5 Things That Happen During A Spiritual Awakening

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“Enlightenment is not the byproduct of avoiding the darkness in favor of the light. It is the byproduct of taking the light of consciousness and diving deep into the darkness with it. To make the darkness conscious, is to turn the shadow into light.” – Teal Scott

No matter what the words spiritual awakening means to you, waking up to your authentic self inevitably involves some steps that many of us don’t want to take. Leaving behind deep-rooted beliefs, thought processes, and even outdated relationships isn’t remotely easy, but all of us must spend some time in the dark corners of our souls in order to discover our true selves.

Many people avoid confronting their emotions or egos because doing so comes with a great deal of pain and vulnerability, but to reach our full potential and evolve into our highest selves, we must face our demons head-on and release…

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2013 #01 – You're Part of The Miracle Process

A piece of the miracle process has been reserved for each of us.
Jim Rohn

Have you seen comedian and actor Jim Carrey talk about writing himself a $10 million check, with a payment due date for his acting services? He was broke at the time. He hoped for a successful career and achieved it.

I, on the other hand, have envisioned wonderful possibilities. While I thought, pronounced and wrote supportive affirmations, doubts darkled my bright ideas with questions like:

• Who do you think you are?
• What makes you think you can accomplish that idea?
• Do you really want to invest your resources, time and peace of mind in a project that might not work?

Years ago, I founded Shooting Star Productions, a cultural organization that published the literary quarterly Shooting Star Review. I was told that 90% of new magazines publish just one issue. Of those that continue, only 10% publish three issues. Shooting Star Review published forty issues (and I intend to place that work on my new web site).

How did I realize that publication goal? Certainly not because I believed I could do it, but because I believed that Shooting Star should happen, or as Allard Lowenstein said of hopes and dreams, goals and aspirations,

The question should be, is it worth trying to do; not can it be done?
Allard Lowenstein

Question: What miracle can I realize?
Affirmation: I am showered with blessings. Source

In upcoming issues, BriteLites will present videos that offer insights into how the brain functions and how below-the-radar mind processes sabotage. This time, enjoy the 7-minute, “Psychology of Wealth” video by respected entrepreneur and motivator Jim Rohn.

Leading an Inspired Life
by Jim Rohn
Hardcover Price $39.95 

#41 Plot & Character Driven Novels – The Possibilities

Informatiion & Inspiration for WordSmiths

Every day when you wake up, ask yourself, “What do I really, really, really want?”  You have to say, “Really, really, really.”

Elizabeth Gilbert

Rather than my own take on things, Pablo Casals offers a great thought for the new year.

You Are A Marvel

Each second we live is a new and unique moment of the universe, a moment that will never be again … And what do we teach our children? We teach them that two and two make four, and that Paris is the capital of France.

When will we also teach them what they are?

We should say to each of them: Do you know what you are? You are a marvel. You are unique. In all the years that have passed, there has never been another child like you. Your legs, your arms, your clever fingers, the way you move.

You may become a Shakespeare, a Michaelangelo, a Beethoven. You have the capacity for anything. Yes, you are a marvel. And when you grow up, can you then harm another who is, like you, a marvel?

You must work – we must all work – to make the world worthy of its children.

Pablo Casals

Sandra Gould Ford
BriteLitesBiz@aol.com

Guy de Maupassant

As with movies, some novels are vivid, full of action, explosions and
tension.  Others are quiet studies of characters whose situations appear normal, commonplace and unexciting.  In this excerpt from Guy de Maupassant’s longer essay, the author explains the value and significance of the quiet, the character-driven or literary novel.

Plot and Character Driven Novels

Their Difference and Possibilities

Part One of Two

Understanding The Plot-Driven or Dramatic Novel

The novelist who transforms the constant, brutal, and disagreeable truth, in order to draw from it an exceptional and seducing adventure, ought, without exaggerated care for verisimilitude, to manipulate the events according to his taste, to prepare and arrange them to please the reader, to move him, or to touch his sympathy.  The plan of his novel is only a series of ingenious combinations leading skillfully to the climax.  The incidents are disposed and graduated toward the point of culmination and the final effect, which is a capital and decisive event, satisfying all the curiosity aroused at the beginning, putting up a barrier to interest, and terminating so completely the story told that one does not longer care to know what will happen to-morrow to the most interest of the characters.

Understanding The Character-Driven or Literary Novel

The novelist, however, who professes to give us an exact image of life ought to avoid carefully all linking of events that seem exceptional.  His aim is not to tell a story, to amuse us, to touch us, but to force us to think, to understand the deep and hidden significance of events.  Through his having seen and meditated, he sees the universe, things, facts, and men in a fashion that is peculiarly his own and that results from the total of his pondered observations.  It is this personal vision of the world that he seeks to communicate to us by reproducing it in his book.  In order to move us as he himself has been moved by the spectacle of life, he must reproduce it before our eyes with scrupulous similitude.  He must, then, compose his work in a manner so skillful, so artful, and in appearance so simple, that it is impossible to perceive or to point out the plan, to discover his intentions.

