Category: A DAY IN MY LIFE…SNIPPETS OF ME

DAY 24, JANUARY 25, 2023

Good Morning,

Today, I am working on finishing the revision of my first novel. I am very thankful I have a publisher who is patient with me. I am a hybrid author and am grateful to have found people from both spectrums of the independent/traditional publishing world who care about me. They listen to what I say, and at the same time, I listen to what they are saying. It is a two-sided coin. 

It is not always easy getting me to see the tiny fragments that make up a story that might need to be clarified or come too soon for the reader. But I move further when they leave me alone to see it myself. I am smiling right now because usually, when they get to the point of living with my decision, my eyes open, and I see what they mean. This is why my editors are crucial for my writing, and I take writing classes, attend writing conferences, and meet up with other writers wherever possible. 

I have said once or twice during this Challenge that no man is an island. I believe that wholeheartedly. This phrase comes from one of my favorite readings by John Donne. Most people think it is a poem, but it is a Meditation, contemplative words (here I go again with contemplation) that Donne wrote at an appropriate time in his life that fits exceptionally well in our lifetime.

“No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend’s or of thine own were: any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee.”* (taken from Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions Together with Death’s Duel by John Donne and is recorded as he originally wrote it)

I ended yesterday before my fireplace with a tasty cup of Sanddorn Tea. I wanted to show you how beautifully my fireplace burned as I daydreamed before it. 

My list for this week includes the following:

1. Revising the first 10K of my new novel. It usually takes me at least four to six days to fix 10K. I like to send her my final draft so that she understands the direction I’m moving in. 
2. A letter to write. I had decided to wait until after the Challenge, but my gut is telling me to do it now, which is what I will do. 
3. Answering emails and text messages, Daily
4. Finishing the last revision of my first novel. 

Have a lovely Wednesday.

Shalom aleichem,

Pat Garcia

DAY 23, JANUARY 24, 2023

Tuesdays are sometimes the most challenging days for me to get through. I express my thanks for waking up, and I clean myself up. By the time I get downstairs, I am looking forward to going into my office. But internally, I am contemplating. The things I cannot see have absorbed me, and I would like to sit and let my inner world have its way. 

Depending on what is on my plate, I usually take the time to sit still and let the images form and the bits and pieces of word sentences have their way. I use contemplation not only to understand my purpose and place in this world but also to understand others.  

Thus, I am slowly moving into my day because I have been contemplating. There are things to do. I have a Zoom meeting in an hour and a half and many other things that I need to plug into so that my February is more relaxed than my January. 

My list for this week includes the following:

1. Revising the first 10K of my new novel. It usually takes me at least four to six days to fix 10K. I like to send her my final draft so that she understands the direction I’m moving in. 
2. A letter to write. I had decided to wait until after the Challenge, but my gut is telling me to do it now, which is what I will do. 
3. Answering emails and text messages, Daily
4. Attend my writing classes and do my homework,

Have a lovely Tuesday.

Shalom aleichem,

Pat Garcia

Day 22, January 23, 2023

Good Evening,

I have a still, joyful stream running through me tonight. I’m doing some things differently, and it has been a challenge. However, I love to see what I can do, or better said, see how I can overcome the limitations I sometimes place on myself.   

I’ve learned that before I blame others for what I cannot do, I should try to do it. If I fail, I need to examine why I couldn’t do it, or I will never advance the way I want.  

That means I can only do the things I have been gifted to do. I can’t do everything. I know I have limits. For example, I know I can’t be a medical doctor because I don’t have that gift. There are so many other things that I can’t do, and I am okay with that. I’m not in the world to copy someone else. I’m here to discover the original Pat I was born to be. 

So my day was a day of learning new things that I won’t discuss here. They are my secrets. But it was a day of reaching out to others and intensively listening. If there is anything I enjoy better than writing, it is listening. I can sit and listen and observe for hours. 

My list for this week includes the following:

1. Revising the first 10K of my new novel. It usually takes me at least four to six days to fix 10K. I like to send her my final draft so that she understands the direction I’m moving in. 
2. A letter to write. I had decided to wait until after the Challenge, but my gut is telling me to do it now, which is what I will do. 
3. Answering emails and text messages, Daily
4. Attend my writing classes and do my homework,

Have a lovely Monday.

