his attitude, his determination, his philosophy.  I have read his The Success Principles, but never the Chicken Soup books, and here I am touting them. A few years ago seeing his title on a bag of Horse Feed stopped me in my tracks. That man is all over the place.  Cat food, dog food, and now horse food. He must like animals—another thing to love about him.

Okay all this leads up to my Chiropractic visit yesterday. While in the waiting room I picked up Canfield’s book Chicken Soup for the Golden Soul (Stories about people 60 and over,) and quickly jotted down this from his book:

August 11, 1945

Nathan (in Germany)

“I’ve just heard the good news about the war honey. I’m so happy I could holler, shout, raise hell, cry, and do anything. If anyone tells me it’s a false alarm I will keel over and drop dead. Hopefully now the whole damned war is ‘kaput’ and this whole-sale slaughter can be brought to an end.”

August 15, 1945

Evelyn (in New York)

“The sirens are wailing. I can hardly steady my hand. I have a deep peaceful feeling and a million prayers of thanksgiving. I can’t remember what peace was like. Most of all it means our husbands, fathers, brothers, boyfriends and relatives are coming home. We can start our lives again. Pray there will be no more wars.”

From Five Dates, Hundreds of letters and 55 years later.

Happy ever after.

This isn't Nathan and Evelyn, but representative of the times.

We have all rejoiced with this couple.