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Whirling in the void of today
Blanketed by the comfort of yesterday
I hide in fear of tomorrow.
The uncertainty rings through
My soul is filled with quiet terror
And I huddle against the chill of my future.
I peek, just a peek
At what might be and startle.
It’s warm, so very warm,
To thaw me to the core of my insecurity.
The love, the fire, the strength,
Of what could be is powerful.
But is the power enough
To pull me from
My self imposed stasis?
15
Well, I have officially started a new addiction. Yes, you heard me correctly. I joined Second Life. Like I didn’t have enough to do before between work, my family, writing, World of Warcraft, and whatever else life threw my way. Now I have this amazing virtual world where I can be and do whatever I want.
If anyone wants to join me feel free to come on over and let them know that Merydithe Tepper referred you. (I get virtual money if you upgrade your account.)
I also have started another blog on the subject as a way to keep up with my in world shenanigans. You can check it out here.
As always, please let me know what you think. If you have heard rumors about it post them here. I’ll tell you the truth as I find it.
Take care and have a great day!
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by Heather Quarnstrom
Have you ever seen a sentence that was just so well put together that it’s the equivalent of a beautiful painting? The sentence just flows and hits something deep within you. It’s such an amazing construct that while it is something that inspires you as a writer, it also terrifies you. You feel that every word that you write has to compare to that glowing work of art.
I’ve personally spent years justifying my lack of writing with the fact that I felt what I would write just couldn’t measure up. My subconscious told me again and again that if my words weren’t comparable to one shining example or another that it just wasn’t worth my time or effort to compete. What I finally realized exactly what was stopping me and thought it through, I had an amazing realization. My writing doesn’t have to be perfect! Now, that may seem like a simple, easy to realize concept to everyone that reads this, but I guarantee that MANY struggling writers can relate.
The feeling becomes so ingrained in our minds that unless what comes out of our heads is perfect then it shouldn’t be recorded. Not only is it supposed to come out perfect, but it should come out perfect the first try. It finally dawned on me that I would never know what my writing could become because I was censoring it before I even wrote it. My mind was so wrapped up in the concept of perfection that it was strangling the creative side that puts the words together. That then virtually guaranteed that whatever I wrote, if I ever got past the terror enough to actually write, would be the exact thing I feared.
I came to the conclusion that the only way I would ever fulfill my dream of being a writer would be by silencing my inner critic, and just writing. If I didn’t worry what came out the result was not only a relief, but also amazingly freeing to my creativity. I found that sentences came to me during the strangest time. The most spectacular thing was that not only would they come to me, but they would stick around until I got somewhere I could actually write them down. Those sentences led to more sentences, which lead to paragraphs, and lo and
behold — I was writing!
The amazing thing about the technical age is the delete button. If something doesn’t come across the way I meant it, I can delete and try again. If what I write is in fact horrible and I wouldn’t even print it out to line a litter box — delete. I can even save it and go back to it another day if I want. Maybe after working on it a little bit subconsciously I will get inspired to change it to something that is worth reading. If not, I don’t worry about it. I look at it as practice for when I find something I am truly passionate to write about.
The bottom line is this — if you let yourself get so wrapped up in fear that you can’t even think about writing without hyperventilating then you have failed without even trying. Who knows – you may be the next master artist of the writing world. You’ll never know until you try.
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Heather Quarnstrom is a work at home mom of five beautiful children. She is a mother, wife, web/graphic designer, writer, and entrepreneur. If you would like to see what she is up to now, or browse a really great collection of diverse resources on the web, please stop by her site at http://www.heatherquarnstrom.com.
*~*~*~*~*~*
03
Well, I have once again made a vow to being writing. What does this mean for the handful of people that read this? I will be blogging again. Yes, that’s right. I’m gonna do it again. (I can almost see the sarcastic comments rolling in as I type this.)
