Bryan T. Clark's Blog, page 4
January 25, 2019
Happy New Years
Can somebody please pinch me! Is it really 2019? I have to say, 2018 brought me more excitement then I wanted. You know what they say, “be careful what you ask for.” Good and bad, I came through it all this year and believe I am a better man for it today. How much “stuff” was thrown at you in 2018?
I was once told that there are no ‘good experiences’ or ‘bad experiences’, just ‘experiences.’ Each experience means something, and it us up to me to learn and understand the value of the experience. Sometimes, I have found this difficult to do in the midst of what I once would have called a ‘bad experience’. Often times, once some time has passed, I am able to reflect back on the incident and say, “Oh I get it now. Had that not have happened, this (something good) couldn’t have happened.” I think a good expression to better sum this reflection up is Phoenix Rises From The Ashes.
Is it Karma, Destiny, Faith, or God’s will that moves our life experiences forward? It is an individual choice about how we choose to define it in our own lives. It does make me wonder though, what if I hadn’t been where I was on the day that I met my spouse? How much of my life right now would be different had we not met? I don’t believe I can actually answer this question, but I do see the beauty in my life because of the life we have made together. It was just one of those chance meetings, where two people happen to be in the same space, at the same time and something beautiful happened!
Many years ago, when I wrote my first book, I had no inspiration to be a published author, nor did I know I would be writing a second, third, or fourth book. I just enjoyed writing. Now, five years later, with the loving encouragement and support of my husband, I am publishing my fifth book! In the beginning, I had no idea this was to be my journey.
In my next book, titled, Escaping Camp Roosevelt, I tackle the notion of Rising from the Ashes. The journey is a look into some of the darkest and most challenging corners of the human condition through the eyes of a homeless LGBTQ youth. This novel manages to contrast the anguish of depression and hopelessness with the loving light of humanity and generosity. It is a story of one’s own journey from despair to finding love.
The more I researched and wrote this story, the more my eyes were opened to the magnitude of the problems of youth homelessness, specifically, the lack of resources available to the community of homeless LGBTQ youth who are living on the streets. Twenty six percent of gay youth who come out before the age of eighteen are kicked out of their homes and end up living on the street! LGBTQ youth are 120% more likely to experience homelessness than non-LGBTQ youth. These statistics are staggering and alarming!
I didn’t want to just write another fictional story about this problem, I also wanted to do something about it. I believe that at the end of this very short amount of time that any of us have on this earth, we each should be able to ask ourselves a very simple question, “Did I make a difference?”
Although I am still in talks with various organizations that provide services to homeless LGBTQ youth, my plan is to donate the first year’s royalties of Escaping Camp Roosevelt to an organization that recognizes and directly serves our homeless LGBTQ youth.
I’m excited about this project and can’t wait to share more with you in the months to come about the organization I select, as well as how we, together, can hopefully lift the darkness from the lives of homeless LGBTQ youth. If you want to be a participant in this wonderful journey, all you have to do is buy the book. It is my hope that this is one of those movements, where collectively, we will make a difference in the lives of our community’s youth who so desperately need our compassion, love and support.
If you enjoyed this post and would like to hear more about this issue, make sure you sign up for my newsletter @ www.btclark.com, and never miss another blog again.
I was once told that there are no ‘good experiences’ or ‘bad experiences’, just ‘experiences.’ Each experience means something, and it us up to me to learn and understand the value of the experience. Sometimes, I have found this difficult to do in the midst of what I once would have called a ‘bad experience’. Often times, once some time has passed, I am able to reflect back on the incident and say, “Oh I get it now. Had that not have happened, this (something good) couldn’t have happened.” I think a good expression to better sum this reflection up is Phoenix Rises From The Ashes.
Is it Karma, Destiny, Faith, or God’s will that moves our life experiences forward? It is an individual choice about how we choose to define it in our own lives. It does make me wonder though, what if I hadn’t been where I was on the day that I met my spouse? How much of my life right now would be different had we not met? I don’t believe I can actually answer this question, but I do see the beauty in my life because of the life we have made together. It was just one of those chance meetings, where two people happen to be in the same space, at the same time and something beautiful happened!
