Tag: see Jane write


Jan
2013

Anything Is Possible

categories: See Jane Write

I’ve seen many posts in the new year about change…changing one’s inside, outsides, surroundings. I, too, have decided to make some changes with myself, but my surroundings are not to be touched. Tonight was a perfect example of the inspiration, talent, and power that I am surrounded by each time I get together with ladies of See Jane Write.
I haven’t been a member of the group for very long, but I feel as if I’ve known them for years. From day one our fearless leader, Javacia Bowser, warmly welcomed me to the fold. She introduced me online to the group and that was the start of something amazing inside me. These women have all come together to write, support and mentor one another, and share their stories. I have learned so much about myself from them and their experiences and tonight was no exception. The more we share – the athletes, the techies, the teachers, the writers, the mothers, the business owners – the more we find ourselves in our comrades. I listened to bits and pieces of the many conversations around the table tonight simply in awe of the knowledge and life lessons sitting right there at the table. And that was just a smattering of us. Imagine what a whole room of Janes can do! We can do anything we want and I’m reminded of that each time I’m fortunate enough to spend time with them. If you want a taste of the power in this group, join us for the See Jane Write event next week. When you come, be sure to ask me about the donkey from tonight’s gathering..you’re sure to get a chuckle from it.

Love yourself.
Find peace inside.
Share happiness.

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Nov
2012

Announcement: Big goal! Can you help?

categories: goal, non-profit, writing

Today’s writing prompt for #bloglikecrazy is “Why I blog.” I have been on GREEN for so long that often times I just ‘do’ and don’t think about ‘why.’ Lately though the BF, books, and my lovely Janes have caused me to stop more than once and ask myself ‘Why do I feel that way?’ ‘Why am I doing this?’ ‘Why does that make me happy or sad?’ The last one has weighed on my mind a lot lately, but in a good way. I feel as though I may be the happiest I’ve ever been in my life. You know how you hate to say something officially out loud for fear that it’s all in your head and it will go to pot justlikethat? But, I am slowly evolving my mindset into that we make our choices and our behaviors. We choose to react certain ways to certain people or situations and BF has been helping me see how I can positively change my reactions to situations with time and effort. To be completely honest, I fly off the handle and overreact A LOT. And actually, that might be an understatement. I tend to get heated and let very little things bother me in a very big way. I don’t know the root cause of that behavior (yet), but I am learning to recognize it and, when I think about it ahead of time, choose to react differently. I may talk to him about it or just simply let it go if it’s not even worth the breath. I am starting to “choose my battles”, as it were, but more importantly, I’m choosing what is worth hashing out and what just doesn’t matter in our life together. And – surprisingly – a lot of the stuff I let get to me simply doesn’t matter. That’s not to say that I don’t discuss or stand up for what I believe in, but so does he. We’re equally stubborn in our convictions, but that’s what I love about us. He has helped me realize my behaviors, think about them ahead of time (when I remember), and choose to live a happier life. It helps that he is the exact opposite of me in that he’s very easy-going and doesn’t sweat the small stuff while I am tightly wound and sweat everything. Still it works for us and that, in turn, has helped me learn and grow a lot in the last year. I don’t know if he’ll ever know how grateful I am to him for his patience, understanding, and gentle guidance when I get “girl crazy.” We both have our faults and we are doing a great job in learning the other’s, working with and accepting them, and helping each other where we can.

