Welcome! This blog is about people who promote topics I am passionate about: screenwriting, female empowerment, diversity and philanthropy. But, at its core, this is my homage to individuals inspiring troubled souls (aren’t we all) to start anew.
Visit anytime for a cup of cheer and a bite of motivation.
About 100 women, and a handful of men and youngsters, donned yellow plastic “hard hats” today and stood in snow-dusted grass smiling at a camera.
They posed in mid-morning winter cold for a group shot to celebrate the founding members of Impact 100 Richmond, an empowering organization of ladies from the metro area who pooled money to transform a non-profit.
The photo was taken at the Southside Child Development Center, the recipient of the first $100,000 grant awarded last year. The center provides affordable child care and preschool for working parents earning less than $22,000 annually.
When I learned about the new initiative last year I immediately signed up as a member of a giving circle. Impact 100 requires individuals or giving circles to donate $1,000 and to vote for the grant recipient.
Our circle, which I named Beloved after the masterful book by Toni Morrison, remains intact. The six of us will help choose this year’s grant winner. Three Beloved members pumped our fists for the camera at a time we’d normally be snuggled under the covers. A party we had attended the previous night made sleeping in more desirable. Still, standing there feeling appreciated for pooling our money to help children meant more than a few more hours of snooze time.
Week two of 2011 is a great time to map out your philanthropic endeavors. Just choose what works best.
Form a giving circle.
Instead of individual gifts, pooling money with others can yield a bigger impact for an individual, family or nonprofit. Start with friends or family who share a similar philanthropic vision. Learn more about giving circles.
Donate your time and talents.
Short on funds? Many nonprofits need mentors and volunteers for as little as an hour a week. Share your time and skills. Become a lunch buddy or a mentor or tutor for a student. Spend time in a nursing home. In the spring, volunteer to mulch, clean and plant flowerbeds at a school. Or clean up a park. Just have fun doing something out of the ordinary to benefit people, your community, the environment or animals.
Make loans globally.
All you need is $25 to help launch or expand an entrepreneur’s business on another continent at Kiva. That’s the minimum amount. The same amount spent on a movie date goes a long way in Africa or Latin America. Times are so tough nationally you can even donate to entrepreneurs in the United states.
Give to creative endeavors.
Give any amount, as little as $1, to help fund a movie, book, performance or other creative project at Kickstarter.
Share a philanthropic vision with children.
Learning to be altruistic can begin at any age. The younger, the better. Like adults, children who volunteer not only make a difference in their community, they can show they are responsible, explore career options and make new friends. Get tips.
We all become richer when we share. As 2011 unfolds, aiming for a wealthy spirit creates a powerful gift that keeps giving.
My husband is a marvelous writer. His readers know that. But every now and then his brilliance with story, its structure and its soul, moves me to tears.
And so on a road trip to Philly over the holidays I found myself doing the ugly cry when in a matter of minutes he fixed a gaping hole in my manuscript. All while navigating I-95.
“Just another reason why I love you,” I said, pulling out my Blackberry to capture his flowing thoughts.
As I listened I knew instinctively he was on point. He had effortlessly moved me closer to the finish line. Sometimes writers just have to ask for help.
Revising my manuscript is a top goal in 2011. Like other aspiring novelists, I long for the day when readers in far-flung places enjoy my book. This is the year to polish it. Whether I self-publish or not will be decided before spring. First, I must finish writing the best book I can.
It starts by writing forward.
I know many writers who revise the same chapter so many times they run out of steam midway. Big mistake, says Author Stacy Hawkins Adams, who coaches aspiring writers. She instructs writers to get the entire story down before getting caught up in additional researching, revising and editing. Her words freed me and can liberate other writers, too.
Give yourself a deadline.
You may delay but time will not. This pithy quote is not my own but it drills down to a profound truth: time is a gift. One you can not return. Get a wall calendar, or use your cell phone’s. Set a date to have a specific number of pages done and stick to it. If you can not be accountable to yourself, get an accountability partner.
Create a community of feedback readers.
Seek constructive criticism from truth tellers and not people in your amen corner. You know, loved ones who either don’t know weak writing or won’t tell you they fell asleep on page 3. Ask different and diverse circles to provide comment. Better yet, join a writing group so you can reciprocate the favor.
Kill the babies.
This is a term often used by newspaper editors to cub reporters who think highly of their pointless writing. Excessive dialogue? Flowery prose? Chunky paragraphs lean on substance? Hit delete. The crying – yours, will stop. Eventually.
Revise and Polish.
Love your work? I bet you do. Your story radiates creativity and style. It embodies your passion and months, maybe years of toil. Guess what? There’s room to improve it. Trust me, there are telling details to add, emotional truths to reveal, character growth to explore. Write it until the only changes you want to make involves removing commas.
