Just in Time

From Authors Publish Magazine

Finally, the screen that allows me to post something new has popped back into my life.  I do not know what happened.  All I do know is that if I approach this site using Firefox, I get the right screen.  If I use Google as my engine,  I do not.  Shame on Google and hooray for me for getting my problem resolved.

And, it has been a huge problem.  You see, I find my voice best when I write.  I write because I think a lot and the things I think about are important if only to me but somehow, when I sit down to write, I feel like I have accomplished something important to the future me and hopefully to you, the reader too.

Well, I lost a lot of time and a lot of those thoughts have come and gone.  My husband's ears are about to bleed.  I make him sit and listen to me as I outline what I am thinking and what I think I should do about it.

There are a hundred topics.  The list grows every day.  There are stories everywhere, every minute of every day.  I often wonder if all brains work this way or if mine is especially busy and in constant need of fuel, the kind that comes from watching people, looking out my window, eavesdropping on conversations, riding in my car.  Or is it "just" me.  I use that word "just" very loosely because recently, I read a little essay that addressed the worst word that a woman could use in describing herself, her attributes, her contributions to the world or her talents.  The essay went on to say that it would be wise to eliminate the word and gave the example of the woman who says "I'm just a person who likes to write on a blog".......If we re-map that, here's how it comes out:  "I am a writer and I have a blog".  Perfect.  I like dropping the "just".

At the very start of this new year, I also read a piece about the selection of a "word" for the year.  It seems that this is a new way of making what we used to call "resolutions" and I like it a whole lot better.  The author suggests that we chose the word and stick to it throughout the year in a way not unlike the production of a mission statement by a body of workers or volunteers who affiliate with an organization.  Sometimes, getting that mission statement up and running can take months, meetings and meetings during which wordsmith-ing at its finest is put into action.  I was very much a part of that process on more than one occasion during my own career.  Tiring and boring.....but, essential.  Once the mission was established, we went on to the "visions and values" pieces and perhaps another six months later, those were finalized.  During the somewhat painful process of writing Mission, Vision and Values, it was hard to understand why these were of any importance and just where they would fit into anything.  To this day, the question of "what is the mission of this organization" is the first one I ask if I join and, if there isn't one, I always suggest a start.

The Mission Statement has a real purpose in life.  It is the rock, the foundation of all operations.  Alignment to a Mission Statement can make or break it for a group of individuals or an organization when they are attempting to get anything done or to convince others of the need to do so.  I have learned to love this idea.

So, my word for the year is "mission".  I thought it was going to be something completely different.  I'm on a mission and here it is:

This year, I will eliminate the use of the word "just" when describing anything about myself.  I am not "just" or "simply" anything.  I write so I am a writer.  I do creative art work so I am an artist.  I am a wife, a mother, a daughter, a daughter-in-law, a mother-in-law, a sister, a sister-in-law, an aunt, a cousin, a friend and a neighbor.  I am beautiful because so are you.  I am grateful because I have you in my life.  I am happy because I have all that I need to be.

And, it all just keeps getting better.  Oops, I slipped.  IT ALL KEEPS GETTING BETTER.  Thank you.