Wow! Fact or Fiction? Hmmm… consider it. State your opinion.
This blog is brought to you by Sue Batton Leonard. For information on her award-winning memoir Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected and Short Stories: Lessons of Heart & Soul, please go to http://www.allthingsfulfilling.com/about-the-book/.
Welcome back to our week of simple pleasures. I hope you enjoy this week’s messages on All Things Fulfilling that have few words but the images reflect little things that make a difference in our lives or the lives of others.
“I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy.” ~ Rabindranath Tagore
This blog is brought to you by Sue Batton Leonard, author of Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected and Short Stories: Lessons of Heart & Soul.
This week’s theme on All Things Fulfilling is going to be the beauty of simplicity. So, in that vein, blogs will be short, sweet and to the point. Yet I still aim to inspire, entertain, educate or
Inform!
As they say at http://www.YouAreNeverAloneFoundation.org
“I Matter…You Matter…Each Person Matters.” ~
You Are Never Alone Foundation
This blog is brought to you by Sue Batton Leonard, award- winningauthor of Gift of a Lifetime:Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected and Short Stories: Lessons of Heart & Soul.
Thanks to a posting I saw on www.cruxcollective.com I became aware of a documentary film of interest in the outdoor adventure movie category.
Valley Uprising http://reelrocktour.com/ is a film about extreme athletes who climb to explore massive cliffs, crags, boulders and rocks in Yosemite National Park in high up places. They are a whole culture of adventurous souls who are the next generation of outdoorsmen who flock to this area and find their “religion and fulfillment” in rock climbing.
Red Bull Magazine says it’s “The best climbing film ever made.”
It won the Grand Prize at the Banff Mountain Film Festival. Just one award among several others.
Worthy of attention, I am sure, although I have yet to see it. I am putting this film on my 2015 list of films not to miss! Sounds like a nice evening of adventure from the comfort of my living room. Yet, Yosemite is on my National Park Wish List to see upclose some day.
This blog is brought to you by Sue Batton Leonard. For information on her award-winning publication Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected and her new book of stories Lessons of Heart and Soul,
visit this website http://www.allthingsfulfilling.com/about-the-book/.
“So let it be written, so let it be done.” ~ Cecil B DeMille from Ten Commandments
I love blogging on a daily basis. It’s my form of journaling. A crafting of sorts – putting together a blurb with a quotation and an image that helps tell the story.
In this new year, I aim to do something a little different on All Things Fulfilling. Every week I’ll attempt to track down a short story from another source that I feel needs to be shared with others. To my way of thinking, by sharing narratives with “sunny sides” to them, I am making a contribution to “the art of living positively” with our readers around the world.
Can I meet my goal throughout the year? I like to think of myself as an eternal optimist, so I feel that my commitment will be accomplished.
Here is the first story of the year that I would like to share with you. It’s about providing warmth to those who need it. http://bit.ly/1AhozMR.
Stay tuned every “Thirsty Thursday.” It will be one day of the week on All Things Fulfilling when your desire for good news will be quenched.
This blog is brought to you by Sue Batton Leonard, the award-winning author of Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected and Short Stories: Lessons of Heart & Soul.
“When faced with a challenge, look for a way, not a way out.” David Weatherford
Today, let’s talk hurtles and hoops as it relates to yesterday’s blog about exploring creative ways of making a living. Only others who have been through it can relate to the kinds of challenges that come with successfully writing and publishing a book in this digital age.
The most fulfilling end result despite all hurtles and hoops, is knowing the sense of accomplishment that comes with reaching the goal of what you’ve been dreaming about.
Today, I’d like to say thank you to my son, Marc, who beside my husband has been my biggest supporter. Every time I questioned myself or got discouraged, he reminded me in his own very soft, kind and compassionate ways that “the only thing to fear is fear itself.” And he has been my tech support person in crucial moments. Best of all, he’s encouraged me many, many times to step beyond my self-imposed boundaries of growing up in the “etch-a-sketch era” to advancing into the “i-pad age” and to figure things out myself! Talk about a gift in my life.
Ahh…… youth, as Samuel Ullman once said “Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life.”
Someday maybe we will have a story to tell together. I’ve gotten it started in the award-winning memoir Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected and Short Stories: Lessons of Heart & Soul. For more information, please visit http://www.allthingsfulfilling.com/about-the-book/.
P.S. The jewelry is available through http://www.pandora.net.
“The supreme accomplishment is to blur the line between work and play.” ~ Arnold J Toynbee
For the new generation of college graduates, employment and making a living has a very different approach to it. Business is not the same as it was even ten years ago. For many, the traditional 9 to 5 type jobs have deemed to be archaic. Flex-time and working remotely has changed the way many people labor and spend their free hours.