Hide it.
Step away from the world of words you created. Go live life. Give your laptop body, the one with the hunched shoulders, flabby thighs and turtle neck, an excursion outdoors. Whatever you do, leave your manuscript alone for a few weeks. The distance will enable you to spot flaws. Promise.
Changing commas.
That’s all that is left to do. Add commas, delete commas. It’s as good as it will get at this point unless you seek professional editing, which should be a required step for all aspiring authors. Mail it to, well, all the folks on your list. Now, dust your shoulders, you’re done.
Do the ugly cry.
Just not on Oprah.
On the cusp of a new year and I am so struck and humbled by challenges and opportunties that the perfect words to express my current state elude me. So with apologies to Nina Simone for a feeble attempt to capture her joyous ad libs, this song expresses my feelings exactly.
Happy New Year! May we all continue feeling good in 2011! Sing, Nina!
Birds flying high you know how I feel
Sun in the sky you know how I feel
Breeze driftin’ on by you know how I feel
It’s a new dawn
It’s a new day
It’s a new life
For me, yeah,
It’s a new dawn,
It’s a new day,
It’s a new life for me, woooohoooooooooooooooo
And I’m feeling good
Fish in the sea you know how I feel
River running free you know how I feel
Blossom on the tree you know how I feel
It’s a new dawn
It’s a new day
It’s a new life
For me,
And I’m feeling good
Dragonfly out in the sun you know what I mean, don’t you know
Butterflies all havin’ fun you know what I mean
Sleep in peace when day is done
That’s what I mean
And this old world is a new world
And a bold world
For me
Stars when you shine you know how I feel
Scent of the pine you know how I feel
Oh freedom is mine
And I know how I feel
It’s a new dawn
It’s a new day
It’s a new life
For me, dubbanomanelowbadayayayalawldubmaynya
dubbanomanelowbadayayayalawldubmaynya
And I’m feeling good
R O C K T H E N E W Y E A R!
You may delay, but time will not. ~Benjamin Franklin
I met a writing contest deadline yesterday. That’s the good news. The bad news is I made revisions right down to the last nanosecond. I am a deadlineaholic. And I need to change.
Having written thousands of stories on deadline, I know how to complete a project in two days when I had a week to work on it with less pressure. If good work results from two days, what would a week produce? I am about to find out.
This summer I thought I had kicked the habit as a deadline junkie when my short film, Emily’s Home, was the first out of 48 projects completed for the 48 Hour Film Project. I’m still stunned as it was my first time leading a cast and crew as a director/producer/writer.
But old habits are easy to embrace. Creating winning habits requires consistency in planning and execution.
I have my eye on a fellowship with a May deadline. I will submit my application in January just to start 2011 off right.
To further break the yoke of deadlineaholicism, I just announced my first resolution – or winning habit –for the new year, 15 days early. A sign of movement toward time management bliss. Won’t you join me?
During this limited production called life you never know who you will meet and what you will learn.
At a wonderful Christmas party last night, I met three incredible women who shared intimate aspects of their lives amidst a roaring fire as warm and welcoming as the candid conversation we shared.
The experience was invigorating. Trying to connect with strangers can sometimes be an awkward exercise full of pregnant pauses and forced cheer. But I could have talked with these women all night.
The lovely party occurred in three different parts of my friend’s home. So while one room howled with laughter and shared stories at top-volume, and another room functioned as the TV-watching man cave, the quieter living room we sat in was ideal for real talk. So that’s what four of us engaged in.
We learned that one woman with expressive eyes lost her 12 year-old daughter to cancer a year and a day ago, an outgoing woman I am Facebook friends with lost her mom around the Christmas holiday and a third woman, who glowed with optimism, battled breast cancer four times.
Their courage, compassion and composure blew me away. Their struggles and strategies for dealing with loss and grief eventually turned to a discussion about faith. The surprising highlight of the party was discovering the God Box.
My Facebook pal shared that she writes down whatever is troubling her. She places the paper detailing her issue inside a beautiful, fabric-encased box she received as a gift. By doing so, she hands the problem over to God. Once she closes the lid, the problem is out of her hands and removed from her must-worry-about list.
We squealed with delight, vowing to copy the idea and perhaps buy some God Boxes as Christmas gifts for our loved ones. Giving God Boxes are thoughtful gifts easy on the cash flow during this punch-drunk economy.
Learning about the God Box and connecting with women who were refreshingly real about their lives left me feeling reflective, inspired and truly festive long after the party ended.
The other night as I passed my computer, I heard a wistful voice.
“What have I done wrong?” my blog called out. “Where have you been for the past week?”
