Posts Tagged "writing"

Teen Interview: It Ain’t Over Until the Perfect Troll Face Sings

Posted by Coleen Patrick on Jul 30, 2012 in Interview, Reader Paparazzi, Teens | 52 comments

It’s summer–schools are empty, teens are scarce–on vacation, at camp, or watching YouTube videos working summer jobs . . .

but Reader Paparazzi ~ my Q & A series featuring teen readers ~ must go on.  I spend a lot of time inside the mind of fictional teens–writing and reading, so it’s great to get a little real YA world perspective to help with character inspiration or simply if you want to see what holds a teen’s interest.

It’s research, not stalking.

If you missed any previous interviews, click here or on the tab in the header above.

For this interview, I’ve cornered a teen close to home.

Meet Gavin, or as I have a habit of calling him, “G.”

G is sixteen.  He runs cross-country and track, sings in his school’s chorus and a capella club and is famous on the internet.

Well, sort of.

Have you heard of trolling, or better yet seen this face before?

Gavin is the number one image on Google for the perfect troll face.

  A face only a mother could love . . .

but it’s hard to catch him NOT making faces:

 I’m partial to this one:

A big hello to Gavin!

So G, what makes you want to pick up a book to read?

It’s got to have something I can relate to.

What are you currently reading?

Moby Dick, for school.

Anything you relate to?

I don’t know, but reading this book is becoming AHABit.

I’m not sure if I believe you, but props on the pun.

What was the last book you read that wasn’t for school?

Try Not to Breathe by Jennifer R. Hubbard

Do you ever re-read books?

Yup.  I like to flip through the Guinness Book of World Records and the World Atlas.

What was your favorite book when you were younger?

Captain Underpants and Harry Potter

Favorite subject in school?

Spanish

Least favorite?

History

What would you like to learn how to do—that you don’t know how to do?

Learn more languages—like Swedish and German.

Okay, I received some questions from YA writers curious about teen relationships (ie dating).  What do you think is the most challenging thing about relationships?

Being yourself.

What was the last movie you saw?

Jeff, Who Lives at Home

Favorite tv show or movie you can watch again and again?

The Invention of Lying

Tell me three songs you’re listening to on your iPod:

The More I See You ~ Michael Buble

The Way You Look Tonight ~ Michael Buble

Flavour ~Bare Noize

What’s your favorite snack?

Veggie straws

What did you eat for breakfast?

Nothing because I’m fasting for the Jewish holiday of Tisha B’ Av, but yesterday for breakfast I ate Frosted Cheerios.  

I’m so hungry can we please not talk about food?

Okay, no more food talk.

Some quick-fire fill in the blanks:

I fear change.

I need clarity.

I hate homework.

I love singing. 

So here’s a tiny snippet of G doing what he loves:

Thanks G!

Do you have any questions you want answered by teens in future Q & As?  Or a question for Gavin?  Let me know in the comments. 

If not, how would you answer this quick fire fill in the blank?  I need _____.  (Seeing as it’s now Monday morning, I NEED COFFEE!)

Thanks! I love it when you comment.

Have a great week!

Leaning into the Leap

Posted by Coleen Patrick on May 21, 2012 in Blogging, Inspiration, Writing | 57 comments

There is an eagle in me that wants to soar, and there is a hippopotamus in me that wants to wallow in the mud.
~Carl Sandburg

This weekend my husband and I went to an outdoor sports festival.  There was music, food and a variety of outdoor sports demos including slacklining.

Yoga on paddle boards

River rafting

Even super chess

Super Chess:  Are you ready??

All that adventure and yet I was beginning to feel the hint of a wallow coming on.  Nothing unusual, just a little Monday slipping into my Sunday afternoon.

I ignored it, and we made our way to the Ultimate Air Dog event.

For this event, dogs ran across a ramp and jumped, flying over and into a pool (occasionally being prompted by their favorite chew toy or ball).

And every dog was different.  Some were coaxed on by their owner and others had to be held by the collar because they couldn’t wait for it to be their turn.  It was a Hippo vs. Eagle moment.

One little dog scampered down the ramp and then came to a complete stop at the edge.

