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Fulfillment at Any Age

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“The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.” ~ Aristotle

Have all of you seen the documentary film “Young at Heart?” Has it come to your PBS affiliate state yet www.pbs.org? Over the holidays, my son and I had the opportunity to see a screening of this film together.

The documentary is about a group of senior citizens in western Massachusetts who form a chorus and travel all over to entertain. At the first organizational meeting, the chorus director promptly informs the members that they would not be singing any of the songs of their generation but rather, songs of today.  Oh, yes, songs from Cold Play, Jimi Hendrix, Sonic Youth and other relatively current hits became the repertoire of this “Lawrence Welk generation” of singers.

Did they like it? Of course not, not at first! But things began to rock and things began to roll, as the seniors slowly began to get an ear for what they first thought were raucous, discordant sounds.

Seeing movies with my son is a bit like a chef eating in competitor’s restaurants. He tends to be more critical than the “average Joe.”  Never the less, our consensus was that it was a heartwarming and poignant film, worth seeing.

To me, this film well-demonstrated what Art is all about! Finding courage in doing what you love, and sharing it with others, at any age!  To order this DVD go to www.youngatheartchorus.net.

I Like It, I Like It!

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“All for one and one for all” ~ Proverb quote

As I was making dinner the other night, “The Mike Huckabee Show” was on Fox News www.FoxNews.com. Admittedly, I was more engrossed in making dinner than watching the show until I heard the words “Twin Artists.” Naturally, my ears perked up and I began to tune out dinner and tune into the show. Being a twin, I am all ears when it comes to that subject!

On the show, Mike Huckabee gave twin artists, Jerry and Terry Lynn, one canvas and collaboratively they created a wonderful painting all within 30 minutes. Evidently, painting in tandem is not  a new concept to the brothers. They often merge their styles and talents into one painting.  Working side by side, their completed image embodied the American spirit.

The painting they completed on the show is being auctioned off on E-Bay and the proceeds from the painting will go towards the “Want to Play” Fund, which purchases musical instruments for students. A great example of artists supporting artists!! For more information on this talented pair go to www.Lynntwin.com.

Painting is not all these twins share, they share blogspace! They have a twin blog! Being a twin, I am used to sharing. We’ve shared  brothers, laughs, clothes, birthdays and even worms. We really have!  As kids, if one of us found a worm, we would divide it, so the other wouldn’t be left empty handed.

But, I am warning my twin sister, Jan, right now! Blogspace is not something I am willing to share! She can keep her decorative painting, that she does so well, to herself and I will keep my blogspace to myself! There has to be one thing that we can each excel at individually!

Wait a minute! Maybe I shouldn’t be so selfish. Maybe I can learn to paint – The Lynn Way!

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

Lean, Green Fundraising Machine

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“Doing the same thing over and over, yet expecting different results, is the definition of crazy.” ~ Unknown

What would it be like to no longer have to knock on doors to help raise money for your favorite non-profit? No more pestering friends, relatives and business associates to buy fruit, wrapping paper, cookies, raffle tickets and all the other things that organizations sell for fundraising. Those dollars spent driving from door to door, place to place will be saved and could be donated to the cause.

Wait! It gets better than that!! All your donors or contributors can shop on-line for what they want at www.GoodShop.com and a percentage of the value of the purchases will go to charity or to a school of your choice. Merchandise is the same price, but a donation goes to a cause you feel passionate about.

This inventive way of raising money for your favorite charity www.GoodSearch.com has been featured in Oprah Magazine, CNN, The New York Times, ABC News and the Wall Street Journal. Get on board, non-profits – raise money the easy way. Register your organization.

Don’t believe me? Go to www.GoodShop.com buy something from one of the 900 top on-line retailers involved in this new way of giving. Your money will buy something you want and need, not for something you feel obligated to buy.

For example, you can help raise money for children’s hospitals by designating The Macedonian Mission for Humanity as your charity of choice. You will be helping children across the globe. How easy is that?

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

I See You!

