Our freedom is in the hands of a few powerful men who forsake their constitutional oath to hold onto power and pass laws that benefit their peers who stuff their pockets with cash. As long as they strangle opportunity and freedom for all, this experiment will continue to falter and possibly end because the powerful few were seduced by the intoxication of power, an aphrodisiac that has compromised our democracy.

We walk beneath the shadow of the flag that hangs perpetually at half-mast as democracy diminishes at the hands of powerful men, who diminish our security and institutions to please the profiteers of freedom to hold onto power at the expense of their constituents.

They duplicitously misrepresent and lie about protecting pre-existing conditions while taking it away in the courts–where they’re killing Obamacare and the people saved by it who will die if they get their way as well as countless others who have pre-existing conditions.

Without healthcare and financial independence, we lose our freedom and our choices become limited due to precarious circumstances.

All the choices, all the products sold on the shelves we will no longer be able to afford to buy–we become entrenched in the debt of others’ greed while they become richer and more powerful.

Freedom loses its way off the beaten path from the immorality of unfettered power.

The post We Take Freedom For Granted appeared first on Think Spin.

We’re rubberneckers
witnessing the wreckage of Democracy,
corroding on the shoulder,
crushed against the guardrail,
abandoned by the GOP.

We’re in trouble, America.

We have devolved into a dangerous place where one party with a diminishing electorate is forcing their partisan beliefs on a majority who don’t support their radical agenda.

An agenda that

• Outlaws abortions
• Passes billionaire tax cuts
• Enables trade wars
• Denies Climate Change
• Puts gun manufacturers before families
• Destroys protections for pre-existing conditions
• Purges Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid

While the GOP hijacks our government, they’re making our country less safe. In their silence, they condone the behavior of a deranged, incompetent president who promotes bigotry in hate speech to his base—Dangerous rhetoric that incites mass shootings and threatens national security.

Because of GOP policies…

Our rights are being diminished.

Our communities are under attack.

Everyday we awaken to horrific news: mass shootings, hate crimes, children dying on the border, Climate Change disasters, the undermining of laws and regulations that hurt Americans and help corporations.

As we weather the trauma of daily chaos and horror, Mitch McConnell and the GOP stack the courts with ultra conservative judges, weaken our system of checks and balances, pass restrictive abortion laws and ease gun regulations so manufacturers profit from mass shootings.

Be afraid. Be sad. Be angry, but don’t be silent.

If we allow sadness to spiral into despondency and lose hope, allow the GOP and Trump to bully us into silence, we will embolden them and their agenda to remake America into a plutocratic patriarchy.

If we stay silent, the GOP will continue dismantling our institutions, while allowing a president with authoritarian tendencies to meddle in Justice Department investigations and Congressional oversight.

A silent America is a complicit America. It’s an affirmation of extremist policies that hurt our families, our finances and liberties.

If we maintain the status quo, enable the decline of democratic values and institutions, we dishonor the sacrifices the founders endured to reject the tyranny of a king. We dishonor our veterans and the men and women who died upholding freedom and acquiesce to the disrupters of democracy.

We must reject radical ideology that threatens our freedom; reject the perversion of our democracy by a president and his enablers who put party before country. Who undermine our system of checks and balances to hold onto power and financial dominance.

We can’t allow the GOP to enact policies that limit opportunities for the majority while expanding the wealth and influence of the minority. Can’t allow them to subsidize billionaires with tax cuts that benefit their donors and themselves while cutting social security and Medicare to pay for it.

If we continue voting Republicans into office, they will continue hurting our families and country.

Only we can stop the political rot by speaking out against the abuse of power.

Be strong. Be loud.

Speak out now while we still have free speech rights.

It’s time to restore people-powered democracy, as the founders intended, and reject this bastardized version of it that favors corporate donors and special interest groups. It’s time to show the wealthy few that control policy that they cannot silence us or diminish us.

We are all America. And as Americans, we have an obligation to speak out for our families, our communities and ourselves to prevent the perversion of our democracy by self-serving Congressmen. Those who shirk their constitutional duties they swore to uphold by curtailing our rights and dismantling our institutions.

We can stop the political rot by exercising our constitutional rights to speak out in peaceful assembly and cast a ballot on Election Day to vote them out.

Speak out loud and speak out often. Don’t let democracy corrode on the shoulder.

The post Rubbernecking The Wreckage Of Democracy appeared first on Think Spin.

