Lisa Rector's Blog: Writing and Beyond, page 9

Double Giveaway for Chronicles of the Half-Emrys!

Book two, The Two Masters, is available on Amazon! Enter both giveaways for a chance to win a signed copy. Good luck! .goodreadsGiveawayWidget { color: #555; font-family: georgia, serif; font-weight: normal; text-align: left; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; background: white; } .goodreadsGiveawayWidget p { margin: 0 0 .5em !important; padding: 0; } .goodreadsGiveawayWidgetEnterLink { display: inline-block; color: #181818; background-color: #F6F6EE; border: 1px solid #9D8A78; border-radius: 3px; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; outline: none; font-size: 13px; padding: 8px 12px; } .goodreadsGiveawayWidgetEnterLink:hover { color: #181818; background-color: #F7F2ED; border: 1px solid #AFAFAF; text-decoration: none; } Goodreads Book Giveaway Master of Lies by Lisa Rector

Giveaway ends October 31, 2015.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway .goodreadsGiveawayWidget { color: #555; font-family: georgia, serif; font-weight: normal; text-align: left; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; background: white; } .goodreadsGiveawayWidget p { margin: 0 0 .5em !important; padding: 0; } .goodreadsGiveawayWidgetEnterLink { display: inline-block; color: #181818; background-color: #F6F6EE; border: 1px solid #9D8A78; border-radius: 3px; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; outline: none; font-size: 13px; padding: 8px 12px; } .goodreadsGiveawayWidgetEnterLink:hover { color: #181818; background-color: #F7F2ED; border: 1px solid #AFAFAF; text-decoration: none; } Goodreads Book Giveaway The Two Masters by Lisa Rector

Giveaway ends October 31, 2015.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

Blog Tour for "VOCAL CRUSH" by Lisa Swinton

Welcome to the Vocal Crush Blog Tour! Now for the fun! Can you ever out run a broken heart? Lexi Court spent seven years traveling the world, living the nomadic Broadway life, in an attempt to outrun the broken heart Nick Rivers gave her. Now, there’s nowhere left to go. When she accepted a position as a high school drama teacher in Las Vegas, Lexi hoped to get over Nick, find a nice guy, and settle down. But what should be a quiet summer gets turned upside down when Lexi's best friend, Taffy, drafts her to be an emergency replacement coach on a televised vocal competition. Feeling out of her league among the other three celebrity coaches, Lexi fights for the most promising contestants to be on her team. One note from a single voice shatters her summer. Nick unexpectedly auditions and joins Lexi's team. With her vocal crush on him raging as strong as ever, she has nowhere to run from Nick’s dreamy looks or siren voice. Lexi has no doubt that Nick can win the competition. The question is does he want to win her heart as well or will he damage it beyond repair?  GET IT ON AMAZON! Get her other books. Ring on Her Finger and Fallen Angel, are also discounted for a limited time. Grab those too! Ring on Her Finger on Amazon Fallen Angel on Amazon Find me on Goodreads Be sure to enter the GIVEAWAY!!! a Rafflecopter giveaway

How to Review an Author’s Book, the Correct and Non-Trolling Way

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Authors love reviews. Please, once you read a book, by all means, write that review. Especially if Amazon is kind enough to prompt you. It takes 30 seconds to 3 minutes.