Shalom aleichem,

Pat Garcia

DAY 21, JANUARY 22, 2023, Wrap-Up for the Week

Good Morning,

We have just entered Day 21 of the Blogging Challenge. Each day from now on will bring us close to the finishing line. 

Today, I will start my Sabbath Day at 6 p.m. I have learned that I needed to rearrange my Sabbath by competing in the Challenge. I get more out of it now, and that makes me happy. I wouldn’t have recognized that there was a better way if I hadn’t participated in the Blogging Challenge. 

I am checking out all of my routines. Sometimes they can be killers of new possibilities that are better ways of doing things. 

I have decided to keep my agenda planning calendar. I thought about changing to something else. But I saw that what I already have fulfills two essential functions: I write my lists in my agenda app; the days and appointments I have booked go straight to my calendar. 

Finally, I will close the office at 6 p.m. and sit back to a movie and a glass (maybe two glasses) of dry Italian red wine.

Congratulations to all who are participating in the Challenge. We’ve made it to Day 21. YEAH! We Are Champions! at least, in this Blogging Challenge. 

 My List for the starting week:

1. I’m revising the first 10K of my new novel. It usually takes me at least four to six days to fix 10K. I like to send her my final draft so that she understands the direction I’m moving in. 
2. I have a letter to write. I had decided to wait until after the Challenge, but my gut is telling me to do it now, which is what I will do. 
3. Answering emails and text messages,
4. Attend my writing classes and do my homework.

Have a lovely Sunday.

Shalom aleichem,

Pat Garcia

DAY 2O, JANUARY 21, 2023, DO IT AFRAID

I discovered some time ago that people who change history are not fearless. They are fearful, but they go ahead and move in the direction of their dreams anyway.

They give me the courage to walk the truths I have discovered and do it afraid.  

That is why I admire artists like Van Gogh, Rembrandt, and Henri Matisse. Or writers like Charles Dickens, Charlotte and Emily Bronte, Georgette Heyers, Phillis Wheatley, Sarah E, Farro, and Lorraine Hansberry, who made her mark by becoming the first African American to have a play performed on broadway. 

Many of these artists have made an imprint on my life; some sit around my invisible mentor’s table. Some received very little recognition, and some died impoverished.

I am still determining where I will end up, but I will keep moving forward until time as we know it is no more. 

So, that’s my takeaway for today. If you have a dream deep down inside you, a desire that you think will benefit others and yourself, and you fear what others will think, let it bother you if you want, but don’t stop being what you were destined to be. You’ll only see change once you learn to do it, afraid.

My list for the week  

1. I’m revising the first 10K of my new novel. It usually takes me at least four to six days to fix 10K. I like to send her what I call my final draft so that she understands the direction I’m moving in. 
2. I have a letter to write. I had decided to wait until after the Challenge, but my gut is telling me to do it now, which is what I will do. 
3. Answering emails and text messages, Daily
4. Attend my writing classes and do my homework,

Have a lovely Saturday.

Shalom aleichem

Pat Garcia

DAY 19, JANUARY 20, 2023

Living your life fully doesn’t mean being busy. There are many busy people, but if you look at their faces, they are miserable. Their eyes aren’t glowing. Happiness has eluded them. If you get the chance, look into their eyes, that is, if they will let you. 

Busyness disrupts the soul and the spirituality of any person. It breaks the contact with the heart, and we disconnect from our core selves. That’s my belief. 

So as I started out with the A DAY IN MY LIFE…SUBTITLE: SNIPPETS OF ME CHALLENGE, I wanted to measure my soulful spirituality to see if I was just being busy to be busy or if I was still on my journey, seeking to evolve into all that I am supposed to be on my journey. 

I’m not going to tell you what I have found out, but I will say that I like who I am and who I am becoming. 

Being and Becoming are separate processes that continually grow until you are dead. When you have totally become, you are no longer here. 

Life is a journey that leads you to be fully alive (I’ve used the word ‘alive’ here to better define ‘Being’); fully becoming and what holds these two concepts together is LOVE. You can’t choose to be or to become as a single element without the other. If you’re all about being, your egocentricity stands out, and you walk over people. Living only a becoming life makes you otherworldly; your head is in the clouds, and you’re ignoring people. 

Only through living a fully alive, fully becoming life do we find our significance and are thereby prepared in our hearts to reach out to others.

Jan Masuhr on Guitar, Pat Garcia, Soloist

Reach out and touch
Somebody’s hand
Make this world a better place, if you can.

