Thoughts, Musings and More

Lessons learned on the slope

2008-02-14T10:30:00.000-08:00

Learning to ski has been a dream of mine from the time I first heard of it when I was a teen. Until recently, I never lived in a place where it was possible to learn. Last year, though, we moved to Idaho. Within the first week here, I learned of a special offered by a nearby (75 miles) ski lodge (http://www.pomerelle-mtn.com/) to homeschoolers. The package, which had to be paid for in advance, was 4, 6 or 8 weeks of Monday or Friday skiing. The $7 price included an all day lift pass and a 1.5 hour lesson. While some of the experienced skiers complained of the mandatory lessons, I was thrilled. For $7, plus $8 ski rental each week, I would get lessons and lots of ski time.

Learning ski at 47 years old is a lot different than learning as a child. My classmates, all under 9 years old were ready to go up the lift to the “real” slopes by the second week. Me? I stayed on the bunny trail and practiced . . . and practiced . . . and practiced. (That first week I got a LOT of practice in getting up after a fall.) I had an amazing instructor. He listened, he observed, he suggested. He gave me instruction and then let me alone to practice. He prodded, but not too much. He encouraged, but didn’t push. He’d give me something to work on then take the rest of the class to the lift. Once I was steady on my skis and could come down the bunny slope without falling, he taught me how to turn. He said I needed to be able to turn and stop before he’d take me up the lift. It took all six weeks of skiing to finally learn to turn and stop “on command”. He pronounced me ready for the slope. Since it was already afternoon (he’d spent some of his off time with me after lunch) and I was getting tired, I declined. I wanted to “end on a high note”. I spent my last remaining hour enjoying and improving my new-found skill on the bunny slope.

As you might imagine, I got lots of teasing about spending all my time on that bunny slope. Oddly enough, it has not bothered me. When it starts feeling mean-spirited, I shut down the teasing by adamantly reminding the teaser that I ski for my own enjoyment, not theirs. I recently had a conversation about that and realized I needed to import that feeling and sentiment into the rest of my life. So many times I have adjusted my actions to accommodate another’s viewpoint. While that is not always a bad thing, in my life it has kept me from being and doing what I want or feel called to do and be. No more. I am going to take yet another lesson from the ski slopes. While I may listen and learn from others, I will not allow them to force me to change what I don’t want to change. I will live my life for me. I will do and be what I know to be best for me.

BTW, I am skiing again this year. I finally went up the lift (the scariest part of the entire adventure!) and down a “real” slope. It was fantastic! Even more so because I did it when I knew I was ready.

The Relationship

2008-01-15T16:13:00.000-08:00

If you run in church-going circles long enough, you will hear someone make these types of comments. “I ran ahead of God.” “I did it in my own strength, not His.” “I got a lot accomplished, but it wasn’t His way.” Basically, they mean that they forgot God, forgot to ask His direction, tried to do something in a way not consistent with Biblical principles. They accomplished things, but without keeping God first in their lives.

As I’ve stated before, relationship with God is the basis of true faith. As I spend time with the Lord, reading, studying and memorizing His Word, as I converse with Him, as I try to live by His rules and principles, as I share His Truth with others, I am living out that relationship. While my relationship with Him will look similar to others’ relationship with Him, it is unique. Just as two people can have the same friend and there be similarities in how they interact, each relationship is slightly different.

That uniqueness was evident the other day in a recent observation. Others may “run ahead of God” when they are neglecting time with Him. They may start projects, initiate plans, join activities that He would not have led them to do if they had been spending time with Him. I am just the opposite. If I am focused and productive, getting things done and taking on more projects without seeming overwhelmed, chances are I am spending plenty of time reading and studying His Word, conversing with Him and consulting Him for direction. It is when I neglect that relationship, when I rely more and more on myself and don’t spend regular time with Him that I become directionless, full of doubts and procrastination.

Accomplishments or lack of them are not the relationship. They do provide a window, however, into that relationship. A window that serves as a reminder, to me at least, that He wants my relationship most of all.

What about you? What characterizes your life when you are walking in obedience and companionship with your Lord? What characterizes your life when there is a fracture in that relationship? Have you ever even experienced that relationship? Spend time with Him today. He’s waiting for you.

The Most Important Thing

2008-01-10T10:27:00.000-08:00

I don’t know how often I will speak on faith issues, but it occurs to me, given the foundation of my life, that it might be often. With that in mind, I should probably clarify just exactly what I believe. Foundational to my belief system is my assurance that the Bible is the source of Truth. While there may be other truth found outside of the Bible, only Truth is in the Bible.

The main Truth in the Bible pertains to our relationship to the Creator of the world. He created the first man and woman perfect. He loved them, protected them and gave them fulfilling work to do with Him. In their ignorance and pride, they rebelled against him. Their choice passed physical and spiritual effects on to all of mankind. Among the physical effects is that we die. Even more stark, though, are the spiritual effects.

