Susan Allison-Dean's Blog, page 4

Self-Care: Are You Taking Care Of Your Own Health?

There is a major paradigm shift taking hold encouraging individuals to be responsible for, and active in, promoting their own well being. As we enter into a new era, one that we have never experienced before, where people live years longer than most of our grandparents, we will not have enough nurses to care for them if they are all in bad shape. In my novel, 'I Know You're There', I touch on some of the issues plaguing nurses. Doctors don't have a magic pill either to wipe away all the ill effects of the cigarettes that we have smoked, beers we have chugged and donuts we have devoured.

It's an exciting time for this new health trend because we have amazing access now to health data via the internet in many different formats. We also have a huge menu of healthy activities to choose from to balance our mind, body, and soul.

Would you like some examples? How about meditation? Many billionaires incorporate it into their daily routine. There are several meditations on you tube, simply google them and pick one that you connect with. Meditation can be effective in reducing stress and staying focused, even if you only have 5 minutes to devote to it a day. Here's one shared by Deepak Chopra, an expert on the subject: Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mj-yfg... . Surely, you can carve 5 minutes out for yourself, right?

How about your ability to heal and protect itself by building your own immunity. Tune in to Dr. Oz on July 15 to hear Dr. Blum talk about ways you can do this that she shared in her new book, "The Immune System Recovery Plan' http://www.immuneprogram.com. Today's germs are tough, you need to be tougher!

Some of us have minor changes we need to make in our health habits, others of us need a major overhaul. Whatever the case, every step we take towards improving our health, is a step in a better direction.

Is that a PIG on the beach?

Last week my blog highlighted the idea of the 24-Hour Vacation. Be it our busy lives, conflicting desires of the best place to go, or limited budget, the 24-Hour Vacation is an opportunity to venture out locally for a mini escape from our norm.

This past spring, I decided to try this concept myself. My husband doesn't love the beach like I do, but hey, for 24 hours, he'll go with it. I was lucky enough to find the perfect place, Topsail Beach, North Carolina, just a couple of hours from our southern home near Raleigh. Topsail beach has areas that are dog friendly, so we decided to bring our English Bulldog, Bubba, along too. We found a relatively new, small, private motel that was pet friendly and just 2 miles from the beach.

With beach chairs, umbrella, blanket, cooler, dog food and just a duffle bag packed with clothes, off we went. Being spring, it wasn't quite warm enough to plan on swimming, but it was a gorgeous day to take a long walk, relax, and watch the waves. The drive wasn't bad and we weaved off the highway to get to Topsail Beach through quiet rural North Carolina. Leaning old tobacco barns and fields gave a glimpse into the past.

The beach community was like many that we've seen along the shores of North Carolina, rows of beach houses, many on stilts with layers of deck space to enjoy the view. Parking was free and right next to the beach. We loaded our beach gear into our arms and juggled the dog as we trudged up the driftwood colored stairs until we reached the peak where we were greeted with a sparkling water view, soft breeze and the salty smell of sea air. Ahhhhh….

After setting up our beach camp, we decided to take Bubba for a walk along the water where his big wrinkly face made people passing by smile and some stopped to give him a much welcomed massage. Some of his fellow canine friends were happy to say hello and gestured to play while others snarled as their owners tugged them the other way. The seashore was a new experience to Bubba, we enjoyed watching him discover the waves and laughed as he ran away when they scrambled towards him.

As we returned to our beach spot, we noticed some young people gathering around the volleyball net just 50 yards away from our chairs. It appeared they too brought their dogs, without my glasses on. But as we got closer, we found there was a dog and a pet pig! Both the pig and dog enjoyed hanging out on the beach as their owners played volleyball. Bubba intently watched the potbelly pig, seemingly trying to figure out what kind of four-legged creature it was.

As the sun started to head towards the horizon, we went to check into our hotel. A jolly man behind the front desk handed us our key and gave us a suggestion for a local seafood restaurant in the next town over, Sneads Ferry. Again, we weaved through local neighborhoods off the beaten path until we found the small white wooden restaurant tucked in a cove on the water. A rugged trawling boat resembling the shrimp boat that Forest Gump sailed on was tied to the dock next to the parking lot. Bubba was happy to take a much needed nap in the car with the cool evening breeze blowing through the cracked car windows.

