The Kacie Journal

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December 2, 2019December 2, 2019

Setting Your Vision For 2020

For years, I set New Years Resolutions and never accomplished a darn thing. So I found a strategy that worked for me. At the beginning of December, I go over my past year’s goals and reflect on what I have accomplished and where I have failed. Yes, I can tell you now, we all fail at one time or another, it’s a part of life.

I look at the accomplishments as wins and failures? I spend the time to reflect on what I could have done to improve on my success. What worked and what didn’t work.

I reflect on whether my actions indeed brought me closer to my overall vision for the year. Did your’s? So I ask, did your actions bring you closer to your yearly goals? If not, you cannot expect the things in your life that you need and want to change: to change. Everyone has their different walks in life. The setting goals process is not a one size fits all method, but it is unique to your life’s vision. Whether it is personal goals or career goals, the goal map is yours to make to create change and success.

Here are some reasons to set those goals:

Goals will always provide you with a starting point and a destination to reach.

When you write your goals out, you see where you are going, what changes you need to make at the mid-point of the year, and if you are progressing in your goals.

The process of writing your goals will help you clarify your desires, understand their importance, and commit yourself to achieve them.

Remember there are always some sacrifices to be made, but stay committed and overcome the challenges. Work on your plan.

Your goals will help you focus your attention on your purpose and inspire you to be better.

When setting goals, be sure to define them in your overall vision for the year.

The secret to achieving your goals? Start them.

Journaling Tips

Write your goals for the year on the first page of your journal, or create a vision board. Whichever you choose, it will be there as a reminder for the year ahead.

Every month, take the time to review your goals and write about your accomplishments, consider the changes you need to make, and reflect on the challenges of the month in moving forward with your vision.

October 29, 2019

HOW TO SELL HALLOWEEN TO A SKEPTIC

Halloween is one of the most likely holidays of the year met with much skepticism. Parents spend time planning costumes for their children as little monsters, vampires, ghosts, witches and the current fad of the year for princesses and heroes. What child doesn’t love collecting candy? I have childhood memories of being three or four years of age, thinking it was the best time ever. I learned all I had to do was ring the doorbell, and the person gave me candy. I thought it was so great; my mother told me I was out ringing doorbells in the middle of the night looking for more candy. After that incident, she no longer allowed me to eat a lot of candy after returning home from Trick or Treating.

The origin of the Halloween holiday began over 1900 years ago in Europe. A Celtic celebration of a new year celebrating the days as when the souls of the dead supposedly mingle with the living. They celebrated the holiday with large bonfires, often still done today. However, many religions look at Halloween as a pagan day. So let’s view as to why we should love the Halloween holiday.

You can be what you want to be

One of the primary reasons to love Halloween is that people can dress up to be whoever or whatever they want to represent. It is like a night to play “make-believe.” It’s not just about the scariest outfits, but it is about imagination and characters that depict your personality or have inspired you the most.

You can play dress-up without worrying about any judgment. We can make bold choices and go as something people don’t associate with us. It usually is the perfect time to open up and be brave.

The Adrenaline Rush

The rush is the best part of all adrenaline seekers. Unlike all other holidays, this one is exciting as well as thrilling. You can do all the daring things and scary things that previously frightened you. This holiday makes you want to take a leap of faith and challenge yourself for new ideas.

If you happen not to be an adrenaline seeker, you can watch horror movies or scare other people just for fun.

Candy

One primary reason to love Halloween is the amount of free candy that you can collect. Typically kids aren’t even allowed to have that much candy, but Halloween seems like a free pass, and you can have as much candy as you like then. Apart from this, you can get all types of sweets like toffees, chocolates, popcorn balls and so much more. Adults are also known to have a sweet tooth. Nobody says no to free candy, so why not avail it when you can. And we believe even those skeptics can’t refuse some good candy.

Carving Pumpkins

One of the favorite activities of Halloween is carving the pumpkins, which is very exciting. All the family members usually carve the pumpkins to display them around the house. Making weird and scary faces on pumpkins as well as making Jack O Lanterns is an exciting activity that makes you love Halloween and pumpkins. Some places even hold the best-carved pumpkins competitions to celebrate the best-carved pumpkins.

Don’t have to buy gifts

Some of the skeptics who find Christmas better need to know that Halloween doesn’t require you to buy gifts and give them. You can wear your bed sheet and collect candy. Without spending a single dime, you can have most of the fun at Halloween.

