This is one day that needs to be taken off the calendar.
The problem is that too many people speak, telling their side of their story, but no one listens. Thus, we have wars between nations, wars on the streets of our neighborhoods, schools, shopping centers, theaters, football fields, marathons, you name it, cause we feel we have a right to be heard. But who decides what is truth? I don’t know of any human being that can do that. Instead, maybe we need a day to be silent, a day to think about what’s coming out of our mouths, a time to remember that the words we speak shape our lives and affect the lives of others around us.
Therefore, I’m all for getting rid of National Be Heard Day. We don’t need it. Let us replace it with a NATIONAL LISTENING DAY where we listen to our sisters or brothers struggling to build a better life for their families, to the women working at the cash registers and barely making enough to support their families.
We need to listen to five, six, seven and eight-year-old kids working in factories and will never have the opportunity to know what real childhood is like; listen to those kids who are recruited for wars at an early age and learn how to kill without learning that life is precious and listen to those children that are malnourished because of lack of food.
Photos courtesy of Shutterstock
When we listen to the world’s heartbeats, our hearts will erupt into a change that brings a different kind of action, and the world will be a better place, and we won’t need to be heard.
That is enough for today. I need to move on. My two projects are calling me. I need to finish my reread, do some shopping, and relax. The European League is playing today. A pic of my palm tree with a new tiny leaf is below to make you smile. The leaf has yet to open, but I’ll let you know when it does.
Take time today to listen to the heartbeats of the world.
DAY 5, MARCH 5, 2024, HAPPY NATIONAL CHEESE DOODLE DAY!
Good Morning!
I don’t know what cheese doodles are, but I like to eat cheese, especially European cheeses from France, the Netherlands, Italy, and Germany. They are the best I have ever eaten, so I hope Cheese doodles are a food item. As a child, one of my favorite cheese snacks was cheese crackers from Cheez-It. I ate many little boxes of them, especially when I was at the university. Sometimes, they were my breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
That hunger for them continued until I became an expat in Germany. I soon discovered that they did not have cheese crackers, and I broadened my taste by switching over to the different types of cheeses offered in Europe, which was even healthier.
Cheddar CheeseGorgonzola
However, whenever I visit my family in the USA, I slip back into an old desire hidden within me. I go out and buy a box of cheese crackers. They have become precious to me because I don’t eat them daily. They are a unique delicatessen that I delight in.
Now, I must work. We have a cloudy day here, and I want to bring in some wood for my fireplace before it starts raining and read one more chapter of the novella I am writing.
Happy National Grammar Day, National Salt Awareness Day, and World Obesity Day
DAY 4, MARCH 4, 2024
Good Morning To All! First, here’s something to laugh about.😄 The day before yesterday, I had beautiful sunshine. Yesterday too. My co-host of the RNH Show (Raters Not Haters Show) has been visiting my blog posts during the challenge, and I wrote about how sunny the day had been. He commented on my blog post that I must have stolen his sunshine because he had nothing but clouds. I’m laughing because I try to steal all the sunshine I can get. 😂
So, now to my article for today.
I am enjoying the second year of the RRBC Challenge because they have intermingled it with prompts we can write on. Today, I am very interested in the three topics above because I had to incorporate them into my lifestyle.
As a writer, I must use good Grammar in my writing and speaking. The first thing people look at when reading a book is Grammar; believe me, even the poorest person in Grammar can tell when you aren’t grammatically correct. Now that is only my opinion.
I have to admit that my weakness in writing is my Grammar. Therefore, I don’t let any story, fiction or non-fiction, except for this challenge, go out of my office without sending it to my editor. I am picky about who edits my work. I don’t choose a friend or family member. I don’t like having someone who has a problem with being honest with me about my work. I want to hear where the flaws are, and if you can’t tell me that, then you won’t be my editor. Sure, somebody can hurt my feelings, and yes, sometimes I don’t accept the critique quickly, but that is okay because my editor is editing according to the highest quality standards she has. So, what do I do when sentences or paragraphs I have fallen in love with are corrected? Well, I set the story aside and think about it. I read my editor’s point of view over the suggestion I’m mumbling over, or I do a short Zoom meeting with her, and the majority of the time, I come out agreeing with her because I know she has my best interests at heart and she knows what she’s doing. Therefore, when it comes to Grammar, I am thankful that I don’t use AI to edit my stories; I use the flesh and blood human being type who has gained years of experience and doesn’t mind passing it along. Hurrah for human Grammar experts!
Overeating salt is another thing I didn’t take seriously until I arrived in Europe. I noticed many cooks seasoned their food with different herbs and spices and not much salt. I was surprised. The food was delicious but didn’t have a salty taste. Then I came across a non-fiction novel that showed that people who eat salty meals have a high rate of having strokes. That shocked me because I always added extra salt to my food. I changed my eating habits immediately. I no longer ran out to get a hamburger or french fries from a fast food store. I thought twice about buying frozen dinners because I began reading the back of the packages and was astounded at how much sodium is in a frozen meal or a hamburger. Knowing these things brought about a radical change in my eating habits, and I also started cooking. Now I cook fresh food almost every day, and my weight dropped. I still have my curvy hips 🙂 I still have weight, but it is a weight I can live with, and I feel good.