Take a little time out your busy day
To give encouragement
To someone who’s lost the way
Or would I be talking to a stone
If I asked you
To share a problem that’s not your own

We can change things if we start giving
Why don’t you
Reach out and touch
Somebody’s hand
Make this world a better place
If you can.

If you see an old friend on the street
And he’s down
Remember, his shoes could fit your feet
Try a little kindness, and you’ll see
It’s something that comes
Very naturally.

We can change things if we start giving
Why don’t you
Reach out and touch
Somebody’s hand
Make this world a better place
If you can.

*Lyrics are taken from Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson; Initially sung by Diana Ross.

Now, the way I’ve said this might not be grammatically correct, but it’s my belief, and it springs from my heart. 

My List is getting smaller.

1. I’m revising the first 10K of my new novel. It usually takes me at least four to six days to fix 10K. I like to send her what I call my final draft so that she understands the direction I’m moving in. 
2. I have a letter to write. I had decided to wait until after the Challenge, but my gut is telling me to do it now, which is what I will do. 
3. Answering emails and text messages, Daily
4. Attend my writing classes and do my homework,
5. Catch up on blogs (I caught up on visiting all the blogs, Yeah, Yeah, YEAH!)
6. Send one of my stories to the person who will do the critique I won for winning the WEP. 
7. RWF Board Meeting via Zoom (Completed. There’s a story behind my being on the board. I’ll tell it before the Challenge is over.)

Have a lovely day.

Shalom aleichem

Pat Garcia

DAY 18, JANUARY 19, 2023

This morning, I woke up to rain mixed with snow. However, it stopped. As I came off my first break, I looked out the window in my office; the sun was peeking through, and tiny snowflakes were coming down from the sky. I hope it doesn’t stay.

I have been catching up on my comments. I don’t like being behind, but my accounting for the writing group I belong to had to be done. I have about three or four more blogs to comment on, so if you have yet to see a comment from me, you will. I have been taking each person and commenting on their outstanding blog posts before I move on to comment on another writer’s blog. 

After my zoom board meeting, I will do my best to finish the others. 

So far, I have enjoyed reading all of the posts. Whenever I go to a new blog, I am reminded of how different we are. 

Thanks to all of you who have visited my blog posts so far. I appreciate it greatly. 

In closing, my Knitting Group at the Post Office was joyful. My ladies were very comical yesterday. I’ve not laughed so hard in a long time.

My list for this week is below. 

1. I’m revising the first 10K of my new novel. It usually takes me at least four to six days to fix 10K. I like to send her what I call my final draft so that she understands the direction I’m moving in.
2. I have a letter to write. I had decided to wait until after the Challenge, but my gut is telling me to do it now, which is what I will do. 
3. Answering emails and text messages, Daily
4. Attend my writing classes and do my homework,
5. Catch up on blog comments,
6. Send one of my stories to the person who will do the critique I won for winning the WEP. 
7. RWF Board Meeting via Zoom

Have a lovely Thursday.

Shalom aleichem

Pat Garcia

DAY 17, JANUARY 18, 2023

Good Afternoon,

I finished my yearly treasury reports for 2022 and am relieved and happy today. Our board meeting is tomorrow via Zoom. I usually have them complete and sent out by the first week of the month, but adjusting to the Challenge has caused me to slow down and readjust to the pressure, and some of my typical responsibilities are behind. 

I’m not a person who has nothing to do. I have already made people I want to work with this year aware of my new plans for 2023. I take my time and succeed most of the time.  

For example, in this year’s second half, I plan to go back on stage and do five or seven concerts with my band. For a woman like me, five or seven gigs are a lot. 

We will start rehearsals sometime in June and then take the autumn months to be on the road on the weekends. I look forward to it. When I sing, I connect with my audience; these are the times that I am pleased that I am fluent in German. 

My audiences are a mix of all cultures, and because they live here, they speak German. If I want to connect with them, I must communicate in their language. That’s one of the things I learned from the German Professor who was so strict with me. I have seen too many Americans fail to connect in Europe because they refused to learn the language of the country where they live. 

I am blessed to be able to travel to Italy, France, and the french speaking parts of Belgium and communicate, even though my French and Italian could be better. 

I will take a break in a few minutes and will close now. 

I have an hour of knitting today with my little old ladies. One of them has already texted me on WhatsApp and asked if I would come. I quickly arranged my calendar for today, so I could be with them for an hour. I so look forward to being there. 