In a rush to go to bed, I ignored you, beloved blog. But I’m back. And I have some random thoughts to share.
Last night I met a woman well north of 50 who works three part-time jobs, none with benefits. She calls her way of making ends meet “gigonomics,” a word she believed was added to the dictionary last year. She has been looking for a job for two years. What struck me was her smile and sunny disposition as she shared her story at St. Michael’s Church, where its Jobs Assistance Ministry (JAM) helps the unemployed network, polish resumes and get career advice.
What I also noticed was that only a handful of the 200 or so people present were under 40. It is an outrage what is happening to older workers although I don’t hear much outrage.
* * * * *
I started reading an advance copy of The Savage City: Race, Murder, and A Generation On The Edge. It’s a fascinating, fast, reader-friendly book by T.J. English about New York City during a ten-year period of racial violence triggered by poverty, racism, police brutality/corruption and the emerging black power movement. I recommend it highly and predict it will be a best-seller.
The final version may differ from the advance copy but I hope the opening sentence remains: When Martin Luther King Jr. visited the great city of New York, he was greeted with a silver letter opener plunged swiftly and unceremoniously into his chest.
The author had me right there.
* * * * *
Sunday I rediscovered on Youtube two of my favorite songs: “Groovin’ On A Sunday Afternoon” by The Rascals and “Dancin In The Moonlight” By King Harvest. I played each song at full volume about 16 times and will play them again until my groove is gone and my dance shoes are worn.
“Ah-ha-ha, ah-ha-ha, ah-ha-haaaaaa
We’ll keep on spending sunny days this way
We’re gonna talk and laugh our time away
I feel it comin’ closer day by day
Life would be ecstasy, you and me endlessly…Groovin’…on a Sunday afternoon.”
* * * * *
A tele-seminar with author and attorney Pamela Samuels Young deepened my faith in the kindness and power of women helping each other. She freely shared her resources to aspiring authors eager to self-publish. Not many authors are so giving of their connections. She rocks in all kinds of inspiring ways. I am eager to read her legal thrillers. Pamela published her first stand-alone novel, Buying Time, in November 2009. The Black Caucus of the American Library Association honored it with its 2010 Fiction Award.
* * * * *
So beloved Blog, a snapshot of my recent days. As you can see there is no theme, no story, no epiphanies. I continue exploring life and connecting with amazing life forces. I realize doing so is a privilege, a real blessing. I promise to share more of it with you.
Kisses.
Mention philanthropy, female empowerment and diversity –three of my favorite topics — and Kiva comes to mind.
This ingenious non-profit allows anyone to become a micro-lender. In just a few years, $100 million has been loaned to female and male entrepreneurs around the globe to start their own businesses, many modest ventures. Donors can choose to support only women business owners as I have. For as little as $25, these loans can lift a woman and her family out of poverty and onto the road of sustainability. Imagine the mind shift and spirit uplift that occurs when a woman controls her own business. Best yet, default rates are low.
When the money is paid back, you can withdraw your investment, donate it to Kiva or lend it to another needy applicant of your choosing.
For the price of a pedicure or perm, you can change the course of lives and feel pretty inside. No matter how tight money is, I can find a way to make my discretionary dollars help a woman on another continent build self-sufficiency. One day that recipient may be in the position to help another woman with a loan. The goodwill and positivity engendered by that thought is more than enough reason for me to skip a hair appointment or a treasured movie date with hubby and share what I can.
Last year as a result of the global recession, Kiva began lending money to cash-starved small businessess in the U.S. so the option to help closer to home is there.
Locally, there are many deserving nonprofits needing our time, resources and money.
In 2009, a few of us formed a women’s giving circle to participate in a new project called Impact 100 Richmond. The concept is simple yet grand. Gather 100 women willing to donate $1,000 apiece to give a deserving nonprofit a $100,000 transformative grant. Don’t have $1,000? Giving circles of up to 10 women pool funds to donate a total of $1,000 to ease the financial weight.
Other cities use the impact template, too. This is one idea worth copying, ladies.
However you contribute to those needing a lending hand, the end result is mutually beneficial. You improve someone’s life. And your own.
A reflective mood prompted me to wake up early today and express my appreciation for this limited production called my life, which I direct, produce, edit and star in. I chuckle because those are the same roles I undertook for the short film I did this summer for the 48 Hour Film Festival.
Life is rewarding and challenging. I grow more appreciative as the seasons fade. At this very moment, before the holiday officially kicks in, I am :
Healthy and blessed.
Always learning.
Pushing forward.
Plunky.
Youthful in spirit.
Talking from the heart.
Honest about my shortcomings.
Able to laugh often.
Needing guidance and seeking it.
Happy to be above ground.
Keeping the faith.
