A Change is Gonna Come

Gail Sheehy said "If we don't change, we don't grow. If we don't grow, we aren't really living."
 

Well, I am all for "really living."

Well, okay - so I tend to exaggerate.  This kind of "really living" is too much living for me, I'm afraid.  I'm basically a weenie.  That is not me riding that wave just in case you were wondering.  Pfft.

Each of us have, I think, spent some period of time just existing, and those of us who are lucky enough to finally discover the difference between just existing and really living are the lucky ones.  But even then, it's pretty easy to allow ourselves to fall into a rut and "just live" as opposed to "really live."  There's a huge difference.  And that difference can help you find joy in life or you can just mark off the days till you're surprised to learn there aren't that many days left.

(Today's my day for quotes; here's another favorite: "We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same." ~ Carlos Castaneda)

But - enough philosophy for now.  We'll do lots of that in the future.  We can have a virtual pajama party and pretend we're back in our earlier years with a bunch of friends drinking bad chianti just to be able to drip candles down those cool bottles while pondering "Life" (with a capital "L").   Speaking of which - have any of you read Keith Richards' LIFE?  I loved it.

 

Anyhooooo . . . .  

This little piece of scribbling is just to let you all know Meanderings and Muses is going to go through a little bit of change next year.  Nothing drastic.  We're still going to have guest bloggers, just not as many.

If you've been following Meanderings and Muses for awhile, you've probably seen the occasional comment from my friend Hank Phillippi Ryan when she says to me, "remember when you worried that no one would come?!"   

(wish i had thought to put on some lipstick here!  dang.  Hank, remind me next time, ok??!)

And she's right - I did.  Worried and fretted.  But, I should have known better.  (Psst!  Did you hear?!  Hank has a new series coming out next year - Yay!!!!  I "borrowed" this from her webpage:  "THE OTHER WOMAN, the first in Hank's new series, will be published next year by FORGE Books. Sequel in 2013.

A Boston reporter on the trail of an ex-governor's secret mistress...a Boston cop on the trail of a suspected serial killer. What happens when they realize they might be hunting the same person? As one character says: "You can chose your sin, but you cannot chose your consequences."'   Can't wait!!

The mystery community is every bit as generous as I've said here and all over the interwebs oh so many times.  And almost every single person I invited from that community to come play and share a little about themselves said yes.

They've written about their writing, and shared photos of where they write.  They shared photos of their pets.  They've shared personal stories that have made us laugh out loud, and some have shared some stories that made us cry.  They've made us think.  

And, if there's one thing I am so proud of I can hardly stand it, it's that we've introduced writers and readers who may not have discovered one another without the loveliness that is Meanderings and Muses.  I wish I had kept every email I received from every reader telling me thanks for that.  We're going to continue doing a lot of that, but for at least this upcoming year I'm going to scale back.

Instead of the three guests a week that we've had most weeks this year, we're going to only have one guest a week. Or, at least I hope we are!  I haven't sent out invitations yet.  Who knows, everyone might be sick to death of us and turn me down flat.  Lord - pray that isn't so, y'all!

After wondering how I could possibly choose a small group of people from the very large group of people who have been gracious enough to take the time to participate in the past is a tough one.  Very tough, to say the least.
   

So, the only fair way would be to draw some names out of The Magic Willie Nelson Baseball Cap.

But, frankly, I don't really want to do that for all the names I'd like to see on next year's schedule.  There are some folks I very much would like to have back, so I'm first going to choose names of a few people I feel especially close to  -   readers and writers.   And a few writers who always manage to ring my "Fan Girl" bell.

Like this guy!  Lee Child!  Yeah, he'll be here! (Well, okay, so that was lie.  He's probably not gonna show up here, but a girl can dream, can't she?)

Sigh.

otay - back to business . . . .

Then I'm going to separate the remaining writers from the remaining readers and draw names from those two groups so we still end up with a nice mix of both.   

All this to say - if you have ever participated as a guest blogger with Meanderings and Muses, please don't feel as though you have been purposely over-looked if you don't receive an invite.  That's just simply not the case.  Not at all.  And - who knows, the next year we may go back to the three guests a week format IF you're all willing.

But let's try this in the upcoming year.

And, just why are we making the change?

Well, I thought you'd never ask!

