Motivational Monday

Dear world,

Hello again and thank you for checking out the next segment of Motivational Mondays!

"What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you

become by achieving your goals." -Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau is an inspirational man. He was an American philosopher, poet, and environmental scientist whose major work, Walden, draws upon each of these identities in meditating on the concrete problems of living in the world as a human being. He sought to revive a conception of philosophy as a way of life, not only a mode of reflective thought and discourse (Furtak). 

Today, I wanted to not dive so much into Thoreau as I had with Mr. William James. Queue the collective sigh of those Thoreau lovers. I wanted to change gears and maybe give you a little insight as to what this particular quote means to me. I don't know about you, but I have a hard time keeping goals that I set for myself. I suppose that is due to my easily excitable and distracted personality. However, I had a nice idea that I should start making lists. Perhaps that will help with my organization as well as give me some sort of goal to set for myself (if this blog wasn't one already).

I want to become a great writer. I want to be able to walk into a library or a bookstore and see my works on the selves. I am willing to try and do whatever it takes to make that happen. So on Tuesdays, I will add a new section Make A List Tuesday! I would love to get some suggestions for some lists, so please help me out. I also have a few new ideas that I might try out with this blog, but I will have to work out the quirks with those. Slow and steady wins the race, I suppose.

So, my motivation for you is to set a goal for yourself, wither it be a daily, monthly, annually, semi-annually, or whatever your preference may be. Personally, I see an annual goal to be similar to a New Year's Resolution  which most of us know we can't keep. So for those of you who are easily distracted (like myself), I recommend making a small time window such as a weekly or monthly goal. That way it is easier to track and keep focused. 

Remember, keep those pens writing and a song humming in your heart. I will update with a possible new writing exercise later next week if my first week back at University proves to be a good one. Yes, the term starts back today so wish me luck! Send me your comments or other questions or concerns. I would love to hear from you!

Yours,
Brandi Stevens
(Cornelia Thorn)

Follow me on Twitter or shoot me an e-mail.

Motivational Monday

Dear world, 

It appears to be that time again! Motivational Monday! So who's ready to get motivated to do something memorable this week. What do I mean by memorable? Well, that could be anything from stupid stunts such as car surfing in a super hero outfit while holding onto a huge parachute or to something simple as asking someone out or typing up a new section of your story. 

 Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does. -William James

This is a sir by the name of William James. He was an American philosopher and psychologist. He offered psychology as a course in the United States and wrote a good many books on the subject. In case you are into psychological thrillers, his works might be able to help you out with some inspiration.

If you are into his influence or wanting more information regarding William James, I suggest reading this post: click me!  And yes, I did know his birthday would be on the 11th, but since that is not a Monday, I thought it would be nice to honor him in this fashion. 

And as far as literary influence goes? Well, William James met up with many a writer in his days. His godfather was Ralph Waldo Emerson for crying out loud! He also knew the popular Mark Twain, Walter Lippmann, and Sigmund Freud, who is regarded as the founding father of psychoanalysis. 

Wow, can you imagine the dinner parties? Just having a drink with my grandpop Ralph and giving a fist bump to my buddy Sam (Samuel Clemens, Mark Twain in case you didn't know). 

William had a pretty cool life and made a lot of success from doing what he loved. I think his selected quote is something we can all learn from, if not follow. So even if you get your rejection letter from a literary magazine (I got my first one two days ago), or if you have a hard time trying to get through life at this point in time, you should always do your best at whatever you do. Your hard work will make a difference if you make it happen. You just have to believe in it first.

Trust yourself. Believe in yourself. Keep going and don't give up. You are the difference. Keep writing and doing stupid things (safely!). Stay beautiful and send me some sunshine. I'd love to hear from you.

Fist bumps all around,

Brandi Stevens

(Cornelia Thorn)

Follow me on Twitter or shoot me an e-mail.

The Inevitable Change (Mondays)

Dear world,

I have been working on my novel at a very sluggish pace. It has almost seemed to stop all together for the moment. I am lacking inspiration and nerve to go forth and write. However, I have come up with an idea that will benefit both me and this blog! I shall begin a section called Motivational Monday Madness!

Within this blog post that I shall update every Monday, I shall give a quote that I have found noteworthy and has given me a boost to do some writing. It works so much better than 5 Hour Energy and plus, it leaves a better taste in my mouth (no offence to those who like the energy shot).