The open items from my list for this week to include new items are below. 

1. I’m revising the first 10K of my new novel. It usually takes me at least four to six days to fix 10K. I like to send her what I call my final draft so that she understands the direction I’m moving in.
2. I have a letter to write. I had decided to wait until after the Challenge, but my gut is telling me to do it now, which is what I will do. 
3. Answering emails and text messages, Daily
4. Attend my writing classes and do my homework,
5. Catch up on blog comments,
6. Knitting Group at the Post Office
7. Send one of my stories to the person who will do the critique I won for winning the WEP. 

Have a lovely Wednesday.

Shalom aleichem

Pat Garcia

DAY 16, JANUARY 17, 2023, Housecleaning and Writing

As a writer, I measure my writing time like sand flowing through an hourglass. The phrase, like sand flowing through an hourglass, comes from the soap opera Days Of Our Lives, which premiered on television on November 8, 1965. I watched that show religiously until…, but that’s another story. 

Let’s get back to housecleaning. I used to feel guilty because my house was not spic and span, with everything in order and windows so clean that you could see into your neighbor’s living room.

Then, a few years ago, I took an intensive writing class similar to this Challenge. The instructor came into our online course the day before it started and left a suggestion report that she said was essential that we read before we got started. In that three-page report, she advised us that if we were planning on sticking with her class until the ending date, we would have to decide if we would be actual writers or live in a spic and span house and not give all our attention to writing. She went on and then told us how she managed housecleaning and writing. Her central premise was that you’re not superwoman, and you’re not supposed to be that, so figure out your budget and find someone you trust to help you keep your house clean once a week or once every two weeks. It’s up to you. 

I would have never thought about hiring someone to keep my house clean because my pride demanded that I do everything. I quickly realized that I had a problem with pride, which stemmed from my overrated view of myself. Once I dealt with that hideous woman hiding behind the superwoman cloak and got help, guilt concerning my house became a thing of the past. 

Since then, I’ve had someone who comes in twice a month and cleans. The only exception was during COVID. I’m now looking at an agency that can fulfill my need for help twice a month since the trustworthy lady I had, stopped working. If that agency meets my conditions, I’ll be smiling.

My list to complete this week:

1. I’m revising the first 10K of my new novel. It usually takes me at least four to six days to fix 10K. I like to send her what I call my final draft so that she understands the direction I’m moving in.
2. I have a letter to write. I had decided to wait until after the Challenge, but my gut is telling me to do it now, which is what I will do. 
3. Answering emails and text messages, Daily
4. Attend my writing classes and do my homework,
5. Catch up on blog comments,
6.  Do the accounting books for the Romantic Women Fiction Chapter of the RWA.
7. Drove to Aschaffenburg to pick up my prescription. (completed this morning)
8. Took my dirty clothes to my washroom to be washed. (completed this morning)

Have a lovely Tuesday.

Shalom aleichem

Pat Garcia

DAY 15, JANUARY 16, 2023

I let myself slip slowly into Mondays. I didn’t think I could do that by participating in this Challenge. This morning, I discovered that I’m adjusting. Falling into the week by starting slow on Mondays is still there for me and I’m smiling.

I prefer to avoid being hectic or rushing, especially on Mondays. So, I’ve meditated, had breakfast, read the preface and first chapter of a new book, and taken a forty minutes nap before I came to my office. I admit that I avoid people who start their week with hectic and a million demands they must do immediately. 

I’ve learned that avoiding such people prevents me from having headaches and stomach ulcers. Was I always this way? Definitely not! It took searching within myself as I read books that gave me the strength to change. That’s why I like good non-fiction books. They cause you to do a soul check on yourself.  

My list for this week will grow. There are items that I still need to add. So, I’m starting with what I have.

1. I’m revising the first 10K of my new novel. It usually takes me at least four to six days to fix 10K. I like to send her what I call my final draft so that she understands the direction I’m moving in.
2. I have a letter to write. I had decided to wait until after the Challenge, but my gut is telling me to do it now, which is what I will do. 
3. Answering emails and text messages, Daily
4. Attend my writing classes and do my homework,
5. Catch up on blog comments,
6.  Do the accounting books for the Romantic Women Fiction Chapter of the RWA.

Have a lovely Monday.

Shalom aleichem

Pat Garcia