A Fresh German soup with green beans, potatoes, carrots, onions, and sausage
Preparing String Beans the French Way
This brings me to World Obesity Day. I enjoy eating when I cook. Cooking and seasoning my food with herbs and spices stirs my appetite. Oh, and I love chocolate, especially a German chocolate cake with rich dark chocolate. This means that if I don’t do something like making sure I get exercise, such as walking, I gain weight. The good thing for me is that my house is built so that I have to walk up and downstairs when I go to my kitchen, and my office is in my basement, which is 12 stairs down from the hallway entrance to my house. When I go shopping, I park far away from the grocery store or any other store I plan to visit. I hear you asking, readers, why don’t you shop twice a month and save time? We have tiny refrigerators here in Germany, and I usually go shopping three or four times a week, and that is good because I get out of my office, I see people to talk to, I can grab a cappuccino or espresso or Latte Macchiato and watch people. Thus, I have found ways to exercise and not gain weight. As I said above, I have accepted my weight and don’t plan to live on an everlasting diet that doesn’t allow me to enjoy my food.
Standing before the Public Library last year in May with my niece.
Happy National Day of Unplugging (from Social Media) and World Hearing Day!
Good Morning! At the moment, I am writing this article as two squirrels decide to greet me by walking on the glass roof of my patio. The sun is shining brightly, and I look forward to summer. Yes, I know spring comes after winter, but here in the country I have chosen to live in, it seems like we only get two seasons: winter and summer.
We have two choices to write about today—the National Day of Unplugging (from Social Media) and World Hearing Day. I have written a short take on these topics because they interest me.
First, I don’t Unplug on the National Day of Unplugging. If I did, I wouldn’t be sitting here writing this article. I have set times that I go on Social Media, and I am usually there for thirty to sixty minutes twice a week. Sometimes, I have to break that time up into fifteen-minute intervals throughout the day or even ten-minute intervals. I don’t let the time factor and the fact that I have to make exceptions and adjust the time to get things done bother me.
I have not developed the perfect way to deal with social media, but I’m a writer, and social media is one of those things that go with my career. Besides that, I am an expat and want to keep in touch with my family and friends on different continents. Therefore, having a small Social Media network keeps me in the loop with the ones I love.
What I have learned is to use my smartphone to its maximum ability. That means silencing my phone in the mornings and while working. I don’t even receive notices from the different platforms where I have accounts during my time of silence. So, I unplug each day at the times I set up.
Now to World Hearing Day.
I treasure that I know or have known people who cannot hear. They are beautiful people, and I have written a couple of flash fiction stories about them because they learn to sense things on a deeper level than people who can hear. They learn to compensate.
I think of Helen Keller, who lost her sight and hearing at a very young age and had to fight to find herself, and I wish I could be as strong as she was with my hearing, sight, and speech intact. I admire Helen Keller, and her books fascinate me. They still do today. Thus, I have learned not to go out of my way to ignore people who have hearing disabilities. One can learn much from them; the greatest we can learn is to shut our mouths and listen, which reminds me of one of my all-time favorite songs, THE SOUNDS OF SILENCE.
Finally, here’s a shout-out to a woman that I love dearly. Our parents raised us, and she has a birthday today. When I visited the USA last year, I had the privilege of staying at her home for a week, and she and her adorable husband, Claude, and their dog, Colby, spoiled me rotten.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! CHRISTINE ELIZABETH PIERCE-HOLMAN! I love you, Lady! Enjoy your day, and may God bless you in everything you undertake to accomplish!
Enjoying the day in Gatlinburg, Tennesse with my sister, Chris, and Claude, her husbandColby, the Pup wearing his beanie, I knitted for him.
Have a great Sunday, People, and take the time to go out and listen to the sounds of nature.
I woke up this morning and began looking back over the year 2023, and unfortunately, February 24, 2022, dipped in, reminding me of the full-scale military invasion launched on Ukraine that had been building up since 2014.
I shook my head in sorrow.
October 7, 2023, stunned me. I wasn’t expecting to see babies, children, women, and men being slaughtered. Again, I saw another full-scale war break out. Some people were dancing on the streets; all I could do was cry at the loss.
I shook my head in sorrow.
Taking life is happening all over the earth, no land exempted. What did you want for Christmas? An automatic rifle or maybe a semi-automatic AR 15 or AK 47?
I shake my head in sorrow.
Nobody seems to be listening, not seeing, nobody seems to care, and no one seems to seek the Giver of Life, who gives the substance we cannot buy. Life. We can’t reproduce it, and it is slowly being snuffed out by us. Babies, children, women, and men, young and old, are being abused and killed all around the world.