This helps indie authors. By leaving a review, it says, this book is worth the time to read. This author didn’t spent months or even years writing this for your pleasure, only to have you devour their creative masterpiece in a few short hours and leave it forever in the dust. Let them know you appreciated their hard work.
Authors also need reviews so they can promote their books on various websites. It’s a pain that, in order to get the word out, you have to have at least ten reviews on some sites. (Sometime thirty, sometimes fifty!) But if you can’t get the word out, you can’t get the reviews. See what I’m saying? It’s an endless circle of annoyance for a newly released book’s author. If you happen to stumble upon a new release, or even an old release, write that review. The author will love you for it.
Now, how to do it without stabbing the author in the back.
Amazon and Goodreads have a one to five star rating system. I’m not going to hash out what each of their stars mean. I’m going to hash out my system. A kind system. A non-trolling system. Nobody has the right to make a deliberately offensive or provocative online posting with the aim of upsetting someone or eliciting an angry response from them. Yet, this happens to authors all the time.
They get that one star review, and it’s mean.
Why? What vendetta did this reader have against the author? And if you took personal offense at something the author wrote, maybe you should stop reading—like altogether.
Okay, so back to my method. Anything you write should be constructive.
Five starsis easy to rate. You’ll know it when you read it. You might find yourself exclaiming, “I loved this book! It changed me. Oh baby, I can’t stop thinking about it. Oh, wow! I became the characters. I felt every twinge of emotion. I want to read all the author’s books. Give them all to me—now, now, now!”
Let that expression show. Review this everywhere. Proclaim it on Facebook. Write a blog post. Recommend the book to all your friends. Give them as Christmas gifts.
Four stars.“This was a good book. There are a few things I wished were done differently. Maybe the writing could have flowed better. But it was still awesome. The story was amazing. Great idea. Amazing concept, but it just didn’t make me scream. I didn’t quite connect with the characters. I might check out the rest of the author’s novels since the ending left me wanting more.”
So the book wasn’t perfect. It doesn’t have to be to find enjoyment in it. Very rarely will a book end the way we want it to, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t laugh or cry or want to throw the book across the room during a dramatic moment. Share the love regardless.
Three stars. “I can tell the author really tried with this book, but it just wasn’t for me. I got bored halfway through, but someone out there might like it because it was a well-written story. Or, the story had merit, but there were too many structural errors. If the author made a revision and took a few writing classes, this could be fantastic, because the story is there, it’s just lacking in execution.”
Three stars means, just because you didn’t stay up all night finishing it, doesn’t mean that someone else won’t. Everyone has different tastes. (And reading levels. Someone might not notice those glaring errors that a seasoned author would. Gulp. Yes. Indie books come in all experience ranges. It’s a learn-as-you-go thing. The more you write, the more you learn. Duh. That’s how life is.) Recommend the novel to someone who would love it.
Now the touchy two and one star ratings. Be kind if you have to use these, because sometimes a book does call for it. But it’s rare. If you must rate this way, try holding off and sending the author a kind personal message, saying how they could fix their novel instead of rating it one star. Use encouraging words. Tell them what they did do well. We are in this world to help and uplift.
Two stars. This story made no sense. It was well written grammatically, but I had no idea what was going on. Or, this novel had too many errors that distracted from the story, making it impossible to enjoy. (Don’t go here unless you actually didn’t know what you read, and believe me, I’ve been there. I said that, once, after reading a novel.)
One Star. This novel is an abomination. It’s unreadable. It made no sense and clearly had no editing. It reads like a first draft. This author has no business writing. (Notice, I did not put these words in quotes. You may think this in your head, but you are not typing it out. Please, just don’t. Only rate this way if that is absolutely true, or better yet, don’t rate it. Send the author that personal message. OR, just because you didn’t enjoy an expertly crafted novel and took offense over it, doesn’t mean it’s crap. And rating it one star is just rude.)
There you have it. I’m sure I didn’t cover all the bases, but this is a good jumping off point. The more you rate, the more you tweak to your own style. I even found myself saying, that if I can’t get into a novel in the first few chapters, I’m putting the book down. And I don’t bother rating it. For the love of everything—don’t rate a book it you don’t finish it!
Any questions? Now go out there and review.

Perfect Read for the Easter Break!

My book is free for the next five days! April 1-5th.  

Master of Lies

Mastering the lies is easy if you don’t have to wrestle against your own darkness . . .

Unaware of her immortal heritage, the truth concealed from her, Ahnalyn learns she’s a child of two worlds—a half-Emrys with the ability to wield the light and the dark power. Aneirin, a Son of Light, has his own reasons for leaving the immortal dragon realm. Defying the High Council, he risks exile—risks being tainted by the corrupt mortal world Ahnalyn is a part of.

As Aneirin’s life becomes entwined with Ahnalyn’s future, he is certain of one thing: Ahnalyn belongs with the immortal Emrys. But doubt and fear shroud Ahnalyn as the painful truths of her past unfold. Succumbing to the darkness lurking inside her is the easy, simple path. But under the dark power, Ahnalyn would be forbidden to enter the immortal realm and would be lost to all those she loves—forever.

Master of Lies is the first book in the Chronicles of the Half-Emrys, a high fantasy novel.

