​This morning as I put my baby down for a nap, I sang a short version of the song, “Maybe,” from the musical Annie. Long story short, I put on a YouTube channel with the Annie 2014 Soundtrack. One of the last videos was the song Opportunity by the artist Sia, which incorporated lyrics with movie clips. The video is beautiful. The song captures the essence of Annie – a little girl, lost and alone, who finds her home in the unlikeliest of people. 


The song lyrics below glisten and glow. Annie finds a family, a home, an opportunity for unconditional love. She realizes what a gift that is. She dreamed about those hopeful hugs and was finally able to realize them.

What are your dreams?

Do you feel like they are so far out of reach, so beyond what you can accomplish? Do you feel that in your daily life you are a nothing, a nobody? Ever feel like that paper sack Katy Perry mentions, somebody’s leftovers just blowing around in the wind? 

As a momma of a preschooler and a kindergartner, my life is rarely about me. Life is laundry, lunches, and wobbly handwritten letters. Life is naptimes, a lot of poop, and even more coffee. One of the biggest challenges is managing It All, finding a space for me and my dreams in between those other more important activities. Having a family is a dream come true. I don’t even realize that most days. An innumerable amount of my friends have miscarried or lost babies. I ache with them, but I don’t understand completely. I do understand being underwhelming and lonely. I do understand the loss of hope and the loss of those hopeful hugs. I do understand yearning for something bigger than myself.

Opportunity presents itself to you every day. You have the choice to accept people around you, children, adults, friends, the strange old guy who said something to your kid and you aren’t sure what so you smile and laugh awkwardly. You have the choice to see those opportunities as a link to life. You can choose to look down at your shoes. 

Each moment is a gift. You may not feel especially talented or gifted, but you have great purpose. If you are a momma, then you are a life-giving, life-changing, crucial opportunity. Same applies if you are a wife, minister, cashier, clerk, teacher, or student. You are the essence of love. You are hopeful hugs, even when you feel like you need one yourself. You are the moment that others need. You are the smiling faces. You are the big dreams becoming real for those children. Witness them in all their faults, in all their movement, in all their squirmy, slimyness, in all of their cuddles and soft skin. No matter how old my children get, I am their biggest cheerleader.

Here's an offer. I'll be your cheerleader too.

If you have ten cats, eight teenagers, one fancy car, or ride a unicycle, you have opportunity today to experience a moment that can change your life or someone else’s. I speak in terms of mothering preschoolers because that is what I know. What do you know? How can you shine?

I received a “happy thought” after my workout yesterday:
“There is one grand lie – that we are limited.
The only limits we have are the limits we believe.”

Today is your opportunity. Be someone’s cheerleader. Be your own cheerleader. Limit yourself to fulfilling your goals. Limit yourself to treating those around you like family. Limit yourself to giving a smile. Limit yourself to pushing harder and going farther than you thought you could go. Limit yourself to encouraging others. Limit yourself to finding the goodness. Limit yourself to looking up into the beautiful, warm night and seeing that thousands of stars are watching. They can’t wait to see what you will do next, and ready their applause.

 *****



"Under the glow of the very bright lights
I turn my face towards the warm night sky
And I am not afraid of a thousand eyes
When they're above
Five hundred smiles
Oh I used to think
What wouldn't I give
For a moment like this?

This moment is gift
Oh, now look at me
And this opportunity
Is standing right in front of me

But one thing I know
It's only part luck and so
I'm putting on my best show
Under the spotlight
I'm starting my life
Big dreams becoming real tonight
So look at me and this opportunity
You're witnessing my moment, you see?

Now I find myself here, and it's time
Yes this is real, and it's a gold-mine
I'm not afraid to fly
When it's above five hundred smiles

Oh I used to think
What wouldn't I give
For a moment like this?
This moment this gift
Oh, now look at me
And this opportunity
Is standing right in front of me
But one thing I know
It's only part luck and so
I'm putting on my best show

Under the spotlight
I'm starting my life
Big dreams becoming real tonight
So, look at me and this opportunity
You're witnessing my moment, you see?

My big opportunity
Yeah, I won't waste it
I guarantee.

Sia - Opportunity Lyrics | MetroLyrics

​Editing is hard work.

I spent half an hour this morning fixing ONE PARAGRAPH. Four sentences! I rewrote the thing several times, trying to get my point across in just the right manner. The great theme behind all good writing is to show and not tell. 

Sometimes showing is much harder than it looks. Showing up can be harder than it sounds. Refining skills, honing in on excellence, takes a little bit of moxie and days of resilience. Don’t quit.

Students in my composition classes learn to write essays, starting with a basic paragraph and working up into an essay. They have to complete a list of steps to start from “idea” to get to “final draft.” Step 2 is writing a rough draft, and steps 3 and 4 are editing. The journey to finding the perfect sentence continues on. What I love and hate about writing is that, within grammatical guidelines, any sentence can be written in almost any way. I can get caught up in the rules very easily. Watch out for lazy words, write in active voice, use the most effective, succinct word. Writing is an art. The more I write, the more challenging I find it, and the more my mind races, pulses pounding, eyes blinded, fingers flying. Usually there is a lot of nibbling upon nails or munchies, and binge coffee drinking. Step 3 and 4 in the assignment are challenging because once a revision had been made, we very often think we are just fine and move on. But Step 4 is crucial. Step 4 is finding an even better way to get the point across. Step 4 is preparing for the final presentation. Step 4 is where the editor must move out of the way and seek the best for the writing. This final set of revisions pushes the writing to a new level of effectiveness.