Many years ago, when I wrote my first book, I had no inspiration to be a published author, nor did I know I would be writing a second, third, or fourth book. I just enjoyed writing. Now, five years later, with the loving encouragement and support of my husband, I am publishing my fifth book! In the beginning, I had no idea this was to be my journey.
In my next book, titled, Escaping Camp Roosevelt, I tackle the notion of Rising from the Ashes. The journey is a look into some of the darkest and most challenging corners of the human condition through the eyes of a homeless LGBTQ youth. This novel manages to contrast the anguish of depression and hopelessness with the loving light of humanity and generosity. It is a story of one’s own journey from despair to finding love.
The more I researched and wrote this story, the more my eyes were opened to the magnitude of the problems of youth homelessness, specifically, the lack of resources available to the community of homeless LGBTQ youth who are living on the streets. Twenty six percent of gay youth who come out before the age of eighteen are kicked out of their homes and end up living on the street! LGBTQ youth are 120% more likely to experience homelessness than non-LGBTQ youth. These statistics are staggering and alarming!
I didn’t want to just write another fictional story about this problem, I also wanted to do something about it. I believe that at the end of this very short amount of time that any of us have on this earth, we each should be able to ask ourselves a very simple question, “Did I make a difference?”
Although I am still in talks with various organizations that provide services to homeless LGBTQ youth, my plan is to donate the first year’s royalties of Escaping Camp Roosevelt to an organization that recognizes and directly serves our homeless LGBTQ youth.
I’m excited about this project and can’t wait to share more with you in the months to come about the organization I select, as well as how we, together, can hopefully lift the darkness from the lives of homeless LGBTQ youth. If you want to be a participant in this wonderful journey, all you have to do is buy the book. It is my hope that this is one of those movements, where collectively, we will make a difference in the lives of our community’s youth who so desperately need our compassion, love and support.
If you enjoyed this post and would like to hear more about this issue, make sure you sign up for my newsletter @ www.btclark.com, and never miss another blog again.
January 1, 2019
Happy New Years
Can somebody please pinch me! Is it really 2019? I have to say, 2018 brought me more excitement than I wanted. You know what they say, “be careful what you ask for.” Good and bad, I came through it all this year and believe I am a better man for it today. How much “stuff” […]
December 4, 2018
What is Your Gift?
As a kid, we are told to go to bed early on Christmas Eve because Santa Claus doesn’t visit houses if little children are awake. In our PJ’s, we traipsed off to bed because we believed Santa would soon be here. To think Santa Claus flies around the world and visits every house on Christmas […]
November 6, 2018
Keeping It Cool
It seems like today many people are like simmering pots ready to boil over. It doesn’t take much, perhaps a simple commercial showing the opposing candidate for an election, the evening news, or heavy traffic that can send someone into a fit of rage without notice. Today, Road Rage is not just two people flipping […]
October 2, 2018
The Death of Summer
No, no one died, but as my friend Jeff, over at thetravelinbum.com put it, October is the death of Summer! While mourning the loss of hot weather, poolside cocktails, and warm summer nights, we are trying not to think about the pending holidays on the horizon. With the patio furniture put up, it’s now time […]
November 9, 2017
Don’t Add Stress to the List
Hold on Santa, not so fast big boy! As much as I love Christmas, Thanksgiving is my all-time favorite holiday. I am not sure if it’s because it officially kicks off the Holiday season, or it is the smell of Sweet Potato pie cooking in the oven that does it for me. I know many friends are already shopping and planning their Christmas. It seems they are chomping at the bit to start decorating. However, for me, one of the things I love about Thanksgiving is to take in the warm sensation that nutmeg and cinnamon creates as it flows from the kitchen and crosses beneath my nose. The aroma has a way of making me live in the moment, not thinking about everything that went wrong yesterday or what I have to do tomorrow— all that matters is what’s happening right now.
From the moment we pass Halloween, until we arrive at New Years, everything seems like it is on the fast track. It’s as if, overnight, our lives become filled with parties, out of town guests, frenzied shopping, and office potlucks.
