Do you ever feel like you're walking through molasses - or worse yet quicksand - as you progress toward a goal? I know I have. Things never seem, at the time, to be happening fast enough. For me, it's been a steady, at times stop-and-start, mind bending (or blowing), deepening, maddening, gratifying and continual path toward making a full-time living as a writer. When I allow the frustration that it's not happening yet to creep into my work and consciousness, it always stops the flow, even if it's just for a moment. I saw this quote the other day and it filled me with peace. "Profound commitment to a dream does not confine or constrain: it liberates. Even a difficult, winding path can lead to your goal if you follow it to the end." - Paulo Coelho The winding path reveals more truth. It hit me that I've always followed... Read more →

By Cindy Yantis Real isn’t always nice. I saw a friend recently and she told me she saw a change in me, that I was more grounded. “You’re more real, not so nice.” And, I got it. When I was about nine, growing up in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, there was a neighborhood club called, "The Nice Club," run by a group of girls my age. And, no matter how hard I tried they wouldn't let me in the club. I was my nicest nice, but it clearly wasn't good or nice enough. Turns out the nice club wasn't so nice. And, I've spent the good part of my life trying to get into that damn Nice Club. Ha! No more. Letting go of nice leaves room for more real. Niceness many times covers up a fear of the truth, which in turn hides fears of being rejected, or not being... Read more →