That being said, I have posted a new blog, and will probably be visiting my millions (ok, only three or four) of blogging pages I have to update them. Don’t worry though, you won’t see the same post many times over. What I am going to do it try to write a post announcing my posts to my main blogging site.
So, for those of you that haven’t had your coffee this morning, we get to the “meat and potatoes” of this post:
I have updated my main blog. You can view the newest link by going to one of two places:
HeatherQuarnstrom.com and clicking on WebLog in the top corner
or
Click here to go straight to my Blog site.
If I feel I have a really great post, or have a lot to say I will be posting multiple posts to multiple sites. (Figuring that most people that read these little blurbs may not take the time to actually visit my main blog, I want to make sure my most important thoughts are seen by the largest number of people.)
Thanks for taking the time to read, and I hope to see you at HeatherQuarnstrom.com.
Have a great day!
03
Well, it seems that my lofty ideas for my budding writing career have been put on hold.
In the past couple of years that I started this web site I have been going through some serious life changes. Both of my maternal grandparents passed away within six months of each other. I had a surprise pregnancy and miscarriage, followed by another pregnancy and new baby boy. I’ve also had the joy of seeing my businesses actually start bringing some income in. (Slowly, but enough to rekindle my zeal towards them.) I’ve also started a new business with a brand new but very close on-line friend.
I haven’t given up the dream of writing for a living, but have just realized that somewhere along the way it got shoved to the side. With all of the craziness that has invaded my life I have made a new vow to make time to write at least every day. There are days that I feel no one listens to me, so at least this way I will get some feeling of being heard.
If anyone is interested in seeing what I have been up to, they can visit the following web sites:
3JCB Enterprises
On Fairy Wings Enterprises
On Fairy Wings
On Fairy Wings Designs
On Fairy Wings Gifts
WAHM Made
WAHM Village
My Essential Designs
The “Official” Heather Quarnstrom Web Site
I am also in the middle of purchasing:
I have also joined the following “networking” sites, so you can always see what is going on by visiting me:
Deviant Art
Cafe Mom
My Space
Personal – Unycorne
Business – On Fairy Wings Designs, On Fairy Wings Gifts
Yuku
Tagged
Ryze — to request as a friend, please use the the e-mail address Heather@HeatherQuarnstrom.com.
As I said I have been very busy, but over-all I’m more content that I have ever been. Now that I have started paying attention to my creative side I am much happier. (Gee, imagine that. Those of you that know me would never have guess that’s an important aspect of my personality.
)
That’s it for now. I hope that you are all happy and healthy.
Have a great day!
~ Heather
02
Since this site is about me, I guess it’s only fair to post some information about myself.
As of this writing I am a 31 year old mother of five beautiful children. My boys are ages 12, 11, 6, and under a year, and my daughter is 9 years old. I have been married almost 13 years to the love of my life.
I live in Illinois and have all of my life (at least the parts I can remember.) I work part-time in a grocery store. I also am a web/graphic designer, web host, sell Herbalife, make natural bath and body products, and sell gifts and collectibles. All in all it makes for a very full (read – hectic) life.
I have always loved to write, and have done so in some form or another for all of my life. When the big 3-0 reared it’s ugly head I decided it was time for me to start to follow my dreams. As a kid I always wanted to become a writer and share some of the ideas/dreams/nonsense that went through my mind. It’s be very slow going, as I am finding that it’s hard to break through my own fear of failure, but I am determined to eventually produce something.
That dream is what inspired this site. I felt that I needed a place to post my writing for others to read. I may not become a conventionally published writer, but at least I will know that others will be able to view and comment on my work.
If you find something here that speaks to you, please let me know. It doesn’t matter if you don’t like something, please tell me why. I always want to know how my writing is received. I’m not asking you to be deliberately cruel if what I put on here is a big pile of steaming… Well, you know. *smile* What I am asking is for honesty in a constructive way.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and peruse my site.
Best wishes to all.
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