Do Our Words Have Power?

Don't only practice your Art,But force your way into its Secrets,For it and knowledge can raise man to the Divine.Ludwig van Beethoven

Our words express what is deep in our souls. If our words don’t convey appropriate ideas and emotions, then we need to take a step back and evaluate our language.
I have a nasty habit. When my daughters push my buttons, and they do so frequently, a slew of swear words flies from my mouth. This ugly habit began a long time ago when I first struggled with postpartum depression and had uncontrollable rage. The rage has been subdued but the tongue is still unbridled.
As a writer, my words are my craft. They express who I am. I would never dream of writing vile, filthy words. So why would I speak them?
We know of the power of words. Words have raised nations. Words have freed the tormented and oppressed. Words can destroy souls. One tiny word spoken in malice can crumble a person and leave a mark forever.
Does what you write define who you are? When you are practicing your art and forcing your way into its secrets, does it raise you to the divine, or does it clamp shackles on your wrists and ankles and cut into your soul as much as your flesh?
When I started out as an author I promised my work would be clean. I should to the same for my spoken words as well.
As it happens, a great lesson at church spoke directly to me.
All my quotes are taken from a General Conference talk by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Elder Jeffery R. Holland of the quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke these words in The Tongue of Angels:
The Prophet Joseph Smith deepened our understanding of the power of speechwhen he taught, “It is by words … [that] every being works when he works by faith. God said, ‘Let there be light: and there was light.’ Joshua spake, and the great lights which God had created stood still. Elijah commanded, and the heavens were stayed for the space of three years and six months, so that it did not rain. … All this was done by faith. … Faith, then, works by words; and with [words] its mightiest works have been, and will be, performed.” Like all gifts “which cometh from above,” words are “sacred, and must be spoken with care, and by constraint of the Spirit.”
It is with this realization of the power and sanctity of words that I wish to caution us, if caution is needed, regarding how we speak to each other and how we speak of ourselves.
Words are scared and must be spoken with care! Great men and women know this. How we must realize this too! Elder Holland continues:
There is a line from the Apocrypha which puts the seriousness of this issue better than I can. It reads, “The stroke of the whip maketh marks in the flesh: but the stroke of the tongue breaketh the bones.” With that stinging image in mind, I was particularly impressed to read in the book of James that there was a way I could be “a perfect man.”
Said James: “For in many things we offend all. [But] if any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.”
Continuing the imagery of the bridle, he writes: “Behold, we put bits in the horses’ mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body.
“Behold also … ships, which though they be … great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm.”
Then James makes his point: “The tongue is [also] a little member. … [But] behold, how great a [forest (Greek)] a little fire [can burn].
If we bridle our tongues, we can control our whole body. And though that might be a small thing, it can have everlasting results.
A Book of Mormon prophet learned about the actual power of words. Helaman 10:3–10
And it came to pass as he was thus pondering—being much cast down because of the wickedness of the people of the Nephites, their secret works of darkness, and their murderings, and their plunderings, and all manner of iniquities—and it came to pass as he was thus pondering in his heart, behold, a voice came unto him saying:
Blessed art thou, Nephi, for those things which thou hast done; for I have beheld how thou hast with unwearyingness declared the word, which I have given unto thee, unto this people. And thou hast not feared them, and hast not sought thine own life, but hast sought my will, and to keep my commandments.
And now, because thou hast done this with such unwearyingness, behold, I will bless thee forever; and I will make thee mighty in word and in deed, in faith and in works; yea, even that all things shall be done unto thee according to thy word, for thou shalt not ask that which is contrary to my will.
Behold, thou art Nephi, and I am God. Behold, I declare it unto thee in the presence of mine angels, that ye shall have power over this people, and shall smite the earth with famine, and with pestilence, and destruction, according to the wickedness of this people.
Behold, I give unto you power, that whatsoever ye shall seal on earth shall be sealed in heaven; and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven; and thus shall ye have power among this people.
And thus, if ye shall say unto this temple it shall be rent in twain, it shall be done.
You could consider the same true for Moses in the Old Testament. Did he not call down the ten plagues? With his words did he not part the red sea?
Oh, how scared are the things which fall from our mouths!
Elder Holland continues:
What of the unbridled tongue in your mouth, of the power for good or ill in your words? How is it that such a lovely voice which by divine nature is so angelic, so close to the veil, so instinctively gentle and inherently kind could ever in a turn be so shrill, so biting, so acrid and untamed? . . . Words can be more piercing than any dagger ever forged, and they can drive the people they love to retreat beyond a barrier more distant than anyone in the beginning of that exchange could ever have imagined . . . There is no place in that magnificent spirit of yours for acerbic or abrasive expression of any kind, including gossip or backbiting or catty remarks. Let it never be said of  . . . [us] that “the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity . . . [burning] . . .”
We must be so careful in speaking to a child. What we say or don’t say, how we say it and when is so very, very important in shaping a child’s view of himself or herself. But it is even more important in shaping that child’s faith in us and their faith in God. Be constructive in your comments to a child—always. Never tell them, even in whimsy, that they are fat or dumb or lazy or homely. You would never do that maliciously, but they remember and may struggle for years trying to forget—and to forgive. 
Paul put it candidly, but very hopefully. He said to all of us: “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but [only] that which is good … [and] edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
“And grieve not the holy Spirit of God. …
“Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you. …
“And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.”
How do you value your words as a writer? I’ve committed from this point on to be honest, true, chaste, benevolent, and virtuous in my words. I’ve decided, because I feel my inspiration has come from God, that if I want to start my writing off on a positive and intuitive note for the day, I should start my mornings with a daily devotional to realign myself with my purpose and goals—start with spiritual and physical preparation so the words I write have power.
And hopefully, if I can excel in this habit, it will translate into my verbal language also.
How about you? What do you do to give your words power?