No one can enter God’s presence. Although he desires a close relationship with us, we cannot participate in that relationship. Not in our natural state. His love for us was so great, though, that He provided the way for us to come to Him. Jesus lived and died to reconcile us to the Father. All we have to do is believe. We must come through Jesus. There is no other way. When we come though Jesus, though, we enter into a rich heritage. We become sons and daughters of the living God, priceless treasures and blazing emblems of the mercy and love of the Lord of heaven and earth. All the other Truth found in the Bible is secondary to this Truth.

That is the foundation of my life. Whatever I do, I do out of love and joy and gratefulness to the One who loves me so much He gave His life. And continues to pour Himself into me, making me more than I ever dreamed possible.

Resolutions

2008-01-08T10:36:00.000-08:00

Do you make resolutions at this time of year? Or do some kind of evaluation of past accomplishments and future goals? Most of us do. And just as many of us often end up disappointing ourselves with what we perceive as failure to keep those resolutions. Next time you want to change something in your life, consider these tips.

1. Start small. Don’t try to change everything about your life. Choose something small, such as establishing a new habit of greeting each person you see with a smile or drinking one less cup of coffee.

2. Set yourself up to succeed. Put a process in place that helps you establish the new habit. For example, you want to lose weight? Keep healthy, non-fattening snacks in the front of the refrigerator or cabinet, where you see them first. You want to smile more? Put attractive, unobtrusive mirrors in strategic places throughout your house so you catch glimpses of yourself throughout the day. Or buy some herbal teas to replace your usual coffee.

3. If you slip up, don’t give up. Forgive yourself and start over. One dessert binge might add a pound or three to your weight, but a return to sensible eating the next day will put the weight loss back on track. That person you frowned at may never remember you with kindness, but, if you stop worrying about him, the next person may find sunshine in your smile.

4. Reward yourself. Establish milestones to celebrate. Your goal is to lose 20 pounds? Reward yourself for each 5 pounds lost. A new blouse, an hour spent giving yourself a facial, a guilt-free night watching football, whatever you think of as a special treat. If the reward is a special food, make sure it will not sabotage your progress.

Resolutions don’t have to be destined to fail. They can be the stepping stones to making your life more fulfilling, peaceful and productive.

JaNoWriMo

2008-01-05T11:35:00.000-08:00

As I said in my previous post, I had a great time, learned a lot and produced a lot during NaNoWriMo. I’m not the only one. A few of my writer friends and a few of their writer friends decided the whole “push yourself further than you ever thought possible” needed to be repeated at least once more. We decided to do our own mini-NaNoWriMo, which we are calling JaNoWriMo since it is taking place this month.

A couple of us are writing new words on new works, just like the original premise of NaNoWriMo. Most of us, though, have adapted this idea to more closely fit the actual goals we have for the month of January. Instead of writing 50,000 words on a new novel, we have given “word points” to our projects and are calculating our progress by percentages. This allows the group, with its many different goals for the month, to compete with each other in an equitable way. The published writer of 50+ books has her goal; the not-yet-published writer has her goal. Obviously, they are widely different actual word counts. By calculating percentage to the desired goal, all can see their progress and compare it more equitably to the other competitors.

My goals include 15,000 new words on several diverse projects. I plan to write and upload something to this blog every few days. When I do, I’ll get x-number of word points toward my goal of 50,000 words. I am also editing many scenes from my current novel. I reviewed my previous draft and reorganized the scenes, deleting several and adding new one. Doing that earned me x-number of word points. As I write or edit each scene, I will get another x-number of word points. My goal is to get through 25 of those scenes by January 31. That is only about half of the book, but it is a reasonable goal. I also will write a synopsis that I will start sending out to possible agents and publishers. That is worth another set of word points. My last set of goals is to start writing articles or queries to magazines about possible articles I can write. Each query written gets a word point and each time I send one, I get another word point.

I’m really excited about monitoring progress this way and by the friendly competition between a few writer friends. I expect this to propel me ever closer to the dream of creating and publishing my stories. Look for them soon! In the meantime, keep checking back here for updates on my life, my thoughts, my musings and more!

Review of NaNo

2008-01-01T02:46:00.000-08:00

NaNoWriMo was a wild ride, let me tell you. Especially wild was that last week, when I had to write over 30,000 words to make it to the finish line. I did it. I wrote 50,000 words from November 1 to November 30 and arrived at the 50,000 word mark at 11:02 Friday night, November 30, exhausted but ecstatic.

I don't know what I was thinking, though, to expect I could establish the new habit of writing on this blog while also writing 50,000 words in one month on a new novel. From this point on, though, I am determined to add to this blog on a regular basis. Expect to see me here often.