A fly clings to the screen as it stares outside at a world it longs for but cannot reach.

Goals feel like that at times. Seemingly beyond our reach because of fear or an inability to find a pathway there.

Immobilized by indecision, the fly twitches its wings in a desperate unease of confusion, then suddenly leaps into an erratic flight, looking for a way outside to the goal that seems unattainable.

In a Hail Mary flight, the fly zigzags around, bouncing from screen to screen.

Is the hole here? Is it there?

How did I get here? How do I get there?

It will take time and effort. But the fly doesn’t have time—a day is a lifetime for a fly, while we humans think we have all the time in the world.

Sometimes, the fly finds its way outside by chance, through a rip in the screen or an open door. Maybe it took a day of bouncing off walls and crawling along window sills for an opportunity to reveal itself, a moment of happenstance that led to a path outside.

Like the fly, we work toward our goals with instinct (luck), timing, and the ability to know how to capitalize on an opportunity accidentally found.

Will we follow up on an email an agent sent?

Will we contact the editor who responded to a post?

Will that positive comment instill us with confidence?

Sometimes reaching a goal can be as daunting as a trapped fly trying to escape from a porch, seeing opportunity through the crisscross of screens, seemingly tangible, yet miles away. It always appears farther than you think and can take years (or an eternity in fly time) to finally get there.

But if you give up because you are tired or afraid you can’t find your way to the goal that has impassioned you your entire life, then your dreams may end up dead on the floor, twitching in regret, like a fly that never finds its way outside.

Find a path to your goal and persist in getting there. The only regret we have in life is the paralysis of inaction from a lack of self-confidence and the fear of failing.

Don’t be that fly that ends up on the floor, on its back, staring at sunlight filtering through the screen, as its life twitches into oblivion. Be the fly that finds its way outside.

The post A Fly On The Screen Analogy For Reaching A Goal appeared first on Think Spin.

via Pixabay

Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known. — Carl Sagan

---

Ideas are everywhere. They find you when you’re on a walk, a drive or in the shower. I often get ideas when I’m rinsing twice. 

So I keep a pad and pen on the bathroom sink. Maybe one day someone will invent a waterproof pad I can use in the shower. But until then, I have to say my ideas out loud to remember them while shampooing. Because if I keep the ideas tucked inside my head, they disappear down the drain with the suds.

Saying the ideas out loud help me remember them until I can write them down.

It’s frustrating to get ideas at inconvenient times. Why aren’t they more considerate when I’m driving? Nag. Nag. Nag.

As soon as I get in the car, its showtime! — My thoughts start a rambling monologue: Look at the clouds! They sparkle from sunlight. The tree branches look like diamonds. Did I close the garage door? Why did that idiot just cut me off?

I use the voice memo app on my phone to catch my racing thoughts instead of chasing after them in my car. I can’t use my thoughts as an excuse if I get stopped for speeding.

COP: Why were you speeding?

ME: I had to catch my racing thoughts.

Cop calls for backup.

Catch your ideas responsibly.

Taming Ideas

Being creative and getting ideas is a lot like a Medium dogged by drop-in ghosts.

GHOST: Hello! Hello! I know you can see me.

MEDIUM: Leave me alone. I’m busy!

GHOST: I’m still waiting to speak to my daughter.

MEDIUM: Come back when I’m out of the shower.

It’s annoying when spirits harass you about unfinished business: “I left the water running in the bathroom;” “I forgot to tip the waiter;” “Are my kids wearing jackets?”

Blah blah blah. It’s like that with ideas; they constantly harangue you, like spirit telemarketers, except you can’t complain about them to the FCC.

But you can learn how to manage ideas as a Medium does with meddling ghosts.

L. Salkin

Managing Ideas

You can turn ideas off and on like a spigot by writing them down when you’re busy with other day-to-day terrestrial stuff. Sometimes if you can’t save an idea, it loops back again when something triggers a reminder, but not always.

That’s why I keep a notebook with me wherever I go: the bathroom, work, bed, especially bedtime. That’s when ideas tap you on the shoulder and say, “Stop snoring!”

Oh, that’s my husband!

Ideas usually whisper in my head (not my ear) while taking off on a pre-sleep romp. 

Did I lock the door? I think so.

Click. Click. Click. What’s that sound? Dog toenails on the hardwood floor? Dutch burglar wearing wooden clogs? 