Instead of devising an adventure and unfolding it in a manner suited to render it interesting to the end, he will take his character or characters at a certain period of their existence and conduct them, by natural transitions, to the period following.

So, why read or write such a novel?   See Part 2 of 2.

Worth A Look

In each issue, BriteLitesBiz presents a video specially selected to inspire, motivate, enlighten and prompt WordSmithing.  Click this link to view a 9-minute video of fantastic chefs battlng to make amazing, and tasty Yule logs.

And

Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia

by Elizabeth Gilbert by Penguin Books

Kindle Edition ~ Release Date: 2007-01-30

List Price: $14.00

Buy Now

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BriteLites can also be supported with a $20 gift.  Thank you.

#39 Trump & Williamson – Think Big

 Cooks know that salt enhances the sweetness of cookies, candies and cakes. Artists learn that contrasting dark with bright enlivens an image. Thus, Donald Trump (above) and Marianne Williamson’s (below) approaches to the same concept complement like peanut butter and jelly.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

Marianne Williamson
A Course in Miracles

Question: How can my view of life and my possibilities expand?

Affirmation: My path to prosperity are my joy-filled intentions and thoughts of worthiness.

WORTH A LOOK

Each week, SoulSongz searches the internet for videos that can inspire, uplift and motivate.  Nominate videos for SoulSongz’s “Worth A Look.” When selected, receive art featured in Sandra’s Gallery.

This week, wise and witty Zig Ziglar shares the why and how of setting goals in five minutes.

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Information and inspiration for WordSmiths.

Support SoulSongz

Each week, SoulSongz delivers lovely art and enriching information.  Support by visiting Sandra’s galleries where  art can be purchased, either as prints for less than $20 or custom framed.  Note the Weekly Specials.

SoulSongz can also be supported with a $20 gift.  Thank you.

#39a Def Poetry & Novel Writing Month Finale

Boldness has genius and power and magic in it.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Congratulations to all who participated in National Novel Writing Month 2012. I’d love to hear your stories.

A huge thanks to those who launched this amazing project and who’ve kept this opportunity for WordSmiths going and growing. In 1999 21 participated and 6 won. In 2000 140 participated and 29 won. Last year, 256,618 participated and 36,843 won

This year, the total collective word count was: 3,288,976,325. At 6:30pm ET on November 30, my 50,701-word contribution was validated.

Along the way, I learned that pre-planning a novel cannot completely prepare. I’d spent October developing character profiles, plot possibilities and settings. By mid November, I’d spent more days trying to figure out what was happening than writing. Eventually, I realized that the key to progress was to, “begin it.” Each day, start new. Each day, do something.

Sandra Gould Ford
BriteLitesBiz@aol.com

Worth A Look

In each issue, BriteLitesBiz presents a video specially selected to inspire, motivate, enlighten and prompt WordSmithing.

Def Poetry, George Watsky  3:56   (Adult language)

Poetry always inspires and helps me overcome writers block.   “V Is For Virgin” might also make you smile.

Visit SoulSongz

Be sure to visit my SoulSongz blog– Art for Healing and High Achievement — with the autumn theme, “The Sky’s The Limit.”

Support

 Each week, BriteLitesBiz delivers information and inspiration for WordSmiths.

 Support by shopping in my galleries where the art can be purchased, either as prints for less than  $20 or custom framed. Note the Weekly Specials.

BriteLites can also be supported with a $20 gift.  Thank you.

Six + Seven Keys to Success

Six essential   qualities that are the key to success: Sincerity, Personal Integrity,   Humility, Courtesy, Wisdom and Charity. – Source Unknown Years ago, I noted these six keys and am always glad to re-discover that scrap of a file folder with fading ink.  Perhaps these words also influenced Tom and Kate Chappell, founders of Tom’s of Maine, a company sold to Colgate for about $100 million.  On Friday, I heard the Chappells list their own keys to success.  The seven “Intentions” described in their book Managing Upside Down are: Connect to Goodness Know Yourself – search until you find your authentic self and the unique contribution that only you can gift the world Envision Your Destiny –match your special talent to a need of the world Seek Counsel – grow through perspectives from others who either know you well and/or who care about what you’re doing Venture Out – discover yourself through something that you create Hold Yourself Accountable – allow opportunities to edit, change and improve Pass It On – share what you’ve learned; especially with the generation that follows Question:  What must I do to succeed as a citizen of the world while building material success? Affirmation:  I radiate luck wherever I go. I create the door to miracles.  Source Worth A Look Each week, SoulSongz searches the internet for videos that can inspire, uplift and motivate. In case Global Entrepreneurship Week is as new to you as it is to me, know that – this year — it was Nov 12 to 18, so plans can now be made for 2013.  This video (2:46 minutes) provides an explanation and a vision for a better world. Nominate videos for SoulSongz’s “Worth A Look.” When selected, receive art featured in Sandra’s gallery. Visit BriteLitesBiz Information & Inspiration for WordSmiths. This Week:  Walk On The Wild Side & Notes on National Novel Writing Month Support SoulSongz Each week, SoulSongz provides art for healing and high achievement.  This effort can be supported by purchasing art from Sandra’s Gallery, or by making a $20 investment via PayPal. Thank you.

