Thank you to everyone who cheered me on in my mushroom post :)  You have to be quite an expert to try to eat mushrooms--you really have to know what you're doing, and I do not, so I'd never eat them. I do eat local mushrooms that I buy that others have identified though. Some of the ones along my driveway are so ugly and slimy that they could not be made appetizing to me no matter what had been done to them.

Here are just a few more pictures:

I hope you enjoyed these :) Wishing you a wonderful weekend filled with blessings, joy, and peace, xoO

November Every Day

This month, in addition to participating in NaNoWriMo, I'm going to be joining Leah in her Art Every Day Month. So that means I'll be making art every day as well as writing 2,000 words or so each day. I think that both processes will complement each other.

Find out more about Leah's Art Every Day Month here, and if you'd like she has exciting resources for support as well here--one resource she has is a cool Art Every Day Month Survival Guide, so check it out!

Whatever happens, November is going to be a super-exciting and challenging month. I'm excited!

Wellness Wednesday: In Gratitude

Thank you to everyone who commented on my post about my professional plans and NaNoWriMo. You all helped so very, very much.

I really liked Patti's plan of mixing creative alone time with time out spent with others part-time. That really is what is appealing to me the most right now. Kate R. suggested following what gives me joy, and I so want to remember that. Mary Catherine and Kate I. brought up that I could decide after I have more information after November, and that is what I think will also work best for me. Kate I. also reminded me that I can change my mind if something doesn't work, and that uncertainty can be a fine place to rest...all will be well.

Everyone--Patti, Cinner, Kate R., Mary Catherine, Sarah, and Kate I.--all had encouraging things to say about NaNoWriMo, and guess what--I'm doing it in just 5 days--Whoo Hoo! For those who are interested, more info about NaNoWriMo is here, and one of my blog posts from 2007 about NaNoWriMo is here.

So this week I got out my trusty old AlphaSmart Neo whom I named Kaiolohia back in 2007. She had to be dusted out and pulled out from long-term storage as she hadn't been used at all in the past four years. She needed a whole new operating system installed, so I got to know the technical support people at AlphaSmart and was very impressed. I now have a dedicated word processor specifically for production writing, and she's all set up and ready to go! 50,000 words, here I come!

In addition, I looked back at my posts and videos from 2007 about NaNoWriMo and noticed that several of you who congratulated me about finishing four years ago are still readers of happyluau and are people I consider now dear friends: Patti, Kate R., Kristine, and Kelly. Thank you for hanging in there with me for so long. And thank you to all of you who read and encourage me with your comments. Today, I am so very grateful for YOU!

Sacred Life Sunday: Mushroom Season

Well, it is fall in the U.S., and in the Pacific Northwest it is mushroom season. I have much going on in the drama and relationship area that I cannot blog about, so since I want to stay in touch with you and share my life with you, I'm sharing what I can, and today it's mushrooms. These are all mushrooms I spotted in a single day on my driveway, as here they pop up everywhere in all sorts of colors. I like not knowing what they are called, but simply enjoying them for what they are.

Especially if you're not from the area, I thought you'd enjoy seeing some of nature's miracles.

I headed out with my camera, hoping I'd find some good ones to share with you and I wasn't disappointed.

This first one shows how the mushrooms pop up anywhere, even where other things are planted:

Here is an interesting mushroom with an Asian-type hat as a top:

This picture shows how they are seeming to pop up all over the place:

Here is a rather large mushroom with a gigantic slug squeezing it. Kind of creepy in an October-Halloween kind of way:

Here is how they can cluster along the driveway:

This picture shows the interesting texture of these mushrooms:

This mushroom is thick and meaty:

Look at the bright orange color of this one:

And up close: 

This one is quite slimy:

This one complex:

And here is one last one for you:

I hope you've enjoyed these, and that you had a wonderful weekend, and a special Sacred Sunday!

~All photos--such as they are--by me--can't wait until I get my new phone with a working camera. I need the editing software...these are as good as I could get, though, and I really hope you enjoy them :)

My Professional Plans And NaNoWriMo

Thank you everyone for the warm welcome you gave to me as I've returned to blogging. I loved your comments, and I received the inner nourishment they gave me. I send my love radiating back to each of you!

Believe it or not, I intended to blog "almost" daily, and here it is again almost another week having passed...I am not as organized nor as on top of things as I've been, I'm afraid.

Well, I'm at a point in my life in which I need to return to work, probably by next year sometime. So it's not really soon, but I can't delay forever. I need to be at least thinking about it now. As I see it, I have five main choices:

(1) Go back to being a Life Coach.
If I did this option, I could make the most money, but it takes a lot of energy and verve to be an entrepreneur, and I'm more in a self-healing mode right now, so I don't know about this one. Also on the plus side, I could work from home, and things are so beautiful and peaceful here. In addition, I could see myself doing this for the long haul. I already know how I would coach, but I'd need to freshen up my credentials and get a bit more training, too. This option would take a lot of effort to implement.

(2) Be Underemployed.
I like this one. It would be almost effortless. It would involve getting an easy job of some type, temporarily and just for the money until the point would come where I could launch something bigger. This honors the healing mode I'm in. Such jobs can stifle creativity though (at least for me), so I wouldn't want to get stuck there for years and years. When I'm stuck in this way it can be hard to summon the energy to live a bigger life. I am not a high-energy person, and this could leave me in a stagnant place unable to get out.

(3) Write.
This is my dream job, and one that really doesn't involve money unless I have the luxury of waiting for an indefinite period of time, because I don't want to write articles--I want to write novels. On the one hand, I love the contemplative lifestyle, I could work from home, and many people think this is what I should do. On the other hand, who actually makes money as a writer, and can I be one of those very few people?

(4) Something Else.
This is something I haven't thought of yet.

(5) Some Combination of the above.
I thrive with a single focus, am not too good with multi-tasking. However, it's possible.

If I take Oprah's advice that she gave recently in an interview at Facebook headquarters, there is one clear choice for me. Oprah said that she was scared to death of starting her own television network. She asked herself, "What would you do if you knew you could not fail?" (That old standby coaching question!) Then it was easy for her to know how to proceed--of course, she would start her own television network.

So if I ask myself that same question, the clear choice (and also the one I am most afraid of) is option number (3). To explore it I am thinking that I may enter NaNoWriMo again. NaNoWriMo is a creative writing project in which people all over the world (over 200,000 people) join together and write a 50,000 word novel in the month of November. It is an annual contest. You win if you finish. I did it once back in 2007, and loved it. From that time, I have the first half of a novel--a draft--but a pretty decent one, I think.

After NaNoWriMo I was all charged up to write. I ended up writing a non-fiction book for a charity that may ultimately get published someday, but for that for now is in limbo. I spent a lot of time writing that book, and oodles of money getting it edited, and it has languished. I suspect it may never be published. I can't afford for that to happen again--have a book be a money pit. I learned a lot from that experience though.

So, to get things fired up again, I'm thinking that I may just do NaNoWriMo next month. I could end up with a completed draft of a book. I'd be writing part two of that book I wrote four years ago. It would only be one month out of my life and I'd learn if the person I am today enjoys that kind of work, fun, and intensity. I'd also learn if what I write could be any good and make any money, even a nominal amount. That would be useful feedback.

So what do you think? I really value your opinions; everyone thinks so differently and I find much insight in the advice of wise friends (you).

~Photo by LoveHubbie Mark