I shake my head in sorrow.
Strangely, guns are the most desired toys on Christmas lists. Where is the brotherly love?
I shake my head, and I cry.
I’ve discovered that mercy and grace are not available in the accumulation of things we purchase, or by buying as many weapons as we can afford, or under the governmental rule in the particular country we live in, but on the rock bed of hope. So, I lifted my head and looked toward Heaven.
LORD, WHAT DO I LOOK FOR? MY HOPE IS IN YOU.
I hope you have a safe crossing over into 2024.
Shalom shalom,
Pat Garcia
*Adaptation of Psalm 39:7, NIV 2011, ZONDERVAN By Pat Garcia
It doesn’t seem like seven years, but it is—many thanks to the administrative team at RRBC and the entire RRBC Organization for your support. It is much appreciated.
I’m going to miss this Challenge. It challenged me. Within me, it has removed reservations that I had pushed deep within the dark corners of my soul. After the first week, I thought I was going to buckle under. The possibility of facing weaknesses and being drowned in recriminations brought up good old Vincent Lombardi, who sits at my imaginary round table as one of my advisors.
He said two simple statements. “Adversity is the first path to truth. Prosperity is a great teacher: adversity is greater.” For me, the adversity was the distress of having to change.
I like quotes from people who talk from experience. Lombardi built a winning football team, and they were the very first to win the Super Bowl.
So, I moved into the second week prepared to face myself.
Joy rose as I read the blogs from the rest of the participants. With some of their postings, I laughed, and with others, I was amazed, and then there were some posts where tears flowed and others that brought me into deep contrition, contemplation, and repentance. The articles were all that good and inspiring.
If you have read my postings during the 30-Day Challenge, you know I had doubts, frustration, and regrets. Yet through all of what I felt, I am delighted to have stuck with it. Vince was right. Facing my adversity is more remarkable than never having done it at all.
Would I do it again? YES! Undoubtedly. Not this year, but whenever I see it offered again.
Does this mean I am going to blog every week to prepare myself? NO! However, I have decided to blog on my author’s website once every two months to release some new SNIPPETS. 🙂
Therefore, on this last day of the Challenge, I leave you with another quote by Vince: I do my best to walk with this quote every waking day of my life.
“When we place our dependence in God, we are unencumbered, and we have no fear. In fact, we may even be reckless insofar as our part in the production is concerned. This confidence, this sureness of action, is both contagious and an aid to the perfect action. The rest is in the hands of God–––and this is the same God who has won all His battles up to now.” (By Vincent Lombardi)
My list of new and open items for this week includes the following:
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.
Answering emails and text messages, Daily
Finishing the last revision of my first novel.
Co-hosting the IWSG on Wednesday
Releasing my new short story. (Na-Doo is still jumping for joy, and I’m laughing. She’s a sassy woman, but I love her the way she is.)
Yes, it is evening here, and I have just ended my sabbath day. I enjoyed the rest.
I’m in my office now. Even with the change in my Sabbath day and time, I start slowly getting in gear to work. As I’ve said before,I don’t like hectic. I never have.
I kick off my work week after envisioning how I want my week to run. I don’t order what I plan to do, but I write down what I want to do in no particular order.
Today has been a pretty cool day for me. I meditated, had breakfast, and read up until dinner time. After dinner, I read again.
Reading is medicine for my soul. I am finishing up a book entitled Soulful Spirituality by David G. Benner, a Christian Canadian Psychologist. I have almost every one of his books, and they have enriched my life.
My list of new and open items for this week includes the following:
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.
Answering emails and text messages, Daily
Finishing the last revision of my first novel.
Co-hosting the IWSG on Wednesday
Releasing my new short story. (Na-Doo has just jumped for joy, and I’m laughing. Even though she’s pretty sassy, at times, she has a big heart.)
I am ready for this Challenge to end. It has demanded more of my time than I expected. My characters are asking me if I ever will return. Especially Na-Doo, the main female character in my upcoming short story that is not yet released, keeps accusing me of forgetting her. When I told her I didn’t realize the burden the Challenge would have on her story, she advised me to think before I leap the next time, and she tapped her toes on the floor.
She is patiently waiting for the last story that will go out on Tuesday. To keep her happy, I applaud her patience every day and thank her for being so kind to me.
I am laughing. If you think that my characters are my muse, then you’re wrong. My characters are facets of me and would feel insulted if I thought of them as muses.
It’s Sunday, and my Sabbath starts at 6 pm. Typically, at this time of the morning, I am in church. However, I changed my Sabbath’s beginning and end so that I could continue participating in the Challenge and have 24 hours of rest, which I wholeheartedly admit I need.
Since I was up late last night attending a writing seminar on Using Character Emotion to Wow Reader by Becca Puglisi on Zoom, I’m dragging today. But I still have a few more things I want to accomplish before I call it quits at 5:45 pm.
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.