Decorations

Another one of the reasons to celebrate Halloween is the amount of exciting and scary decorations. Halloween decorations are creativity at its peak. The spider webs, hanging bats, carved pumpkins, cauldrons, and ghosts hanging around give the place an eerie vibe and festive feel. Creating the decorations is an open-door to creative ideas and putting them in motion.

A Different Kind of Connection

On Halloween, people often dress as monsters and other scary creatures, which help to reduce any fear of the unknown or the supernatural. As a holiday, Halloween allows people to dress up into things they are most scared of, and this helps them remove any fear of the being.

Halloween encourages people to be brave and be firm against our fears. It connects us with our concerns as well as the unknown realm. Halloween encourages us to take a peek into that realm and feel comfortable with it.

Conclusion

Halloween is one eerie as well as a thrilling holiday, different than all others. Some might be skeptical, but even they will be convinced by reading all the above reasons. Some like the decorations; others love sweets, but most importantly, Halloween helps us realize our mortality and helps us face our biggest fears in the form of dressing up like them.

October 17, 2019December 2, 2019

Will Girl’s Trip’s Ever Rule The World?

Nothing is more exciting than spending quality time with girlfriends. But nowadays in a busy world staying in touch with friends can be hard. Sometimes our friends live miles away or have moved to another State to establish her career, and now you all are living away from each other. Why arrange a long weekend Girl’s Trip to spend time together? Spending a memorable time with your friend’s is exciting and memorable because:

Girls Like Adventures

We know how to enjoy every little moment with friends. Girls have massive excitement for trips across the world with friends to enjoy every moment and make it memorable. According to our secret sourcebook, girls when traveling, do not like to go fast, be lonely, and we never want to visit someplace alone. We like to move at a slower pace, which allows us to collect moments, take photos, and build exciting memories.

Diet doesn’t matter

You cannot enjoy your Girl’s Trip without having great wine and yummy food. In my case, excellent Root Beer. Eat and drink whatever you want. No need to worry about calories. Forget the dieting and eat everything to celebrate the moments.

Girls love to do Gossips

What is more fun than gossiping with your girls? Yes, this is the favorite hobby of every girl. What others wear, how they live, what we love to discuss with our girlfriends? But remember one thing; while gossiping about someone make sure that person is not around you otherwise you will be responsible for any upcoming situation.

Girls love to do shopping

I can surely say shopping is my weakness, and when we visit a new place, we have an urge to buy every unique thing we find. Now it’s our best friend’s duty to keep us in the budget and stop us from purchasing a lot of useless items. We must pay attention and warn them if it is a beautiful item that won’t fit in the vehicle on the road trip home. Most things, if needed can be mailed back home. Look at all the options when making purchases.

RULES FOR A GIRL’S TRIP

Dress up in whatever you want

In our daily routines, we often are dressed in business clothes or whatever fits in our career wardrobe. On a trip with your girlfriends, you can wear whatever you want to wear. Feel comfortable and feel relaxed about what you are going to wear. Your friends will not make fun of you. Make every moment remarkable and excellent.

Capture every moment

Great pictures are an excellent way to remember your trip. It can put a smile on your face even when you’re having a bad day. Girls love to take selfies and we-fies. Take pictures of every moment. Whether you are in a hotel or cabin, girls like to take photos of every corner of the hotel or cabin, and then they love to take pictures of food and share it on social media like Instagram and snap chat to their other friends too, of course, show them what fun they are missing.

Life is too short, you may spend 70 years working to make money or to establish yourself, but in the end, you may have no friends to spend time with, to share your achievements and dreams. So do not waste any time in making plans for a Girl’s Trip. Decide on a location with your friend’s, and make the weekend memorable and joyful.

October 17, 2019

Will Girl’s Trip’s Rule The World?

Girls Like Adventures

Diet doesn’t matter

Girls love to do Gossips

Girls love to do shopping

RULES FOR A GIRL’S TRIP

Dress up in whatever you want

Capture every moment

September 26, 2019

Reflection: Expectations VS. Reality

Fall is my favorite season of the year. The air is crisp; the trees are in brilliant colors of red, orange, and yellows. This time of year is the perfect time to sit out on my deck in the early morning with that first cup of coffee, watching the sunrise and breathing in the smell of fallen leaves on the ground.