Like I said, NaNo was a wild ride. Because of various outside commitments and pressures in the beginning of the month, I fell behind. Way behind. By the beginning of that last week, I still needed to write over 30,000 words. I kept plugging away each day, but became more and more convinced I could not possibly finish the month with 50,000 words written. I did it, though! In fact, during the last two days I wrote 23,000 words! I wrote my 50,000th word at 11:02 p.m., 58 minutes before the deadline.

I discovered or was reminded of a couple of interesting things through this experience. The most obvious is that I do well with an objective, non-negotiable deadline. When I know it really doesn't matter if I get a certain scene or article written, I tend to take a lot longer than when someone is waiting on me to finish the piece. I plan to take advantage of this bit of information over the next year by forcing myself into situations where others are expecting me to produce something. I'm going to send queries to magazines asking if they would like me to write an article for them. I am also going to write up a synopsis of my current work in progress and begin sending it to agents and publishers.

That decision will also take advantage of the second thing that I discovered during NaNo, that I need someone to notice what I do. When I went to upload my 50,000 word story onto the NaNo site, I couldn't access the word counter. I didn't realize it, but I had neglected to change my time zone when I registered for this year's NaNo. Last year I lived in a time zone two hours earlier than the one I live in now. It was amazing to me how disappointed and betrayed I felt. The matter was resolved with a quick note to the tech support person, but it provided me with an interesting insight into myself. I thrive on and am motivated by recognition. Even though few would see my winner’s bar, and those people in my life who really mattered would believe me when I said I finished my 50,000 words even without it, I still wanted that little purple bar and the winners icon on my NaNo page. Go check it out. http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/user/34061

Isn’t it great?

All in all NaNo with an exhilarating experience. I recommend it to anyone who wants to push themselves to write more.

NaNoWriMo is Here!

2007-11-03T08:08:00.000-07:00

As I’ve said in the past, I’m a writer. For many writers, the month of November has particular significance. It is National Novel Writing Month. NaNoWriMo, for short. I’m not sure if NaNoWriMo started before November was declared as National Novel Writing Month or if that’s why Chris Baty and others chose November for their experiment. However it started, NaNoWriMo has grown into an international event. During this month, writers from all over the world attempt to “write a novel in a month,” or, to be more specific, to write 50,000 words during the month.. Why? To say they did it, of course! Oh, and maybe for the winner’s logo they get to download from NaNoWriMo.org. :)

Anyone can be a winner. All they have to do is write 50,000 words on their novel during the month of November. Truth be told, they could just pretend to write that many words, trick the word counter (which really does only count words) and get a winner’s logo. Why bother, though? There are no monetary awards (unless the novelist sells the book to a publisher) and the bragging rights won are pretty hollow if won through cheating.

I’m one of tens of thousands of writers who attempt this heroic feat. I’ve participated for three years, this will be my fourth. I won (meaning I wrote 50,000+ words) in 2005 and plan to win again this year! You can watch my progress at http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/user/34061.

. . . . Here again!

2007-10-31T14:13:00.000-07:00

There is an old proverb that states it doesn’t matter how often you stumble and fall as long as you get up one time more than you fall. My first attempt at blogging fizzled, but I’m here to try again.

I’m Stephanie Shackelford and this last year has been full!

I moved twice during that time, once from out of country, then a few months later to a different area on the other coast. I wasted no time getting involved in both those areas while there. That accounts for some of the reasons for not writing consistently in this blog. Truth be told, though, there is a small voice inside me that keeps insisting that, while I could patter on about all kinds of things, surely I don’t have anything of significance to write about. So why bother?

I’m an aspiring novelist, though. Someday soon I hope to be a published one. I want to connect with those, hopefully many, people who read my stories. One of the best ways to do that is a blog. It is also touted as a sound marketing step by numerous other authors and their publicists. If there are people who will want to read my books, it seems reasonable that many of them might also want to know a little about the author. So putting my ramblings up on the Web for all to read might not be so arrogant after all. Even if it is, I’m ignoring that voice and listening to the one urging me to “Get up and get busy!” Hope to see many more here soon.

My Dvorak Experience

2006-07-06T08:28:00.000-07:00

Well, as I said, I decided to switch from Qwerty to Dvorak, giving myself a month to get to 40 wpm (words per minute).

I found a website, http://www.powertyping.com, that offered free lessons and speed tests in both Qwerty and Dvorak. Just before starting lessons, I took a speed test using the Qwerty keyboard. I typed 54 words per minute and made 9.2 mistakes per minute. I was surprised my speed was that high. I’ve hovered between 45-50 words per minute for the past ten years. The low accuracy didn’t surprise me, though. That actually was one of the reasons Dvorak appealed to me. If the claims were true, perhaps I could attain greater accuracy levels as well as increasing my speed. I printed out the Dvorak keyboard layout, put it above my computer and started the lessons.

