one word Wednesday Archives - Page 3 of 10

27 08, 2014

PERFECTIONISM – One Word Wednesday

By judythemorgan|2014-08-27T06:00:00-05:00August 27th, 2014|one word Wednesday|1 Comment

I seem to be stuck on words that begin with the letter P this month. Not on purpose. Oops another P word.

There’s a reason PERFECTIONISM is today’s word.

As I rewrote the beginning sentence of my WIP (work in progress) for the jillionth time, I realized that I was striving for the perfect opening hook and not moving on with the story.

That led me to thinking about how the need for perfection can stymie all of us.

The dictionary defines PERFECTION two ways:

a quality, trait, or feature of the highest degree of excellence
the highest degree of proficiency, skill, or excellence, as in some art

Creating something that is perfect is not a bad goal — until that need leads to perfectionism where you regard anything short of perfection as unacceptable.

Why is perfectionism bad?

According to Psychologytoday.com, perfectionists regard life as an endless report card on accomplishments or looks, which is a fast track to unhappiness, depression, and eating disorders.

Perfectionists focus on avoiding failure and miss all the joy of learning from mistakes.

It’s easy to slip into the perfection trap. I did.

My fear of a lengthy revision letter from my editor brought out a desire to produce a perfect opening. In reality, all I ended up doing was road blocking myself.

If you’re worried you might be slipping into the perfection trap, here’s an on-line test.

To overcome a tendency toward perfection, I’ve found a Hemingway quote as a reminder for those times when I start down the slippery slope of perfectionism.

Since we’re all apprentices in one way or another, maybe the quote will work for you, too.

SOURCE: http://thewriteconversation.blogspot.com/ Thank you, Edie Melson

20 08, 2014

PHOBIA – One Word Wednesday

By judythemorgan|2014-08-20T06:00:00-05:00August 20th, 2014|one word Wednesday|2 Comments

An overwhelming and unreasonable fear of an object or situation that poses little real danger but provokes anxiety and avoidance.

Unlike the brief anxiety we all feel when faced with giving a speech or taking a test, true phobias causes intense physical and psychological reactions that affect your ability to function normally.

Phobias are common. We all have a fear of something in varying degrees. Hopefully not too many are debilitating.

My phobia is claustrophobia. Not too bad, but you’ll not find me under houses or in rooms without windows or doors for very long. =)

Mostly, the names of phobias fascinate me. The list is long. You can check it out here.

Ablutophobia– Fear of washing or bathing.

Coimetrophobia– Fear of cemeteries.

Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia– Fear of the number 666. (Try to pronounce that one!)

My favorite has to be Phobophobia– Fear of phobias.

Just joking. I do recognize that phobias are real.

For instance, ASTRAPHOBIA– fear of lightning and thunder.

Our little Buster suffers from this. He looks pretty relaxed, but let a storm come through and that changes.

It is a phobia shared by many dogs according to the Iowa Veterinary Medical Association.

Behaviorists are not yet sure what part of the storm frightens dogs most, whether they’re reacting to lightning flashes, the sound of thunder, wind blowing around the house, or the sound of rain on the roof. Some dogs even start to pace and whine half an hour or more before a storm. They may be reacting to a sudden drop in air pressure or the electrical charge of the air.

A very clever entrepreneur invented a thing called a thundershirt to relieve the animals’ suffering. An ingenious marketing technique to name the cure after the cause, don’t you think?

We haven’t tried the product with Buster through the shirt has been proven to work for many animals.

I’m Buster’s thundershirt.

Whenever a storm is coming, Buster moves from his place approximately four feet away next to my desk, which puts him within a short jump to my lap.

The first clap of thunder he jumps up and cuddles in my lap.

It works for him and, fortunately, since he’s so small I can still keep working.

Plus these mountain thunderstorms drop the temperature at least ten degrees and I get a chill. Buster is like an electric blanket on my lap.

Do you or your pet have a phobia? How do you cope?

13 08, 2014

Procrastination – One Word Wednesday

By judythemorgan|2014-08-13T06:00:51-05:00August 13th, 2014|one word Wednesday|0 Comments

Procrastination is the act or habit of putting off or delaying something. A clever enemy of everyone, not just writers.

I’m not sure whether procrastination is a deliberate act or subconscious, but, according to Wayne Dyer, “Procrastination is one of the most common and deadliest of diseases and its toll on success and happiness is heavy.”

Author of The War of Art, Steven Pressfield, calls procrastination a form of resistance. He believes creative types face lots of resistance and offers inspiration to overcome that resistance. Words from his little book have gotten me over more than one bumpy writing slowdown.

I believe his idea of overcoming resistance applies to everyone plagued by the habit of procrastination.

Even if you’re not be a writer, procrastination can hold you back and prevent you from doing something you should be doing.

Goethe said, “Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, magic, and power in it. Begin it now.”

Writing is hard and solitary. Those two truths stall many writers. Procrastination wins.

I refuse to let procrastination to win. I get up every morning, put my butt in the chair, and W-R-I-T-E.

Note, I didn’t say when I feel like writing or whether I think what I write is worthy of a Pulitzer. I sit at the computer and write. EVERY DAY.

Does procrastination stall your dream?

I suggest following Franklin D. Roosevelt’s advice so beautifully depicted in Edie Melson’s graphic?

6 08, 2014

Un-stereotyping – One Word Wednesday

By judythemorgan|2014-08-06T06:00:34-05:00August 6th, 2014|one word Wednesday|4 Comments

I’m in the process of developing characters for two new love stories, and I’m wrestling with creating people who will be real to my readers.