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“There are many reasons why novelists write,  but they all have one thing in common – a need to create an alternative world.” – John Fowles

Years ago, one of the biggest challenges of all self publishing authors and independent publishers was becoming visible in the marketplace. Used to be, the fastest way to notoriety as an author was to be published by one of the large traditional publishing giants and then by doing a little name dropping as to who published your manuscript. Reality is, only a very small percentage of manuscript submissions ever get accepted by the big publishing conglomerates. Sad but true.

Now, opportunities for making a name for yourself as a independent publisher are all there! With a well-executed publication and a well thought-out, creative marketing plan and an undying belief in yourself and your publication (called self promotion!), success as an independent publisher is not as allusive as one might think.

If you have been frustrated by your attempts to self-promote your book, have you looked into the “new generation” of marketing  for writers? By design, social media marketing greatly increases your visibility as an independent publisher and the probability of being discovered. To those who are inexperienced with e-marketing, there  is nothing to be scared of!

No longer are independent publishers found just by a stroke of luck!

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

Blogging Blunders

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“If you have other things in your life – family, friends, good productive day work- these can interact with your writing and the sum will be all the richer.” ~ David Brin

Wow! Don’t I know this! The quote cited above could not be more true in the life of a blogger. Until you have done it, please do not underestimate the difficulty of blogging, nor the time it takes to do it. It is more of a challenge than one might think.

If you blog on a daily basis, as I do, inspiration and creativity to keep your writing interesting, informative, educational or entertaining is a challenge each and every day. As soon as I am not in touch with a revolving door of people, places(scenery), events in my daily activity, my creativity in writing suffers.  Ideas fizzle or even worse, evade me!

Although I shoot for clarity in my writing each and every day, occassionally I am off my mark. Over the weekend, I took a few days off because I was suffering the effects of a nasty cold. When I returned to blogging yesterday, I was “off my game.”

One of my loyal readers “read me the riot act” for dissappointing her yesterday. She said “Want to Play” was “incohesive and not at all consistant with my writing.” She wondered if I had taken some powerfully strong cold medicine that had affected my writing?  In essence, she said “I better get my head back in the game!”

Hey! It worked! The one of the principles behind blogging is to build relationships with others through writing. I was happy to hear from this loyal follower. Glad to know that she cared!

I need to get back to good writing, and I know the fix is right at hand.

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

Want to Play?

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“All human wisdom is summed up in two words – wait and hope.” ~ Alexandre Dumas Pere

Do you feel as if you are preparing to write a book that is as long as the Bible, for the amount of time you have spent on research and development? Don’t give up, it is all part of the process. Although the tedious details that one goes through in planning a book may seem never ending, good planning will increase your chances of success.  From concept to market, every part of the process is important to the end result.

Without dispute, the fact is, some books take longer to write than others. For instance, a book filled with educational or scholarly content takes on an added dimension of time, because all the facts must be checked and rechecked for accuracy.

The quotation cited above, taken out of context, could be referring to many, many things. It is my belief that this quote could be applied to a book whose writing process could have rivaled the time it took to write the Bible.

If you can not guess what book I am referring to, I will give you a clue and see if you can answer the question-

The authors of this book played with jeopardy, when they chose to write it. It took so long to complete that after 10 years of writing, they were only up to “ant”.

Did you get the answer? If you did -let me know! If you think knowing the answer to the question qualifies you as a bibliophile – play on! Watch this video and test your knowledge of books a little bit further!

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Listen and Obey

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“Conscience is the root of all true courage; if a man would be brave let him obey his conscience.” ~ James Freeman Clarke

The signs are all there, and it is time, just for a few days, to get off the merry-go-round. The signs began with a scratchy throat, an ear ache, and I have gone through a box of Kleenex. I have been afflicted  by the common cold.

The feverish pace I have kept, trying to keep up with the independent publishing industry, and all of it’s changes, I am afraid have worn me down. But it is all so exciting, and I don’t want to miss a beat. It even has me all a Twitter!

I am going to listen to my inner voice telling me to be kind to myself and take a weekend break. Perhaps I will go  cold turkey- no more letters, let the e-mails pile up, forget the social media marketing.

We all need to give ourselves permission to seek some peace and quiet every once in a while. I may even hunker down, pull the covers up around my chin and reach, reach, reach across the bedside table for those two independently published books that have been waiting for me!

What is that saying? “Before you can help others, you have to help yourself?”