#38 – Walk On The Wild Side

As I press on through National Novel Writing Month (behind schedule), two concepts recently explored in BriteLites synergize.

One: Write a Mission Statement for the novel of about twelve words.
Plus
One: Know that: If there’s a book you really want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet,
then you must write it.
Equals
I have never started a poem yet whose end I knew.
Robert Frost

With NaNo nearly two-thirds finished, I give up on the notion of directing this story. Characters have been constructed. But what my practical-planning mind produced has been replaced by intuitive impressions insisting that I forget about leading and follow.
I surrender! As long as these characters reach Martha’s Vineyard and generate some drama-trauma that is resolved, the journey keeps dissolving my concerns about a 50,000-word pile of pulp. The need to know what happens next trumps.

Guy de Maupassant

Through this series that revisits 19^th century authors, BriteLitesBiz invites discussion of topics that remain important to WordSmiths. The intro stated,

Although Henry James one time observed that “in dissertation M. de Maupassant does not write with his best pen,” this discussion of the novel is one of the few really lucid essays on the subject.

Thank goodness!

Critiquing the Critic, Part 3 of 5

All writers, Victor Hugo as well as M. Zola, have claimed with persistence the absolute, indisputable right of composing, that is to say imagining or observing, according to their personal conception of art.  Talent springs from originality, which is a special manner of thinking, of seeing, of understanding, and of judging.

Now the critic who presumes to define the novel according to the idea he has formed from the novels he likes, and to establish certain invariable rules of composition, will always war against the artistic temperament that introduces a new manner.  A critic, if he is really to merit the name, should be only an analyst, without bias, without preferences, without passions; and, like a critic of pictures, should consider only the artistic value of the object of art submitted to him.  His comprehension, open to every impression, ought to absorb his personality so completely that he can discover and praise the very books which he does not like as a man and must evaluate as a judge.

But most critics are, in truth, only readers, from which fact it results that they nearly always reprove us on false grounds, or compliment us without reserve and without measure.

Worth A Look

In each issue, BriteLitesBiz presents a video specially selected to inspire, motivate, enlighten and prompt WordSmithing.

This trailer for the film adaptation of Nelson Algren’s marvelous novel is a study in metaphor set to award-winning music.

Nominate a video for “Worth A Look.” When selected, receive
art featured in Sandra’s Gallery.

Support BriteLites

Each week, BriteLitesBiz delivers information and inspiration for WordSmiths.

Support by shopping in my galleries where the art can be purchased, either as prints for less than  $20 or custom framed. Note the Weekly Specials.

BriteLites can also be supported with a $20 gift.  Thank you.

# 37 – A Portrait of You

It takes courage to grow up and turn out to be who you really are.
e.e.cummings

After watching Dr. Phil’s show about a mother who hates her daughter, I learned that most who are in (or could benefit from) therapy have been raised by mothers who couldn’t care.   That said, The Boston Globe describes a life-changing, aha! moment:

As parents, we know we aren’t perfect. Our children, however, think we
are, at least when they are young. Depending on how and when we fall off our pedestal, their reaction can range from mild disappointment to intense anger.  From their perspective, we have let them down, and that is no small thing.

That let down is not as big as realizing – eventually – that fallible human beings have told us who and what we are (and actions can speak way louder than words).

No matter the dimness or lights in portraits that others have painted of us, I think that e. e. cummings was right about discovering and defending the best of who we are as we keep growing up.

Question:  What are the best and brightest things that are true about me?

Affirmation:  I enjoy being my best friend and chief cheerleader.  Source.

WORTH A LOOK

Each week, SoulSongz searches the internet for videos that can inspire, uplift and motivate.  Why not draw a self portrait using this 2-minute guide?  And, as the artist recommends, keep tweaking the portrait until you see your best friend and chief cheerleader.  (Click on the paint brush.)

Nominate videos for SoulSongz’s “Worth A Look.”   When selected, receive art featured in  Sandra’s Gallery.

Inspiration & Information for WordSmiths

“The Left and The Right Of It”

a lovely poem

Support SoulSongz Each week, SoulSongz delivers lovely art and enriching information. Support by clicking on the image and visiting galleries where my art can be purchased, either as prints for less than $20 or custom framed.  Note the Weekly Specials. SoulSongz can also be supported with a $20 gift.  Thank you.

#36 Painting

I dream my painting and paint my dream.
Vincent van Gogh

As an urban dweller, I seldom think about – let alone see – big sky.  A couple years ago, I followed the Colorado River as it meandered from the Rockies and through Utah’s Canyonlands.  Along the way, I experienced vast.  The main problem, looking back, was that I assessed, framed and photographed, but didn’t really breathe deep and savor.  Thank goodness pictures can remind.

Question:  What could happen when a great big picture of tomorrow is painted?

Affirmation:  I will win in all that I do and look forward to succeeding.     Source

WORTH A LOOK

26 minutes

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