I have a Roomba and her name is Blueberry. I love her. She is one of my BFF’s.  There is a brush that catches the hairs and dirt and stuff. I honestly don’t know how it works, but whatever. If I don’t periodically clean out the brush, it gets filled with grossness. Three girls, a guy, and a cat. Picture it.  

This brush, capturing hair and dirt and strings and carpet fibers and dust and gunk, gathers ideas and takes away our junk. That is Blueberry’s job. That is what she was created to do. But she has to get cleaned up every once in a while or else she is ineffective and, let’s face it, just plain gross. There’s a red error light that won’t even let me press Go because the brush is too clogged. She can’t even do her job.
Every person on this planet has great purpose. We each have some gift to be used for some fantastic purpose. Be willing to use that gift, hone that skill, so that it can be used most effectively in a world that needs some sparkle. 

Sometimes we just need to sit down and do a little revising. Even if you only have half an hour a day. Invest in yourself. Whatever your art is, whatever your calling, be willing to edit. Use Step 4 to clean out the junk that doesn’t need to be there. It takes time, patience, and tenacity. Stick with it. Do it. Go clean out the brushes.

​I eat rejection slips for breakfast. I take my coffee with cream, sugar, and a rejection slip on the side. I like a good rejection letter; it starts the day off just right. Nom nom nom.

Because a day is not whole until I’ve dealt with the emotion entangled with a rejection slip these days. I like it. She rubs her belly. Maybe it fuels me. Maybe it reminds me that I'm at least trying something. Maybe it makes me want to eat pumpkin scones. Either way, that’s how it is.

One day I will be the cranky old lady in the corner. That is because my grandmother was the cranky old lady in the corner. I love her, I think she is phenomenal and funny and loving and thoughtful. She always spoke her opinion, maintained her home and her car so that they were immaculate, and she made the world’s best fudge. She left too soon. I’d love to get to know her as an adult because she had some amazing stories to tell and some ideas that would really take off. One example is a themed restaurant. We are talking Magic Time Machine or Rainforest Cafe, here, folks. But more awesomer because each table had a theme. I will be that old lady because I try to stay positive but I just find myself being a bit sarcastic and sardonic. I crack jokes that have a dark side to them. I think maybe it is time to give up on staying positive all the time and just appreciate what I got, and be as positive as I can in my own special way. 

After all, even the classiest of ladies can throw down a verbal spar with a wink and a smile on her face.

Hence, so forth, and so on, one more thing I have learned is that trying to achieve more than one goal at a time is a ridiculous feat to try to accomplish and the achiever will probably end up depressed, tired, and eating a lot of pumpkin scones. That’s okay, that’s okay, tomorrow is another day where we will probably not eat pumpkin scones. Because the tub will be empty. 

What I find humorous is how goals change. To set out upon a journey expecting to find one harbor but instead divert to the open plains beyond the murky woods...well...that very often is how we roam, isn't it? 

But I’m that cranky old lady in the corner, so I’m doing my own thing.
 
I have so many words in me, so many stories, so many, so much. I want to find an agent who needs me, because I need her. We will get each other places. We will travel through time and space, and change the world, one sentence at a time. Writing the best letter to draw her attention, well, that, my friends, is the challenge. Or, part of the challenge. I don’t know how much patience or wherewithal I need to have, and that is another rushing fullback, swinging his barbaric arms at ya. I think that fullbacks rush. Right? I should fact check that. I know baseball pretty well, but nobody tackles anybody in baseball. That would be something to think about, though.

Another thing I have realized today as I received another “Thanks, but no thanks,” in my email, is that
1)      It gets a little easier each time. Not a whole lot, but it gets less personal. Now the game is about wording, catch phrases, and finding the best way to make my query fresh, optimistic, and compelling. It’s about the word game, the wordsmithery, and less about me puttering on my computer. It’s not me failing, it is me finding out what sounds boring and what knocks socks off. And obviously I need to keep puttering.
2)      The music keeps playing. The sun continues shining. The kids still need to be picked up from school. There are still thank you notes to write, dinners to cook, pumpkin scones to be scarfed, and the passive voice to be conquered. So place that rejection in its own little folder, take a note, and take a number. You are waiting in line and the line moves slowly.

“You can do this.” ~ Me

Don’t worry doing something that wastes your time. Enjoy what you are doing, do your best, and the glitter you radiate will change lives.

Advice I have? Appreciate the people who appreciate good words. There are so many words out there – on memes, misspelled on tweets, and fumbling around Tumblr. So when a great concoction of magic and mystery come knocking on your door, be willing to celebrate in honor with a couple of pennies and a slice of your time. Maybe that magician struggles to see the sparkle.

And if you’re that agent looking for glitter, or a reader needing some zest, I have a lot of it. As Abba said it best, take a chance on me.  I’m the first in line. So here is a little pittance for the day, a little illusion and compulsory dessert. Thanks for checking in. Let’s meet here tomorrow. I’ll save you a pumpkin scone.