Do we need food? The shelves in the fridge are bare… 

What if there was fridge outerwear: Butter Babushkas, Soda Down Coats, Gouda Goulashes…

Bedtime is rush hour for ideas. You’re a rubbernecker watching as they slip by on the peripheral of unconsciousness until your brain fades to black.

And as soon as you open your eyes the next morning, the ideas start all over again. What was that idea last night? Bubba what? Bubba Boo. Bub, yah gotta stop blocking the fridge. I’m hungry!

It’s thrilling to see what you find when you let your thoughts run free. They can reach the stratosphere if you let them. That’s when you’re “in the zone,” the place where thoughts fueled by ideas morph into extraordinary creative expression…

But always remember to catch them before they get away. Preserve them on a pad strategically placed on your nightstand, kitchen table or wherever you go.

Don’t lose them when you’re busy with the terrestrial stuff.

Ideas are exhilarating gifts. They’re the greatest perks of life; they’re part of who you are; they’re fodder for creative expression; they’re spontaneous sparks that animate your writing. Without ideas, your life’s just another knockoff brand.

The post A World Of Infinite Ideas: How To Catch Them? appeared first on Think Spin.

via Pixabay

The serenity of bathroom time is a throwback to simpler days when you didn’t need to be on call to hear about a funny movie your mother just saw.

You wouldn’t want to miss a plot spoiler while you’re washing your armpits. I never do.

Mundane tasks like flossing are more tolerable while listening to a restaurant review my mother reads aloud. She has such a lovely speaking voice.

After discovering the cellphone’s 24/7 umbilical connection, my mother’s a fan of the convenience but not of the reception, which can be glitchy at times.

“You’re on your cell. Aren’t you?” My mother asks.

“Yes, mom, you just called it.”

“I can’t hear you when you’re on your cell.”

Then don’t call my cell!

But instead, I say: “It’s all about location, location, location!”

Something she should understand since she was a real estate broker.

Yet, she still doesn’t grasp the nuances of cellphone reception, and how the quality of a call is based on where you stand in relation to the number of bars on your phone.

So I defer to simple logic.

“Cellphone service is affected by sunspots,” I tell her.

“Oh, that makes sense.”

After finally grasping the rudiments of cellphone connectivity, my mother embraces its portability and gets mad if I don’t have my phone with me 24/7.

“Why did you miss my call?” she asks.

“I was in the shower.”

“You should take your phone with you into the bathroom.”

No, I shouldn’t.

“I should always be able to reach you!”

My bathroom is my sacred space.

But rather than pursue a “who’s on first?” argument, I humor her.

“I’ll try to remember to bring my phone into the shower next time.”

Silence.

Perhaps she understands the lunacy of her request even though it is possible, a detail I choose to omit. — I have a waterproof iPhone case that comes with a strap.

I wore it every day my husband and I were in the Caribbean several years ago. It was great for rainy days and snorkeling.

Salkin-Martinique Underwater

Though I must admit I never thought of wearing it in the shower. I suppose it would make a great photo opp for when I’m overcome by suds.

Source

But that isn’t what my mother meant.

She wants to be able to reach me immediately and not wait five or ten minutes before I return her call. Anything could happen in five or ten minutes.

I could miss a call about what she had for lunch. It’s important to know that she likes salads and is eating healthy. Critical news I need to hear about as the salad works its way through the intestine.

Just one of many reasons to wear my phone in the shower along with the evocative memories it brings.

I do miss using my waterproof iPhone case but had always considered it vacation centric. But maybe wearing it in the shower would bring back memories of our Caribbean vacation. I could pretend I was snorkeling or taking pictures of a wave, pretend to be blinded by seafoam instead of shampoo.

I’d put my phone on vibrate so I won’t get startled when it rings and accidentally drop the soap, slip on it and hit my head. Then I could call 911 right away and not wait for my husband to find my body 12 hours later.

Keeping my phone with me in the shower would ensure I’d never miss my mother’s sage advice about turning on the bathroom fan so I don’t get lost in the steam.

Something I would never think of if my mother didn’t tell me.

Thank God we can talk about it while I’m in the shower to alleviate the boredom of rinsing the soap from my skin, which can be so tedious.

Though my mother would probably complain about the difficulty in hearing me through the rush of cascading water.

“What’s that sound?” she’d ask.

“I’m in the shower!”

“You should really do something about your connection. It’s horrible!”