As a growing creative economy takes off, young adults are finding more fulfilling ways of making a living which includes the development of new types of media and communications.
There is a new site called Crux Collective http://www.cruxcollective.com which officially launched last week. It’s “mission is to educate, inspire, and encourage traditional and non-traditional exploration of the outdoors.”
If you are a skier, snowboarder or technie who is interested in the development of equipment used by competitors and to save lives in avalanches, check out this video footage. You’ll be surprised at the new generation of gear that’s coming to the marketplace for outdoors enthusiasts.http://bit.ly/1xgCJXq
I look forward to following http://www.cruxcollective.com. It brings together a big variety of interesting stories from around the world thanks to the gift of new technologies.
This blog is brought to you by Sue Batton Leonard. Award-winning author of Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected and Short Stories: Lessons of Heart & Soul.
Last fall after I did a book signing in my hometown of Towson, Maryland. My life-long friend, Chris, handed me a handwritten missive that was so meaningful. To get a hand-penned letter in this digital age is something special to begin with. The letter contained her memories of our times spent together as children. I couldn’t believe the little things that she remembered, many were the very same memories I’d retained all those decades since my childhood.
However, there was one event that I didn’t recall at all. Here is what she said:
“A surprise birthday party I gave YOU?” I questioned Chris after reading her words in the letter. “I don’t remember it!” My sister doesn’t either.
“What!!” said Chris, in amazement. “You’ve got to be kidding! You went to all kinds of extremes to lure me over to your parent’s house that day so you could surprise me!”
“Nope, I have no recollection at all,” I said. Obviously, the surprise birthday meant a lot more to her than it did to me.
The point of this blog today is that we never know if an event or person in our lives will take up residence in our hearts and never leave us. S0, try hard to be nice to others because you never know the impact a friendship might have on your life.
This blog is brought to you by the award-winning author Sue Batton Leonard. For more information on Gift of a Lifetime:Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected and Short Stories: Lessons of Heart & Soul, visit http://www.allthingsfulfilling.com/about-the-book/.
“God be thanked for books; they make us heirs of the spiritual life of past ages.” ~ William Ellery Channing
On Saturday I had a book signing at Come and See Christian Books and Gifts in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. People drifted in and out throughout the day to shop and to speak with me about my award-winning publication Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected.
During quiet times, I took the opportunity to browse and become more acquainted with what was in store. In the children’s section I came across a book called “Making Heart-bread.” I thought it was particularly meaningful, and the concept of the tale holds value for both children and adults. It is based on a true story of what helped heal emotional scars of children who were traumatized during the World War II era.
Briefly, a grandmother teaches children the difference between making bread to fill the “tummy” and bread that fills the soul. Making heart-bread she says is very important because it “never runs out.” The recipe has ingredients which nourish us most in times of need. The ingredients are revealed throughout the storyline.
After having read Making Heart-bread I have feelings of warmth inside me knowing I have been given all the fundamentals of heart-bread throughout my lifetime. Heart-bread is that which is made from memories of love and spirituality.
This blog is brought to you by award-winning author Sue Batton Leonard. For information on her two publications Gift of a Lifetime:Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected and Short Stories: Lessons of Heart & Soul , please visit https://allthingsfulfilling.com/about-the-book/
See you on Monday on All Things Fulfilling.
“Find what causes a commotion in your heart. Find a way to write about that.” Richard Ford
According to Malcolm Gladwell in his book Outliers: The Story of Success, it takes 10,000 hours of practice to become proficient at anything. Perhaps by penning 1540+ blogs and by writing and publishing one award-winning memoir and a book of short stories, you could say I’ve been steadily working towards mastery.
However, there are some who would say the 10,000 hour rule is arguable. You can decide that for yourself after reading this article.http://bit.ly/1wCgPNX.
Unless you co-write a book or until you hit the publishing process, writing is a solitary activity. Joining a writers group is a great way step out of your own little world and get unbiased assessment from others about your writing. Critique and feedback is guaranteed to stir up commotion in your mind about your writing because it’s not always easy to subject yourself to the comments of others. But your end product will be better because of it. It’s also a very valuable part of the “practice, edit and revise process.”
If you have dreams of becoming a published author, start today and begin writing daily. Even if your writing is nothing more than journaling, you will be working towards accomplishment.
Don’t know where to begin? Use a writing prompt to spark your imagination and creativity. Here’s one for you “If you took a hot air balloon ride where would you find your perfect landing place and what would it look like?
Be creative, let your imagination soar and let whatever you write make your heart flutter!
This blog is brought to you by Sue Batton Leonard. Award-winning author of Gift of a Lifetime:Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected and Short Stories: Lessons of Heart & Soul.
All Things Fulfilling 