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Rosy Reflections

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“Make the most of all that comes and the least of all that goes.” ~               Sara Teasdale “The Philosopher”

Despite many trips to the mirror, have you ever looked into your reflection and observed some new things about yourself that you have never discovered before? All of us have experienced this phenomenon called self-discovery. Maybe you just noticed there are a few new freckles, that your eyes sparkle a little brighter than they did before or perhaps your mouth is more turned up than you thought.

Sometimes it leaves you shaking your head and wondering – it is an aura, my imagination or is it for real? It happened to me this week. Rather than explain exactly what I saw, I thought I would share the image that appeared before me, in my own mirror’s reflection, that way, there will be no distortion of the facts.

At the risk of being narcissistic, I am going to keep checking back with my mirror, because you never know what other changes can occur.  All of us feel good when we can share what we see with others, that is why I am sharing this reflection with you!

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

Antiquarian Advice

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“The finest eloquence is that which gets things done”~ David Lloyd George

Guess what I did? Purchased my first antiquarian book! Thanks to the internet, I located and purchased the book through e-commerce! Interesting thing is , I located the book through Abe Books in British Columbia, Canada, yet the book was published in 1952 in Baltimore, Maryland.

To get to the real point, I wanted this book because it was authored by my uncle, Dr. John C. Krantz, who was professor of pharmacology at the University of Maryland. In fact, he is the only published relative that I know of! Not only was he a brilliant medical research doctor, who was widely published in medical journals, he was also a wonderful storyteller!

My uncle, Dr. Krantz, was a pioneer in medical research, and in my opinion, he was also a pioneer in teaching others about the art of public speaking! Today, there are a plethora of books on the subjects of career coaching, public speaking and professionalism in the workplace but, when this book was published in 1952, I doubt many books on these topics existed.

The book, The Art of Eloquence: A Governor and Scientist Look at Public Speaking was co-authored with Governor Theodore R. McKeldin of Maryland. The forward of this book was written by Lowell Thomas, an American writer and broadcaster who made the film Lawrence of Arabia famous.

Dr. Krantz and Governor McKeldin cover such topics in their publication as public speaking on radio, stage, giving welcome speeches, commencement addresses, speeches of acceptance and even as a toastmaster using humor. Tips on things such as how to dress for success, enunciation and proper modulation of the voice, protecting your voice from the cold and the importance of women removing their hats prior to television appearances are covered.

As a child, I knew my uncle was a greatly respected man of high integrity and intelligence. In the prime of his career, I was just a child, so I never witnessed “Uncle John” making a speech. What I have discovered inside the covers of this book, are transcripts of many of the speeches he made throughout his life. My intentions are to sit down soon, and read each and every one and to learn. After all, you never know when you could be called upon to address a group of people!

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Following Tradition

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“Grandfathers are for loving and fixing things.” ~ Author Unknown

Oh, how sweet it is! Isn’t that the truth? Pop was the best! He loved us all so unconditionally that he even loved us when he shouldn’t have. The four of us grandchildren were the apple of his eye, the light in his day, and we knew it!

I recently joined Kiwanis International. This service organization was established in 1915, when my Grandfather was a young man in his early twenties. Several months ago, I mentioned to my Dad that I was contemplating joining this fine service organization.  He reminded me of a few things – that my Grandfather, who was a fine custom homebuilder and my uncle, who was a medical reseach doctor, both were Kiwanians. Once I was reminded of this fact, I did vaguely recall that my Grandfather had a Kiwanis plaque hanging in his office.

Many might wonder why a person would join a service organization. It is simple! I was given so much as a child, in ways that have nothing to do with material goods, that if there is some way I can give back by being involved with this great organization, it will be my pleasure!

Kiwanians are involved in all sorts of service projects which benefit children. They aid in providing for homeless children, building playgrounds, raising funds for pediatric research, mentoring disadvantaged children, and much more. Great things come out of stepping out and giving a child a chance in life! I am going to follow in my grandfather’s footsteps, because being a Kiwanian is a tradition worth following!

This short trailer will give a little insight into what Kiwanis is all about! Take just a few minutes to watch fellowship, caring and community happen!  For more information on Kiwanis International, please visit http://www.kiwanis.org.

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