Morning Pages: Being Grateful

November 21, 2012October 20, 2017 / Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / Leave a comment

Thanksgiving is tomorrow. Today I will spend cleaning and baking and reflecting on the things, I am most grateful. The dictionary defines being Grateful as a feeling or showing an appreciation of kindness; being thankful. Voices of gratitude are heard the loudest this time of a year, wouldn’t it be nice to hear them all year long. There used to be a time when we did.

Recently, while antique shopping I came across a book, Etiquette Up To Date by Cornelius (Mrs) Beeckman, 1938. I bought the book out of sheer curiosity and was amazed at the author’s insight, the difference in decorum, manners, and how much we’re missing today by not teaching gratitude, graciousness, and thoughtfulness. Here are just a few of the pearls of wisdom from Mrs. Beeckman’s book:

“Being gracious, being thoughtful, being kind, having a decent regard for the other fellow: this is etiquette- call it good manners, courtesy, common sense, decency, or what you will – ”

“People will like you better, and you will like yourself better if you graciously say “Please” and “Thank you” and “I beg your pardon” and ” How kind of you to say that” and “You were very good to do that for me” and other illuminated phrases that show you do not live in a world bounded on all sides by yourself.”

Sometimes I think we forget how the things we want or do impact other people. It’s good to be reminded the world does not revolve around us.

Thanksgiving night as you head off into the Black Friday abyss, and elbow your way through Christmas crowds, remember Mrs. Beeckman and her call for decency and graciousness. Be an example to those around you and to your kids. She said, “Parents are the standard bearers for the child,” and I have to agree.

The holiday season is a busy time of baking, stuffing our faces, enjoying family, friends and Christmas shopping. For some it will be thrilling and fun, while others may find it overwhelming, dysfunctional, and stressful. Whichever it turns out for you, be gracious in spirit, thankful, show appreciation and gratitude for God’s blessings. Here are some of the many things I am grateful for this Thanksgiving:

1. Family

2. Friends

3. Bountiful food

4. A Roof over our heads and a warm bed to fall into after stuffing ourselves and shopping

5. Money to shop

6. The freedom to do these things

7. Faith

8. Pets

9. Health that is improving

10. Laughter

11. The ability to read

12. The ability to write

13. My readers

Comment and add your list of things to which you are grateful.

And, as we sit down with our families this Thanksgiving and express our gratitude, don’t forget those who are less fortunate. Say a prayer for the hungry, the poor, those under persecution in Israel and the American citizens whose lives were devastated by Hurricane Sandy. Donate to the American Red Cross to help with their recovery.

Donate Now

To each one of you may you and your family be blessed and have a Happy Thanksgiving.

The Behavior of the Truly Grateful (rickwhitter.com)
Giving Thanks (trinadlambert.com)
Giving Thanks (forbes.com)
Thanksgiving is the time to follow up on those feelings of gratitude for all we have ~ Reed (2rqod.wordpress.com)
Saying Thanks (sksaxgirl.wordpress.com)
Make It a Habit to Give Thanks (blogs.hbr.org)

Morning Pages: No time Like the Present

November 21, 2012October 20, 2017 / Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / 3 Comments

The Morning Call (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

These past few months have been eventful for me and, as a result, my writing has taken a back seat. But, things are settling down, and I am ready to find my way back to a routine that will nurture my writing.

I didn’t take a complete hiatus from the keyboard. I managed to write a few short stories, read a couple of books, and keep up with a number of my favorite blogs, among them, The Daily Creative Writer, one of the most interesting and inspirational blogs I have found. The author, Elizabeth Cutright writes often about the importance of daily writing, even during the most hectic of times. She calls these daily musings, morning pages. The more I read, the better I liked the idea.

To say this has been a hectic time for me and my family is putting it mildly and now that we’re heading into the holiday season, things aren’t going to be slowing down for a while. I knew if I continued to let circumstances dictate my writing time, I may never get it back. It was time to make a decision, to get back on a schedule, to engage my muse, and make writing as routine as eating and breathing. As the saying goes, “There is no time like the present.” This is my attempt.

Welcome, to Sheila’s Morning Pages. I don’t promise great words of wisdom or insight on these morning pages, just that I’ll be here sharing and writing. Something. Anything. It is a start. It may be a prompt, a nugget of news, a diagram for grammar, gossip or an opinion piece. I hope you will stay tuned. In the meantime, have a happy and safe Thanksgiving holiday with your family and loved ones. I intend to, but each morning bright and early, I will start my day with morning pages and see where it takes me.

Words Have Power

November 9, 2012October 20, 2017 / Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / Leave a comment

I’ve always believed words had the power to move people and nowhere was this more than this past week. Words have power. Spin them the right way, target the right audience and they have the power to sway the election for the of President of the United States.

Although I was rooting for the other guy and didn’t like the tactics used, I had to hand it to them. Their words had power and moved people.

After getting over my disappointment, I thought about what they’d done, tailoring each ad and story to each target audience. Which brings me to writing, Isn’t that what we want our stories to do?

But, let me be clear, I’m not recommending you emulate the campaign journalists and their spin, unless you’re writing bizarre fantasy. I recommend writing your story with words that will move with POWER, intensity, integrity, and authenticity.

Stories can move us to tears, or anger, make us gasp in horror, keep us up at night or make our bellies hurt from laughing out loud. It’s our job as writers to make sure we’ve done our homework, understand our audience, and tell the best story we can with imagery that places our readers in the story, with engaging dialogue, and characters that jump off the page.

As writers we have our target audiences, our genres. We share our books and stories on blogs, Facebook and Twitter, sell them on Amazon and iBooks and put ourselves out there for others to evaluate. So, make it count. Words have Power.

Leave me a comment.