Do It Myself Blog - Glenda Watson Hyatt

Where the heck does the time go? 2008 is already half over! Canada Day is already here, marking the beginning of the second six months of the year.

I figure it is good time to review my goals for the year and see how I am doing.

My Contribution to the Blogosphere

My goal was to comment on ten blogs per week – five comments on blogs I had previously commented on to further strengthen those relationships, and five comments on new-to-me blogs to expand my network by forming new relationships.

Well, results are less than stellar. Some weeks Friday comes around and I realize I haven’t made any comments! By now, I should be approximately halfway to 520 (or 260) comments; yet, my total is only 89.

However, I am not including the comments I make on Disaboom blogs since they don’t link back to this blog. Besides, reading Yaro Starok’s Blog Profits Blueprint, I’ve learned that blog comments create traffic streams, not traffic rivers. Although, my intention was to contribute to the blogosphere, not to generate traffic – that’s a side benefit of leaving comments.

Am I beating myself up for not meeting my goal? Nope! Those weeks that I can do better, I will try. The world will not end if I don’t reach 520 comments by December 31st.

My Word for the Year

I chose FOCUS as my word for 2008. To me, FOCUS entails minimizing my technologically-induced ADHD, decluttering and simplifying my surroundings, multi-tasking only when appropriate – tasks requiring my full attention will receive it. The results have been mixed.

When my husband had an unexpected two-week hospital stay in March, nothing else mattered. I was focused on what was happening with him and getting him well and home again, as I should be.

My desk remains fairly clutter free. The rest of my office still needs decluttering – like I have had time!

After blogging at Disaboom for five months, I finally found my blogging groove there and have a direction for that blog. That made writing June’s posts much easier because I wasn’t scrounging for post topics. June is the first month I maxed out the number of paying posts I can write for that blog. Can I continue that through July and beyond?

Reading ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income by Darren Rowse and Chris Garrett reconfirmed, yet again, that blogging is my future and that I can make a decent income from it – if I focus and work off my bootie! I publicly declared my goal of attending SOBCon 09 – the business school for bloggers – to learn how to become a better and more effective blogger. My ultimate goal is to become the first ever Six-Figure Left Thumb ProBlogger!

Launching Accessibility 100 has provided my blog with some direction and focus.

But, I still suck at curbing my technologically-induced ADHD! I’m easily distracted by email, Twitter or whatever rather than focusing on the task at hand. There is definitely room for improvement. I’ll keep working to maser my high distractibility over the next six months.

My Bucket List

Wow, search engines love my bucket list! Currently, this is the top-ranking entry page on my blog. Go figure!

• Spend more time with my kitty purring in my ear. – I do whenever she decides to cuddle.
• Listen more to my husband’s beating heart. – We’ve talk quite a bit and I try to really listen to him. I also like listening to his heart beat; it’s such a comforting and reassuring sound.
• Write love letters to him. – None yet. Expressing what he means to me is difficult to put into words.
• Find a way to get to the north shore to watch the eagles soar. – I still need that magic carpet ride!
• Meet more of my invisible friends. – Yes! I’ve met Suzie Cheel in Australia and Todd Jordan from Missouri!
• Be in the ‘real’ world more. – Hmm, how should I measure “more”?
• Connect with more of my invisible friends in a real way, if I can’t meet them in person yet. – I’m working on it.
• Become more physically active. – In this heat? Are you kidding!
• Finish selling the first print run of my autobiography. – Autographed copies are still available!
• Continue searching for a cp-friendly bra. – Still searching! (I don’t believe I included this here.)
• See Anne Murray in concert, finally! (I’ve wanted to see her for years and she is finally coming to town on May 5th!) – She was fabulous!
• Get organized for when I do kick the bucket. – It’s a good thing I haven’t kicked the bucket yet!
• Make a positive difference or impact on people’s lives. – I hope I am. You, my readers, are in a better position to say whether I’m succeeding here or not.
• Reconnect with my penpal Paivi and my Brownie friend Karen. – Yes, I’ve managed to find email addresses for both and have contacted them!

That is my six-month progress report. Not bad, eh?

How are you doing with your 2008 goals? Are you still on track or do you need to refocus?

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With Canada Day and the Fourth of July around the corner, and my tenth wedding anniversary a mere six weeks away (yikes, where do the years go!), celebrations are on my mind. Not all celebrations can be marked with fireworks, marching bands and diamonds. Some occasions require conscious effort to not let slip by without duly savoring.

One such occasion was the arrival of the boxes of my book I’ll Do It Myself. After thirty years of dreaming, thinking, and preparing to write a book, and after four years of writing, revising, editing and much procrastinating, the day the boxes arrived and I held my book in my hands for the first time was what I can only imagine is similar to giving birth. The sight brought tears to my eyes. In that moment, my dream became reality. I had accomplished it! I had written and self-published my autobiography — and I had 500 copies to prove it.

