Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

December 23, 2014October 21, 2016 / Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / Leave a comment

Christmas is a busy season of shopping, decorating, and baking. The thoughts and preparations for Santa and family monopolize our days. But once the last gift is opened, the leftovers put away, we’re on to the next thing, New Years resolutions.

As the year comes to a close, we reflect on last years accomplishments, or lack there of, and the promises we will make for the new year. We write them down, share them with family and friends, post them on Facebook and Twitter, hoping for accountability. We all want to be better people, better writers, parents, and citizens. My prayer for all of us is we shall succeed.

This past year has been tumultuous, particularly, in our country. Division is rampant. People feel disheartened and distrustful. For me, it represents a low point for our nation. But, I am confident the tide will turn and we as families and citizens will unite.

As we gather around the tree and banquet table this Christmas, let us remember the less fortunate, the troubled, those who are hurting and in despair. May one of our resolutions, for 2015, be more compassion for others. As we do not know what burdens they carry.

Let us remember the true reason for Christmas, a season of love and redemption, for all of us.

Thank you for stopping by the Cow Pasture and I wish for you and your family a very Merry Christmas and prosperous New Year.

Can We Talk?

September 28, 2014October 21, 2016 / Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / 7 Comments

DAILY PROMPT
Ready, Set, Done
Our free-write is back by popular demand: today, write about anything — but you must write for exactly ten minutes, no more, no less.

Can we talk? No, I mean really talk? Have a conversation, put our phones down, look each other in the face (eye contact might be too much) and talk?

Cause it seems to me we’ve forgotten how to communicate on the most basic level.

We have become a superficial society of acquaintances communicating in 140 characters and anonymous Likes on Facebook. Our kids are growing up unable to interpret simple nuances, expressions of subtle body language, or the tone of ones voice. One-on-one social interaction has become uncomfortable and outdated.

We’ve given our kids cell phones 24/7 on the pretense of keeping them safe, but if we were honest with ourselves, convenience was the real reason. Convenient to know their whereabouts at all times, and easier than arguing when they threw the inevitable “Everybody has a phone,” tantrum.

Inundated with technology cell phones, laptops, iPods, and eReaders are the minimum found in most homes today. And we upgrade on a regular basis, providing the newest and greatest to our children at younger ages each year. We have created a world of artificial communication and when our kids no longer talk or interact with us, we act surprised.

This is the text generation. They communicate from a distance. Debate behind the mask of social media, date online, and divorce on legal zoom.com. People no longer know how to carry on a conversation face-to-face or even over the phone. We pass each other, not bothering to look up from the technology in our hands, forgetting the importance of touch or respect. Because in our quest for convenience, we’ve forgotten those same values ourselves, and we don’t teach them to our children. It isn’t convenient.

Respect is not just a word in the dictionary. There is a person in front, beside or next to each of us. They have a story to tell. Let’s have a conversation for a change. Stop texting. Make a phone call, instead. Have a face-to-face and leave the phones turned off, in the car or facedown, but for once, see where a real story leads. See what genuine communication feels like for a change. You might be surprised.

What do you think?

Delayed Contact – Healthy Debates

September 20, 2014October 21, 2016 / Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / Leave a comment

Daily Post Prompt : Delayed Contact

How would you get along with your sibling(s), parent(s), or any other person you’ve known for a long time — if you only met them for the first time today?

It took months of fighting closed adoption records, filing court documents, and combing through the ancestry.com site before the first name came to light. I’d spent more than fifteen thousand dollars of my savings trying to find the sister I never knew I had. To say I felt the world tilt on its axis to discover I had two siblings instead of one would be an understatement.

I spread the pictures and information across my dining room table. Straight from Google, Facebook, and LinkedIn, I’d gathered the latest photographs. My hands trembled as I read, highlighting the fine print on each printout. Are they anything like me? Would we have anything in common?

Sarah – lives in California, married with three grown children, two grandchildren, retired from… hmm doesn’t say. Oh, she’s writer, like me. I made a note to research publications. Political views: Democrat, Religion: Agnostic. Ugh.

Melba – small town not far from me, divorced with two children, one grandchild. Nothing on work. Political views: Democrat, Religion: Baptist. Oh Good Lord, she must be into a ton of cause crap. Every banner known to man is on her FB page.

I leaned back in my chair and stared at their faces. I could see the resemblance physically, but the more I read on their numerous public profiles, the more digging I did, the photos I pulled up, I saw less and less we had in common. My God, I was a conservative, southern woman, Republican, a christian, and believed in traditional family values. And, unless it was supporting the Constitution or curing cancer, don’t call me about a cause.

I wasn’t so sure anymore we would get along or like each other should we meet. Just because we had the same genetic makeup? The sum of who we are is more than genetics. Hell, we’re all in our late fifties and early sixties. Would they be up for some healthy debates? Cause I could definitely see some in our future.

How to Get Back in The Game

June 27, 2014April 13, 2018 / Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / Leave a comment

Greetings, from the Cow Pasture; It’s been awhile since last hearing from me. To be exact it’s been seven months.

During the time away, the task of writing seemed overwhelming. Many days I’d feared not only my creative muse had been lost, but also the desire to write.

So, I gave myself permission to stop, if only for a time. To stop struggling with time, blank pages, and a blank mind. I continued to read my favorite blogs and books. Reading has always brought me pleasure and gave me much needed food for thought, manna for my soul. My writing, I set aside.

The last two years had taken its toll. I needed time for my body and soul to heal.
At any given moment, you have the power to say…

I’m ready now, but how did I get back into the game of writing?

I realized this wasn’t how I wanted the story of my life to end. Trying to play catch up would be futile. I knew couldn’t. So, I made a to-do-list. “Start slow, take baby steps,” I told myself. It was a beginning

http://www.flickr.com/photos/85608594@N00/10448651626Perhaps, you will find it helpful.

Designate a time to write; daily, weekly, whatever works for you and keep it sacred.
Clean and declutter computer files. The mundane task of reorganizing files can help hands and mind reconnect to writing related tasks.
Evaluate current mailing lists. Eliminate sites rarely used or those offering redundant information. Stop wasting time going through a zillion emails.
Reevaluate social platforms (Blog, Author’s page, Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, etc). Narrow the focus and find which social network will work best for you based on where you are and what you hope to accomplish.
Establish ONE goal. The thing you want most to accomplish in the next three, six months or over the next year, outline a schedule and do it. (Publish, revise current works in progress, try a different genre, etc.)
Pick ONE project at a time and see it to completion. The satisfaction of accomplishing your goal, will keep you moving forward.
Persevere and write even if it is one word a day.