Now, for the most part, all of these things should be fun for us. However, what can happen, if you’re not taking care of yourself, is that you over-do it and wear yourself out. Unexpectedly, life can get a little out of control and you discover there are not enough hours in the day or money in your budget to get it all done. A simple potluck becomes one more thing that you have to do. You end up looking for the simplest, least time consuming and cheapest thing you can make or buy. Out of town guests, become work, instead of an enjoyment. You could find yourself counting the number of days they will stay before they ever even arrive!
The list of ‘I-need-to-do’ grows to a point, that we start to only look at the things on the ‘Must-do’ list. I remember one year being completely stressed out on how I was going to pay for Thanksgiving dinner; a dinner that I invited a whole host of people to attend. My solution was to rob from the December budget, and then figure out later how I’d make December work when the time came! This is not what the Holiday season should be like, yet we so often fall into this trap.
Are we really enjoying the Holiday season as much as we could? What would happen if we just slowed down, and paid attention to what we and others are putting on our plates? Let’s be real, most of us are already doing too much long before the Holiday Season even arrives. We go into the Holiday season with good intentions, and by the time New Year’s rolls around, we’re just trying to survive. We stress ourselves out trying to do too much, too fast, all in the name of celebrating the Season.
Is the Holiday season so important that your willing to die for it?
Stress is one of the leading contributors to sudden death. It is a weapon of mass destruction to our own bodies. It will wreck your cardiovascular system, cause headaches, ulcers, muscle aches, and diminish your sexual desire. If it feels like stress, it just might be killing you.
Maybe there is a new way we can approach this coming Holiday season. Try building in to your schedule what I like to call Me-Time. Usually, it’s the Me-Time that is the first thing on the chopping block when the ship starts sinking. However, what if it’s just a five to ten- minute walk at some point in your day. While at work, replace the trip to the coffee station with a walk around the parking lot. Let the fresh air rejuvenate you instead of that afternoon cup of coffee. Try meditating….there are some great phone apps that you can use that take less than ten minutes to do. I personally love using Youtube meditating videos on my phone for my morning meditation. Sometimes, while I am waiting in the car for my mother while she is visiting her doctor, I squeeze in a short session right there in the parking lot! I know another method many people use to relieve stress is to keep a Gratitude Journal. Try journaling every day just for the holiday season, from November 1 to December 31. Each day take the time to write down one thing that you are grateful for. You can keep your entry private, share it with a friend or loved one or you can post it on Facebook. However you decide to do it, make sure you do it every day and notice how your perspective changes. Your mental health is important, so make it a commitment to take that ten minutes for yourself every day. Be careful not to give your time away, as time may be more valuable than you realize.
So, what’s on the menu in the Clark’s house this Thanksgiving? Around our table will be turkey, glazed pineapple ham, yams, collard greens, black-eye peas and rice, gravy, fresh cranberries, rolls and of course, lots of love and laughter…. a family gathered, sharing our love with one another and creating memories that will last for years.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you sign up for my newsletter at www.btclark.com, and never miss another blog again.
From the moment we pass Halloween, until we arrive at New Years, everything seems like it is on the fast track. It’s as if, overnight, our lives become filled with parties, out of town guests, frenzied shopping, and office potlucks.
Now, for the most part, all of these things should be fun for us. However, what can happen, if you’re not taking care of yourself, is that you over-do it and wear yourself out. Unexpectedly, life can get a little out of control and you discover there are not enough hours in the day or money in your budget to get it all done. A simple potluck becomes one more thing that you have to do. You end up looking for the simplest, least time consuming and cheapest thing you can make or buy. Out of town guests, become work, instead of an enjoyment. You could find yourself counting the number of days they will stay before they ever even arrive!
The list of ‘I-need-to-do’ grows to a point, that we start to only look at the things on the ‘Must-do’ list. I remember one year being completely stressed out on how I was going to pay for Thanksgiving dinner; a dinner that I invited a whole host of people to attend. My solution was to rob from the December budget, and then figure out later how I’d make December work when the time came! This is not what the Holiday season should be like, yet we so often fall into this trap.