Because I chose to self-publish and, hence, didn’t have a large publishing house to fund an official launch, and because it was December and lugging precious books in the rain wasn’t appealing, I did not know if an official book launch was in the near future. Yet, I felt the moment deserved to be savored, to be recognized, to be celebrated.

An impromptu Book Arrival Celebration was planned for a Sunday evening, in our home. I intentionally did not call it a “book launch” as that would have precluded me from having a launch at a later time, at another location. After all that work with my left thumb, I was all for celebrating as many times as I could get away with! (That reminds me, the official book launch is still waiting to happen…)

After an evening of sharing good food – thanks my friend’s sister who catered a large company Christmas party the night before and saved the leftovers for us – and good wine with good friends, I felt totally contented, reflecting upon the fact that I was now a published author. Although, that did take some time to fully sink in!

However, it doesn’t take writing a book to have a reason to celebrate.

Celebrate the happiness that friends are always giving, make every day a holiday and celebrate just living!
~ Amanda Bradley

What do you celebrate? Do you need a reason or an excuse to have celebration?

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Two weeks ago I shared how I was collaborating with my Australian friend Suzie Cheel to raise funds for her to come to Vancouver for Michael Losier’s Law of Attraction Certified Facilitators Program.

We met Tuesday evening in downtown Vancouver!

We had met very briefly at BlogWorld in Las Vegas last October, but didn’t get a chance to chat. This time, after logging into Liz Strauss’ Open Mic Night for a few moments, we shared a meal and had time to talk. Suzie enjoyed some local cuisine: a wild salmon burger and an Okanagan pale ale. And she received her first lesson in Glenda-ish. She has potential!

Being in the same time zone, in the same location, face-to-face was great! The internet has opened the world to me. Meeting my invisible friends in person is icing on the cake.

Unfortunately Vancouver’s weather didn’t cooperate this week, presenting Suzie with colder and wetter weather than the winter she had left back home. I’m so relieved she did bring her winter boots after I had said that she didn’t need boots in June! Otherwise the woman would have had popsicles for feet all week!

Thursday evening was the “Applying Law of Attraction To Your LIFE! ” seminar with Michael Losier, author of Law of Attraction: The Science of Attracting More of What You Want and Less of What You Don’t and host of The Law of Attraction Radio Show on XM156 Satellite Radio with Oprah & Friends.

(I really struggled with whether or not to include this photo of me with Michael in this post. It definitely isn’t one of the most flattering photos of me. But, sometimes, my cerebral palsy isn’t pretty. Sometimes it downright sucks and it can be difficult to take a good photo of me at times. I debated whether to omit the photo, to doctor it or to include it as is to show the real me. I’ve strived to be open about my disability here on my blog, so I hope I’ve made the right decision by including it. The exciting point to note about this photo is my book I’ll Do It Myself in Michael’s hand!)

Listening to Michael speak about the Law of Attraction, I was intrigued by how Norman Vincent Peale’s The Power of Positive Thinking, Wayne Dyer’s Power of Intention, Eckhart Tolle’s A New Earth and the Law of Attraction all point to similar underlying concepts yet they use different language and come at it from different perspectives. I think there’s a fascinating Masters thesis in there somewhere, if someone was so inclined.

What intrigued me even more was Michael’s story of his journey with his book: a local guy (he’s in Victoria, BC) who self-published and, eventually, was offered a million-dollar book deal, which he turned down twice before a publisher made an offer that required no changes to his book! For this Left Thumb Blogger who self-published her autobiography, I’m sure my eyes were as big as saucers, listening to his story!

Sitting on the Skytrain on my way home, something hit me: Michael has a radio show on Oprah’s radio station, and, if I understood him correctly during the seminar, he is doing a webcast series, much like Eckhart Tolle did, with Oprah this fall. Holy smokes! My autobiography I’ll Do It Myself is one person away from Oprah!! That realization was a high-water moment!

I celebrated the closeness of the match and I will definitely keep it in my Vibrational Bubble. Next is to allow the Law of Attraction to orchestra events and circumstances to respond to my positive vibrations!

Meanwhile, I am going to revisit how to get a self-published book listed on Amazon, so it’s easily findable should Oprah be looking.

All this came to be because of my hairbrained idea for a worldwide event on Twitter to support Suzie’s Big Hairy Audacious Goal. Watch for what this Hairy Duo cooks up next!

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(Photo credit: Vancouver Sun)

Monday evening, after waiting a lifetime, I finally had the pleasure of seeing Anne Murray in concert! Having grown up with her music, a wave of emotion with a high water level moment overcame me when walked out on stage.

Being present, in the same room, while she sunge Could I Have This Dance, You Needed Me, Daydream Believer, Danny’s Song, and, of course, Snowbird was amazing. A dream come true.

I find nothing more inspiring than watching someone do something with still so much passion after forty years – her voice, her confidence, the way she commands the stage, her joking with the audience. Inspiring.

What inspires you?

(The night was made a wee bit sweeter by Vancouver beating Ottawa’s standing ovation for Anne. Yes!)

