It wasn’t a waste of time, I tend to be over-dramatic. Writing the book was an essential part of my healing process and it will help many survivors for years to come. It’s probably normal to experience a letdown after publishing a book, especially one that took as long as it did to write. I think the problem now is that I have too many projects vying for my attention. I need to narrow them down, decide what’s in my highest good, and stay focused. When I relax, the path, the way, and the answers are revealed to me. I have to trust my intuition rather than what other people tell me. We each have our own truth.

I’ve decided to propose a class at the Fitton Center (which is the super cool art center in my area where I have taken yoga classes) called Art Therapy for Cancer Survivors. This makes the most sense based on the book and my art therapy degree. It’s a pretty obvious avenue to explore. I can teach a workshop or six week class. When I think about this, it makes me happy to connect with survivors and provide a space for healing to occur. All it takes is planning the class, filling out the application, typing an updated resume, turning it in, and then waiting to see if it gets accepted. Fingers crossed.

I’ve decided my next book will be fiction, possibly a collection of short stories. They fall into the chick lit, romance, and fantasy genres. They share similar themes of love, lust, and relationships. After I organized my computer’s desktop and got rid of old files, which felt really good, I found four stories that have merit. I enjoy writing dialogue. I’ve regained my focus for the most part. I did some revision on the main story and started writing a new story. I call myself a writer, I best be writing. If writing is the thing I truly love, then why do I run from it? I need to allow myself the luxury of writing. The only way to get better is through practice. If I don’t get the words out, they wake me up in the night and then I have to type them in Notes on my phone.

I’ve decided to continue applying to book fairs and festivals. I’ve found two events the same weekend in November, one is a book fair in Portland called Wordstock, the other is a healing retreat called Soulapalooza in Orlando. I’m going to talk them over with my mom and see if they are good ideas or possibilities. I need to keep an eye on the deadlines so that I don’t miss them. There’s also an Astrology retreat with the Astrotwins in May 2017 in Tulum, Mexico. I’ve wanted to go for the last three years, maybe this time! I like astrology 🙂

I’ve decided that I don’t want to move into the Artspace Lofts in Hamilton. While the rent would be cheaper, I don’t think I would be happier there. They are in an old historic building which has been renovated. I knew that going into it and wanted to see if I could get past that, nope, it made my skin crawl. While I appreciate the idea of maintaining the original architecture, I like new construction. They’re located on a busy street which would make it noisy and there isn’t close parking. It definitely made me put things in perspective and appreciate where I live now. The idea of living in an artist community sounds awesome, unfortunately that one doesn’t resonate with me.

My last blog was about healthy eating, then I turn around and tweet pictures of eating fast food with my mom. I can be very hypocritical. I think that happens when we want to make changes, whether it’s diet or exercise, we take two steps forward, one step back. My recent trip to the grocery store was a fail. Well, it wasn’t a total fail, I didn’t buy the microwave dinners except for the Morning Star Farm Chix Nuggets which I like to eat with my salads. I need to spend more time in the produce/natural food section and less time in the main store.

My mom had been out of town visiting my brother, and I was down to no food, not that that’s a valid excuse. And I bought Pepsi again. I only drink one can a day, but it’s still one too many. All in all, I have very few vices. (I’m not going to lie and say I wouldn’t smoke a cigarette if it were sitting here. That’s why there aren’t any sitting here!) The main thing is to decide what would be a good substitution. Possibly the Arizona Green Tea in the big jug? I like a cold drink with dinner and need some caffeine. Cold drink, ha ha. If I had the choice between beer or wine, I’d probably choose beer. I’m a country girl.

The car shopping will resume this month. Happy July! I still like the Subaru Legacy the best; it felt roomy and nice. She’s going to help me lease it. I saw a Scion in the parking lot yesterday after my walk, and it looked pretty cool. It felt good to take a walk, I had been slacking off in the exercise department as well. Not good. And then of course, I’m going to put my application in at a few places and try to get a part-time job. I will keep y’all posted on my progress. Exciting stuff.

To be quite honest, I fell into a bit of a depression which always happens when summer hits. I complain about the cold winter, you’d think I’d be grateful for the warmth, yet the humidity isn’t my friend either. I still want to go to the pool because I enjoy swimming. I still want to buy a blender and make smoothies. My to-do list is too long. I hope everyone is enjoying the summer by spending quality time with family and friends. Don’t count the years, make the years count!

Have I gotten anything done? Yes, I did some laundry and cleaning. I got the alumni updates done (my first ever update, lol) and they’ll  appear in the next newsletter. It’s hard to believe it’s been ten years since graduating from Southwestern College and sixteen years since Naropa University. Time flies! I still need to contact the breast cancer organizations which is next on my list. Oh, I’m going to be featured on a fellow writer’s blog this month. That’s something else I got done! Yeah 🙂 I answered the interview questions which took some thought. I will tweet about it or share the link here. Take care.

Have a great week,

Julie