And as the little dog hesitated, there was a collective “Aw.”  Because we all know the feeling.

In fact it was exactly why I was beginning to feel like I wanted to wallow like the hippo (rather than soar like the eagle).  I was thinking about writing a blog post and Tweeting and sharing on Facebook and pinning on Pinterest–and I felt a curious mix of fear and excitement at the thought of moving on from my cozy, family weekend to a week of social media.  Again.

Because every week when I think about putting myself out there, I feel like I am dangling off the edge of that ramp, suspended over a dark pool of insecurity.

And it’s usually due to over thinking.

I’m too much of an introvert–this isn’t natural for me.  I am far more suited to hours of solitary writing than social media and marketing.   This blog topic sucks.  Who is going to read this? It takes up too much time–instead I could, oh I don’t know, learn how to juggle or  teach myself Swedish.  Or I know! Finish knitting that lumpy scarf  I started years ago or bedazzle . . . something.

Over thinking creates obstacles, diverts attention.

Better to be present.  It’s easier to get to the other side, the place you want to be, when you focus.

Even if you’re not quite ready to jump, you can always lean into the leap.  

Then catch some air.

And it’s a relief to be on the other side, to finish something that’s not easy, to take another step, reach another goal.  There’s the sense of accomplishment, both in getting it done and pushing thru the hesitation.  

It’s even kind of exhilarating.

Even when it doesn’t go so gracefully or my blog topic is well, a little meh.  It’s okay.

Flops are a part of life’s menu and I’ve never been a girl to miss out on any of the courses.
- Rosalind Russell

And yes, the hesitation will be back, but:

The best way out is always through.
- Robert Frost

Because something happens every time you leap through to the other side:

You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you stop to look fear in the face.
- Eleanor Roosevelt

Are you soaring through this week, or is there something causing  you to want to wallow?

Curiosity and Peeking Behind Closed Doors

Posted by Coleen Patrick on May 17, 2012 in Writing | 43 comments

Not knowing when the dawn will come I open every door.

~Emily Dickinson

My sister and I used to babysit a lot when we were teenagers, and one of the perks (other than looking after cute cherubs of course) was scoping out the fridge or pantry.   After our respective babysitting gigs, my sister and I would then compare the loot we snacked on.

Me:  They totally had Chef Boyardee.

My sister:  Well, I got Twinkies and Dr. Pepper.  

Me:  Well . . .

My sister:  They had cable.

Me: Fine you win.

It was like it was the day after Halloween and we were unloading our bags.  Other people’s fridges ended up being ranked like candy bar sizes.

Back then it was mostly a snack thing, but I still have a curiosity about other people’s fridges.

When you’re curious, you find lots of interesting things to do.

 ~Walt Disney

Like medicine cabinets, fridges are revealing.  And personal.  You not only see what people eat (or maybe don’t eat), but how they cook and clean.

Do you see specialty oils and sauces, or ketchup packets?

Lots of home cooked leftovers or takeout containers?

Packages labeled organic?  Lots of brand names?

Is the fridge full or bare?

Is it organized, clean?

Speaking of clean.  I don’t pay much attention to that if I sneak a peek into a fridge, because I hate cleaning the fridge.  I mean I do it, but I dislike it so much that I line the shelves with foil after I clean it so I can make the clean last twice as long (I remove the foil once it’s dirty and then have a clean shelf for at least a little while).

And in case you’re thinking this is a bizarre topic–I’m not the only one who wonders, what’s in your fridge?

One quick search on the internet and you might land on a site called Fridgewatcher.

This is Ashlee’s fridge.  No cats were harmed.  Apparently Ashlee faces a daily battle to keep her kitten Darwin out of the fridge.

(Anyone else thinking about survival of the fittest here?)

I also found Fridge Raiders, My Fridge Food and photos of fridge interiors all over Flickr.

This is George Clooney’s fridge.  Just a small sampling of what one of People magazine’s sexiest men eats.

For the serious kitchen voyeur, artist J. Morgan Pruett takes a creative approach when rearranging a fridge:

“It inspires me to cook an inventive meal,” Ms. Pruett says of her rotating fridge design.