"Sit anywhere you like, " a bustling waitress directed us flicking her head in the direction of the dining room where casual wooden tables and chairs with paper placemats sat waiting, only a few holding patrons.

A blackboard on the wall outlined the specials; deviled crab with hush puppies, local oysters, fried shrimp with fries, for landlovers, meatloaf, and dessert homemade coconut custard pie. The menu outlined more seafood options, mostly fried. So we tried the cuisine that we never had or rarely get the opportunity to eat, the deviled crab and raw oysters and topped it off with the homemade pie, one of my favorites that my mother used to make. It was tasty, not necessarily the best meal ever, but we loved the opportunity to explore, try something different.

The ride home to our hotel didn't disappoint. A roadblock forced us to take a new direction back. Once again we weaved through southern culture including a home that stood out from the rest. A single story home, nestled in amongst others similar to it, surrounded by multiple chained link fences, creating paddocks with signs attached to the outer edges saying, "Stay Away", "Do Not Feed or Touch the Animals". Inside a peacock, an ostrich and a zebra. Yes, a zebra. I reached for my camera, but then thought it better not to stand out more as a Yankee in our car that already had NY plates.

Our snoring bulldog interrupted a good night sleep, but at least one of us slept well. Fresh coffee and yogurt from our cooler sufficed for breakfast, then we took another long morning walk along the beach before heading home. The change from our everyday environment was refreshing and it gave us what most trips do, more good stories to share. And who knew, our trip to the shore would be like a trip to the zoo?

Do you have any good stories to share from your shortcations?

To see more pictures from our Topsail 24-Hour vacation, visit Bubba's Pinterest page: http://bit.ly/1bgQ5Md

The 24 Hour Vacation

"Hi, how was your weekend?" I asked my longest BFF, Annie.

"Great, we went on vacation," she replied sounding chipper.

"Vacation? Where did you go?" I had no idea she was planning on going on vacation. I just spoke to her a few days ago.

Annie laughs, the laugh that means she was up to something.

"We went to a local hotel, in the next town over." She laughs again. "My husband and I took the girls to a nice hotel with a pool that had a slide. They didn't know the difference. We didn't sit in any traffic, we had fun, it was fun for the whole family. And since it was so convenient, we didn't have to pay for pet care, John drove home a couple of times a day to walk and feed the dog. I got to go to the spa, John, played a round of golf. I didn't have to make any beds, or cook. Then we came home."

Brilliant, I thought to myself. What a great idea. How often do we stress about how we are going to get a week off, at the same time, to travel? Some of us want to head for the mountains, while others want to go to the beach. The thought of spending hours in the airport with todays security rules makes me cringe.

Perhaps breaking vacation time down to just an overnight stay or long weekends makes more sense. Visiting local places that are easily accessible instead of the far away places we dream about may result in more time to relax and spending less too.

It's summer! Where ever you go, don't forget to pack a good book. If you'll forgive the self promotion, I hope you will check out, 'I Know You're There'. It's perfect for a short getaway trip being only 234 pages.

Where will you be vacationing? I hope you have fun!

Cultivating Ideas In The Garden

Where do you get your ideas from? It's one of the most popular questions readers ask authors. I for one seem to find them when I indulge myself in nature. Whether it's a hike through the woods, a walk on the beach or in while working in my garden.

Gardens provide a place to pause while constantly stimulating the visionary sense every where you look. It seems to allow the rest of the mind to relax and ideas to flow in.

There are so many different styles of gardening to sink your shovel into. Vegetable, perennial beds, creating a personal arboretum or my personal favorite, container gardening. Planting several varieties of flowering plants creates a colorful pallet of color to choose from when I want to create a floral arrangement. Some of my favorite cut flowers to plant include; dahlias, salvia, hosta, hydrangeas, dusty miller, coleus and zinnias to name just a few.

Do you enjoy gardening? What are your favorite things to grow? Have any terrific ideas birthed while you are planting?

Being On The Author Side Of The Bookshelf

People who do things exceptionally well often make their work look effortless. Take Olympic figure skaters for example. They glide along the ice in sync with the music like ballerinas. They make skating look peaceful. When I hit the ice, however, I'm clinging to the walls of the rink like a tourist who has fallen overboard on a cruise ship.