Premonitions are Real

I have to document what happened last night because the prior time I had a real, fear-inducing dream, it foreshadowed an inescapable, debilitating event in my life. So here is the account to the best of my memory.
I woke roughly around 1 a.m. I am not one hundred percent sure, because as the usual case, I drift out into the kitchen and get a drink and look at the clock. If it is earlier than 1 a.m. then I’m like, okay, I have plenty of time to fall back to sleep. I don’t need a sleep aid, just yet. But it is hard to remember things when you are blurry with waking. I was pretty confident though.
In this case, when I woke, a helicopter was flying over my house, shaking the entire structure. The commotion was so terrible, I fully expected to see a spotlight gleaming through my curtains or see flashlight beams creeping through my yard from sneaking snipers looking for a fugitive.
It was possible. We’ve had helicopters do this before, looking for people. I prayed that my house and my family would be safe from whatever the crazy heck was going on outside and rolled out of bed. I’m not sure at what point the ruckus from the helicopter stopped. (Maybe while I was praying?)
After drinking my water, I walked to the patio door as was the typical habit when I woke (’cause often hubby forgets to lock the doors or flick on the motion detector lights). All was well in this respect. As I turned, I distinctly thought I heard something rustle in the corner of the family room. I didn’t turn on the lights. I assumed it was my imagination or the computer doing its regular scan. So I passed by the front door to check its locks and lights, peaked into my sleeping daughters rooms, and slipped back under my covers.
All was well. But did I imagine the helicopter? Why didn’t my husband wake up? He’d be insane not to.
Now if the helicopter was a dream, then how do I know that for sure? And if it was, at what point did I wake up from visions of men in black suits, slinking through my yard, to the reality that the house was actually shaking, and transition to me walking into the kitchen? I couldn’t distinguish the line because I thought it was really going on. I didn’t think part of it could be a dream.
Even so, that little scenario didn’t faze me.
Here comes the terrifying fantasy. I think this next dream was spurred by the noise in my living room and the recent Elizabeth Smart story that came out. I’m not going to go into the specifics, but in a nutshell, my children were “kidnapped” but it was by someone we knew, who was trying to do something as a surprise, and they “borrowed” my children without asking. But in my dream, I went into their bedrooms and found their beds empty and their windows wide open. A panic gripped me, and I thought for sure they were really gone.
I woke, absolutely horrified. I checked their rooms to find them still asleep. When I was certain the house was secure, I crawled back into bed, now thinking I need to read Elizabeth’s Smart’s story and reprimand the person who took my children (in my dream) for being so stupid. But I also laid down with the sure feeling that I loved my daughter’s more than I could possibly comprehend, and this dream filled me with a knowledge that I would do anything to get them back, if such a horrible thing were to happen. (Think Taken) I also felt really bad for not paying enough attention to them lately. So I thought this dream was a reprimand. I vowed to give them more hugs every day and pay more attention to them. I asked Heavenly Father to forgive me, and I fell uneasily back to sleep.