And since I’m going to ask you the personal question of what’s in your fridge, I figure it’s only fair to show you mine:

I considered editing the photo with a sepia tone, if only to remind my husband that this fridge is 17 years old (hint hint).  Except he would then just remind me of our fridge’s special features.  Like the top shelf”s left corner–it will freeze solid any food I put there, especially eggs.

Fridge diving! It’s all the rage.  And it’s good for your brain too!

Because when you are curious, you are in the moment, you are engaging and you are learning.  Bonus–it’s excellent for creativity (makes for a better writer!)

Oh and I’m sure it must lower your blood pressure, right?

All that from a fridge.

I’ve often entertained paranoid suspicions about my fridge and what it’s been doing to my poetry when I’m not looking, but I never even considered that my fan was thinking about me.

~George Murray

Just don’t get me started on what’s inside your purse or wallet. . .

So what’s in your fridge?

I’m curious!

Everyone has a Yay! Thing

Posted by Coleen Patrick on May 14, 2012 in Inspiration, Writing | 41 comments

“LIVING THE YAY! LIFE!”

Mondays can be rough.  The early alarm, that not so easy transition from the weekend to the weekday and the fact that you just want a little more face time with your pillow.

Motivation can be slow to appear.  Unless someone forgot to put the garbage cans on the curb.  Then there’s the bounding out of bed at the noise from the sanitation truck rolling down the street.

But that’s a harsh start.  Especially since I wake to the sounds of ocean waves (my alarm, not the beach, but maybe someday) and my husband’s alarm is a harp.

We make an attempt at the Zen thing.

*Yawn*

Well, this weekend I stumbled across a line of fun, colorful magnets from Rachelle Reichly’s company called Yay! Life!

The magnets cheer on an attitude of motivation and gratitude and it all started with a pie.  I’m sure a lot of great ideas started with pie, right?

I mean whose to say Benjamin Franklin didn’t eat a slice of mincemeat pie before heading out to discover electricity?

Pie!  Eureka!

Anyway Rachelle made a pie and when her husband saw it he said, “Yay. Pie.”  Inspiration struck (like Franklin’s lightning) and the couple thought:

“This is what life is all about – gratitude and enjoying life. Everyone has a YAY! THING! that is as unique as they are.”

And so now they sell Yay! magnets for most anything, from Alaska to Zombies.

And books–double Yay!

Each day offers us the gift of being a special occasion.

~Sarah Ban Breathnach 

For my Monday motivation, I’m starting with a Yay! Coffee!

Iced, because it’s getting warmer outside.  Another Yay!

Add in a memory of a fun weekend:

Yay! Mother’s Day!

And the extra energy I have because someone else did the dishes for me:

Yay! Awesome Family!

And I’ve got my inspiration, my keyboard–Yay! Writing!

“Your idea of bliss is to wake up on a Monday morning knowing you haven’t a single engagement for the entire week. You are cradled in a white paper cocoon tied up with typewriter ribbon.”
~Edna Ferbe

Still tired?

Well, here’s a reason to get moving:

Look closer.  Um, Yay! Boat?

Tell me, what is your Yay! thing for today?

Embrace Your Artistic Voice, There will Never be Another You

Posted by Coleen Patrick on May 10, 2012 in Inspiration, Writing | 50 comments

Recently I met a writer who said she gave up on the book she was working on because another writer published one with a similar premise.  I don’t know what her story was about in particular, but she was adamant that there would be no reason for her to bother finishing hers.

It got me thinking.  How many books have been published about vampire love stories or teens fighting dystopian governments? A lot.  And I could continue on with the list of similar premises.  Because when readers like a book, they usually want more.

But even working with the same topic or premise, no two writers will end up with the same book.

Because artists have their own style.  Your experiences, your opinions, where you live, who you grew up with, what you do with your day–everything that makes you uniquely well, YOU, weave together and mesh to make up your tone.

It’s your voice and it is influenced by the tapestry of your life.

And we all come to the page, the canvas  or whatever medium with which we create, with our special voices.