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Thursday’s post invited readers to ask me questions, to ask anything. (Questions are still welcomed!) AnneShirley asked, “I know you must have down moments. What do you do to cheer yourself up?”

Thanks for your question, AnneShirley. Yes, like anyone, I do have my down moments – when I feel frustrated or when life becomes overwhelming. In those moments, I often turn to music to relieve frustration, to inspire and to reenergize.

The following five songs have become my life’s soundtrack:

1. Never Give Up On Dream by my fav Rod Stewart who wrote the song as a tribute to Canadian Terry Fox during his Marathon of Hope. I’ve been known to play the song repeatedly to get back into the head space I needed to be in.

2. Sweet Surrender by John Denver - I won my gold medal riding to this one.

(This video also includes Take Me Home, Country Roads, which always reminds me of a family friend Chris who was taken from us way too young by a drunk driver. He was only sixteen. We still miss you, Chris.)

3. Tina Turner’s Simply the Best - who isn’t reenergized after this one?!

4. Elvis Presley’s I Did It My Way is very much how I live my life. I find it analogous to I’ll Do It Myself.

5. Peter O’Toole’s The Impossible Dream saw me through writing, editing and self-publishing my autobiography when that dream seemed impossible. (The video’s audio isn’t the greatest quality.)

What is playing on your life’s soundtrack?

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With Darrell recovering nicely from gall bladder surgery, I can now resume my other commitments, including misbehaving!

Two days before the unexpected ordeal began, we had attended the Misbehaving Women Event - a fundraiser for the Avalon Women’s Centres. “Misbehaving Woman of the Year” Awards were presented to those who embody Laurel Thatcher Ulrich’s quote “well behaved women seldom make history”. The awards honours women who have refused to be pulled into the cultural drift of complacency, who have dared to make a difference, taken a risk and enhanced the lives of women in her community.

Isabella and Glenda – two misbehaving women

Isabella Mori, who met me somewhere along my virtual book tour and we have since become Twitter buddies, kindly nominated me for an award. I gave a short acceptance speech using my laptop.

The transcript follows:

Thank you for your kind words, Isabella. I truly appreciate it.

When I told my husband Darrell that I was nominated for a Misbehaving Woman Award, he said it was about time I was caught for misbehaving! He has learned to expect the unexpected from me.

The “Misbehaving Woman of the Year” Award

Thinking about what I might say tonight, one story came to mind. Several years ago, Darrell and I visited Van Duessen Gardens. Upon paying the admission, we received a map showing the various paths, including the nicely paved ones designated for wheelchairs. I wanted to spend the next few hours enjoying the gardens. I didn’t want to spend that time reading a map to follow the wheelchair path. The map was quickly tossed into Darrell’s bag on the back of his wheelchair and off we went, wandering the gardens without knowing what was around the next corner.

This story sums up how I have chosen to live life. People have expected me to take the nicely paved path laid out for the disabled. They expected me not to try, not to accomplish and not to succeed. That map was tossed out long ago. I have followed my own path as a person, a woman, who happens to have a physical disability. If following my ambitions, my passions, my dreams and helping people along the way, in spite of this disability, is misbehaving, then I am going to continue misbehaving! Thank you.

Women celebrating women was a great way to spend an evening!

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(Photo credit: Philip Mason)

Yesterday, in the elevator, on my way up to see Darrell, a woman with a staff ID badge was getting off at 3F (the elevator’s front door). When the door opened for her, she asked if I was getting also getting out.

I replied, “No, 3R.”

She pressed the 3R button again. The door didn’t open. 3F began closing. She hit another button to keep 3F open. She said 3R wouldn’t open.

I replied confidently, “Yes, it will.” From experience earlier that week, I knew 3R was not quite the same floor as 3F; it was a few feet higher. 3F needed to close to get to 3R.

With all of its buttons pressed, the elevator was confused and didn’t know what it was supposed to do.

Flustered and annoyed, the staff woman, “Ma’am, that door won’t open. I have a woman I need to meet with.”

I wasn’t preventing her from leaving through 3F. In fact, I was hoping she would get out so that I could get to where I was going. I repeated, “Yes, it will.” The past two weeks have been filled with uncertainty, but I knew the door would open. Besides, why would there be a 3R button? I began wondering who the disabled one was.

Finally she surrendered and allowed 3F to close. The elevator continued up and 3R opened.

“How did you do that? I’ve never been up here,” she uttered in amazement.

Sometimes one door needs to close before another one will open!

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How many times a day do we wish we had more time? More hours in a day or more days in a week to get everything done that we feel we need to do.

Well, the good news is today is that “more time”. Once every four years we receive an extra day, an extra 24 hours. February 29th is the gift of time. What are you doing with this precious gift?

Sorry to cut this post short. I need to grab some lunch before rushing out to an important meeting. It makes me wonder if we would use “more time” any more wisely than the time we are given now .

Have a great weekend!