“Yes, mother, I probably should.” And that’s when I’d say. “Hello! Hello! I’m losing you. I better hang up and call you back. So I can wash MY back!”

Splash. Click.

Then I can hear all about the TV show my mother just watched while I’m drying off. I wouldn’t want to inconvenience her.

Follow Lauren on Twitter: www.twitter.com/thinkspin

Follow Lauren’s controlled chaos at her blog Think Spin

The post Why You Shouldn’t Bring Your Phone In The Shower And Other Advice Your Mother Hopes You Ignore appeared first on Think Spin.

ANDREW HARNIK / AP

In my lifetime, I’ve seen two wars, two political assassinations and two assassination attempts, two political scandals: Watergate and Monicagate, as well as several terrorist attacks and two recessions.

And now once again I find myself in the middle of another seismic social shift in a country reeling from political and cultural turmoil.

We live in chaotic times. Our country has been in a constitutional crisis since January 2017.

There. I said it, even if the media pundits won’t. They carefully parse their words when discussing the proverbial tipping point of a constitutional crisis.

The Tipping Point

We reached that tipping point long ago when Donald Trump revealed Israel intelligence to the Russian foreign minister and ambassador shortly after he was sworn into office to uphold the Constitution of the U.S.

It’s worth repeating that Donald Trump admitted to giving the Russians, an adversary of the U.S., highly classified Israel intelligence — a radical departure from U.S. policy and norms of the past.

Since delivering his very dark inauguration speech on January 20, 2017, Trump has shown contempt for the constitution and rule of law, for the mainstream media, and our institutions that he continues to undermine; his words enabled by a complicit Legislative Branch controlled by the GOP.

In addition to controlling the Legislative and Executive Branches, next week, the GOP will control the Judiciary, too, if they get their way and ram Kavanaugh’s confirmation through the Supreme Court nomination process without the usual due diligence and transparency.

If accusations of predatory sexual behavior aren’t enough to derail Kavanaugh’s confirmation, the GOP majority will likely vote to confirm him to the Supreme Court, a lifetime appointment that will affect every American for years to come.

What We Know And Don’t Know About Judge Kavanaugh

Kavanaugh, an extreme partisan Conservative who served as a lawyer in the Bush administration, has a long paper trail from his work as a GOP lawyer and operative, thousands of documents the Senate Republicans refuse to disclose. Which prompts the question: what are they hiding?

The Republicans’ lack of transparency as well as other disturbing revelations about Kavanaugh during the hearings, should be a red flag to voters along with his alarming description of birth control “as contraception-abortion-inducing drugs.”

This disturbing slip-of-the-tongue, as well as Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s credible allegation of sexual assault, should alarm all Americans who believe in the rule of law and individual rights.

With lingering questions about Kavanaugh and…

• His role in decisions on torture implemented during the Bush Administration.

• His handling of stolen documents from Senator Leahy’s office during Judge Thomas’s confirmation hearings in the 90s.

• His beliefs in unlimited presidential powers.

• His support for corporations over workers.

It’s obvious why the GOP would want to prevent the public from seeing documents relevant to Kavanaugh’s background while ramming his confirmation through the process.

Kavanaugh’s appointment to the Supreme Court will affect:

• healthcare
• gun laws
• equal rights
• Social security
• voting laws
• workers rights
• immigration reform
• the environment
• a women’s right to choose
• corporate campaign donations
• the endangered species act

One Branch Away From Political Domination

Kavanaugh’s far-right beliefs will likely tilt the court toward a conservative majority on every case that comes before the Supreme Court, based on his testimony in front of the judiciary committee and the few documents leaked to the public over objections of the Republican-controlled committee.

But of all the troubling disclosures of Kavanaugh’s extremist partisan views, perhaps the most concerning and revealing is his decision as a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. He voted against the majority decision in the case of an undocumented immigrant teen seeking an abortion. He was one of the three dissenting votes from Republican-appointed judges, in a 6-3 decision that ruled in favor of the teen.

To say that Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court could have devastating consequences on our country is an understatement. Not only is he a man of questionable character whose radical conservative views don’t align with the views of most Americans. Not only would his decisions affect the Trump/Russia investigation (which has resulted in five guilty pleas and several convictions to date), but it could reverse 50 years of progress in equal rights, women’s health issues, Medicare and Social Security. Just some of the many consequential issues in our lives.

We, as Americans, have an obligation to voice our objections and concerns to Kavanaugh’s confirmation in what should be a people-powered democracy.