Sometime around 3 a.m. (and I only know the time, because I checked afterward) I woke when someone in the hallway said, “Hello?” It was an unfamiliar voice and I jolted awake. I was so petrified that someone could be in my house. My husband next to me stirred, and I thought he would get up and investigate and grab his police baton shoved under the mattress on his bedside. He only rolled over and resumed sleep. I tried to say that I heard someone say hello and elbow him in the ribs, but my mouth couldn’t move. I couldn’t move, so I laid in bed as still as a rock and waited. If someone had broken in, they would eventually come into the room. But nothing happened. When my powers of mobility returned, I stumbled out of bed and grabbed a baby blanket, as if that would help, (maybe I could snap them like a wet towel. IDK. I was out of my mind.) But the blanket was a comfort as I clutched it to my chest. I checked the whole house over, now thoroughly terror-stricken. Everything was in order, the kids were asleep. A fleeting thought was that one of the kids had spoken in their sleep. But I know I distinctly heard the voice in the hallway. I also thought this could have been a case of sleep paralysis, which two of my friends both recently confessed to me that they have experienced.
I prayed for a long time until I felt peace and drifted into my final slumber before the morning rush of school lunch packing and whiny kid hair brushing.
This morning I am wondering, what was all this trying to show me? I don’t take these things lightly, not anymore.
I had a dream back on 2010 that was a premonition, showing me I was going to slip into my last and worst depression cycle. I didn’t know the meaning of the dream at the time, but after I recovered from my depression, I came upon it scrawled in a notebook, and knew it exactly for what it was. So needless to say, I write all these things down now. So what could this one mean?
I shudder when I think of the movie Sandra Bullock stars in. Premonition. She was unable to change the course of her fate. Her husband still died. I was unable to keep my depression cycle from coming on. Why the warnings? So we can be more prepared? So these events don’t slam us in the face?
I'm not blind to the truth that the other side guides us and protects us and gives us warnings. I have had many impressions from the Holy Spirit. Sometimes the impressions come as dreams. Sometimes they are warnings. They can also come to us in the whisper of a still small voice or a warm, comforting feeling. But they always come as truth.
I am still walking around the house in unease, hoping the meaning will manifest. I don’t have dreams like this without purpose. The best thing I can do is be vigilant and open my scriptures and pray. Especially pray for peace and understanding.

Scared yet. I keep hearing helicopters.

Cut It All Down! Spring Garden Cleanup.

Dead stalks.

Leveling day in my garden. I pull out my edge trimmer and raze everything, except shrubs, to the ground.
Today's tools. Hedge trimmer, my friend.

I leave the dead stalks of my flowers up over the winter so the kids can see where the plants are and don't fall on the razor sharp spines in the snow. I mean, have you ever speared your ankle with the stubs of a mum? Ouch.





In twenty minutes I had the front garden beds sheared off. Quick and easy. Then I rake the brush off the plants and at the same time remove any remaining fall leaves. I was careful to not rake to hard and rip my tender plants right out of the water sodden ground.
                            Ta da!








Once every thing is removed, I rake up the piles and wheel them to my compost bins. Four wheelbarrow loads full. The clean up took an hour, so today's garden task was a little more labor intensive, but the wind was blowing so I was in my element.

Tulip coming up.

Lenten Roses: Uncover their Beauty

Hello! It's spring out there! The birds are singing and the sun is shining. What snow remains are the piles the plow pushed up. The ground is soggy and the garden looks like a dead mess.

But wait.

I see green.





Blue bells are the first sign of spring at my Maryland home. But they are not the only ones. Hidden Lenten Roses are covered under ugly, gnarled leaves flopped over and buried under brown leaves. They are trying to make their presence known.


Every spring, I cut the old foliage back from my nine Lenten Roses. I don't want to miss the gradual unfurling of the leaves followed by their nodding pale green and mauve petals.