So to all, here it is!

Motivational Monday Madness!!!

"Carpe Diem" -Horace

"Seize the day" is what it is commonly translated as. 

I, being a huge fan of Latin (since I took it as a course throughout high school), have always loved this quote. Two simple words, but it motivates so many to continue on and be themselves. 

They even utilized this in one of my favorite movies Dead Poets Society. It stars Robin Williams (another favorite of mine) who plays the role of an English teacher who inspires his students to find themselves through his unorthodox teaching of poetry. It really is a very touching story and I watch it all the time.

"Carpe Diem." Beautiful. It also has an interesting background. It's meaning has evolved since it's primary use of "what will be, will be," which is less motivating, and in our current view of things, most uninteresting. However, I felt a bit of knowledge on the subject might be interesting. 

And as I have found this a bit funny, Jack Black has been quoted saying, "I'm fairly certain that YOLO is just Carpe Diem for stupid people." I can kind of relate to that notion. Well done, Jack Black.

So as we close on this Motivational Monday Madness premiere, remember to not let that cruddy Monday morning get you in the dumps! Seize the day! You are the maker of this day and you are the one who's going to make it worth something bright and brilliant. Don't give up. Keep writing! Keep looking up! And most of all, stay beautiful because I know you are. 

Cheers,

Brandi Stevens

(Cornelia Thorn)

Follow me on Twitter or shoot me an e-mail.

The Christmas Post -short story included-

Dear world,

After spending a time with my family, I have come to realize that I had been looking at things differently for quite a while. Yes, I'm sure you are all thinking, "well, duh. It's typical for people to realize stuff like that at Christmas, you Scrooge." And this same topic has been covered by How the Grinch Stole Christmas and various other published works, but I suppose it's something else entirely when you experience the change for yourself.

While I was taking in all the wonder of this change, I wrote a short about one of my characters, experiencing the emotions of Christmas. Enjoy and let me know what you think.

"The Bright Christmas" by Cornelia Thorn

My family isn't exactly what you call normal. Well, to me they aren't. To them, I'm not. They live with their country hill-folk way of life and I live with my ear buds permanently dug into my skull, dreaming of flying overseas to London or France. Somewhere where I can fit in and maybe be included in some conversations instead of being the topic of a disgruntled one.

I glance around the living room, watching my little brother and sister sitting among the four other grandchildren. Me being the oldest and the complete outsider, I sit in the corner. You know, the corner that's the farthest possible point from the sickeningly overdressed Christmas tree...or from anyone for that matter. 

To the right of the tree sits my grandmother, the old, devoted Baptist with shaking hands. Standing beside her is my Uncle, the eldest of her three children, dressed in his rodeo cowboy attire and matched by his girlfriend who is currently laughing obnoxiously about a corny joke. Then there is my other uncle, the youngest, dressed in camouflage and socks (since his muddy rubber boots where demanded to be left outside) and he is standing beside his fashionable wife (probably my favorite woman out of this group). Sitting on the floor, playing with the grandchildren is where my father can be found. He speaks above everyone else in the room. Not because he wants to, mind you. It's simply because he can't hear too well since he works with machines all day. Beer belly and all, he likes to laugh and mess with the kids. His backwoods, redneck accent carries through my ear buds, exciting everyone else around him to join in. 

I roll my eyes and turn up my music, hoping their obnoxious accent wouldn't penetrate my Frank Sinatra playlist. Jazz can be a powerful weapon, you know. Not many things can overpower a good jazz piece. Now they are all laughing about something. Not that I particularly care. I don't particularly like these people to begin with. Out of all of them, I'm the first one to accomplish the feat of going to a University. Except for one: my grand uncle Cornelius. 

He is above all my favorite person in the entire world. He is an archaeologist and has traveled the world his entire life. He's always sending me postcards or trinkets from his latest journey. I wanted to be like him someday. To see the world. To meet lots of people. He was supposed to be flying in from Ireland today. And of course, I stare out of the rain-covered window every few minutes to try and catch a glance of him.

Finally, after an hour or so of this madness, I see the headlights of a truck coming up the gravel drive. The grandchildren get up and run to the windows to see who it is, but I could tell by the flaky red truck that it isn't my grand uncle. It's just his brother, my paw paw. I sigh and return to glaring at my phone, hoping it would suddenly give me news, but knowing in bitter logicality that there is still no signal due to the enormous wooded area we are currently settled in. 