That first day, I spent 3 hours at lessons and another 2 hours playing typing games. That is much more than what is recommended, but I do tend to be a bit intense when I start new projects. After that first day, though, I usually only spent the recommended 1-2 hours training or typing. When I had progressed through most of the lessons, I decided to test my speed and accuracy. I used the same test I’d used for my Qwerty pre-test and discovered I could type 13 words per minute with 2 mistakes per minute.

That first week was spent doing the lessons over and over, striving for mastery at each level. I also worked through several of the tests, particularly the lists of most frequently used words. When I tired of the lessons, I played the typing games at http://www.powertyping.com. Each morning and evening I would log my speed and accuracy. My accuracy fluctuated from 2-10 words per minute, but my speed steadily increased. I averaged a 2 word per minute increase each day, reaching 30 words per minute in a week.

I still struggled to have a clear mental image of the Dvorak keyboard. Even when I was staring at my print-out of the keyboard, my fingers kept insisting on typing Qwerty keys. Discouragement hit. Should I just quit? I tried to take a Qwerty speed test. I faltered and stumbled through the text and finally gave up. I could not bring up the mental image of the Qwerty keyboard that had been in my mind for decades. I didn’t quite have a Dvorak image there, but the Qwerty one was fading fast. If my mental image of the Dvorak keyboard was that strong after just a week, surely I could take a few more weeks to get my fingers used to the keyboard.

With renewed energy, I typed every day. Sometimes it was from handwritten notes; sometimes directly from my mind. I got caught up on a lot of email that week. My mental image of the keyboard grew stronger. I became more accurate as long as I concentrated hard on that mental image (or stared at the print-out) and typed slowly. If I typed too fast or started "thinking into the keyboard", I reverted back to Qwerty or, more often, a mixture of the two keyboards. That created some highly amusing mistakes.

It is now the third week. Every day I type for at least an hour. I answer emails. I write articles. I play typing games. I’m still not completely comfortable with the keyboard, but that will happen. I have accomplished my goal of 40 words per minute. And it only took about 3 weeks and 30 hours of typing to do it!

You should try it!

Dvorak, Anyone?

2006-07-05T06:32:00.000-07:00

Dvorak is a type of keyboard. A man named Dvorak and a partner designed it in the 1930s. They studied the physiology of the hand and typing and devised a keyboard based on their research. (There are also right-hand or left-hand versions for one-handed typing. I don't know if Dvorak developed those versions or if they were developed later.) More info can be found on several websites. http://www.powertyping.com , http://www.mwbrooks.com/dvorak/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dvorak_Simplified_Keyboard are just a few useful sites.

Advocates of Dvorak say it is easier to learn and use than the more common Qwerty keyboard. The most-used letters are on the home row; the least used on the bottom row. The most frequently used words utilize the keys on the home row most often. All the vowels are on the left side of the home row. This makes it likely you will alternate hands when typing most words, which is better for the hand muscles and for speed.

I've been toying with the idea of switching to Dvorak for a couple of years. The fact that it was supposedly better and easier appealed to me. I like doing things efficiently. It chafed that I was stuck using a less-than-perfect keyboard just because that’s what worked with the original typewriters. In this computer age, when it is so easy to learn, use and switch between Qwerty or Dvorak, why use the inferior Qwerty?

The drawback, though, was that I’ve been using Qwerty for 30 years. It would not be easy to switch. Would it be worth it? I’m a writer. A pre-published one, yes, but still a person who uses her keyboard daily. Over the years, I’ve developed the ability to “think into the keyboard”, making typing far easier than handwriting. If I attempted to learn a new keyboard, that ability would be lost, at least for a time. Could I reclaim it quickly after learning the Dvorak keyboard?

I decided to try. I was on the cusp of a change anyway. Why not make it a big change? We were preparing to move. I knew that packing, cleaning and all the chaos inherent in moving (with which I am well-acquainted) would make it difficult to produce much creative writing. Why not use this time to learn a new keyboard? If, by the end of the move, I hadn’t learned Dvorak well enough to type 40 words per minute or I decided it was too difficult to make the transition, I would revert to Qwerty. I had one month.

The tale of that month (still not quite finished) will follow soon.

2006-06-27T06:13:00.000-07:00

This is my first entry and more to test the system than anything else. I am interested in discovering if blogging is something I would enjoy. I think I will. There are countless times when I have something to say and no one who wants to listen. Writing about a subject also helps me form or refine opinions. Blogging seems a great way for me say what I want to say, find others who want to hear what I have to say and experience one of the latest Internet phenomas.