Did You Pick A Hobby? Or Did A Hobby Pick You? by Laura Hunsaker

 I saw a meme online that said: Now that you're over 40, choose a hobby or one will be assigned to you.

Then it offered: 

Plants

Bird Watching

Hiking

Sourdough

Knitting/Crocheting

How true is this?

Birds. I seriously pay attention to birds now. Why? I never asked for this! And I enjoy it! I've been sitting in my backyard watching hummingbirds, doves, yellow finches, even a hawk! And today...boy are we in for a treat. Today I saw this cool looking bird (maybe a robin with that orangey-red chest?). I went to take a pic of him, and, well...I don't even know. Did he jump? 

I have no words for the silliness of this bird. But tomorrow morning when my dog and I sit outside after our jog, I'll have to see if this guy comes back. I've been doing my DuoLingo outside, maybe he's been listening in? I'll have to try speaking to the bird in Korean to see if he's been paying attention ;)


Tell me your hobbies! Did you pick up a new one recently? Or do you have a long-running one you'd like to share?


In my book Dangerous Past, Lark's hobby is her bullet journal, and I think she'd get a kick out of my bird buddy.

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She’s running from her past…

Lark Seawell is the daughter of a serial killer. His reputation has long been a shadow looming over her since his arrest when she was a child. Especially since she’s the one who called the police. She has spent her entire life trying to live as anonymously and quietly as possible. She is not her father’s legacy.

He wants to be her future...

FBI agent Jay Sutherland is visiting a friend in a small mountain town when free spirit Lark asks for help with her injured dog. He is instantly enamored with her, and their one night stand stays with him far into the next morning, though Lark is long gone. When his partner realizes that she is the daughter of The Highwayman, Jay refuses to believe Lark is anything like her father.

What happens when she stops running…

When a trail of dead bodies follows Lark on her cross-country drive, the FBI believes she’s the killer. How can the sweet woman who rescues injured animals and makes him feel things he hasn’t felt in years be a murderer? The bodies don’t lie. Jay knows there’s more at play. If he’s wrong, and Lark is as much a monster as her father, he may be the next target…

*Author's Note: This book contains a sunshiney heroine, a gruff hero, a couple of goofy dogs, some intense action, and begins when a one night stand leads to more...

PRODUCTIVITY IS NOT A SYNONYM FOR HAPPINESS

    Have you recently discovered that having a stress ball isn't for throwing at people who stress you out? 

Everyone has stress. It's a response to challenges in life. And let's face it, a life without challenges would be dreary and boring.

If you’re a writer, stress manifests itself when you write and when you don’t. If the writing flows, we say we’re in the zone. When it stops, we agonize over how to kick-start ourselves. When we end a piece, we fuss over the editing process. And when we’re finally finished with it, we ponder whether our creation is worthy enough, then lapse into the insecurity of “what will we write next”?

I’ve decided, after a half-dozen books, there is no happy medium to getting the right balance in life that will completely relieve stress levels. But there are small things that everyone who is stressed can do to ease  anxieties.

We all know we have to eat healthy and exercise, but there are other things to consider. One is to stay as organized as possible, and simplify routines, commitments, and clutter. A messy desk doesn’t cause us stress. Not finding the papers we need which are buried in a chaotic heap on our desks causes us to stress.

We also need to let go of multi-tasking constantly and slow down. We’re in a society that says we can do it all. We want to accomplish a task, but not upset our family’s routine or our commitments to others, so we rush, rush, rush. Maybe it’s time to go back to the single task philosophy our parents used. Maybe it’s time to streamline our time and eliminate unnecessary commitments. Instead of the mental “to do” list which stretches for miles in our mind, it’s time to write down a realistic “to do” list and only put down five essential tasks we want to complete in a given time.                                                                                             

And lastly, here is my favorite de-stress idea. I’m giving myself permission to have free time for myself—whether it’s to do a hobby, read, travel, or just take time off from writing without guilt. Life doesn’t have to be about always accomplishing things—always placing the next word on the page or doing the next to-do chore. After all, productivity has never been a synonym for happiness.

            NEW RELEASE - Finding Love in Pine Valley  

 

 

FINDING LOVE IN PINE VALLEY  

 

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Reading Between the Lines by Bea Tifton

 

I try not to be judgmental. I don’t always succeed, but I do try. One thing that drives me crazy, though, is when people find out I’m a voracious reader and say, “I love to read. I just don’t have time.” To me, that’s like saying, “I love to breathe, I just don’t have time. “

I get that not everyone loves to read that much, but here’s the thing. If you truly want to find the time to do something, you will find the time. I know I’m preaching to the choir here, dear avid readers, but just in case, here are some tips to squeezing in your reading time.

 

1. Keep a time diary for one week. Most people would be amazed at how much time they waste. I have a friend who is glued to her phone. She picks it up constantly, and soon, she’s lost in the rabbit hole of answering every email, scrolling through the Internet, or reading Facebook. There are times for these things. But if you do it without thinking, you probably spend way more time just randomly using your phone or tablet than you realize.

 

2. Use waiting time or down time. Ride the train to work? Take a book. Have an appointment? Take a book. Waiting in line? Take a book.

3. Put boundaries on your time. Some things will never be finished. Yes, it’s important to have a clean home, but there is always something to move around, clean out, etc. Emails? Set a time and stick to it. Schedule in reading like anything else you do and don’t look around guiltily thinking, I should be cleaning out that junk drawer right now. 

 

4. Don’t overschedule. I have a friend who is a delight to see, but you have to look fast. She belongs to every committee, serves on every board, and is so busy rushing to the next thing, I don’t think she ever really experiences where she is. We have a culture that admires and even worships busyness. People brag about how busy they are. But is that really such a good thing? Pick a few things that you truly enjoy. Like reading. And don’t feel guilty. If you don’t fuel up your car, eventually, it runs out of gas. 

 

 5. Work smarter, not harder. Can you make a bigger batch of that chili and reheat it another night this week? Are there things you can combine or steps you can skip and still get something done? I’m not talking about sacrificing quality, but sometimes, we dither or don’t think about the big picture when doing something.

I know that everyone truly has a big load to carry, but reading is feeding your mind and your soul. It’s not wasted time or a frivolous activity. Just like anything else, we need to make the time to have the time.

Happy reading!

                                                                               

 

Photo Credits from Pexels:

List: Anete Lusing

Woman in Blue: RF._.Studio

Woman Cooking: RF._.Studio

Woman on Roof: Pixabay

Woman with Leaf: Andrea Piacquadio

Woman on Bench: Joy Deb