What I Learned About Life from WIFYR 2011 Part 1

Well, my friends, yesterday was the last day of the 2011 Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers conference. It was an exciting ride of a week. Seriously. Even as I'm sitting still, my shadow self is doing somersaults and backflips and then breaks into the salsa with herself as partner (my shadow self is much more coordinated than I am).

Carol brought together an amazing group of teachers who have already influenced my writing (for good and not for eeevil) and my life. And, in my usual way, I am going to share what I learned about life while learning about writing. This is Part 1 in my new series: What I Learned About Life from WIFYR 2011.

First, I was in the boot camp morning workshop with the fabulous A.E. Cannon (otherwise known as Ann) (otherwise known as Amazing!)as our drill sargeant. The first morning, Ann shared with us some of her own writing mistakes. Here are a couple:

1. Be in scene: Great advice for writing; fantastic advice for life. So many times, I'm focusing on the past, what I did wrong, what I could have done instead of what I did do, and, of course, the WHAT IF? is always looming over my head. Or I am thinking about my future: what I'll do when I'm a published author, who I'll invite over to my house for a tea party if I ever get my house cleaned, how will I react in this or that kind of situation. While focusing on the past or the future, I am not
in scene.

Being in scene,to me, means that we are enjoying the ride we are on in this moment. This doesn't meant that we don't make goals for ourselves or that we don't learn from our past mistakes, but that we don't spend so much time focusing on those things that we forget the joy and excitement of living our lives!

2. Don't wait for the right time in your life: For me, this is directly related to writing, because for so long, I waited for the time to write. After I came home from my mission, I started my Master's and teacher certification program, I got married, I started teaching, I started having children, I kept teaching, and all the while, I wanted to write, but I didn't have time.

Two years ago, when I met Ann for the first time during a summer institute of the Central Utah Writing Project, she told us that if we wanted to write, we had to make time for it. It was like a Homer Simpson "d'oh!" moment for me. Of course! If I wanted to be a writer, if I wanted a writing life, then I had to make time to write. And so I did. And I'm so grateful that I did.

Yeah, my house might be a little bit messier (it was never that clean anyway) and my two older children have learned to make their own PBJ sandwiches and chicken nuggets (a useful skill for boys of any age), but I am writing! I am doing the thing that feeds my soul.

You might not be interested in a writing life, but, probably, you have something you long to do. Are you doing it? If not, why not? Can you let something else go so that you can _____________ (insert soul-feeding activity here)?

Oops! Change to date and time of the Satin Flower Bracelet Class

So, my mom pointed out to me the other day that the original date and time of the Satin Flower Bracelet class is right smack during our family reunion.

Here's the new date and time:

Wednesday, June 29, 2011 at 6:30 PM.

Click here to learn more about the class and how to register.

Satin Flower Bracelet Workshop

Here it is. My first craft class. We will make fun and easy satin flower bracelets with fleece bands.


Your $15 class fee includes:

Instruction by moi.
All supplies for one bracelet: satin, fleece, button, snap, thread, needles, candle
Printed directions



You need to bring:
$15
A good pair of scissors for cutting fabric

Class is limited to 10 participants and will take place in West Valley City, UT on Wednesday, June 29 at 6:30 PM.



Extra flower bracelet supplies can be purchased for $5 each.

To register, please email me at laguapatona@gmail.com.

In Love...with Writing

Writing
Originally uploaded by jjpacres

"What you have to be is in love. With writing. Not with ideas about what to write; not with daydreams about what you're going to do when you're successful. You have to be in love with writing itself, with the solitary and satisfying act of sitting down and watching something you hold in your head and your heart quietly transform itself into words on a page." --Elizabeth Berg

Magic in my backyard

A year and a half ago, I was daydreaming about Port Townsend, wishing I could move there. I think I even looked up houses and jobs up there. I wanted the magic back in my life, the magic I've felt when I've spent when I've visited the Pacific Northwest.

It was during those moments of longing that I wrote this.

