The Joy of Blogging

Blogging is something I actually resisted for quite a long time, although my husband and others encouraged me in that direction. I cannot remember anymore what my objections were. I guess I thought it would be too hard since I was a dunce when it came to computers. However, I saw the need to defend the stances I took in my novels by sharing my research and discussing my sources. When I finally decided to take the plunge, I was surprised at how many people actually came to read the blog. My book sales picked up, and I began to meet dozens of interesting individuals. Life would never be the same again.

This blog has been a means of reaching out to others, since it starts a lot of conversations. It has led to some wonderful speaking engagements, the most exciting of which was the trip to New Zealand in 2009. It has been educational, for myself and others. I have had to read many books not only for book reviews but to check on my own historical conclusions. The blog has been a source not only of pleasure and entertainment but it has encouraged me to reach a little farther, work a little harder, overcome shyness, and discipline myself into a routine of writing and researching a little everyday. In the six years since the blog started, I feel more and more blessed in many ways, especially as a writer. And isn't that what happiness is?

Please visit BlogHer's Life Well Lived page to see how other women feel about blogging. And if you are interested in one of the great BlogHer sweepstakes, please visit HERE. Share

The Book of Jonas

"A murder remains a murder and goes on affecting people." This quote from the 1945 film Love Letters came into my mind after reading Stephen Dau's The Book of Jonas, as I sought for words to express the emotional desolation which lingered on after the final page. None of us live in a vacuum, and while the wars our country fights are far away from our homes, they touch us nevertheless. When a gifted writer such as Stephen Dau is able to impart the essence of  tragedy, telling with a minimum of graphic detail what it is to have one's soul lacerated as one is compelled not only to witness atrocities but to commit them, then the reader is left with a gutted feeling, as one who has not only heard but seen. Of all the bloody footage of massacres I have had the misfortune to glimpse, no picture is so seared upon my mind as the scene conjured by Dau of an eight-year-old girl in a white dress, playfully gathering pebbles, blissfully unaware that she is within range of hidden American troops who are about to attack her village in an unnamed Middle Eastern country. Even when many have died, sometimes it is one little life which tips the scales of justice, for no life is too small, and the smallest are often the greatest.

The novel is aptly named after the biblical prophet, for the main character Jonas, as he deals with the unspeakable, is in his very being a prophetic witness of both punishment and mercy. His coming to America after his village is destroyed by American troops is like coming into the midst of the enemy camp. As he struggles to understand his loss he encounters a grieving mother whose son was lost overseas. Jonas realizes that he knows the son and knows what became of him but whether he will be able to tell the truth or not is at the heart of the mystery of the story.

For a BlogHer discussion on The Book of Jonas, please visit HERE.

(*NOTE: I was compensated for this BlogHer Book Club review but all opinions expressed are my own.)

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Making Time for Yourself

Are wives and mothers being selfish when we take time for ourselves? I am always struck by the fact that in an airplane parents are told to put the oxygen masks on themselves first before putting them on the children. It is so we will be able to save our children. If we want to be the best we can be for our families than we can't let our health fall through the cracks, and that means our mental, emotional and spiritual health. An elderly lady in the Carmelite order once confided to me that she felt selfish when she took time to put everything aside and pray. I asked her if she felt the same way about eating and she said "no." I  told her that as food was necessary to the body so was prayer necessary to the soul. Every person needs to take some quiet time to regroup, to meditate, to reflect on life and where God is leading them. This can be done best in a quiet place like church but it can also be done while soaking in a tub, taking a brisk walk, working out at the gym, sitting under the hair dryer or blissfully ensconced in one's special corner at home. Making time for yourself can also entail, on a more mundane level, giving yourself a manicure and a facial, writing a letter to an old friend, or working on that novel you promised yourself you would write someday. I do all of the above to re-energize; I especially love to take long walks in the country. When the batteries are recharged then the task at hand goes smoother.

More HERE.

Read about the latest BlogHer sweepstakes, HERE.
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A Mother's Nightmare

As if having a husband away in Afghanistan is not enough, one poor woman had to face a visit from CPS based upon something she wrote on her blog. I hope that the person who made such a frivolous report is troubled by their conscience for the rest of their life. Mommy Bloggers, please be careful what you share with the public! To quote:

I've been sitting here for a couple of hours. Writing. Deleting. Thinking. Fuming. Shaking with rage. Debating. Writing some more. More furious shaking. More deleting. More debating.

