Attitude
It’s our attitude in life that determines life’s attitude toward us.–Earl Nightingale
Good Morning, World!
I am excited to face the New Year of 2012. Imagine making it this far in life! God has been good. I know there is a lot of sadness and evil in this world—we are bludgeoned with it every day. But I also know God gives me the will to stay positive.
What changes will come your way this year? As I write in my memoir, my journey from sighted to blind has taught me many things about embracing change, even when it isn’t the change you want. We need change for the good. Without change, there would be no butterflies.
I resolve to learn, love, and thrive with whatever purpose God has for me. I hope for you the same. Remember as you face others, connect, or disconnect, each of us wants favor and acceptance. Take a moment to SEE the other person’s perspective.
So This Is Christmas
“So this is Christmas…"
The words to this song make me think about how we reach out at this time of year.
’Tis the season we connect with each other—those who are happy, those who are sad, the fortunate, and the unfortunate.
It is strange how we notice the sad events which happen at Christmas. We lose a loved one, we listen to the tragedies on the television. Maybe it is magnified because we are hungry for joy and happiness especially during this season. I know we all have times when we are walking in darkness. Sometimes it feels like forever. I am sixty-eight years old. I remember the dark times. Thank God I don’t remember all of them.
Remember the expression "needle in a haystack?” Many of us don’t even know what a haystack is. We are just scurrying to get things done in this busy season. What is important is what we are blind to. I am talking about the ways we try to connect as we party and seek out our friends and acknowledge our families.
If you are looking for a needle in a haystack this holiday season, look closer. They are all around you with hopeful, expectant faces. I am talking about the innocent. The children. We adults have a responsibility to "see" what children need. They are our hope for a better world, for peace on earth.
One year I was amazed at the enormous number of packages we give to children in special places like rehab centers. Yet we forget them the rest of the year.
So when you’re out shopping like crazy little beavers working to bring JOY in the hearts of your children or some neglected child on Christmas morning, think deeper. Remember that precious child needs not your money or the things you can buy them, but the most valuable of commodities: YOUR TIME. Look at them, listen to them. They need encouragement wrapped in a package of sound judgment, guidance, and structure to feel safe. These three gifts are the foundations for happiness.
Deadlines! Deadlines!
All of us have been pressured with deadlines. For me it was, “putting the show in the can" each month. After I started recording my radio show on GARSS in January, I learned this was the term used for finishing a monthly segment. "Eye to Eye—Fiona’s Perspective, What’s Yours?" was fun to host and see what it was like to produce a show. If you haven’t listened to any of the episodes, they are all on my website. Just a click away!
Happy Thanksgiving!
One day when I have more time, I will master this world of technology. Facebook messaging eludes me. I count on my grandson to help when he has the time. I couldn’t live without my talking computer and I plan to conquer the iPhone, but alas, the internet still is a challenge. My favorite thing is my book reader which is about the size of a tiny MP3 player and carries 20 books around for me.
I love hearing about my former 8th graders and their huge families. Write more!
I hope to see many of you at Humpus Bumpus bookstore in Cumming on Dec. 4th. I will be signing both Bettina the Bold: A Blind Butterfly Discovers How to Make Friends and my book for adults, My Nightlife Is 24/7: Turning Tragedy to Triumph.
Enjoy the special dinner with family and friends and giving thanks for all the wondrous love you have in your life.
I love you all,
Fiona
Savannah Children’s Book Festival
Amazing how friends appear out of nowhere and create magic! My fiftieth high school class reunion was recently. So excited, I dug out old friends from my memory. I was surprised that I could name almost every classmate—how many can do that? At age 68?
I wrote emails and made phone calls cajoling the lot that fifty years was a milestone–we might not even recognize each other in another year. We had a great event and I reconnected with special friends.
Two of those have made connections for me to be interviewed on News Radio 1290 WTKS with Bill Edwards as the host. Imagine me talking for an hour! After that my high school buddy will whisk me over to WTOC (channel 11) for "Mid-Morning Live” with Jody Chapin for another interview.
The weekend promises to be a fantastic one. I will be signing books and selling Bettina the Bold at the Savannah Children’s Book Festival. I can’t wait for the Low Country Boil on Friday night. All this because I have two great high school friends to make the events run smoothly. If you are in Savannah on Friday, November 18th, tune in or better yet come meet me at the Forsyth Park in front of the Bull Street Library. I will be the one with the red table cover and lots of butterfly friends.
