manifesting your vision

Freelancing can be very "feast or famine" and since I left my job nearly 2 years ago, I've been blessed with an abundance of work - one assignment after another. This famine snuck up on me. About 2 weeks before my last assignment was due (Friday), I realized I did not have a single other assignment on my plate. This, as a single mom, can be frightening. True, I have one assignment based on my trip to Nepal in November but that's not going to bring in money until maybe even January and probably will barely cover my expenses anyway. So I sent out several queries (which, if you're not a freelance writer, are mini-proposals about a story idea) and some were quickly rejected, some have not been responded to, and some were nibbled at but I've got nothing solid yet. These are times when faith and positive thinking come in handy. It's also a reminder for freelancers - when you're most busy with work is the time you need to send out queries!

I very much agree with the power of positive thinking and visualization - which are ways of asking God, and trusting that He will provide - but these things take time. It takes time, and the making of a new habit, to sit still and visualize success. But I'm going to try it. I want to print out some words about positive things like success etc. Reading blink I realize that seeing positive words and things can subconsciously affect our mindset and our results. But I think we also have to be prepared when the answer is no, to not get what we want, because sometimes a no is part of a bigger plan.

It's interesting that what I have read about The Secret, Norman Vincent Peale's classic The Power of Positive Thinking, and recently I picked up Joel Osteen's book Your Best Life Now all echo the same thing - you have to believe it to make it happen. (On an aside, I'm not so sure about Joel Osteen - I watched him on TV and he's too smiley and his sermons don't really cut very deep. His book also does not say anything really new).

You know because I was raised very poor during a part of my life (my dad was on welfare, used food stamps, we shopped in thrift stores and lived without running water) AND because I feel for the plight of the world’s poor – like in 3rd world countries that I’ve seen - I have identified these semi-conscious thoughts about money and people with money that I have. I almost feel like I should not earn lots of money, that people with money sell their soul, that they can’t be good people, that money is associated with greed and lies and power-mongering, but I know these are just delusions (though money can corrupt, and can lead to these things, it does not have to). I think these subconscious thoughts may keep me from making more. I feel very blessed with my success with magazines and my ability to pay my bills monthly, but could I do it out of Texas where the cost of living is so low? I’m not sure. I make a decent salary but I want more! ;) (And I even feel bad about writing that, I wanted to delete it). I want to be completely economically self-sufficient to the point where I can move wherever I want, and even make substantial contributions to the causes I care about. I think about how much Oprah has been able to contribute and I realize wealth does not have to be associated with selfishness and greed.

I’m doing a cleanse right now, so that takes up some time and energy too. I'm doing Jon Barron's colon cleanse and liver detox. I just finished 5 days on the colon cleanse and just started day 1 of the liver detox. I have to drink this orange juice/garlic/ginger/olive oil drink in the morning and he writes that "believe it or not, this drink tastes great!" Don't believe it for a minute, barforama! I had to add Stevia for sweetness but it really tastes like garlic... AND every day I have to increase by 1 Tbsp Olive oil and 1 garlic clove so I can just imagine what it will be like on day 5... then I drink a special liver detox tea which is actually quite good and does help with nausea. There is also a liver tincture that you add to juice and he says to "shoot it down like a shot of bad whiskey" and indeed, that's what you have to do. It's very bitter! I'm doing the cleanse with several other girlfriends and we're discussing as we go. And we're all supporting one another. Jon Barron says that the liver/gallbladder detox is the single most important thing you can do for your health, so it will be interesting to see how it goes. Here's to good health!


And hey, I'm offering another Online Writing Course, starting Sep 15 so if you're interested check it out! I've had a full course every time I've offered it and all positive reports back from students. It's chock full of helpful resources, and yours truly providing interactive feedback on all your writing questions.