Victoria Writer's Blog

I used to think I was here, you know that spot, the one where people stop and lean for a bit to make decisions. The line where the glass is half full and half empty. The region where there is not defined clarity and where no strong opinion is declared...THE GREY AREA.   I often felt that I clearly understood the term "black and white" thinking, with it's all or nothing savoir faire; the correct term being, dichotomous thinking . THE GREY AREA is where I thought I was. I felt sure I was able to interpret anything correctly; that I saw their definitive lines on spectrum and was sure I was in between them and making rational decisions. I WASN'T. I'M STILL NOT. I AM BLACK. I AM WHITE. It was brought to my attention that I almost always strongly place myself on one side or the other. I totally miss the ease and flow of THE GREY AREA. Not exactly sure why this is, but I am damn sure I know now that I need to change my of thinking. I see how it has shaped me an...

For the past year, I have been referring to the time after I stop working, as my "afterlife".  I have not only been planning financially, but career-wise as well. What will I do? I have ideas. It seems I have been forever a busy-body...it's just my nature. I never sit down and I never stop doing, working, or thinking about something . This is not some form of hyperactivity; my gears are just always turning in my mind. Even when I sit quietly, my mind is anything but that! I love to learn new things and especially take risks. Albeit, the "risk thing" is relatively new. I have made slow changes over the years and pushed myself to the point that I'm at now. I do something out of my comfort zone on a daily basis. This is why I am most excited about where I am now and what I am doing presently with my life. It was not until recently, when I met a new acquaintance, a fellow teacher with a warm personality that I instantly took to. She was an ocean-lover li...

I have an old friend who has always referred to his children as "urchins". I found this to be quite odd; a misplaced referral of sorts. But it grew on me and I soon started calling my own children (not anyone else's) urchins. It became such a natural term for me. I began using it in public forums and I found people got a chuckle out it. I think it conjures up an image of actual sea urchins, all small and colorful and spiny and such, being clustered and scattered along the ocean floor. Maybe, just maybe, this is what people found funny. Whatever it was, I liked using the term and it has stuck with me for now close to nine years. My urchins are adults now, yet I still continue to think of them as little sea urchins. As life changes, situations change, as do focuses and life's goals. It hit me the other day (my inspiration for this blog) that I have been recently drawn to the ocean, as my previous blogs have referenced. It calms and comforts me. It engages me and pu...

There is something to be said about being able to empty your thoughts on to a blank page. Whether it be with pencil or pen in hand, or with your fingertips gliding swiftly over a smooth keyboard, writing brings me to a place of complete sereneness; it calms me just as if it were a form of meditation.  Writing offers me up two things I love, expressing myself in written form and editing my own writing to the point of where a tiny smile of satisfaction crosses my face. I call this the cool side of the pillow effect.  When you lay your head down at the end of the day, perhaps there is a loved one there with you, or at least on your mind. You may have accomplished a lot during the day, or made real progress toward your goals. Regardless, you are content .   I get this feeling when I'm writing: it's soothing. Words begin pouring effortlessly from my mind. It reminds me of when at the end of a long day I finally have a chance to collapse into my lair and recline. The ...

My sense of direction is simply nonexistent. I will be the first to admit that I could get lost in a round room. What if I held a compass in my hand, would it help?  Since I've never actually held a compass, I could not say whether it would benefit me or not. I picture myself in the woods aimlessly wandering and holding this object prominently out in front of me and still being utterly bewildered as to which direction to take. Compasses actually remind me of sailors and this in turn reminds me of the boat I once owned that had a broken compass on the dash. It's little plastic dome has thin spiderweb cracks running down from the top due to some sort of previous impact and all it did was wobble and gyrate from the motion of the waves splashing underneath the boat. Gazing down at this broken compass always saddened me a bit because I knew I would have been fascinated to see it in full function. It would have made me feel more like a true sailor on the sea versus a mom on a lak...

This is a topic always resurfaces often for me. It refers to the cliché of “thinking out of the box”.  Most of us have all heard this expression before and understand its basic meaning. To me it means that there are certain type of people who are always, sometimes almost effortlessly, able to put a spin on things.They are able to “change it up” to suit their needs or to progress forward in the situation they're in.  I like these people. They are go-getters. Sometimes aggressive, sometimes not, but certainly assertive.  ME. I like these type of people.  But what I discovered today almost by accident as if in one of those like “aha” moments, was that there is a different category of this breed…a spin-off of sorts.   I refer to this group as the “cardboard box  platform” people.  These are the folks who not only blow others away with their thinking and their actions, but literally destroy the box that we are all trapped...

Oh, that proverbial cliff... You're right there.  You've done the climb.  You've put in the hard work.  You've planned. You've lost sleep.  You've cried.  You've questioned your very existence at times. What the hell is left? What are you waiting for?  Do it! Just do it! No...you step back from that edge.  Going public. Launching your product.  You know you're ready, but what?  What is it? You're terrified. What if it sucks? What if you're wrong? What if you prove you're incompetent?  What if you don't? How will you know? You know who will be there for you. You know they have witnessed all of the doubt and exhaustion. There is no doubt they have your back. They will watch your leap and they will catch you if you are unable take flight this time.  And they will push you and push you and push you until your are ready to take that leap. They're patient, those your friends of yours. And you forgot the ...