To write, or...crochet?

By: Kristi Hartman

I started the beginning of the month with a goal to sort of do Nanowrimo.  I already had about 75 pages of my novel done, but was going to use November as a jump start to hopefully get the book complete.  For awhile, I was doing really well.  I was setting aside a specific time each night to write, and had a word count I was shooting for and meeting every day.
Then, I started to slip back into my old habits.  The writing was becoming more difficult as I progressed in my story, and I was starting to question my direction of the storyline.  I started asking myself questions like,
"Where is my character going in this scene?  What is she doing there?  Why?  What is the point?"
And mostly,

"What is the point at all?!"

I guess to distract myself from my lack of writing, or my weird little funk I was in, I decided to start working on a crochet project I had stashed away in the corner of my family room.  The yarn was new and ready to go, the crochet hook, unused and waiting.  I pulled out the stuff, shrugged my shoulders, and thought, "how hard could this be?"  I had crocheted in the past, but only doing edging patterns on baby blankets. Never a complete project with just some yarn and a hook.
I watched a YouTube video about getting started, and with mounds of confidence, got to work.
All seemed to be going well for awhile, until it was curling and was starting to resemble a fan more than a rectangle.  After some google searching, I realized I was crocheting too tight. Apparently there is this thing called tension.  ;)  I sighed, and started pulling, unraveling all those hours of work.
Then, I forced myself to stop doing it so tightly and started over again.  After awhile, I was feeling confidant, and the yarn was starting to resemble something other than a ball of yarn.  I worked on it for a couple of nights, while my computer still sat, unused.  I had started to get fairly far along when I looked into my bag and noticed my yarn supply was smaller than it should have been.  If I kept going at the rate I was, I was going to make a rather long and skinny dish towel instead of a throw blanket. I went back to the website I had originally seen the pattern from and did some research.  I was crocheting the wrong blanket.  I was mixing up two different patterns.  Fabulous.
At this point, I was so determined to get it right, I gritted my teeth, and started pulling my blanket apart again.  Which, unfortunately, was not going to be the last time.  After two more failed attempts at counting wrong and ending up with a crooked blanket again, I had now restarted this 'simple' little distraction project of mine FOUR times.

So why the story of my mediocre crocheting experience?  Well, it got me thinking.  Why was I so dedicated to getting that dang blanket right, when the second my writing started to get difficult, I bailed?
I asked myself what I could learn from this whole process, and it was of course obvious.
Don't give up on your writing when it gets difficult.  And it will.  Like anything that is of worth or value, it takes time to learn and perfect, and sometimes starting over 4 (or more) times is the only way to learn.
Sure, the blanket will be nice to cuddle with on chilly nights, or when my Mom friends come over and I can pretend I'm so domestic and craft blankets from almost nothing, but the satisfaction of having my dream of a finished novel in my hands is so much more worthwhile.

Who knows, maybe someday I can read my published YA fiction novel while cuddling with my finally finished crocheted blanket.

The Thrill of Victory, the Agony of Defeat

by Mare Ball from ADVENTURES IN THE BALLPARK 

Women's Olympic ice skating finals were televised last night.  I have to say, I'm a lazy viewer when it comes to the winter Olympics.  The only thing I'm interested in is the ice skating.  I don't dismiss the work and talent of the speed skater and skiers, I just love the ice skating.  

I love the American ladies, of course, but I was rooting for the Italian, Carolina Kostner.  She was so lovely in the short program, and her outfit was swooshy and elegant.  I know they don't score costumes, but that's a factor in my mind.  I'm a romantic when it comes athletes swirling across the ice - the women should be sparkly and flowy and dewy. 

Carolina Kostner (http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=carolina+kostner.com)

Anyhoo... Kostner took the bronze, which is great.  ANY medal in the Olympics should be celebrated.  The athletes probably don't share that exact sentiment, but I'm proud of bronze, silver, and gold winners alike.  To even GET to the Olympics - that feat is supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.  Gracie Gold, our best American hopeful, came in fourth.  I'm proud of her too.  They're all wonderful athletes.  It takes everything out of me just to get to the gym three times a week. 