All that to say this, I blog because sometimes (most of the time), I write better than I speak. I hate confrontation and I also hate getting too sappy in person. I prefer to put it on digital paper. I express myself clearer and more eloquently in writing than I ever have face to face. I enjoy getting things off my chest on this blog, as well as share the latest and greatest in my world with you all. I’m still struggling a bit, internally, with what I want to do next goal-wise. I have ideas, I just need to cull them a bit and get them down. You saw my 4 short term goals for the rest of this year in yesterday’s post. In keeping with that, I worked out yesterday at Iron Tribe, am planning on going today after work, and will do a WOD (Workout of the Day) at home this weekend. I’m also going to count my volunteer shift working as the guest bartender at the Kitschmas opening tomorrow night at Naked Art as 1 of my 2 volunteer goals as I am donating all my tips to the Crisis Center of Birmingham and will likely be volunteering with them in the near future. Please come by Naked Art tomorrow night between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. to say Hi, introduce yourself, let me pour you a free drink, get a FREE HUG with your drink, and start your holiday shopping at one of THE best stores to buy beautiful, unique, LOCAL art! Also, I started on my book yesterday so am doing well there. And I’m working on my next piece for Magic City Post which will, hopefully, be a story on the German Christmas Market coming up. I’ll be sure to let you know when I get it done and it’s published. As far as goals for the new year, I’m still working on those as well. But one that I KNOW in my heart that I want to accomplish is to set up a non-profit here in Alabama. I want the sponsors, prizes, and other vendors of Birmingham Dance Walk to be giving toward something besides just the wonderful people of Birmingham. I want them to be able to write their generous donations off and I also want to raise money with this non-profit to donate to other charities in our area that need help. I haven’t started the research on this, but I have a good idea of what I want and am going to start looking in to the paperwork soon. I want to give back and I think this would be a great way to start. If you have any ideas or advice on how to get this puppy started, I am all ears and would appreciate the help! You can reach me at sherri at yougotrossed dot com. I think it takes quite a bit of $$ to file non-profit paperwork here, so I’m still mulling that over too. I may start a KickStarter or Indiegogo to raise funds if needed. There are so many places in Birmingham that could use additional help…would you consider helping me help them? I would love your thoughts!

As always,

Love yourself.
Find peace inside.
Share happiness.


Aug
2012

Day of Women

categories: love, women

I had a wonderful, very girl-fueled day yesterday that filled me with such love, inspiration, and awesomeness. Whoa, I didn’t think ‘awesomeness’ was really a word, but just looked it up and yes, WE HAVE A WINNER, FOLKS! Look at me getting all wordy and creative in my blog. 😉

Yesterday was a great day at work divided by a delicious lunch at one of my favorite local spots – Nabeel’s Cafe & Market. They have the best Greek food this side of Greece. I was fortunate enough to enjoy it with some of my favorite lady friends: Cynthia, Amber, Jessica, Rachel, and her two gorgeous children. We got to know each other a little better, shared some female FAQs, and decided to take the rest of the day off to go shopping. That didn’t happen, but we had fun fantasizing for a few moments. I couldn’t have asked for a better bunch of ladies to dine with and you should check out their blogs, tweets, and words of wisdom. And if you need your butt looked at, be sure to give Rachel a call. Tell her I sent you. 😉

After work it was off to my first See Jane Write event. If you aren’t familiar with this group, you are doing yourself a disservice. It’s a wonderfully diverse group of very talented women in Birmingham who share stories, help, meals, and a serious love for writing..all started by the lovely Javacia Harris Bowser. You can check it out at seejanewritebham.com. Last night’s event was a ghostwriting/co-writing/freelancing seminar led by Nancy Dorman-Hickson. Ms. Dickson helped author the book about the real-life socialite behind the movie Charlie Wilson’s War. She gave us great tips on how to be a better author, market ourselves, as well as expertise on co-writing a book. The knowledge was endless, but my favorite thing was how down to earth she was. She spoke on a beginner’s level for those of us new to branching out and answered all of our questions with easy-to-understand guidelines. I’m thankful I was able to attend and take away a lot of action items that I am starting TODAY.

How is YOUR Wednesday going? That’s the real question here. A little while back, I attended a See Jane Write “meet and greet” of sorts. During our dinner, one Jane told us that she begins each day thinking about at least one thing she is thankful for and one thing she’s excited about. We all delved into that for a bit and it has really stuck with me. I need to put it into practice more, but tell me (in the Comments section) one thing you are thankful for and one thing you are excited about. I will be sending something special to a random winner drawn this weekend – just in time for VBS here in the South (Vacation Bible School a.k.a. Football Season).

I’m going to leave you with a wonderful thought that I borrowed from the Chopra Center: “I am loved, lovable and loving.”

Love yourself.
Find peace inside.
Share happiness.