So pleased I have a great husband.
Growing.
Idealistic.
Valued (and forgiving those who don’t see it.)
In touch with the real me.
Never abandoning my dreams.
Grateful to love and be loved.
Enjoy your own reflections.
Happy Thanksgiving!
For many, the “Virginia Women’s Conference: A Financial Roadmap for Smart Money Decisions” started too early for a Saturday. But the four-hour program delivered an empowering welcome to the weekend as session speakers, resource tables and old-fashioned networking provided women, many involuntarily out of the workforce, hope and advice for entrepreneurship or traditional employment.
Hosted by Senator Mark Warner, it was his rocking female staff that organized the free program for 300 women, many over 40. Corporations and companies have and continue to boot seasoned employees — you know, the ones making decent salaries. The age disparity is so acute that a pilot program to increase entrepreneurship among job seekers in four states, including Virginia, dropped its age requirement from 52 to 45.
Held at the Richmond Marriott, the conference reflected what’s happening nationally as mostly college educated African-American women attended sessions on “Create Your Next Job…Become an Entrepreneur” and “Re-inventing Yourself During Employment Transition.” Other sessions focused on retirement planning, small-business funding and healthy financial habits.
For many women, the conference, which provided lunch and a gift bag, was a reminder they are not invisible. They matter. They are not alone.
As governor, Warner said he pressed to learn how much business the state did with women and minority-owned businesses and was shocked to discover just 2 percent. More than 50 percent of Virginians are women and one-third are people of color.
The first in his family to go to college, Warner spoke a truth during lunch that resonated. Having pursued and failed at other opportunities as a young man, he hit paydirt when he invested in the cell phone industry and cofounded Nextel.
“I’m blessed and I was lucky. If I had not been born a white guy with the appropriate degrees, I’m not sure I would have gotten a third shot, or a second shot or a first shot,” he said to wild applause.
Government has a role to insure everyone has “a fair shot.” And there is nothing wrong with failure as long as you learn from it, he said.
“Part of the seminar is learning from the speakers and networking among each other. That’s how a lot of folks have been doing it for a long time. You know who I’m talking about,” Warner said.
Politics aside, he spoke from the heart. So did Patricia Miller, a petite dynamo who is the founder & president of Miller’s Office Products, the largest woman-owned office products dealership in the Washington-Baltimore area. She shared her story about how a part-time job in a office supply store led to her becoming a manager a year later and then the owner a year after that. For years, she gave up night-time television to work 2 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Her mantra is “ food, shelter and no debt.” Words many more can live by.
Inspiration, information and connections go beyond boosting self-esteem on a Saturday morning. They are building blocks for women starting anew. As women rebuild themselves, we strengthen our families, our communities, our workforce and ultimately our nation.
Wherever you live, a community of wonderful women writers can be cultivated and nurtured. Look no further for an idea on how to connect new and established writers. Last Friday, female authors, writers and other communicators gathered for what many hope will become an annual networking luncheon with empowering speakers and panel discussions.
Held at the splendid Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, “Write The Power!” united authors and other veteran writers with women aspiring to follow in their high-heeled footsteps. Speakers shared tips, testimonials and the trials and tribulations of starting their own writing-related businesses with a rapt and appreciative audience. Female empowerment and sisterhood filled the air like a divine perfume as participants mingled and exchanged business cards during breaks between the 30-minute sessions.
The three-hour program included author, speaker and entrepreneur Stacy Hawkins Adams, who is working on her eighth novel; Dr. Linnie Carter, who has her own public relations company; Maya Smart, freelance writer and business coach extraordinare; and, author Lillian Lambert.
The brainchild of Carter and Virginia Commonwealth University Professor Bonnie Newman Davis, the program’s topics included managing social media, securing speaking opportunities as authors, using one’s networks to achieve professional goals and running a virtual limited liability company.
My role was to have a conversation with Adams about her speaking engagements that are held in various venues, from conferences to speaker phone chats. Her books have expanded her platform to include such opportunities. Adams is a dear friend who encourages me to pursue my diverse writing interests, which range from journalism and blogging to screenplays and writing a book or two. Broad writing interests was something shared by all the speakers, including Alicia Aroche, associate director, University Career Center, Virginia Commonwealth University.
Everyone walked away wiser. I’ve been a professional writer since my public relations job for Mayor W. Wilson Goode of Philadelphia, but I learned fabulous strategies to help me as a freelance writer.
As if the shared expertise and fellowship weren’t enough, everyone received an unexpected gift, courtesy of another speaker, Carmen Foster, VMFA director of community affairs.
For women writers everywhere, I hope this Richmond program can serve as your template to connect aspiring and seasoned wordsmith-entrepreneuers.