In walks paw paw and he is laughing. He's holding presents for the family and a rather thick stack of envelopes. 

Once he sits on the couch, the presents are distributed. I get a few wrapped gifts. Mostly money, which is what I had asked for. But the last thing to drop into my lap is a green envelope with my name scrawled upon it in my grand uncle's natural calligraphy. I pulled out my ear buds and looked up at my paw paw.

"What's this?"

"Uncle Cornelius couldn't make it today. Weather was too bad fo' him ta fly. He mailed these fo' us a few weeks ago jus' in case. Reckon he done righ' by it, yea?"

I opened the envelope gently as if it were a priceless relic. Inside was more money and a small note.

Merry Christmas, Angel. I love you and I am proud of you. Keep up the good work, Uncle Cornelius.

P.S. Give it a chance. The world is brighter than you know.

I didn't exactly know what he meant by it. Give what a chance? Looking up, I saw my grandmother opening up her present. It was a photograph of all of us at the beach. The entire family. She smiled and started to tear up. It was something so simple and yet it meant the world to her. I gave the note another read and felt a grin tug the corner of my straight face. He knew I would be like this.

I watch the children open their gifts and everyone is laughing and enjoying themselves. Last to open his gifts is my brother. He opens my gift to him and happiness washes over his face. It was a coffee mug with the Union Jack, just what he wanted. He seeks me out and runs up to me, jumping into my lap. He hugs me and whispers in my ear a Thank You and a Merry Christmas.

I look up to find my family smiling at us. I gave them a chance. I look at them differently, casting out any ill will and initial dislike I had of them. And what I found was surprising. Despite the cold rain batting the outside of the window and the quirks each of them had, together they were happy. They were a family and they wanted me to be a part of that too. Of course, I was already a part, but they wanted me to share in what the happiness. Too come in from the darkness I set myself in. Despite the angry, judging glares I had given them throughout the years and the debates I had prepped against going to church early Sunday morning, they had never stopped caring about me. They never stopped believing in me. 

Finally, I hug my brother close and I whisper in his ear, so no one else hears. "Merry Christmas. I love you."

END

Merry Christmas, world. 

Your loving Host,

Brandi Stevens

(Cornelia Thorn)

Follow me on Twitter or shoot me an e-mail.

The Essential Opening Post

Hello dear friends and others of the world,

I have come to realize that an opening post describing who I am and my purpose of being here are essential to the future of my blogging life. Well, here it goes.

My name is Brandi Stevens and currently my life is ruled by four different forces:

• University
• Work
• Written word
• Music

Yes. That seems to sum it up, right? No, of course not. As curious human minds, you seek more from the world; more information about a person who you might soon be following (at least I hope some of you might). Yes, well that will lead me into my purpose of starting this blog: to find myself.

Sounds a bit cheesy, doesn't it? To find myself. How overly used. But how necessary it is! Have you ever read a book and connected so well with the main character that a little bit of their personality rubs off on you and you learn something about yourself? Yes, I believe we have all had that to some degree. But for someone like me, I start to lose myself.

You see, my dear audience, I am an English Lit and Creative Writing major. I wish to produce works of art in the form of words. And I aspire to create that moment of enlightenment for others (or helping them find themselves as well). However, the majority of the time I seem to find myself in a haze of confusion. With so many ideas and characters floating around in my noggin it is hard to keep track of what I wish to do.

Sometimes while I am walking, my mind forms a beautiful sentence that would perfectly describe what my character should be. A sentence so powerful that it makes me jump onto the nearest bench, assume a stance of a victorious nature, and scream "Eureka!" And then when I am able to stop somewhere to write it down, the sentence mocks me by floating away.

By creating this blog, I wish to write a truly worthwhile sentence or critique of the world around me so that I can help clear the fog inside my brain (which is starting to look a bit like Silent Hill). And hopefully I will make a piece (or pieces) worth taking note of or publishable.

These are my tidbits of life and my passions for it. I would simply adore it if you would take the journey with me or pop in once in a while. Mind you, it does get lonely out there.

From your most loving host,
Brandi Stevens
(Cornelia Thorn)