If we remain silent, we give others a voice. Now is the time to speak your heart to the powerful minority who make decisions for the majority.

Call GOP senators and demand they request an FBI investigation into Dr. Ford’s allegations. Tell them to release ALL the documents on Kavanaugh’s years in public service.

Questions about Kavanaugh’s character and truthfulness must be answered before the Senate votes on a lifetime judicial appointment that could adversely impact every American’s life for years to come.

Call the GOP minority and tell them how you feel.

GOP Senate Judiciary Committee members:

Chuck Grassley (IA): 202-224-3744

Orrin Hatch (UT): 202-224-5251

John Cornyn (TX): 202-224-2934

Mike Lee (UT): 202-224-5444

Ted Cruz (TX): 202-224-5922

Ben Sasse (NE): 202-224-4224

Jeff Flake (AZ): 202-224-4521

Mike Crapo (ID): 202-224-6142

Thom Tillis (NC): 202-224-6342

John Kennedy (LA): 202-224-4623

You can also contact Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell at 202-224-2499.

Thanks for listening!

I would love to hear what you think about all this crap.

The post One Branch Away from Political Domination appeared first on Think Spin.

via Pixabay

If you can’t fit between the lines, don’t try to squeeze into a compromising position.

I’ve been distracted lately — over the past two years. Caught in a continuous cycle of trying to figure things out. And in doing so, I concluded that we’re always trying to figure things out.

Finding an answer to a problem is unique to that problem. Other problems may not be the quick fix kind like when the battery on my mouse dies and I need a new one — problem solved!

But other problems take time to process like where did I leave my car keys and how did I drive without them?

Oh, that was a mind trip that didn’t require physical transportation or carry on luggage. That was my imagination working on fun stuff, not the brain teaser stuff that hurts your head when you think too hard.

Our brains are constantly multitasking on the realistic and fantastical and recycling thoughts that can’t be solved overnight.

Overnight solutions aren’t relevant to all of life’s confusions.

I know because I’ve been confused for so long on what to write about and why I keep getting stuck in a whirlpool of self-doubt. I’m neurotic by nature or the dysfunction from whence I came.

Following an older, mentally disabled brother through school and life hasn’t helped foster my self-image. We’re 18 months apart and yet light years away. Not because I’m a cold-hearted bitch — because of my brother’s sociopathic tendencies from being enabled by guilty parents. (Sorry, mom! I had to get that out.)

My older mentally disabled brother, my aging parents, and my younger brother who I lost to Trump are among the swirl of thoughts that gyrate in my brain.

Writing is my go-to solution for sanitizing thoughts.

So, it becomes even more distressing when I don’t know what to write about, not because of writer’s block or a lack of ideas. No, my problem is the opposite of that. I have too many thoughts and too many genres from which to write. I like to write humor, satire, prose, dialog. I’m versatile, which can be a vexing problem.

When I need to unvex myself, I return to a blog post I wrote many years ago about blogging your way back to writing. It reminds me of the things I love writing about and the creative bliss it brings. Those moments that touched me or amused me enough to inspire a blog post.

Simple observations of life’s stories happening around me: my dog side-swiping his cone on the door frame and falling off the stoop. Kind of funny until I saw that it opened the scab that was healing on his paw.

That above photo of Jake was taken moments before he awakened from his nap and I let him outside. The aforementioned door incident was not captured on my phone but will be forever captured in my mind, along with the thousands of ideas that continue to dog me.

Sitting down and writing this blog post and delving into my psyche has unburdened me of the many unresolved swirling thoughts including what to write about.

Don’t try to stay inside the lines if you’re an outside the lines thinker.

Instead of trying to fit within the parameters of what the so-called experts espouse is the proper way to write and hone a platform — I’ll write what’s best for me and my versatility. It’s the only way to keep my sanity.

If being versatile doesn’t help me reach a definite writing goal then so be it! I’d rather be unburdened in my creativity than hindered by the constraints of what’s considered normal.

I choose to embrace the strange!

The post Write and Embrace the Strange appeared first on Think Spin.

via Unsplash

You may have noticed a silence lately emanating from my blog. Words missing. Subscribers slipping. A blog on the verge of extinction. But, it couldn’t be the farthest from the truth.

I’ve just migrated over to the Medium blogging platform that has a wider audience than mine. Medium is a community within many communities. Topics abound from humor to politics to inspirational thinking. Whatever your interests Medium has a publication for you.

