April 8, 2013 Puzzling dreams...literally!

Last night's dream sequence was really rather fun for me, being the puzzle freak I am.  I was dreaming that I was solving life sized puzzles of all kinds:  Sudoku, crossword, jigsaw...there might have even been a logic problem or two in there.  As I've always been fascinated by puzzles and love stretching my brain to work something out, whether for fun or profit (a friend used to joke that as an Accountant, I thrived on "the books from hell" because it meant I got to work through things until I got them all neat and tidy and figured out!) I'm hoping that I can take this one at face value and look forward to some brain stretching puzzles to solve this week!

Regardless, I found myself singing silly ditties and songs from old Shirley Temple movies on the way to work, so it clearly put me in a good mood.  I also found myself declaring out loud, "it is going to be an AWESOME week!"  


Yet, once again, here I sit, the midnight blogger (perhaps a new name for my blog?) after working all day, finally getting together with the kids to do their taxes, medicating all felines who need to be medicated and performing my weekly trash dance, getting ready to spill my guts, or something anyway, to perpetuate this little space I call my own.

Like many of my friends who are still up and posting on Facebook, I am of the nocturnal persuasion.  I might curse and beg for "just another five minutes" in the morning when the sun peeks in my window and the alarm blares, but a few more minutes in the dark of night are but a small price to pay when I get that much less sleep at the other end.

I know that part of my nocturnal habits are a hold over from my years as a single parent when the hours from 9:00 or so on were the only ones which were mine and mine alone.  It was my time to catch up on reading, catch up with friends, get some of the quieter chores done and just unwind after the demands of the day.  Another part is probably a hold over from late nights working on shows, then going out to Farrell's or Denny's afterwards.

The real truth is, the most interesting people are up after midnight, lurking in the halls, having their say or, like me, sitting in a quiet house just enjoying the solitude.  The musical accompaniment to my nightly interludes is the hum of the computer, the sounds of the house settling and one or two hardy felines pattering around the house as they await their bed warmer's eventual retirement.

Although there were no puzzles for me to solve today, it was a productive, rather peaceful day.  I'm sure that my decision to expect only awesomeness had something to do with how smoothly things went, so I must be sure to expect only awesomeness from now on.    Maybe I solved so many in my dreams that there were none left for me to play with while I was out and about.

I'm finding that the best part about being part of the Ultimate Blog Challenge isn't my own contributions.  It is, in fact, being introduced to other people who have some really interesting things to say!  I read one today in which the writer threw out a bunch of ideas, some serious and several, tongue-in-cheek, for making a six figure income this year.  While I have my checks from the Universe on my vision board, made out to me in those six figures, I have to admit that her ideas were a little more proactive.  I particularly liked her idea of asking 20,000 people for $5.

In fact, it makes me wonder if those folks who beg on the streets or play music with a hat or instrument case left open for donations might actually be pulling in that kind of money.  Think about it!  If they sit in a public place for eight hours a day, six days a week, isn't it possible that 100 people a day toss in at least a buck?  I'd guess that the take would be higher on certain days, depending where they set up.  But conservatively, they could pull in $30 or $40K with little or no overhead.  Of course, this venture would be more successful in more temperate climates like Florida or California.  I think people would be less likely to dig in their pockets while bundled up against a 20 degree day with a 10 degree wind chill factor, and it wouldn't be overly comfortable for the artist either!

In any event, it definitely got me thinking about ways to supplement my income.  The author mentioned one of her fundraising activities which interested me very much, but I have no idea how to get into her market.  She apparently does freelance writing.  I wouldn't mind adding that to my repertoire!  Or maybe do something like Carrie in "Sex and the City" and write a weekly column for a newspaper (although, with the popularity of the internet, it might not be a lucrative career path these days!).

It seems that I have the desire to write and sell my work, but not a clue as to how to go about it.  I can ramble on for hours, jumping from one topic to another, but have not yet made the leap to writing about one thing, or telling one story from start to finish.  So finding someone to buy what I have not yet created is yet another challenge I face.  And yet, I can visualize shelves full of my latest book, signing copies for my adoring fans and discussing my characters like they are devoted friends and companions.  So all of the necessary parts are laid out, waiting for the master assembler, I like to call the Universe to put those pieces into the proper order and assembled correctly.

Until then, I must write, just as I must breathe, eat and even sleep.  I have faith that, eventually, out of piles of drek, mediocre, passable, decent and interesting will ultimately rise, magnificent!  But for now, I'm pounding the keys unremittingly, just as a salesman makes calls and knocks on doors.  Just as a bird gathers many twigs to build her nest and a baker breaks many eggs to make her cakes, I use many words to make a story.

My gratitudes tonight are:

1. I am grateful for the truly awesome week which began today.
2. I am grateful for new sources of inspiration.
3. I am grateful for the satisfactory completion of several of my less pleasant chores.
4. I am grateful for the time I've taken to wind down so that sleep will find me quickly.
5. I am grateful for an evening that was both productive and restful.

Love and light