For example, check out the difference in perspective on these Alice in Wonderland covers:

Or the difference in interpretation for the Barnabas Collins character in the remake of Dark Shadows:

Creativity is open for interpretation.  (more on creativity here in this post.)

We writers, as we work our way deeper into our craft, learn to drop more and more personal clues. Like burglars who secretly wish to be caught, we leave our fingerprints on broken locks, our voiceprints in bugged rooms, our footprints in the wet concrete.
~Ross MacDonald

Your art is ready for your fingerprints.

A part of me wonders if maybe there were other reasons this writer abandoned her story.  Maybe she was afraid of not measuring up. I don’t know.

But I think it’s important as artists to embrace our uniqueness.

Stop comparing and start celebrating.

Because there will never be another YOU.

You’ve got to recognize, there will never be another you. It has nothing to do with ego; it happens to be the truth.

There will never be another person the same.

There’ll never be another you.

~Mickey Rooney

What are your thoughts on the artistic voice?  Do you have any advice for a writer/artist who gets stuck comparing their work to others?

 I love it when you comment, so please share your thoughts!

Thanks for stopping by.

Carry Weapons of Minimal Destruction and Other Motherly Advice

Posted by Coleen Patrick on May 7, 2012 in Family, Inspiration | 62 comments

When your mother asks, “Do you want a piece of advice?” it’s a mere formality.  It doesn’t matter if you answer yes or no.

You’re going to get it anyway.

― Erma Bombeck

Growing up I got great advice from my mom.  I’m sure of it.

However at the moment, all I can think about is the time she told me to always carry a hat pin when riding a city bus.  You know, in case of unsavory strangers deciding to get a little too close.

It was advice she dispensed for my safety.  You see once I hit the 7th grade, I liked to go to the mall.  A lot.  I didn’t ride a bus there and I’d never owned a hat pin, but maybe my mom was worried about me going without her.  So she offered up a quick tidbit from the stores of her own immigrant mother’s wisdom stash.  The hat pin was a reflex.

 Hat pins, weapons of minimal destruction.

She quickly amended the advice to this:

Stay away from strangers a.k.a. unsavory sorts.  If need be, act a little crazy to encourage them to stay away.

Or at least that’s how I remember it.  The mistakes in this advice are all mine, but you get the gist–she wanted me to be safe.

Because that’s what moms do.

They advise you:

 ”Do not eat chips out of a communal bowl.  You might as well stick your hand in a toilet.”

~Lorelai Gilmore, Gilmore Girls

They love you:

“I know you’re afraid. I know the world feels like a hard place, sometimes. But you’ve got people who love you. Your dad and I, we have all the faith in the world in you. We’ll always be with you. You have got a world of strength in your heart. I know you do. You just have to find it again. Believe in yourself.”

~Mrs. Summers to Buffy, Buffy the Vampire Slayer

 They teach you (and maybe humble you):

 “Jealousy is a very ugly thing, Dorothy. And so are you, in anything backless.”

~Sophia Petrillo, Golden Girls

And okay sometimes they confuse you:

“Don’t play with the food! When I was your age, we didn’t have food!”

~Maria Portokalas, My Big Fat Greek Wedding

But it’s wisdom from a (longer) life lived.  And it’s meant to be a good thing.

Because they want you to be happy.

Oh and that reminds me of another pearl to share.  Here’s the first stanza of the song my mom used to sing to pull a smile out of us when we were having the mopes:

Nobody Likes Me (Guess I’ll Go Eat Worms) 

Nobody likes me, everybody hates me,
I think I’ll go eat worms!
Big fat juicy ones,
Eensie weensy squeensy ones,
See how they wiggle and squirm!

Happy Mother’s Day!

What is your favorite bit of motherly wisdom?

What Happens in the Outhouse Doesn’t Always Stay in the Outhouse

Posted by Coleen Patrick on Apr 30, 2012 in Family, Inspiration | 61 comments

If you cannot get rid of the family skeleton, you may as well make it dance. 

~George Bernard Shaw

Several years ago my dad gave me his old Torts book from law school. He told me there was a case in it involving my great-grandmother Mary Fitzpatrick Rush, and that I might want to hang onto it because it was a bit of our family history.  The story was a curious one, but still I put the book away for safe keeping.