Each publication is an established platform with built-in followers.  If accepted as a writer, publications provide a much larger audience than your blog, which in many cases is just one voice among all the Internet chatter.

A Petri Dish for Ideas and Goals

Besides the huge platform that Medium offers, it’s also a petri dish for ideas and goals. By choosing to write for a particular magazine, you are narrowing your focus, embracing what topics you enjoy writing the most.

My blog has been a quandary for me lately. Stuck on the point of my focus. Many days flailing on the keyboard in the hopes of my fingers showing me the way to my goals. But growth and focus aren’t a quick fix. It’s more of a slow grind, a slothly approach toward your prime directive in writing that stands beneath the fancy trimmings on top. The prime directive being my love for writing. Everything else is wallpaper.

Once you have the desire to write, the willingness to defer to the obstacles in your way and study them instead of repelling them will nudge you closer to your goal, as long as your willing to put in the time and grind.

The Blogging/Writing Tug of War

I often question what it is that I seek for my writing. The immediate gratification from a blog post or the slow burn of desire involved in a longer piece of work. Since I started blogging in 2009, I’ve had a tug of war inside myself between blogging and writing.

For some writers, blogging becomes part of their goals of work already produced. Book writers write about the process. Others write about subjects that are geared to their books. But for a writer without a book and with many ideas on a variety of topics, the search for your blog’s identity can be more convoluted.

That’s how Medium can help. When you choose the tags that interest you while setting up your profile, you get a sense of what your interests are. My interests are humor, satire, politics, writing, and culture. Noticeably the topics on the sidebar of my blog. So, maybe I’m not as off-goal as I had thought.

But then the question: How do I synthesize my writing on Medium and my blog? Again, if you are a writer with a book, you can direct readers from Medium back to your blog to sign up for a mailing list. If you’re a writer with a book, that is.

So, how would someone like me without a book use Medium in conjunction with my blog?

One answer might be to publish new material on Medium (because new material is prime real estate there) and then repost it to your blog.

When I first started writing on Medium, I reposted articles from my blog to Medium, which is a huge advantage of writing on that platform. Although reposting writing from your blog to Medium doesn’t excite Medium’s algorithm as much as new material.

But another approach could be to use my blog as a publication unto itself. Write something different here than what I write on Medium. Another vexing predicament. There always seems to be another obstacle around the bend.

As I write this blog post, I even consider not publishing here at all and only airing my thoughts on Medium. The thought still lingers. A decision hangs with the fixtures. What to do? Where to do it? Since this is a WIP post, I’ll provide the thoughts while you provide the answers you’ve found helpful in your own journey.

If you thought you would find answers to your own writing problems here, you might be disappointed to find more questions instead. But I thought by thinking out loud about the problems I face in my own blogging/writing journey, I may collaterally help you work out your problems, too.

Your feedback would be most helpful if you’ve been able to get a grip on the blogging/writing thing.

Are we having fun yet?

The post A Tale of Two Blogging Platforms appeared first on Think Spin.

That’s when I have the most fun writing—when I let my mind wander, and get that “jump off the cliff without a parachute” thrill while sitting on my ass. Because jumping off a cliff was never my thing, on those rare occasions, I got off my ass to exercise my legs, instead of staying on my ass to exercise my thoughts.

You exercise your thoughts without breaking a sweat or pulling a muscle. Though eye strain is possible. And some people have been known to slam their heads against the keyboard every now and then. Ouch! A Confusion Contusion.

But I’m not talking about timid writers. I’m talking about adventurous writers who live for the thrill of creating something out of nothing. Turning a blank page into a word paradise. Writers who aren’t afraid to jump off the page into an unknown place that gets the heart and mind racing, and keeps the fingers tapping the keyboard, yearning for more.

It doesn’t matter what you write, as long as you write.

Creating something out of nothing can be scary and intimidating. Yet, most days, life detours off into places “unknown.” Places you didn’t intend to go, which should be a blueprint for writers who want to evolve. Your writing won’t get better if you stay on your comfort cushion with the indelible ass print that says, “Here sits status quo.”

Even if you write about one topic most of the time, you can push the envelope of discourse. Because I bet there are times you get bored or blocked or mad at your keyboard and hurt it instead of stroke it. That’s when you know you’ve stopped writing for pleasure and started torturing yourself.

Ideas are fragile. They need to be massaged, not bruised.

