Category Archives: The Arts

May 5th: Steamboat Springs, CO

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Love grows from stable relationships, shared experience, loyalty, devotion, trust. ~ Unknown

You are cordially invited to Sue Batton Leonard’s book signing for Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected  in Steamboat Springs, Colorado: Here are the details:

  • Date: Monday, May 5th, 2014
  • Time: 6pm
  • Place: United Methodist Church, 736 Oak Street, Steamboat Springs, CO 8048

This event is open to the public and refreshments will be served.

The author will talk about her newly published memoir and about her experience of independent publishing.Sue’s memoir

See you on Monday, either in Steamboat or right here on the site of All Things Fulfilling!

Remember? Dear Twin Sister,

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 Remember? Dearest Jan,

culotte dressesOur culotte dresses back in the 1960’s? Didn’t we think we were the hottest things going? With our home sewn outfits, our matching wooden handled pocketbooks, our Pappagallo flats and our pink Tangee lipstick, we were stylin’! We added a spritz of our fav perfume “Heaven Sent” (for me) and Yardley’s “Lily of the Valley,” (for you)  and we were sweetly ready to face another day of high school, which we pretty much dreaded.

I don’t think we ever sewed our culotte dresses with sleeves in them. Those were too time consuming. It wasn’t easy getting the inset sleeves just right. Besides when it was chilly we liked wearing our little, white round-collared blouses under the culotte dresses. We turned out the “jumpsuits,” as some girls in other parts of the country called them, a dime a dozen.

Remember the fulfilling feelings when we had gotten through a sewing project without the sewing machine malfunctioning and getting the bobbin and thread all knotted up. Seemed to happen every other minute – that temperamental tension device on the machine caused ultimate frustration!

We were always under our own pressure to get our latest fashions completed to wear to school the next day to show our girlfriends. Remember?

What ever happened to our sewing machine anyway? Did you hand it down to one of your daughters?

wooden handled pursesPappagallo flats from the 1960stangee3heaven sent perfumelily-of-the-valley-eau-de-toilette

Jan, memories of all these products and more came flooding back to me as I wrote my memoir. Did you know that some of  these products can still be purchased? At the Vermont Country Store. And lots of other throwback products from the good ole days!  www.vermontcountrystore.com.

Jan, thanks for walking down memory lane with me this morning. Next time we are together, hopefully it won’t be too long,  I’ll do as you have requested. I’ll sign your copy of Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected!

Much love. Your Twin Sister.

P.S. How do you want me to sign your copy? With my maiden name Sue Batton or my married name – Sue Batton Leonard?

 

Roads toward Building Community

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Tomorrow it’s time to head to Denver for Saturday’s monthly CIPA meeting (aka Colorado Independent Publishers Association). This month’s educational focus will be on social media marketing – attendance should be high. There are so many authors and publishers who want to know more about selling and marketing books effectively over the internet. I will be heading up a roundtable discussion on Taking Facebook to the Next Level, beyond the basics of using Facebook to promote independent publications on the world-wide-web. I am looking forward to sharing my knowledge.

I’ve got my work cut out for me on the three hour drive from where I live to Denver. I will be listening to my own audio book recording of “Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected.” The recording has been edited but I’ve not had the chance to listen from beginning to end for any glitches.

helping othersThis is a good time to give a shout out to ColoradoMountainCollege student, Bryan Dow,  who was so helpful to me throughout the recording process. He edited my audio recording quicker than I could have ever expected. It was his first job at editing an audio book, but he has a wealth of experience with the program. Among his already deep curriculum vitae “c.v.” is the title” musician” so uses the software frequently. I enjoyed getting to know this college student a little bit. Someday I hope he tells his own story through an independently published book, film or music or perhaps a multi-media publication. He is working on a fascinating project, while trying to balance a busy schedule of work, study and building a future for himself.

It’s a wonderful thing to have people in this world who are whizzes with technology and can do great things with their hands, creativity and intellectual talents. Thanks again, Bryan, for lending me a hand, and helping me with the production of my audio book (in MP-3 format) “Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected.” You are a person who can help build community in many different ways with your diverse talents. I am glad our paths crossed.

See you back here on All Things Fulfilling on Monday! This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com.

Songs Stir the Memory Bank

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songs and memoriesYesterday’s blog about my experience of working in a factory in Baltimore City when I was in high school, stirred up all kinds of fulfilling memories – particularly of the music of the 1960s.