But recently I got a little more curious after watching the TV show Who Do You Think You Are.  Every week a different celebrity is taken on a journey of personal discovery into his or her family history.  Rob Lowe discovered that his five times great-grandfather fought in the Revolutionary War and Ashley Judd traced her family line back to the Mayflower.

The process typically starts with looking up census records and court documents and then they follow the twists and turns back in time, stumbling upon hardship, perseverance, triumph and even secrets and intrigue.  Above all, they always seem to come away with some sort of inspiration from their lineage.

So I decided to Google my great-grandmother’s case.

My grandmother, great-grandmother and great Aunt

Let me first say that this is not a story of Pilgrims and Patriots, but rather the New Jersey Supreme Court, tenant rights and an outhouse.  In its own unique way it goes deep (so deep I imagine my great-grandmother might’ve wished she’d been wearing waders).

What happens in the privy, does not always stay in the privy.

Here’s the gist of the case:
Rush v. Commercial Realty Co., 145 A. 476 (N.J. Sup. Ct. 1929)

The case for the plaintiffs was that they were tenants of the defendant, which controlled the house wherein they lived and also the adjoining house, and provided a detached privy for the use of both houses; that Mrs. Rush having occasion to use this privy, went into it and fell through the floor, or through some sort of trap door therein, descended about nine feet into the accumulation at the bottom, and had to be extricated by use of a ladder. The defendant denied that there was any pit at all, and claimed the floor was only about nine inches above solid ground.

The story as told by my Great Aunt Kitty to my dad was that my great-grandmother fell through the outhouse floor when the rotted portion of the floor in front of the toilet seat collapsed.

My great-grandmother was 5’2″ (and pregnant with my Great Aunt Anna) and the hole was nine feet deep.  So 14-year-old Kitty ran to the neighbor for a ladder so she could help her mother climb out of the um, accumulation.

It took years to finalize the case, but she won.  The judge blamed the property owner.

 In dealing with these, it should be observed that Mrs. Rush had no choice, when impelled by the calls of nature, but to use the facilities placed at her disposal by the landlord, to wit, a privy with a trap door in the floor, poorly maintained.

Now I imagine this had to be a humiliating experience, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned from my dad’s side of the family, it’s that we all thoroughly enjoy a good laugh.

And that’s what I found when I searched the internet.  It seems that the case of Mrs. Rush was a bit of a comic relief in Torts class.

On one of the blogs, a law student said he laughed until he cried.  When I asked my dad about it, he said his grandmother’s case has been the subject of limericks and poems in law school for decades.

But my favorite find was reading about law students showing up for their Torts final wearing t-shirts that said:

“Whenever you feel like you’re drowning in shit, remember Mrs. Rush.” 

Ah, sweet inspiration.

But there is something universal in this story, because in some way we ‘ve all experienced the crap dunk tank.  And we all know it’s not always easy to get out.  Sometimes we have to holler for help and sometimes we have to wait for a ladder.  But hopefully, like my tiny, great grandmother, we find a way to climb out of the accumulation.

Although, if you can, I recommend boots.

To learn means to accept the postulate that life did not begin at my birth.  Others have been here before me, and I walk in their footsteps.  The books I have read were composed by generations of fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, teachers and disciples.  I am the sum total of their experiences, their quests.  And so are you. 

~Elie Wiesel

Tell me, have you done any family research?  What have you found in your history?

I love when you share!

Eleven Questions and Evidence from my Writing Cave

Posted by Coleen Patrick on Mar 29, 2012 in Blogging, Writing | 47 comments

Game time!

The awesome YA author Fabio Bueno tagged me in the Eleven Questions game.

The rules:

1. You must post the rules.
2. Answer the questions on your blog–or if you don’t have a blog, feel free to answer in the comments! Then create eleven new questions to ask the people you’ve tagged.
3.  Tag eleven people and link to them.
4.  Let them know you’ve tagged them.

Here are Fabio’s questions and my answers:

What is your favorite historical period and why?