I gathered my trusty tools. My Foxgloves gardening gloves and my clippers (which I sharpen with every use by running a whetstone over them).


Twenty minutes later and my beauties can see the light of this lovely 65 degree day. All those dead leaves fill a wheel barrow. In two more weeks they should be in bloom.





Bud
New Foliage


Cleared Lenten Rose patch.

First in my series of spring gardening tasks. Watch me tactical my garden this spring, one day at a time, one section at a time. A few minutes a day is all it will take to make my garden amazing and save my ailing body from keeling over.

Coming to know my type: Energy profiling with Dressing Your Truth

I am an Aquarius. I hate water. I almost drowned as a child. For the longest time I refused to put my face under water without holding my nose, almost believing that if I didn’t hold my nose, I would immediately suck water in and drown. Washing my face in the shower was always a very quick thing.
Last summer I finally learned how to swim without holding my nose. I’m 35. But that still doesn’t change how I feel about water with its soft and flowing and subtle—fluid—qualities. Not words that I use to describe my personality, which is what a type 2, water element, individual should be. As I child I cried a lot. I was labeled by my parents as sensitive. My father was sensitive, and I thought I was exactly like him. Now, I’d say, maybe just a little like him, but not exactly. Growing up, I was just misunderstood because I didn’t know how to express myself.
So my whole life I have been living as an introvert. Shy, afraid to speak up, doubting my self-worth and most definitely my beauty. My mother had no fashion sense and could not school me on such matters. She cut my hair until I was old enough to cut it myself and bought all my clothes at the thrift store in sizes that never fit.
Fast forward to becoming a grownup. I think I look like a mutant. I mean seriously. My face is ridiculous. Laughable. So goofy looking. Not a dynamic beauty.
Over the years, I learned to embrace my sensitivity, but as more opportunities came to me, such as being called to teach for over two years as a woman’s teacher for my church, I realized I was something else. And to top it off, after being cured of my depression (yes, cured) I now realized I have anxiety. Why? I have too much restless energy. That would be the best way to describe it. RESTLESS. I even have restless leg syndrome, and when my body is extremely stressed or fatigued will actually manifest throughout my whole body.
So how did I learn that I am a type one—air?
I have a constant, ever changing, perpetual interest in gardening. When I am sweating out in the sun, and then pause, there would be a moment—a moment when the wind rustles and breaks the sweltering intensity of the heat on my skin, or the gentle rustle of the leaves would speak to me. Those are the times I feel true peace. Wind is my favorite thing to feel, to hear, to experience. God answers my prayers through the wind. He tells me that he created this world, that moment for me.
My element is air.
So when I first listened to the energy profiling course, I immediately thought, I’m air! I’m type one!
But it took a while. After listening to all of them, and this is a type one thing, I thought, I could be all of them! I most certainly see where I manifest my personality in all of them. Especially my sensitive two nature, and my critical four nature.
It took a while to see my type in my face. After reading through the descriptions in the book and watching the videos online, I thought, Carol is bonkers. Everything that she was pointing out looked the same across the different types. My head was spinning.
Finally, and it took a while, I could see that my goofy face is actually cute and youthful. Actually a type one. Twice in one week, I was told that I looked in my twenties! My nose turns up, and I have apple cheeks. A random, crooked nose. Nothing soft, subtle, bold, angular, elegant, exotic, or stunning. People have remarked that I am cute.
I can own that.
But I was waiting for the one moment, the ah-ha. The warm confirmation. And I got it.While reading type one’s description in Discover Your Personal Type of Beauty I came across this paragraph about Carol’s daughter, Jenny.
Jenny once again committed to be herself—her Type 1 animated, fresh, light self. At the end of our walk, she had an impulse of an idea to run into the ocean with all her clothes on and just go for a swim right then and there. She told me before she took off, “I need to follow this impulse just to honor myself right now.”
A warm feeling flooded my body. The impulse to honor myself in the moment is exactly how I feel all the time. I have so many impulses that are being squashed, and I want my energy to be free. I’m finally coming to embrace who I am, even if that includes, dancing like a crazy fool in my kitchen. Do you ever have an urge to drive down the wrong way on a one way street? Oh my gosh, I always want to do that. One time I did, by accident. But it was the greatest rush!
My energy is upward and light, and moves outward. It is the expression of an extrovert. So many people tell me I am an extrovert because of my bubbling energy. (But that’s once you get to know me.) One friend of mine once told me I was random! And I always loved that. I am random. Apparently I have too many thoughts going on in my head at once, and things pop out and don’t always make sense. And I have a hard time completing a thought because once I’ve already thought it, it’s gone. If I don’t write it down, I forget it! I stumble over my words when I speak because I am too impatient to get to the end of a sentence. That has been a challenge for writing, and often makes my words look dyslexic.
So I can stand up and no longer be a closet extrovert.
I am an extrovert!
But I also realized something else. I am an introvert too. Ooo, double-edged. And I knew I always was an introvert because I need to be alone to recharge my energy. This leads me to my secondary. Type 4.
Type fours are constant and still—the lowest energy movement. The element is earth. Type four energy is an introvert expression. I actually felt relief as I read through type four’s description. It picked up where my personality didn’t hit with all my type oneness. I was glad I didn’t have to hide the fact that I needed time to recharge my batteries. The big thing for me was their tendency toward perfection. Yeesh. That’s me to a T. And I am very CRITICAL! Oh and I love things simple. I would live the life style of a minimalist if I could. Bare rooms, with mattress on the floor. That is my secret dream—to live alone with nothing to smother and encumber me. I need freedom!
And air. I see how they fit. Two polar opposites. Hmmm, I wonder if this is where bipolar disorders come from. JK.
The next step: add some air to my life.
I look forward to a new me.