How many books have we indulged hours in, allowing our minds to be swept away to another part of the world, universe or circumstances? As a reader, have you ever stopped to think what went into creating the story that you just gobbled up? I have to admit, I never did.

As I wrote in an earlier blog post, Writing That First Novel, I didn't consciously decide to write a book. I responded to an internal nudge egging me on to write one. Writing it set me free of the call and introduced me to the world of being an author.

What have I learned?

For one thing, writing a book is hard! At least for me, it was. I'm not saying it wasn't fun, exciting and a great way to allow my creative self to flow, but it was hard. There were a few times when I was stuck, where is this story going? Like a marathon runner who hits the wall, I had to push through the pain, take stock of how far I had come, and keep on going.

A second thing I have become aware of is there are a lot of great books out there! I never really realized how many books are published. I recently went to the Book Expo America event where I found myself making a huge mental list of all the books I want to read this summer. Too bad summer is only three months and my list would probably fill three years.

Lastly, and not the only other thing I have learned, is that I don't know if I ever really appreciated the great stories my favorite authors have told me. Sure, I may have passed a good book along to a friend. I never, however, until now, took the time to write a review online, encourage friends and relatives to read these good books, or buy them as gifts. I do that now, however, as an author knowing the immense time it took the author to craft their book. This past Christmas, in fact, I gave everyone in my family a book as a gift. They loved them and it gave us more to chat about.

How do you show your gratitude after reading a great book?

Swimming With Dolphins

Most of us who love animals have had pets that we can play and snuggle with, puppies, cats, bunnies, and hamsters. So the allure of wanting to play and be with a dolphin is very understandable, even if they live in a different habitat than we do. Dolphins have incredibly sweet eyes and smooth, hard boiled egg like skin. We have seen them in movies like Flipper and shows at Sea Parks. The tide, however, is beginning to turn for these sea mammals that we once regarded as big fish.

Research like that performed by Dolphin Scientist Diana Reiss (Dr. Reiss's recent Ted Talk: http://bit.ly/16018JH) and others is proving that dolphins are not just big puppy dogs in the sea. They are thinking intelligent, emotional mammals much like we are. Dolphins exhibit extreme grief at the loss of a baby, socialize as we do and are highly intelligent. Most of us who have once worked or swam with dolphins in captivity reach a point where we realize the inhumanity of keeping these mammals in small chlorinated pools for our own entertainment. Famed dolphin trainer, Rick O'Barry made a radical life change when a captive dolphin he trained died in his arms. He now leads efforts to prevent the capturing and slaughtering of dolphins in Tajii, Japan and was featured in the Academy Award winning film, The Cove.

Momentum is building to eliminate captive dolphin and whale programs. A movie called, Blackfish, premiered at the most recent Sundance Festival and received great acclaim ( http://blackfishmovie.com ). The film tells the behind the scenes stories about captive orcas. India recently announced that it is considering a ban on Dolphin Captivity (http://huff.to/12nvgrT) via: Huffington Post. Petitions to pledge not to buy a ticket to a dolphinarium are spreading.

In my novel, 'I Know You're There', I incorporated some personal experiences and information of ocean issues. I have helped to train captive dolphins and swam with captive dolphins once in my past. I have also had the most humbling experience of having a wild dolphin join me in the ocean while swimming multiple times. I have seen dolphins swim right up to the shore while I was simply walking along a beach. Honestly, there is no better way to experience dolphins than in their own habitat. Let's hope they are allowed to be free.

Note: Swimming with dolphins in the wild off the shores in America is illegal.

Mother-Daughter Books

The Mother-Daughter Bond in Literature

"You're book is coming along well, but it needs another voice, another perspective," my writing coach/editor, Alice, told me.

Ugg, I thought to myself for a moment before I accepted the fact that Alice is usually right. I joke that Alice is the Jillian Michaels of writing. She works her writers hard until she knows you have produced your best writing. So where am I going to find another voice for my story, I wondered.

As luck would have it, I had to take a long 10 hour drive up I-95 soon after our meeting. I always grab an audio book to make the ride more enjoyable. Searching the library, I found, 'Traveling with Pomegranates' a memoir by Sue Monk-Kidd and her daughter Ann Kidd Taylor. Sue's book, 'Secret Life of Bees' is one of my all time favorite books, so I was eager to get in the car and listen to what she and her daughter had to say.