Here is an image that will bring a smile to many faces, as we look back and recall the place that Motown holds in musical history. This was my favorite album. Oh, how hard my sister and I worked helping our mother with household chores and babysitting just so we could save enough money to buy this treasured album, Love Child by Diana Ross and the Supremes.

What was your prized LP record or favorite song from the Motown era?

love child

I wonder whatever happened to all my Motown albums? They probably got discarded when I went off to college or when my parents moved to a different house.

This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com. See you tomorrow on All Things Fulfilling.

Join in, Neighbors

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In most vital organizations, there is a common bond of interdependence, mutual interest, interlocking contributions, and simple joy.” —Max DePree

neighborhoodA few years ago I started a networking group called We Write Steamboat. The mission of the group is to provide support for independent publishers and to foster independent publishing success. This week we reached a new landmark. We now have 51 members.

I  live in a community where arts and literacy is highly  valued.  The Bud Werner Memorial Library, is a stellar resource in town. Artists  in this rural community find support from several organizations here including the Steamboat Arts Council and the Steamboat Writers Group which serves a great purpose of helping authors to develop their writing through very valuable critique.

Members of the Colorado Independent Publishers Association (aka CIPA) www.cipacatalog.com in Denver is also very beneficial in terms of educating and connecting writers with freelance professionals in all parts of the publishing process.

It never ceases to amaze me what a diverse group of writers there are throughout the State of Colorado, and it’s always a fulfilling to see our We Write Steamboat members’ projects come to fruition. Over the next few weeks, several Steamboat Springs authors will be featured on radio talk shows and television. I will be  blogging about our We Write Steamboat members who will be in the media spotlight so the public can learn more about their publications, their careers and their interests.

bookWe Write Steamboat will also be offering a new writers’ series called “So, You Want to Write a Book? beginning in February 2014. Next week on All Things Fulfilling, I will be posting more information on this educational opportunity for those who are considering writing a book or for those who are already in the process and want to know more about taking a rough manuscript to a polished, saleable and marketable independent publication.

This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com.

2014 Colorado Citizen of the Arts

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The strength of every democracy is measured by its commitment to the arts.” ~Charles Segars, CEO of Ovation

Today, I would like to acknowledge someone in our community! Photographer Jim Steinberg was recently named 2014 Colorado Citizen of the Arts. What a wonderful honor! http://bit.ly/1ky7g2V.

According to Steinberg’s website “he has traveled more than two million miles around the globe pursuing his passion for photography.” He and his mustard color 1980 Volvo station wagon have traveled many of these miles together. His car has been the subject of an article in the Steamboat Pilot. To read the full story, follow this link. http://bit.ly/1cSbImv .

His last book, Colorado Scenic Byways, Taking the Other Road won the 2008 Colorado Book Award in the pictorial category, as well as Forward Magazine’s 2009 National Book of the Year in the travel category. His stunning calendars featuring Colorado landscapes are also award-winners.

But, that is not all about Jim as an artist. He has proven himself to be a top-notch mentor and teacher for photography students. His workshops provide opportunities for students to travel with him in hot pursuit of captivating great scenes as well as intimate landscapes.

Chances are you have may seen some of Steinberg’s photographs in National Geographic, Backpacker, Audubon and Nature Conservancy magazines or other outdoors magazines.

Colorado Less TraveledSteinberg’s books provide treasured gifts for those who love Colorado as a place to ski, hike, live or travel. The outstanding panoramas that Colorado is known for are skillfully and exquisitely captured in all Portfolio Publications, including his calendars A Year in Colorado, the #1 Winner of the National Calendar Awards for 10 years running.

For more information on Steinberg’s award-winning publications, photo tours, photographic prints and calendars, please visit his website. Jimsteinbergphotography.com.

This blog brought to you by www.cornerstonefulfillmentservice.com. A space where independent thoughts, words and views are all part of the business.

Do return to All things Fulfilling tomorrow!

Energized by Challenge

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“Stop focusing on what could go wrong and focus on what could go right.”  I like that adage. I am not sure who said it first.  I try to remember it along with having a little faith whenever I find myself looking at things from a negative perspective. With practice, it can change a person’s entire mindset.