What are Your Standards?

That’s what it come down to.
Debates fly about what’s appropriate to view on T.V. and in the theater. Are you going to subject yourself to graphic images of sex and violence and pierce your ears with f-bombs?
It all comes down to you. What are you going to do about your standards? How are you going to protect your mind? Do you want negative images IMPRINTED on your soul?
Cause it will happen. Oh, it will happen.
Every and I mean EVERY inappropriate image that I have ever seen has stayed with me. Like the plague. I walked in on that sickening Saw movie in MY family room. Horrified. That violent, disturbing scene will always stay with me. I thought, oh, Game of Thrones, what’s all the hype? Shut it off after the first sex scene. But too late. That image is completely stuck and only the humming of a child’s Sunday school song will chase the image away. But it always comes back. Always.
See. I’m telling you.
And I’m pretty desensitized. I can handle a degree of CW. But who’s to say that I should still be watching it? I probably shouldn’t.
As a rule I stay away from TV-MA and rated R and above. But maybe that’s not enough. The standards are slipping. Sadly some of my favorite PG-13 movies say too many swear words and have sexual scenarios.
While watching a movie with a friend, if you find yourself saying, “I didn’t remember all those inappropriate scenes and potty-mouths.”
You’re desensitized.
If you’re reading a modern retelling of a Jane Austen novel and you get turned on by a lingering touch, or sultry gaze, maybe you shouldn’t read that.
Okay, okay. Extreme example. I’m joking about Jane.
But ask yourself. Do I have one foot in Babylon and one foot in Zion?
I’ll admit, I’m straddling the line. D’oh!
That’s frustrating.
So think of this. Every moment of every day we exercise our God given agency. EVERY second. You’ve just made a choice. Now your path has shifted. What’s going to happen next? YOU have that control.
It’s hard to make some choices. But what if you make some choices beforehand? What if you are already decided?
BAM! It’s done!
I’m not going to watch rated R movies or TV-MA shows.
BAM! Done.
But the choices is yours. You have to decide what the next level is. How much can your ETERNAL spirit handle? And I mean, we’re talking about your soul.
Carefully assess those shows you watch that are below the rated R and TV-MA line.
Just wanted to share a few resources that I found and really like.
From Mormon Think. Thoughts on entertainment. I like this lengthy quote. So good.
Wendy L. Watson offered these warnings to the youth of the LDS Church:

Warning 1. To be stamped on the cover of his [Satan’s] magazines: "Contents highly addictive. Extremely corrosive-to-the-soul materials enclosed. Be prepared to have your mind twisted, your views of love ravaged, your spirit shrunk. Be aware that the Spirit of the Lord will not be with you during or after viewing. Be prepared that after an initial rush, you will experience feelings of depression, loneliness, despair, and guilt. Nevertheless, with repeated exposures over time, you can numb those feelings and enter into an almost total amnesia about who you really are and about truth itself."