Sue and Ann cleverly alternated chapters in their memoir, a loving, frank sharing of thoughts about their relationship and travel through Greece and France. Once I finished listening to it, I got the idea I needed. I would introduce my main character's mother into my novel in a similar mother-daughter chapter volley.

As I wrote from a first person perspective of both my protagonist, Jill, and her mother, Helen, I was touched by the love I felt between these two characters, throughout the story. Slowly I realized my story spoke about a few different types of mother-daughter relationships, even those who don't include a birth mother.

Once I completed my novel, serendipity struck again. "Have you read the book, 'Wild' by Cheryl Strayed", a friend asked me.

"No, but I was thinking of going to Barnes and Nobles to get an audio book for the ride back down to North Carolina." I replied. I do this often, ride from New York to North Carolina and vice-versa. I purchased 'Wild' and felt less alone as I listened to it. Cheryl and I had similar relationships with our mothers. Our grief at loosing the key parental figure in our lives at a fairly young age, monumental. I realized this must be true for any child who is raised by one parent. That parents loss is like loosing two parents at once.

This Mother's Day, why not enjoy a good Mother-Daughter book.

Do you have a favorite Mother-Daughter themed book? Please do share your thoughts on this in the blog comments section, we'd love to hear them.

It's A Ripe Time To Enjoy Mangoes!

Mango Season is Here

Many of us are trying to eat more locally grown food provided from our local farmers markets. There's something special, though, about indulging in tropical fruits when they are in their peak season. Mango season has begun and will continue to flourish in May and June. We won't find these fibrous, slightly tart, juicy fruits locally grown nearby unless we live in Florida. Mangoes are mostly grown in India, the Caribbean, Guatemala, Costa Rica and Mexico. The perfect ripe mango is soft, and slightly gives when gently squeezed, just like an avocado, not mushy.

As Jill Bradley, the protagonist in 'I Know You're There', discovers they are delectable in Mango Coladas. Simply peal the skin and slice the fruit from the pit, blend with rum and a few other tropical ingredients and Ahh…you are transported to a tropical resort. This 5-star mango colada recipe will be a hit at your next spring or early summer event: http://bit.ly/ZDUikH . They are equally as satisfying in your favorite smoothy recipe.

Cheers!

Writing That First Novel

Have you ever done something that you never expected to do? For me, one thing is writing this novel, I Know You're There. No one is more surprised that I have become a published writer than I. It’s not something that I found myself consciously choosing to do. Sure, as a professional nurse I wrote clinical articles. As a Garden Shop owner, I blog, guest blog and write ‘how to’ columns for local papers and websites. But writing a book? Not me.

My first written words found a home of their own. As a nurse, I would periodically write a journal entry after a harrowing day, or about a patient that was particularly inspiring or interesting. Then one day a colleague of mine told me about a pair of nurses in California who were compiling nurses stories for a book. I submitted three of mine, two were accepted to be published in Touched by a Nurse. Touch by a Nurse became an international best seller and was selected to be housed in the Florence Nightingale Museum.

After that experience, I began to wonder, could I be a writer? I began taking writing classes, read about the art of writing, and closely observed how other story tellers script their stories. The thought of actually sitting down, however, to write anything longer than an article evaded me. I am way to busy, I told myself.

In 2010, an internal nudge began to tell me to write a novel. I was perfectly content creating container garden designs at the business my husband and I own, Naturescapes. I had ‘retired’ from nursing in 1999. I say ‘retired’ because leaving nursing is like trying to check out of Hotel California, I joke, you can check out but you can never leave. My nurse clients even tell me the work that I do at Naturescapes helps people feel better. I acknowledged the nudge to write, but quickly shooed it away.

The more I pushed the nudging feeling to write away, the stronger it got. I found myself creating a story in my head as I quietly gardened away, but never took the time to write it down. As a final straw, perhaps, I broke my ankle going down the stairs and was laid up in a cast for six weeks. My husbands immediately said, “Now you can write that book you are always talking about.”

And so I began writing, finally. It turned out to be the perfect mental escape while my bones healed. Supports and resources for publishing began to come my way. When I was finally done writing my first novel, I felt lighter, relieved, it was out of me, I did it.