Years ago, one of my business mentors said “there are no problems, only solutions.” To this day, this has given me invaluable confidence to press ahead whenever I feel dubious. In fact, I enjoy trying to find that “solution” that gives way to a different approach and perspective because then I am acting positively to solve the challenge, rather than bemoaning a “problem.”

be open to whatever comes nextIn the New Year I’ll have some interesting projects. I am energized by it! I look forward to seeing what I can do to run with it. As I approach these new tasks, I will keep in mind what Win Borden once said “If you wait to do everything until you’re sure it’s right, you’ll probably never do much of anything.” 

I can’t think of a better adage to bring about  motivation for positive action and along with it a fulfilling life.

This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com. See you tomorrow on All Things Fulfilling.

Forget the Soap?

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“Life is good” represents the most beautiful, dramatic and heavy moments in life.” ~ Nas

bathtub3Please don’t disturb me, I’m scrubbin’! I’m getting rid of all negative thoughts left over from last year.  I have received the year end blog report and know just how many readers we had  and I am feeling very happy. Now – a clean slate and moving forward. A New Year always brings new possibilities and fresh opportunities. All the ingredients necessary for creating a fulfilling experience.

If you are you a person who hangs on to bad memories longer than you ought to, please don’t do it!  It’s not good for your health. http://mayocl.in/1dPJmYZ . Wash those pessimistic and detrimental thoughts right out of your head, right now, while the year is young and history has yet to be made in 2014.

Jump in a tub of warm water, relax, inhale deeply and slowly exhale releasing stress, anxiety and discontent. Go on, now,  breathe again and let your troubles from last year go down the drain. Don’t forget to rinse off well. Bad memories, like soap leaves residue that makes you itchy.

Repeat after me …..”Life is good.” And believe it.

A Russian Winter

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“Art is the right hand of Nature.” ~ Friedrich Schiller

Last Friday evening as I participated in the First Friday Art Walk, I felt as if I was living in the Russian valley of Oymyakon, the coldest permanently inhabited settlement in the world. The twenty below-zero temperatures seemed to have been heaven sent to provide a full-bodied experience for my emersion into the Russian art exhibition that opened that evening at the Steamboat Art Museum. The Russian paintings, on loan from a single private collector, are nothing short of magnificent.

SAM Russian Art

“The Russian Experience” is a beautifully curated exhibit. I’d like to compliment artist Rich Galusha who really took great care in the placement of the paintings even painting the museum walls to accentuate the work – a job well done. And the Russian musical compositions that John Sant’Ambrogio played on the cello complimented the evening.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading the educational information that was posted in the museum about the history and various styles of Russian Art. It was interesting to note that most of the artists did not reside in Moscow or St. Petersburg, but rather, they came from small, remote villages throughout the country.

As cold as it was on Friday, I wouldn’t have missed getting out. After all, my husband’s photography debut exhibition along with other student’s work from ColoradoMountainCollege’s digital photography class was next door to the Steamboat Art Museum at the Chief Theatre for Cultural and Performing Arts. http://www.chieftheater.org/. The student’s work will be at the Chief Theatre all month long.

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If you are coming to town this winter, don’t miss out on stopping by the Steamboat Art Museum http://www.steamboatartmuseum.org/ and take in “The Russian Experience.” It will be available until April 12. The frigid blast will have passed since we don’t often see temperatures this low for long periods.

Thankfully, as I strolled the streets going from gallery to gallery, I found some hot cider at the Wild Horse Gallery to warm my inners. It was much appreciated!

Come on back tomorrow to All Things Fulfilling, the blog of www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com.

Spirited Young Children

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Children are the hands by which we take hold of heaven.” ~ Henry Ward Beecher

joyfulchildI love the spirit and innocence of young children. Few have reason to doubt the world until they reach emotional maturity, which according to Katherine Lee in this article, http://abt.cm/Hk0mge, is somewhere around  the age of nine.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful, as an adult, to have a child’s spirit and have the ability to let your joy shine through from the depths of your soul not caring about what others think of your most delightful thoughts and actions.

I love the book we shared yesterday on All Things Fulfilling, by Trevor Boehm, because I think there is wisdom in the words he shares with respect to living in the world feeling personally fulfilled. If you didn’t read yesterday’s blog, scroll down to it.

On Monday, we will be sharing some tips for people who feel they are not living up to their God given talents, and wish they could be doing something else in their lives or careers. Please join us!

This blog brought to you by http://www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com .