Probably the Tudor, because of all the drama surrounding King Henry VIII.

List your top five favorite movies.

The first 5 that come to mind–When Harry Met Sally, Pride & Prejudice, My Cousin Vinny, The Sandlot & Rat Race

Your house is on fire. Your loved ones–humans and pets–are already safe outside. They have your driver’s license and a flash drive with all your backups (files and all the media you own). You have time to save one more object. What would you get?

A box that has notes to me written by my kids.

You can invite any three people in the world for a dinner–anyone alive. Who are your guests?

Funny people–like Melissa McCarthy, Amy Poehler and Kristen Wiig

Congress/the gods/smiling extraterrestrials said you can only have one type of food every meal for the rest of your life (they’ll supplement your diet with vitamin pills). Which food would you choose?

If it’s aliens, they probably have a thingamabob to zap away my food sensitivities, so I’m gonna say pizza.

In an episode of “Friends”, they all reveal their freebie list: Who are your 5 celebs?

Ian Somerhalder, Jimmy Fallon, Rob Lowe, Jake Gyllenhall, Ryan Reynolds

(Huge spoiler alert.) Some people think the Hunger Games is bloody. In Harry Potter 6, fifteen characters die. In HP7, the body count is over fifty (see here). JK is rewriting the series, and she let you choose one character from any of the seven books to get a reprieve. Who would it be and why?

I can’t choose! Cop out I know, but I’m not messing with HP.

What’s your worst fear?

Being unable to keep my kids safe.

You can choose your own nickname, with an assurance that no one would ever mock you. Tell us your choice.

Since I’ve changed my first and middle names legally before, I don’t want another name

What’s the best vacation you have ever had?

Family road trip to Niagara Falls and points in between.

Hiking in the Finger Lakes region, NY

Congress/the gods/smiling extraterrestrials said you must move to any fantasy or sci-fi setting (books, movies, videogames, rpgs) of your choice—permanently. Where would you go?

I love the setting in the movie Mama Mia!

Thanks to Fabio for the fun questions!

And here are my 11 questions for you to answer on your blog (or here in the comments if you don’t have one):

1.  What 3 books would you take with you into your zombie apocalypse/alien invasion bunker (I’m assuming you all have one)?

2.  What was your first job?

3.   What song is stuck in your head right now?

4.  What celebrity would play you in the movie about your life?

5.  What did you eat for breakfast this morning?

6.  If you could go back in time for one day, what time would you revisit and why?

7.  What was the last movie you saw in the theater?

8.  What’s your favorite movie snack?

9.  What TV show is most like your life?

10.  If you could get on a plane right now, where would you go (all expenses paid)?

11.  If you could tweet to your 13 old self, what would  you say?

Anyone can play, but I tag:

Sophia Chang

Lisa Hall Wilson

Marcy Kennedy

Stacy Jensen

Sarah Pearson

Myndi Shafer

Jennette Marie Powell

Ruth Schiffman

Catherine Johnson

Emma Burcart

April Plummer

Oh and I also got tagged with the Lucky 7 meme by Catherine Johnson and Debra Kristi.  It’s been bouncing around the blogosphere for weeks and it’s been awesome reading bits of everyone’s WIP (work in progress).  The rules  are:

 1. Go to page 77 of your current MS/WIP

2. Go to line 7
3. Copy down the next 7 lines, sentences, or paragraphs, and post them as they’re written.
4. Tag 7 authors, and let them know.

I’m not going to tag more people–I think everyone has been tagged anyway!  But I will play along–so here’s a bit from my current YA Contemporary WIP:

     Liquid seeped through the neckline of the tank under my jacket and I shifted, noticing the open beer bottle Kyle had apparently left at his side.  I picked it up, holding it for maybe a little too long, enough to feel that the label was missing a corner–probably from Kyle picking at it.

  I moved the bottle to the floor. 

  Kyle stretched and opened his eyes and when he saw me he turned and scooted closer until we were face to face.   “Hey, you’re back,” he said as if I’d just stepped out to pick up take-out food.  “You’re head doesn’t look any smaller to me.”

