All I want for Christmas...

"Christmas, Christmas time is here... time for love and time for cheer..." --Alvin

With the stressful beloved Christmas season comes the inevitable list of gifts your children want. Some years the list is longer than a Thanksgiving shopping list for 25 people(!). Other years, the list is so small that you have very little to choose from.

DD10's list is like that this year. She wants a total of three things for Christmas. An American Girl (which she already has two, why on earth does she need another. NOT to mention that she has 9 other knock-off AG dolls too. Yes, that makes eleven!), an acoustic guitar (she wants to be a rock star like Hannah Montana) and a digital camera to call her very own.

If you are in the up and up, you know none of these items are cheap. She is ten and I think she is trying to make the best of her list.

Of course, like good parents, we will use this list to purchase her gifts, groaning all the way.

But what is on your Christmas list? Is there something you want for Christmas this year? Something physically obtainable? Mentally? Emotionally? Spiritually?

I know lists can be made of all the things we want... but what do we really need from the things that don’t come on a list...

Confidence?
Affirmation?
Self-Esteem?
Accountability?
Love?
Acceptance?

Think about it. Then think about how to obtain it.

Good reminders for me:

Getting confidence comes with action... you can’t gain any by sitting on your duff. You have to put yourself out there and try.

Affirmation... also has to come with action... to receive the affirmation you have to once again put yourself out there! People can't affirm you for things they have never laid eyes on.

Self-Esteem... look in the mirror and tell yourself you rock. There ya go ;) It works... you may laugh a little and make goofy faces... but it works.

Accountability... join twitter. Some of these twits can keep you pretty accountable. But if you don't want to add one more thing to you computer time list... ask a friend. Ask your husband/wife. Get them involved in your writing.

Love... You have love offered freely; all you have to do is accept it. Notice, this is another action thing.

Acceptance.... Guess what! You are already accepted. As hard as it may seem, you are the person that you were created to be... even with all your flaws and I can think of at least once person who accepts you just as you are. And it isn't me... though, I am sure I would think you were pretty cool too.

So, in light of the "list" above... what are you searching for this Christmas season? And what will you do to obtain it?

My best friend & worst enemy...

One would think that getting a review back from a critic which is shinny and perfect is the best thing that could happen to an unpublished author... Right?

No. Not really.

When I send my MS to you, I want you to pick it apart until you see blood. Be merciless. Be insightful. Question everything.

Why? Because with that picking and the drawing of blood comes healing, which is a renewal of said parts you picked at. Gross imagery, but true none the less.

Out of pain comes transformation.

As all writers realize (hopefully): If you can't endure the pain of transformation, you need to stop asking for the critiques.

Now, this whole concept can be applied to other areas of life. But that is a more spiritually deep issue. We are allowed to experience things in our lives to gain a deeper understanding of who we are... or justifiably who we want to be… or who we should be. Ouch.

But back to the surface we swim.

The previous "shinning" critique I mentioned, is a writers worst enemy. It doesn't help the writer in any way shape or form. It's almost as if a man with a serious injury to his back heads into the Emergency Room. The doctor checks him over, ignoring the fact there is a gash as long as Long Island in his back, and says, "You look great!" The man does look great, but what about the gash? The man is bleeding to death! The man doesn't know what he can't see. So he needed the doctor to point it out.

Well, okay, maybe not exactly like that. But very similar.
In any event, what kind of blood are you drawing today for your fellow authorial friends? Just be sure to have gauze and Neosporin handy to help. ;)

(SIDE NOTE: I don't know why all my word pictures are gruesome today. Maybe it was because I saw some pretty interesting pictures of my FIL last night after he got bit by a horse. *shudder*)