"There came a time when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom." (Anais Nin)

This is one of my favorite quotes. Don't you feel it? It is so very uncomfortable to hold yourself in...to deny who you are...to deny your talent. If you don't take risks, nothing changes. For writers and other artists it is often a huge risk to put our work out there for people to see and...judge. But, as someone once said, what other people think of you (and your work) is none of your business. Don't be a hose and let people stop the flow of your work because they put their own personal kink in you. Remember that kid's phrase "I'm rubber, you're glue, everything you say bounces of me and sticks to you?" Adopt the child's attitude. I, for one, have never given up on my inner child. I'm still like a little kid in some ways. If you give up that childlike quality, you give up your sense of wonder and awe and, you know, it's hard to be an artist without that.

Wanted to let you know, especially those of you who are not blog saavy...like me...that you can be a follower on this site by clicking the "Follow" button (to the right of the blog posts and under "About me." Various icons will appear and if you have an account with any of them, click on that button and follow the prompts. If you don't have an account, then you can create one by clicking "create a new google account" (this is below the icons) and then follow the prompts. To add yourself as a follower, I believe you have to create your own blog if you don't have one. Then you would be alerted of any updates on my blog. You don't have to do anything with it, but I'm pretty sure you have to start one.

Also, there is a "comments" box beneath each post if you want to make a comment on any particular blog post.

Okay, I'm going to go write now...blog to you later. XO