  He pressed a palm to the top of my head, checking for psychiatric shrinkage, and I smiled.  I couldn’t help it, I felt missed. 

Have a spectacular weekend!!

The Freedom and Adventure of Taking to the Road in YA

Posted by Coleen Patrick on Mar 1, 2012 in Books, Teens | 26 comments

“All I wanted was to go somewheres; all I wanted was a change.”

~The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Travel has always been a popular theme in YA fiction.  There’s something about that opportunity for change, freedom and adventure that can be so exciting.

I love road trips and remember them being especially enticing when I was a teenager (way back when I didn’t give much thought to flat tires, tired motels and greasy food).

It’s all about the fun and possibility.

Foreign food is part of the adventure too.

That’s my daughter creating her own YA adventures 6,000 miles from home.  She is meeting new people, learning a new language, eating different food and enjoying a journey that is more than just a trip from home.

Traveling away from home offers another view.

 Because just like in real life, a great fictional trip is not just about the geography.

Heart connections in the Caribbean.

A road trip and the mystery of emotional distance.

Self-discovery in Italy via undersea archaeology

A hurricane, an alligator and the importance of friends.

What YA journeys have you loved (real or fiction)?

Waiting for the Answers

Posted by Coleen Patrick on Feb 27, 2012 in Health, Inspiration, Writing | 45 comments

Last week I ran into the grocery store to pick up a few things.

Diced tomatoes.  Check.

Cereal.  Check.

Bread.  Check

BIZ.  Huh?

It was a mystery.  One I’d written down myself only twenty minutes earlier, and still I stood there in aisle nine staring helplessly at the baking powder and flours, as if they might offer me up some sort of clue as to what BIZ was supposed to be.

But I got nothing.  A brain fog—or my “duh cloud” as I’ve recently started calling it—had rolled in, only this time I found myself wondering:  What is wrong with me?  Am I just tired, or is this one more symptom to add to the list?

Because BIZ hasn’t been the only thing I’ve been wondering about.  For the last eighteen months I’ve been dealing with some weird health issues—going several rounds in a game I call Stump the Doctor.

The bonus of the game is learning other random things I didn’t know about myself, like that I was deficient in vitamin D, and that even though I think pizza is the perfect food–my body rejects its gluten and dairy essence.  Oh and that I am claustrophobic.

Well, I had my suspicions about that last one, but the two mri’s confirmed it.

Along with something odd showing up in my gray matter.

 There’s Waldo, off on a new adventure

So my doctor isn’t sure what Waldo (and his friends) are doing there in my otherwise healthy brain.  Or whether or not Waldo’s presence is actually the one causing my limbs to tingle like Bella on the day she met her sparkly Edward or for my right side to occasionally go numb in a way that makes me think I might do well cast as an extra on The Walking Dead.

Or the BIZ brain fog.  Surely there’s a chance that my blonde hair is weighing me down, but more likely I am letting the stress of waiting for answers muck up my short-term memory.

That’s kind of what unanswered questions do—they can make you a little crazy sometimes.

Will that boy ever love me?

Am I going to get into the college of my dreams?

What will agent 99 say about my novel? (And will I get the call on my shoe phone?)

And the big one:  Am I going to get an answer that I want to hear?

Waiting for those answers is kind of like trying to find Waldo.  Sometimes it’s quick and other times we get stuck staring at that page filled with a million characters in varying shades of red and white wondering when we’re going to see him.

I’m glad I’m not shopping here. 

Except turning the page is an option.  Waiting doesn’t always have to feel like sitting in Limbo’s plastic chair reading a People magazine from 1999 while time resumes its frenetic pace around us.

Infuse your life with action. Don’t wait for it to happen. Make it happen. Make your own future. Make your own hope. Make your own love. And whatever your beliefs, honor your creator, not by passively waiting for grace to come down from upon high, but by doing what you can to make grace happen… yourself, right now, right down here on Earth.

~Bradley Whitford

In the meantime, I’m gonna keep on keeping on.

First stop is the aisle where they sell the um, B 12.

Because apparently that’s the BIZ.

What do you do when you get stuck waiting on the unanswered questions?