Simply stated, as much as I love having all the guests we've had, and as much as I have sincerely loved every single blog contributed, it's just taking up more of my time than I want to give again next year.  Most of you live in the real world of high speed technology, so you probably can't even begin to understand trying to do this over dial-up.  Sometimes I'm able to take a nap while some photos are uploading.  'Course, on the up-side - I'm able to get quite a bit of reading done while all the uploading is going on.  (With my fingers crossed that all goes well).

And there's a whole world of things I'm itching to do.

(But, not this)

I want to do a little more blogging of my own, for starters.  There's still lots and lots to talk about, after all  -  Books to share.  New authors to discover.  Recipes to share.  Things to rant about.  Things to giggle out loud about.  Memories and stories to share.

I want to do Julia Cameron's THE ARTISTS'S WAY on-line workshop.  (Any of you done this??)

I have a new Canon G12 camera that I still don't know how to use other than just "point and shoot."  And once I've learned all the features on it (and re-learned the ones Jill already tried to teach me), I'd like to take a photography class.

I took a mixed media collage class and would like to spend a little time doing more collages (and hopefully I can come up with something a little better than this which was my very first in-class attempt).  What can I say, it may not be great, but I had a great time doing it.

I have a wonderful piece of needlepoint I'd like to finish.  (I'm a little embarrassed about how many years this piece has been in my "To Be Stitched" stack!)

A delightful little piece of counted cross stitch that may dry rot if I don't finish it soon.

A scarf I'd like to finish knitting.

And I want to continue going to The Gym most days. 

My "To Be Read" stack has grown since I retired rather than diminished (especially that stack on my iPad). 

Okay, I admit it - I've just told you another little lie.  Those books you see above are not part of my TBR stack, but probably will be re-read at some point, if they haven't already.  I didn't post a picture of the "To Be Read" stack 'cause there were so many dust bunnies.  

And, finally, who knows, I may try my hand at some fiction . . . .

 I have a couple of muses who are nudging me in that direction.

I don't believe you've met Mudd.  Mudd is a "Muse" who has gotten a little overly assertive from time to time.  That's how he lost those fingers.  heh heh heh.  Mudd was a gift from one of my dearest friends ever, Michael, who is no longer with us.  It's a story I want to share at some point, but it's still hard for me to talk about - and to think about.

But, you have met SissyFriss SockMoney and LouLou Skiptoo.  Two more "Muses."  The girls are a mess, what can I say.  We'll be hearing more from them next year, for sure.  They have had some serious adventures I think you'll enjoy hearing about
.

In the meantime, I'm planning on continuing my scribblings here at Meanderings and Muses.  I hope you'll drop by and join in the conversations, the meanderings and the muses. 

 

( Want . . . )

I also want more time to spend with my mom.

 



And I want to spend more time with Donald and Harley.

I want to take more walks with them.  There's always something new and magical to be found around here, and they are usually the ones to lead me right into the middle of it.  I love that!  I'm a big fan of magic.  Sometimes we have to seek it out, but it's there for the finding.

There's a world of new things I want to try.  If I hate doing them, so be it, at least I'll feel as though I gave it a whirl.

So, that's my news.

Pretty soon, some of you will be receiving your invitation to come back and do another piece next year, and I hope you'll find it in your heart (and the time in your schedule) to say yes.  Probably I'll do that this weekend.  CORRECTION:  Why on earth would I send out invitations THIS weekend when so many people from the mystery community are kicking up their heels in St. Louis at Bouchercon?!  Oy!  I just wasn't thinking clearly, was I?  (obviously not).  So.  The new plan is that I'll send them out on Thursday, 9/22/2011, along with a schedule, so those who are interested can get back with me with the date they'd like.  The sooner the better, since we're only doing about 50 (possibly less) dates.  And since our writers have deadlines and book launches to consider, I'll send those invites out first.  And then maybe send the reader invites out the next day.  I'll post next year's schedule as soon as it's complete.

And repeating myself, those of you who have participated in the past but who might not receive an invite for next year - I hope you'll find it in your heart to understand and not misinterpret it for anything more than what it is.  

And those of you who stop by to see who's here and what they have to say - I hope you'll continue dropping by and enjoying what you find.

As you know, I truly love Meanderings and Muses and I am very proud of it.  But I'm a teeny bit burned out, I guess.  And if I can't give it my best efforts, it's time to make some changes.  I hope you agree.