Tirami_Su: July 2014

Sunday, July 27, 2014

Vacation = Eye Candy time

My day job is on hiatus next week and so am I. I still have 32 days of PTO (planned time off) to use before the year's end, so I chose to use five of those days to sit at home, catch up on some writing, reading, and "eye candy" time, or as I prefer to call it: "research" for my next novel.

So far, my "research" has included the following:

"Coriolanus" - movie - "EC" subjects: Gerard Butler, Ralph Fiennes and James Nesbitt (reciting Shakespeare)

"Daniel Deronda" - mini series - "EC" subject: Hugh Dancy ( as George Elliot's tortured hero)

"Paris Je T'aime" - movie - "EC" subject: Rufus Sewell (albeit extremely briefly)

"Zen" - series - "EC" subject: Rufus Sewell (older and hotter. Plays a sexy Italian detective named "Aurelius")

"Kidnapped" - series - "EC" subjects: Jeremy Sisto, Linus Roache, Timothy Hutton (yes, yes, and yes)

My "research to-do" list includes:

"Dark City" - movie - "EC" subject: Rufus Sewell

"The Very Thought of You" - movie - "EC" subjects: Joseph Fiennes, Rufus Sewell

"The Escapist" - movie - "EC" subjects: Joseph Fiennes, Damian Lewis

"Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead" - movie - "EC" subjects: Tim Roth, Gary Oldman

... and that's just the beginning. Stay tuned.

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Sharing: Robert V Taylor's "Wake Up Call" regarding: FEAR

I receive weekly posts from Robert V. Taylor, an internationally respected thought leader, author, motivator, Episcopal priest and all-around genuinely nice person. I've had the pleasure of working with him on a number of occasions, including for an unforgettable "town hall" type discussion involving Robert, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, my friend and KING 5 New Day Northwest host Margaret Larson, and a group of students from the greater Tacoma area as part of the city's "Be the Spark" campaign in the spring of 2011. Click here to watch a portion of that discussion.

"Be the Spark" Discussion - 2011

This week's post struck a nerve with me, because I have been working to release myself from the fear cage I've been locked in for nearly twenty years. I've savored brief escapes here and there, but always seem to end up locked firmly behind the fear bars again. Robert's weekly "Wake Up Call" posts share a brief story or observation, usually from his personal experience, then ask a couple of simple but well-thought out questions, to get the conversation going in our brains.

How many of you are also trapped inside a fear cage? Let's look for the key together.

FREE OF YOUR FEAR?

What we do with our fears is more telling than the fear itself.

Something clicked with my three year old nephew. Always fearful about the pool he was willing to go in with me a few weeks ago. As we splashed about his reluctance gave way to comfort and soon he was playing water games with the other kids his age.

We could have chosen to stick with trying to get his toes in the water but instead he chose to wade in the water.

The following week he took his first swimming lesson and now he relishes every opportunity to be in the pool. His delight about the water is infectious.

Splashing in the water and laughing, my nephew reminds me that what we do with any of our fears is how we discover freedom from them. How will you choose to live beyond your fears and who might you trust to walk you through them?

Call-to-Action:

What fear do you need to wade through and beyond?
Who will you choose to walk through your fear with?

Tirami_Su