I did catch the last ten minutes of the women's hockey final - U.S. vs. Canada.  The game went into overtime, and the Canadians won.  I don't begrudge them the gold, they played hard, but the faces of the U.S. players were heart-breaking.  The medal ceremony was long - they read the names of every player from all three medaling teams - and the cameras stayed with the U.S. team for much of the time.

These girls were crestfallen.  Their eyes were so sad, some were teary, although no one sobbed openly.  Every one of them was grieving.  I have never seen such bereft faces outside a funeral.  Once commenter remarked that hockey is the only winter event in which you have to lose to get the silver. 

Members of the US team after their loss
http://sports.yahoo.com/photos/tragic-faces-of-silver-women-s-u-s-hockey-1392931581

The Olympic games really do highlight the ups and downs of chasing a dream.  Gold medal winners are ecstatic; non-golders are crushed, at least temporarily. 

It's kind of like writing.  I've felt ecstatic and crushed more than once - often about the same piece of work.  I give my everything, sometimes for years, to something, and then...nobody wants it.  Back to the drawing board.  Or the computer.  Or the ice rink.  I think winning and losing must feel the same to every heart.

I felt a bit like a winner this week when Choose to Write was released and available for purchase.  When my copy arrived, and I saw my name in print, the very first story in the book...I was very humbled and grateful.  It so warms the heart to be recognized.  Thank you, MMW gals for giving me that opportunity.

I'm back to work this week on my book and my book proposal.  I hope there's another win around the corner, but I know I still have a lot of work to do.  It might be another four years before I see success (not unlike some of the 2014 Olympians.) 

The Olympic games are truly an inspiration for anyone who's working hard to fulfill a dream.  Be it on the world stage, or here in my little central Florida loft.  For every athlete who made it to Sochi, thank you.

The Power of Committment

By Lacey Gunter

Today I am delighted to attend the joining together of two lovely people, my dear niece and her wonderful fiancé. They are young and sweet and thoroughly in love.

Marriage is such a powerful institution. It compels us to be better than we were and to look outside ourselves. Committing to love and be with someone even when things get worse, much worse, is difficult and takes a lot of courage, strength and patience. Modern society doesn't seem to place as high of a regard for people keeping their commitments as it used to.

 In the Book of Mormon^a when the Nephites^b were in a particularly grievous battle with the Lamanites^c and the Nephites had gained a clear upper hand, Moroni, their leader said they were willing to stop the battle and bloodshed if the Lamanites were willing to promise not to come against the Nephites again in battle. While the Lamanites were eager to get out of the loosing battle they were in, they were not willing to make this commitment because they had no intention of keeping it. So they decided to continue to fight. 

I am always amazed by this story. At this point in time the Lamanites were not a very good people. There were not a lot of very pleasant words used to describe them. But they certainly had one thing going for them, they must have been men of their words. They must have believed strongly in keeping their commitments. Otherwise they would have just committed to the Nephites to get out of the bad position they were in and then broken their promise later when they came back to fight again. They apparently believed so strongly in keeping their commitments that they were willing to die over it. If nothing else, that impresses me.

How easily people in this modern day break their commitments when things get a little difficult or inconvenient.  But keeping your commitments can be such a powerful force for good. I am grateful for this opportunity today to be reminded of my commitments to my husband, family and my God. I pray for the strength, courage and patience to be at least as good as the Lamanites and honor my word and my commitments. 

It may seem small, but consider the example of Abraham and Sarah of the Old Testament. Entire nations can be born of that one small commitment. And studying a little genealogy can teach you how much of who you are came from who your ancestors were. Our faithfulness to that one small commitment can ripple down through the generations of our posterity and have the power to effect the course of entire nations. That is powerful.


^a The Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ. It is the record of the people who lived on the American continents before, during and a little after Christ's birth, ministry and resurrection
 ^bThe Nephites were a people living in the Americas thousands of years ago before and during Christ's time. At the time of this reference they were faithfully living God's laws
^cThe Lamanites were also living in the Americas at the same time but they were usually not living God's laws and often went to war against the Nephites