At the same time, I’ve discovered I fell into the stereotyping pit in developing my fictional hero and heroine.

In the next novella of the Fitzpatrick Family series, my preacher’s daughter heroine is any parent’s nightmare.

In the final book of my military romance series about starting over, my retired Army colonel hero is a tough old bird unwilling to show vulnerability.

Of course, the characters can be exactly that way, but Holly Gerth’s blog got me to thinking. Do they have to be?

Too often (and too quickly), we lump people into categories because of a common characteristic or trait rather than think about their story.

I know from personal acquaintances the stereotypes I created are not necessarily true. Army officers can be compassionate and alpha at the same time. All preachers’ kids are not rebellious.

As a writer, I was being sloppy with my characterization so I started over and interviewed both characters, one at a time, again.

I discovered some amazing things that un-stereotyped them both.

Things that altered the plots of their stories.

Things that will make both novels more interesting.

Whether writing or dealing with people in our everyday world, stereotyping is the easy way, the lazy way.

A trap we shouldn’t fall into. Wouldn’t you agree?

30 07, 2014

Guest Book – One Word Wednesday

By judythemorgan|2014-07-30T06:00:35-05:00July 30th, 2014|one word Wednesday|0 Comments

Bet you immediately thought about a guest book at a wedding or funeral.

There are those, but that’s not the guest book I mean.

I’m talking about guest books like the one that lives on the chest in our entry.

Our smiling faces are first thing to greet all guests to our home, but everyone who visits us is asked to sign our guest book before leaving.

Beside our smiles, Irish guests hear cead mile failte, an Irish greeting that means “A hundred thousand welcomes.”

Of course, we don’t limit cead mile failte welcomes to Irish only. As you can see in the picture, the plaque is there for all who wish to read.

This is actually our second guest book. The first book ran out of pages before we left Houston.

Interesting thing about guest books…

I rarely look back at the guest book from our wedding and have never looked over the attendees who signed the funeral books from my parent’s services.

However, I do go through our home guest books periodically. And, I smile from fond memories of time spent with friends.

Have you visited someone and signed their guest book? Do you have a guest book for you home?

If not, and you’re interested in starting to use a guest book, there are some great ideas on Pinterest. Most of the ideas are for wedding guest books, but are easily adapted for home guest books.

16 07, 2014

One Word Wednesday – Super Moon and Dog Walking

By judythemorgan|2014-07-16T06:00:06-05:00July 16th, 2014|one word Wednesday|0 Comments

Last Thursday night (July 12) at 12:25 p.m. MT one of the five super moons due this year shone from the sky.

Super moon is the name coined by Astrologer Richard Nolle over 30 years ago for the times when the moon is closest to Earth in its orbit. Technically, the definition is a new or full moon which occurs with the moon at or near (within 90% of) its closest approach to Earth in a given orbit.

Folklore calls this moon Buck Moon, Thunder Moon, or Hay Moon. Why?

Because at this time of year deer bucks start growing their antlers, thunder storms rage, and farmers struggle to pile up hay in their barns for the coming winter. All of which are evident here in the San Luis Valley.

Unfortunately, last Thursday night clouds hid the super moon from view so I missed it.

Four days later, on my daily daybreak walk with the dogs the Super Moon remained huge.

As we walked, I was admiring the gorgeous sunrise as I do every morning

when I rounded the curve to see this:

The picture is a bit fuzzy, but there’s a good reason…

I gasped when I spotted the gigantic orb in the sky. That, in turn, made the dogs think I’d seen a bear or something.

Toby and Buster, ever watchful on our walks, squiggled around checking the roadside and mountains for wildlife. Thus shaking the hand that held my phone camera.

Sad to say, I also missed the full super moons on January 1 and 30. Those were new-moon super moons according to EarthSky.com

I’m ready for the August super moon, which will be the closest super moon of the year at 221,765 miles from earth. It should be a spectacular sight.

I’m also marking my calendar for September 9, the last of 2014 super moons.

Why don’t you do the same? We’ll compare pictures.

9 07, 2014

The Get-along-shirt

By judythemorgan|2021-06-19T08:01:29-05:00July 9th, 2014|one word Wednesday|0 Comments

SOURCE: Piccsy.com

Little sister doesn’t look very happy, does she?

Can’t you just hear the brother thinking REALLY!

The concept of teaching children to get along by using the shirt has been around for a couple of years, but I’m just discovering the idea and wanted to share.

You can read more about the shirt method here in this Huffington Post article.

I think it’s a great way to teach kiddos that you have to get along in this world even when you don’t want to. It’s certainly an idea I could have used when my kiddos were small.

In fact, now that I think about it there are some folks I know today that I’d like to slip the shirt on — and they’re not small children.

Bet you can think of a few people you’d like to use the shirt on, too.

So what’s your take on the Get Along Shirt—good idea or not?

2 07, 2014

Graphology – One Word Wednesday

By judythemorgan|2014-07-02T06:00:54-05:00July 2nd, 2014|one word Wednesday|0 Comments

Graphology is the study of handwriting as it reflects the writer’s character, personality, and abilities.

According to the chart below there are 5,000 personality traits distinguishable by the size of your letters, spacing between words, and shapes of letters can all signify different characteristics. A close look at your handwriting can also reveal whether you are lying or not.

Look at the infographic below taken from Pens.com and – for fun – do an analysis of a sample of your handwriting.

My analysis came very close to my character and personality. What about you?

I’m wondering if as we rely more and more on computers and texting and not our penmanship if the decrease in actual handwriting will change the statistics. What do you think?

25 06, 2014