It also begins my time of reflection for the year. Reflecting on what my expectations were for the year vs. the state of things as they exist today — reality, those things that we can and cannot see.

As I reflect on the past year and the expectations, I set for myself; I found a valuable lesson. Always expect the unexpected. I am retired, enjoying the quiet days to myself while the hubby is at work. I joined a writer’s group, belong to a social women’s group and love to spend the early morning hours on my deck starting my day journaling, then moving to spend the day working on my Ignited Secrets Trilogy. I enjoy the fact the children are doing well; the grandchildren are all now in college and life is good. My expectation? I am going to become a full-time author. What better way to spend retirement, right?

Then life happens. As we age, our parents get older, and we must ensure they safe, healthy, and happy. My siblings and I did for our mother, who passed nine years ago. I had lost my dad when I was twenty-one. My mother in law suffers from mid-stage Alzheimer’s. She had been living with her daughter for the past four years. Life changed for them. Her husband took a new job in another State. Therefore, our life changed; someone needed to step up and care for mom full time. Mom has moved in permanently until which time she needs twenty-four-hour care.

Expectations vs. Reality. I still take the time to journal early each morning, but most of my writing is now happening on my kitchen table, rather than my sacred space in the garage. Yes, I had my hubby build me an office/quilting room in the garage. What was once a two-car garage, became a one-car garage. By writing at my kitchen table, I can answer the multitude of questions my mother in law has throughout the day.

It amazes me to watch her, realizing she is in the moment. A place most of us strive to be. Though for her, that moment is all she has. No five-minute past, no one-minute future. Yesterday while the President was on every channel of the television for most of the day, she was trying to figure out what he was talking about and why he seemed angry. Mom is 87, and her generation listened when the President talked. Then she wanted to know why someone didn’t fix the lighting. He looked orange. I covered these questions a hundred different times yesterday as if it was the first time she had asked. I became creative; how do you explain today’s world?

Here I am in my season of reflection, adjusting my expectations, and making new expectations for the year to come. I write out my hopes, beliefs, and my dreams for the future. Similar to New Year’s resolutions, though I learned long ago I do not stick to resolutions. Hence the new word expectations.

I split them out in three categories, my hopes for my grandchildren and how I can assist them in their direction. That can be anywhere from financially to embroidering them a new set of dish towels for their new apartments as they start their life path. I reflect on my written life mission and vision statement, making the changes needed to stay current.

I then spell out my dreams for the year, what do I want to accomplish as a writer, how many quilts do I want to make this year or finish, and what growth do I want to see in my self for the year. These are my goals. Simple right?

My signal for reflection is the changing of the leaves, my sign for setting expectations is the first snowfall and breaking my goals down to achieve success begins December first to be prepared to start the New Year with a bang.

Everyone has different ways of continuing their journey through life. I find mine works for me. I encourage everyone to find their way to make each new year the best year of their life. For mom, I fully intend to make this next year a year of feeling safe, happy and fresh-baked cookies on the counter every day.

September 19, 2019September 19, 2019

WHAT’S YOUR STORY?

Everyone has a story. Life is a journey, and each new day begins a new chapter for each of us. How are you telling your story? Keeping a journal allows us to write down our experiences, our thoughts, our feelings, and our dreams for the future.

I have been journaling for over the last fifty-plus years, and I still have every one of those journals. I recently took the time to look back at the journals I kept as a teenager. I must be honest here and admit I am in my mid-sixties today. Looking back on my teen years, I would have to say in all honesty; I am lucky to be alive. I was a wild child, though it was a different time in the late sixties and early seventies.

Those journals are jam-packed full of poems, drawings, trials, and tribulations, all of which have brought me into what is I believe is called the golden years of my life. Looking back, I understand how those years have shaped the woman I have become today.

One of the things I found in reviewing those journals of my life is that I could carry on a complete conversation with myself. I would ask myself a boatload of questions or complain about my parents, fights with girlfriends, and that description of my first kiss left me holding my stomach. I was laughing so hard. The point is, I was spending a lot of time self-dialoguing with myself. Did I answer the boatload of questions? Not always at that particular time, but looking ahead in years, I found they pretty much answered themselves. Oh, and by the way, I got over the traumatic experience of French kissing.