I’ve spent months torturing myself. I’ve been told by the so-called “experts” that I should write on point and keep my content within certain parameters. I tried to cookie-cut my writing, tried to squeeze my content into a box, but I don’t think inside a box. My content needs to speak from me, not someone else who thinks they know me better than I know myself.

Listening to the so-called “experts” broke my writing. For months, I was blocked. I questioned my very writing existence while I tried to focus on four or five topics. The best format for my content I was told. But the experts didn’t know me. Something that may have been best for others wasn’t best for me.

Write from the voice in your heart.

My blog is my playground, a place to think and breathe words, not to smother them. If every time I write I have to worry if a post fits into a theme or a headline, it’ll stifle creativity and the blank page wins.

All the so-called “experts” can tell you what you need for your blog or writing, but if you’re not comfortable with what you’re being told and your writing becomes stifled or even non-existent, you’re not taking advice from the most important person, yourself.

Write for the right to speak the truth in your voice and heart. Otherwise, that blank page will stare at you and say, “Why bother?”

Have you ever gotten bad writing advice?

The post Blog Post: Headline Not Included! appeared first on Think Spin.

When you buy a piece of Internet real estate, you inherit all the quirks.

After three weeks of the dashboard doldrums, I can finally write again without waiting five minutes to log in, and another 10 to access a draft.

On the phone with GoDaddy support ten times or more (maybe a billion) over the past several weeks. I had an opportunity to meet everyone on the team, or so it seemed.

Though none of the calls technically fixed the problem — slow dashboard osmoses — all the tech helpers were really nice. They took their time to show me around the GoDaddy dashboard because mine was on hiatus for reasons unknown.

What was the problem? It depends on who you ask. The Google said “my template.” GoDaddy said “my template.” But in fact, the template had never slowed dashboard access before.

I had a theory. It was either the Sucuri security software, activated around the same time the dashboard became sluggish. Or, Colonel Custard in the library with a candlestick.

Since I don’t know Colonel Custard and my house doesn’t have a library, Sucuri became the prime suspect.

None of the “so-called” experts agreed with my hypothesis. But after hours on the phone with tech support, learning how the GoDaddy dashboard worked, someone accidentally nudged me in the right direction. And I stumbled onto the “speed test” button, pressed it, and hoped I hit the jackpot.

Instead, a very important looking page, with lots of words, popped up before the test ended. Speed Test Button tapped me on the shoulder and said, “You’ve got issues! Try again!”

I know I have issues. I don’t like hanging out in crowds or making small talk at cocktail parties. But Speed Test Button wasn’t talking about me. I had to remind myself. “It’s not always about you!”

Since learning that “something wasn’t kosher” in the dashboard, I signed up for speed test No. 2. Yes, there was a second speed test.

During speed test No. 2,  I received a message from a higher-power, Speed Test Button, who told me, “I can’t find your site, dumb-ass, because the DNS address is wrong.”

“Holy crap! I’ve got a DNS problem!” I shouted. “What’s a DNS?”

I had no idea but didn’t care. I clicked the link that showed me how to fix the DNS thingy, copied the new address into another window with other DNS addresses. (I had never seen so many DNS addresses in my life.)

After I pasted the numbers into the window and saved the settings, I thought, “I can really screw things up if this is wrong.” But I hit save anyway because I knew GoDaddy could restore a backup of my blog if it imploded or disintegrated into nano-bytes.

I immediately hung a U-Turn back to my blog and logged into the dashboard rather quickly.

“It was the DNS thingy!” I shouted to my dog, who yawned and went back to sleep. “Woo-hoo! I didn’t break anything!” (that of which I was sure).

But what caused the DNS outbreak?

I have a theory and it involves Sucuri. I think the software install settings were wrong.

For three weeks, I had to sloth my way around my blog dashboard. I’d click on the posts list and wait while GoDaddy loaded the page, and waited, and watched the spinny thingy somersault in place in an endless display of its gymnastic abilities. Of this I soon grew bored.

Interestingly, I still can’t log in to my dashboard on Google Chrome unless I’m in incognito mode. Yes, I put on a wig and glasses and sign in to my account. Not really. It’s a double-secret setting in Google Chrome in plain sight on the taskbar.

What did I learn from my three weeks of DNS hell? Next time hire somebody to fix it.

Back to writing. I can stop dabbling in the nuances of tech support which is above my pay grade anyway.

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