Magic in my Backyard

It's here--no, it isn't
But I want it to be here
I want the magic to be at my disposal
all the time
Not just when I go for a visit.

I don't want to visit the magic
Go on vacation to experience it.
I want to have it with me here,
all the time.

Last week, I decided I wanted to find that magic. So my boys and I wnet for a nature walk in our backyard. It's kind of a jungle out there; we haven't done anything with it yet this year. These are the pictures we took as we discovered the magic in our backyard.

Beautiful flowers (the first two are actually weeds, but aren't they pretty?)







Incredible, amazing, fabulous creatures (also known as my children)







This summer, I'm going to look for the magic that's in my own yard and in my own city. What about you?

Camping in your living room

My kids love when I let them get out their sleeping bags and "camp" in the family room. Almost always, they end up in their own beds before morning, but they can barely contain their joy when I tell them that, yes, they can have a campout in the family room.

In those moments, I am the best mom ever!

I remember the times when my mom let us sleep outside on the trampoline. We only did it once or twice, but we were so excited when we did. We were having an adventure. And it took place within the safe confines of our yard and a few dozen steps from a flushing toilet.

Since my last post, more than one person has pointed out to me that I am at the start of my own adventure. Amy, just this morning, reminded me that, just because I'm not moving or quitting my job, doesn't mean that I'm not on the verge of something new and exciting. And my MOM commented on my last post reminding me of that same adventure as I start at Vermont College in July.

That forced me to look at my life and really see my new adventure, my new "Once upon a time" as Nicole likes to call it. So, maybe I'm not camping in some awesome place like Yellowstone or, I don't know, Hawaii. But I am going to have an awesome time while I camp in my own backyard (or, actually, on my bed with the door shut and locked, a sign that says, "Mom at work. Do not disturb," taped to the door) and going on a couple of sleepovers (across the country).

Maybe I'll get myself an Indiana Jones-style hat to remind myself that I, too, am having an adventure.

Left Behind

farewell
Originally uploaded by lightpainter

So, the Rapture has come and gone and I'm still here.

Okay, so are the rest of you. I think...

This spring has been a season of changes. My BFF Amy and I have taught next door to one another for 8 years. The wall between our classroom has a hole so big in it that we can pass notes, and occassionally candy, back and forth. And we IM each other constantly during the school day. We go to writing conferences together. She's my crit partner, my beta reader, and my writing group.

And now she's quitting teaching to follow her lifelong dream and go to law school.

My cousin Nicole and I are soul sisters. When we were younger, her dad joked that God knew that we would drive each other crazy if we were real sisters, so He made us cousins instead. Nicole gets me, more than any other person. And we're both trying to break out of our cocoons and become the people we know we're meant to be. When I talk to Nicole (which is not frequent enough) about how I'm feeling, about my desire for something different, about my fear of change, she KNOWS.

And she's moving from around the corner and across the street to Arizona.

I'm uber-excited for both of them! I can't wait to see where their journeys lead them, to watch them live their dreams, to become the people they're meant to be.

But I'm feeling like I'm being left behind. Much like the Rapture, the people I love the most are going to someplace better, and I'm stuck here, taking care of their pets.

Am I green with envy? Maybe I am a pale shade of sage, because I want to be going as well. No, I don't want to go to law school and I don't want to move to Arizona, but I do want to be moving forward, making big (yet scary) changes. But I'm not. Come fall, I'll still be teaching in the same room I've been in for years. I'll be living in the same valley where I've spent most of my life.

Here's the thing: I have the feeling that I haven't learned when I'm meant to learn and that's why I'm not making big, sweeping changes in my life. I just wish the Universe would tell me what it is I'm meant to learn, so I can study really hard, pass the test, and move on.

More likely, I know, is that I'm on my adventure already, but that it's a slower, more meandering kind of adventure that requires lots of little steps instead of huge strides.

I'd just like a map, you know, so I can see where I'm going, and how far along the path I already am.