Warning 2. For the beginning of Satan's coproduced movies: "The following scenes are brought to you in the hope that you will think of yourself as being an animal. Actually the dung from an animal is more pure and would harm you less when taken into your system. Extreme caution needed. This movie will make you believe that lust is really love and that all love really is—is lust. This movie will have its greatest effect if observed when you are feeling misunderstood, alone, blue, or just that you don't fit in. If you are not in any of these moods, viewing the movie will actually assist in getting you there. If you are in one of these moods, your spirit will be more vulnerable, and thus your ability to distinguish good from evil will be even more quickly extinguished.

Warning 3. For the devil's Internet connections: "Share the following with someone whose soul you would like to destroy. Complete success is ensured if you can offer it in the spirit of friendship and under the guise of love. By thinking and talking together about the content, all sweet pure feelings will be distorted into grand perversions. Pick a perversion, any perversion. That may be one of the very last choices you will get to make.
In fact, if you are tired of making choices just view the following several times—or keep immersing yourself in similar material—and your degree of freedom will be increasingly limited with each successive viewing. The irony is that you will be provided with a personalized illusion that your freedom is actually increasing. We've taken this way beyond the old smoke and mirrors tricks—and the illusions that will influence your heart and mind will be stunning. Virtual reality is here to replace virtuous living.

Warning 4. To announce the adversary's influence on prime-time viewing: "How many lies can you find in the following sitcom? If you can't find any . . . Gotcha! In the following, we are going to offer you ideas that you have never before entertained. But with repetition and humor we will slowly dilute the initial recoiling of your spirit, and you will begin to forget that there was ever a time when you didn't believe these lies to be true.

Warning 5. A lie-busting warning for rented videos: "Fantasy only allowed here. Only erotic illusions contained. No empathic love depicted. No consequences noted. No impact on your body, spirit, relationships with God, family and friends addressed. Please note that interactions will appear much more splendid than they really are. This is not real life. But it is a really great lie. We have left out the gory details that would only ruin the subtle appeal this movie will have for you.

Warning 6. For videos purchased: "Congratulations! You bought the movie this time instead of just renting it. In fact, you are buying this whole scheme—hook, line, and sinker. Let's just have this be our little secret. No one needs to know. No one will ever be able to tell. When people tell you that you are looking different, darker, or talking differently, or that you are more difficult to get along with, just get angry at them and go buy another movie or magazine with similar contents. Actually, you will soon be ready to advance to our total-destruction-of-the-senses line. You, too, will soon be past feeling.

- Wendy L. Watson, 1999 Women’s Conference, speech entitled “Personal Purity and Intimacy”From For the Strength of Youth Pamphlet: This is an excellent resource to share with your teen and pre-teen.
You live in a day of marvelous technologies that give you easy access to a wide variety of media, including the Internet, mobile devices, video games, television, movies, music, books, and magazines. The information and entertainment provided through these media can increase your ability to learn, communicate, and become a force for good in the world. However, some information and entertainment can lead you away from righteous living. Choose wisely when using media because whatever you read, listen to, or look at has an effect on you. Select only media that uplifts you.Satan uses media to deceive you by making what is wrong and evil look normal, humorous, or exciting. He tries to mislead you into thinking that breaking God’s commandments is acceptable and has no negative consequences for you or others. Do not attend, view, or participate in anything that is vulgar, immoral, violent, or pornographic in any way. Do not participate in anything that presents immorality or violence as acceptable. Have the courage to walk out of a movie, change your music, or turn off a computer, television, or mobile device if what you see or hear drives away the Spirit.Pornography in all forms is especially dangerous and addictive. What may begin as an unexpected exposure or a curious exploration can become a destructive habit. Use of pornography is a serious sin and can lead to other sexual transgression. Avoid pornography at all costs. It is a poison that weakens your self-control, destroys your feelings of self-worth, and changes the way you see others. It causes you to lose the guidance of the Spirit and can damage your ability to have a normal relationship with others, especially your future spouse. It limits your ability to feel true love. If you encounter pornography, turn away from it immediately.Curious about the Motion Picture Association of America’s ratings and what they mean? Take a look at this link. So that’s it. You decide.