Room to Read
It Started with a Book
It all started with the Doll Hospital—my first hardback book given to me by my aunt who lived in a city faraway from my small South Georgia town. The bright red book about dolls who needed to be repaired was my first travel to another place. We only had a Bible and a reference book about animals at our house. My parents read the newspaper and Readers Digest. I read my Weekly Reader in third grade. By fourth grade I had a Western Blue Flyer bike and was allowed to ride it four streets away to the library and to Girl Scouts.
My first adventure into books took me to the library every week in the summer—I wanted to be the top summer reader. I explored Trixie Belden, Betsy Byars, and, with the encouragement of my librarian, soon graduated to Earle Stanley Gardner.
I traded books for boys by ninth grade. College only allowed time for required reading. I had a serious boyfriend by then.
Graduation, a career in teaching, a husband, and, two years later, a bouncing baby boy meant no time for pleasure reading. In just a few years, I was studying again for a Master’s degree. Still no time to enjoy reading.
I discovered storytelling at thirty-seven and fell in love with stories—folk tales, fairy tales, sci-fi, and ghost tales.
Saturated with stories, life turned upside down. I was blind and couldn’t read in the normal way. All those printed books I bought were now unreadable to me. Audio books were not plentiful in the ‘80s and ‘90s.
Today I am a writer—or am I truly a writer? I don’t know yet. My two books are published and I wait for them to be read. Comments are trickling in. "Fiona, it’s a page-turner. I can’t put it down." "This deserves national exposure." Exciting times. I wake up wanting to write a new story.
One thing I know—I am a lover of stories!
Bettina on Literary Rambles Blog
Check out my guest blog at Literary Rambles, a fantastic blog dedicated to children’s book authors! Thanks Casey and Natalie.
Why Tell Scary Stories?
A couple storytellers and I were sharing our reasons for telling scary stories one day. When young children are allowed to experience the emotion of fear vicariously—that is to say, sitting on the lap of some loved family member where they feel safe—they get the hang of the tingly sensation associated with feeling afraid. I like the way B. J. put it, “It is like exercising a muscle which you don’t use often.” Anne went on to say, “When real fear creeps up, that muscle comes into play and helps us cope with the anxiety because we recognize the feelings fear causes and we can put them in perspective.” Hearing age-appropriate scary stories at a very young age, children inadvertently learn to harness their fears. My parents did not read or tell scary stories to me when I was young. At 10, I had night sweats and nightmares, fearing I would be snatched from my bed by the Japanese. We were at war with the Japanese then. Adults talked about it. I heard it on the radio, but adults did not talk to children about it. Consequently, I came to be fearful of war and I locked away that fear.
In my early years as a professional storyteller, my colleagues and I debated this issue. Do we avoid scary stories? Are their age-appropriate scary stories? What is the value of telling such stories? I sometimes had parents who were concerned when I told scary stories. At some of my sessions parents questioned the scary story idea just as my colleagues had. Wanting to do the right thing, I choose stories called “jump tales” which startled the audience with a surprise “Boo” at the end. With a sense of mirth and a smile on my face, I explained to children from ages 5 to 9 that this was a game I played, but it was all in fun and not real. That is the key: Be sure kids understand scary stories are entertainment. Kathyrn Windham, the queen of ghost tales, offers some humorous advice: "Put a horseshoe wrapped in red upside down over your front door to keep out bad spirits or put your slippers beside your bed when you go to sleep with one facing one direction and the other facing the opposite. The Bogeyman or ghost will be confused and not go with you. “
Chuck Larkin, a nationally-known storyteller, once did a study about children and reading. Larkin’s study indicated that the group of children who grew up without being read to or who had little opportunity to read mystery or fantasy books, appeared to be fascinated with such topics as the occult or the macabre as teenagers. His conclusion was if those children had been exposed to suspenseful or scary stories when younger, they would have been less likely to delve into practices such as this.
It is natural for kids to be curious about the unknown. They want to explore—to satisfy their curiosity. Children express fears at different ages.
I believe children should be allowed to experience all emotions safely. They need to talk about these emotions with a mature adult. In today’s society, we depend more on television shows, teachers, and librarians to do this. Books have been a logical choice. Now technology brings us the story in a new format, with eReaders like the Nook , or iPad. The key though, is reading stories about these emotions—doing it vicariously—not actually living it.
What can parents do? Start early. Be sure that the story is age-appropriate and avoid graphic material—leave it to the imagination. I would love to hear from others about their perspective on scary stories and being scared in general. Were you afraid as a child? Do you remember wondering what was under the bed?