I know that logically calling attention to a troll only feeds their ego and gives them ammunition. In this case, however, we're talking about something much more sinister than a troll. We're talking about someone out to hurt a family. My family.

I received a knock on my door this afternoon, and when I answered it I was met by a small, blonde woman who announced that she was from child protective services and she needed to talk to me.

If you've never had that experience (and I hope you never have), let me try to describe how it feels. Your heart starts racing. Your mind starts spinning, frantically trying to recall something -- anything -- that could warrant a visit from CPS. I was in full panic mode, but trying my very best to hold it together. Or to at least not pass out.

We sat down in my living room and she informed me that the office had received a call from someone claiming that I wrote a blog post that was mentally abusive toward my oldest son, Ben. It was THIS post. Take a moment to read it.

Yes. That caused someone to feel justified to call CPS.

The woman from CPS then said, "I'm not here to take away your kids."

And I couldn't hold it together anymore. I guess just the idea that she could have been there to take them away was too much. I totally lost it. (Read entire article.)

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Beginning the Day

As part of the Life Well Lived Getting Happy campaign, the BlogHer Network is inviting women all over the world to share what they do to get their days off to a good start. Sometimes it is the little things which make us or break us. The negative patterns of thinking, the prayers left unsaid, the interior complaints and the lack of gratitude, can chip away at both body and soul, draining us of energy and of hope. When we allow ourselves to become bogged down in discouragement, then we make it easier for ourselves to underachieve, to be inconsiderate of others, and to generally give in to sloppy living. It is within our power to change the course of our lives by adopting good habits.

One habit which I have found to be indispensable is to make an effort to begin the day well. The way to do this is easy. It means making an effort to focus my waking moments in a positive way. It sounds trite but it is true. I try to turn my thoughts to God and thank Him for giving me another day in which to serve Him and work out my salvation. When we think of God, it puts our troubles in perspective, all the pinpricks, all the headaches, because God is forever; everything else shall pass.

After making a short morning offering to God and the Blessed Mother, I head for the coffee. Coffee helps the material to catch up with the spiritual. As I drink my coffee, I check my email. I am finding it is a bad idea to check Facebook first thing in the morning, because being bombarded with bad news, controversies and quarrels is not always the best way to get oneself motivated.

We live close to the local YMCA, so as many mornings as I can, I like to start the day with a swim. Swimming is the best exercise in the world. You can get the best work-out almost effortlessly. I have found that swimming relaxes my mind and in doing so helps me to clear out the cobwebs. For those of you who write, you know how important it is to keep the mind uncluttered, since writers' brains tend to become as chaotic as our desks. I have found, however, that a brisk forty-five minute swim restores order and harmony to my thoughts. After a good swim, I am ready for anything.

Please share your secret for starting the day on a positive note by going HERE. By the way, BlogHer is offering a $250 prize. Please click HERE to find out how you can win.

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The Happiness Routine

What to do the first few minutes in the morning to get the day off to a good start, as recommended by the ladies of BlogHer. I am mentioned as recommending a good swim. More HERE.

I would also like to recommend making a morning offering. Here is the prayer I like to say:

O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer you my prayers, works, joys, and sufferings of this day in union with the holy sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world. I offer them for all the intentions of your sacred heart: the salvation of souls, reparation for sin, the reunion of all Christians. I offer them for the intentions of our bishops and of all the apostles of prayer, and in particular for those recommended by our Holy Father this month.

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Faithful Place

"Things around here were more like they used to be than they ever had been." — from Faithful Place by Tana French

My BlogHer Book Club review of Tana French's mystery novel set in Ireland. To quote:

In Faithful Place, undercover policeman Frank Mackey must...go home and face the dysfunctional family he fled from twenty years earlier. Now the Mackeys are no more dysfunctional than any other family where one of the parents is a severe and brutal alcoholic but, to paraphrase Tolstoy in Anna Karenina, every unhappy family is unhappy in its own unique way. I suppose this applies to the Mackey family, who in spite of the boorish father and sewage-mouthed eldest brother, as well as the prodigious use of the word "feck," do have their charming moments and redeeming qualities. Their uniqueness is indubitable, and for me the members of the Mackey family are among the most unforgettable bunch of characters I have ever encountered in fiction for combining hilarity and pathos with sheer insanity. (Read entire review.)

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