What I did find interesting is when I would come across a problem I needed to solve, I always asked the same four questions. To this day, I still use those, but the wordage is a bit different. Any life problem I have had, I asked my self the following questions for many years:

What is the purpose of my having experienced this the last (timeline)?
What am I trying to do here?
What lesson am I supposed to learn from this experience?
What’s the real issue of personal growth for me in this experience?

It is important to note that these questions are not easy to answer in the throws of chaos. The last time I used them, it took almost a year to work through the issues. However, it will help you work through the experience and come out on top of it, with a clear understanding of why this what meant to happen. As I said, the last time I answered these, I came to understand one of the many valuable lessons. If you don’t listen to your guides, they will pick you up and throw you on the floor.

Another factor I recognized was that I was establishing future goals, whether it be New Year’s resolutions, or a daily, weekly, or monthly goal. By writing out my goals, I was able to write out a plan on how to achieve them and identify any obstacles that stood in my way.

Another realization I had, with goal setting, is that I found the way I dealt with the goals when they didn’t look like I was going to reach them was to write out the problem and readjust the aim to bring it to reality. Similar to a Plan B strategy, though sometimes I made it to Plan W. We all take different paths in life. Often those paths reached a crossroads, and it’s then I would have to choose to go left or right. When I was making those choices, it was interesting to see I eventually reached my goals, though the journey could sometimes be challenging, sometimes risky, but fun.

Through the twists and turns in my life journey through the years, came personal growth. That’s the thing with journaling; you can go back and reflect on where you have been and how much you have grown. I worked through so many issues along that journey in my notebooks that it was interesting to read on how my analytical skills evolved in handling life challenges, how I wrote out each twist and came up with a way to move past the turns.

The other surprising aspect was how my creativity opened. I would use colored pens, draw, glued or taped in pictures of my friends and I going to concerts, or hanging out at Cherokee Park, pictures from magazines, right down to my favorite cookie recipes. News flash, I still do that today. I have a giant bucket of gel pens and even to this day tape in exciting things I find. I also have been known to dry flower petals I have grown and glue them in as well.

If you’re not journaling today, you should consider doing so. Your life is extraordinary, and your journey is meaningful. Every experience brings a lesson, joy, and success in your life. It will bring you to your authentic self, open your consciousness and bring transformation to your life. So, start recording your life today, I promise when you look back in your journal five years from now, you will be amazed how far you have come.

I have designed a journal that you can use to start recording your journey. Yes, I had that creative idea of making my own journal’s. You can find “The Journey to Enlightenment” on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1095908324?pf_rd_p=183f5289-9dc0-416f-942e-e8f213ef368b&pf_rd_r=15R387RZXCY83XYEPJS4

September 12, 2019

The Challenge of Being an Indie Author

I am a 63-year-old woman who strives to live holistically, is a new Indie Author and has a few control issues. As an Indie Author, I can embrace my sense of creative freedom while feeding those lingering control issues through self-publishing rather than traditional publishing. I can control the entire process, including design, price, distribution, marketing, and public relations.

Being an Indie Author and Publisher comes with many challenges. I am finding with my new retirement idea of, “I am going to now be an author!” life change, I am both now an Indie Author together with the title, Indie Publisher.

With these new titles comes a whole new challenge of education in life. I have to take the time to learn how to optimize royalties, compare service options, and to do the research necessary to ensure the book has the best chances out there in a competitive marketplace. After that, I have to set an arbitrary budget which in itself could total a year’s worth of retirement benefits.

Through this process I have suddenly become CEO of my own indie publishing company, a self-trained researcher, diving into the book market world, exploring the world of different genres, figuring out the tangibles of my target market, and diving headfirst into the world of social media as an introvert.

Throughout my career as a Non-Profit Executive, I have always prided myself on my ability to multitask. Let me tell you; this publishing aspect takes it to whole new level. Self-publishing is the epitome of multitasking. Because not only do you write an entire manuscript you also have to look for a multitude of different ways to publish your book. Not to mention the minor aspects of publishing a book. This situation can get stressful swiftly. The importance of staying positive is vital in this situation though I have found times my fur babies have gone into hiding mode when they see me cussing out my laptop.

In conclusion, sure, being both an Indie Author and Publisher is a slow process, but eventually, it will pay off. My general solution to the challenge includes; keep writing, keep reading, keep trying, keep learning, keep believing, keep promoting myself, keep listening to others, keep my head up, keep myself in the game.