Are we really enjoying the Holiday season as much as we could? What would happen if we just slowed down, and paid attention to what we and others are putting on our plates? Let’s be real, most of us are already doing too much long before the Holiday Season even arrives. We go into the Holiday season with good intentions, and by the time New Year’s rolls around, we’re just trying to survive. We stress ourselves out trying to do too much, too fast, all in the name of celebrating the Season.
Is the Holiday season so important that your willing to die for it?
Stress is one of the leading contributors to sudden death. It is a weapon of mass destruction to our own bodies. It will wreck your cardiovascular system, cause headaches, ulcers, muscle aches, and diminish your sexual desire. If it feels like stress, it just might be killing you.
Maybe there is a new way we can approach this coming Holiday season. Try building in to your schedule what I like to call Me-Time. Usually, it’s the Me-Time that is the first thing on the chopping block when the ship starts sinking. However, what if it’s just a five to ten- minute walk at some point in your day. While at work, replace the trip to the coffee station with a walk around the parking lot. Let the fresh air rejuvenate you instead of that afternoon cup of coffee. Try meditating….there are some great phone apps that you can use that take less than ten minutes to do. I personally love using Youtube meditating videos on my phone for my morning meditation. Sometimes, while I am waiting in the car for my mother while she is visiting her doctor, I squeeze in a short session right there in the parking lot! I know another method many people use to relieve stress is to keep a Gratitude Journal. Try journaling every day just for the holiday season, from November 1 to December 31. Each day take the time to write down one thing that you are grateful for. You can keep your entry private, share it with a friend or loved one or you can post it on Facebook. However you decide to do it, make sure you do it every day and notice how your perspective changes. Your mental health is important, so make it a commitment to take that ten minutes for yourself every day. Be careful not to give your time away, as time may be more valuable than you realize.
So, what’s on the menu in the Clark’s house this Thanksgiving? Around our table will be turkey, glazed pineapple ham, yams, collard greens, black-eye peas and rice, gravy, fresh cranberries, rolls and of course, lots of love and laughter…. a family gathered, sharing our love with one another and creating memories that will last for years.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you sign up for my newsletter at www.btclark.com, and never miss another blog again.
December 22, 2016
Do They Know It’s Christmas Time?
Last month, I had nine people beta read my current work in progress, Come to the Oaks, and provide feedback on the story. I took everything that my beta readers found and suggested, and, over the Thanksgiving holiday, worked on the final draft. I am happy to say that, earlier this month, I sent it to my editor for her final edits.
Although the release date for this book is set for May 2017, there is still much to do to prepare for its release, such as finishing the cover, creating a marketing strategy, and getting it into a store near you.
I can’t believe that this is my third novel. While at times I can’t believe this is my life, I still believe in the magic (of it all). Merry Christmas from my family to yours.
Although the release date for this book is set for May 2017, there is still much to do to prepare for its release, such as finishing the cover, creating a marketing strategy, and getting it into a store near you.
I can’t believe that this is my third novel. While at times I can’t believe this is my life, I still believe in the magic (of it all). Merry Christmas from my family to yours.
April 7, 2015
A Writers Quote
“There is no greater agony then bearing an untold story inside you.”
— Maya Angelou
— Maya Angelou
December 24, 2014
Merry Christmas
Good Morning Everyone:
A warm cup of eggnog, a chat with the family and a laugh with friends around the beautifully-decorated tree. May your heart be warmed by the sweet magic that Christmas always brings, and may all your dreams be fulfilled. Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New year!
A warm cup of eggnog, a chat with the family and a laugh with friends around the beautifully-decorated tree. May your heart be warmed by the sweet magic that Christmas always brings, and may all your dreams be fulfilled. Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New year!
November 16, 2014
WIP
I got a little bit of work done yesterday on my WIP(Work In Progress)and after church today I will be back at it. I love all of the recommendations I received from my Alpha Reader. It is like decorating a cake. My first draft is just the cake, first edit is the frosting. Throughout the editing/re-write process is where all the magic happens.
