Inaction, News, and Vacation by Stacy Duplease of Stories by Stacy and Publishing by Stacy

The Danger of Inaction:
Life is nothing but a tightrope act of trying to keep balance. It's not just a walk along a tight rope, either. A lot of times, we're blinded (blindfolded), are in a storm (of life), are carrying a heavy load (baggage), and are being told to do it with impossible deadlines. Much is expected of us. I don't know about you, but most days, I have problems walking without tripping over something or tripping, never mind on a tightrope with all those crazy variables. Yet, I'm still expected to do it. How about you?

Consequently, there are times, I'm so overwhelmed that I become inactive. Complacent. Helpless. Depressed. Or whatever else that makes me stop moving.

There is danger in inaction:
We can lose sight of what's important and what matters.
We can lose sight of our dreams.
We can have progress pass us by and leave us in the dust.
We can lose ourselves.

Inaction has many consequences. We need to make sure we pick ourselves up and not fall into this trap.

We need not travel so quickly through life, and be so busy we run into problems. Yet, we also cannot suffer from Inaction Disease. Rather, we need balance. (Christians, see my blog about what it means to be an inactive Christian at: http://www.sacredstoriesbystacy.blogspot.com/ please.)

We can conquer inaction with:
Awareness
Intentional Living
Moving at a decent pace (not too fast and not too slow. Steady.)

News:
I'm getting help from, my kitten, Sinan, so I hope I don't make too many errors as I type this.

I worked some more on getting my house set up this weekend. It's the little stuff now that I need to finish. I absolutely love Omaha. It's a nice place to live. My office is mostly setup (thank to my hubby's help) this weekend. This was a major undertaking from day one of the unpacking. I also got a new desk (a huge wall unit thing), so that meant more work on the office and what a payoff. I'll download pictures of it once I get it set up entirely and with no more clutter (for now, let's be realistic).

My kitten, Sinan, is a lover, a little devil at times, and an all-around blessing. He keeps me in stitches and gives me all sorts of attention. Life is good. He's grown in the last week--up and in length. He's 15.5 weeks old now. I put a picture on this blog of him. Lots more to come.

As far as writing goes... I still have not had too much time to do so. I hope next week, that will change. I'm working several ideas in my mind. One idea includes an epic love story about a builder of the arch (a fictional builder) in St. Louis. Also, I want to do a couple of Bible studies and one on journaling.

Ugh! Kitten almost accidentally deleted this posting.

Vacation:
I'm having my first visitor come into town this week from Denver after I moved from there to Omaha. It's my Dad and I'm quite excited about it. Also, that means I finally have a house big enough to have a guest bedroom and we had the money to get a real bed. No air mattresses anymore for my guests. (Been there. Done that for years.) I'm not bragging about this. (Please, no!) Just counting it as a major blessing.

Consequently, I'll be a stranger again until next Monday. I wanted to let you know.

See You in August

I will try to blog whenever I am able. However, plan on me taking a hiatus until August. Then, look out! I will blog daily once again.

I'm moving at the beginning of July and will take a while to set up my house. Then, I'm going to join some time off with my best friend and hubby before our lives get quite busy. Moving from Denver and going to Omaha.

I hope all is well with you.

Take care.

Stacy Duplease

Places that Bring Connection

There are places that make you feel tapped into, and connected to, the sacred. Into beauty. Into something bigger.

These places bring creativity, love, peace, and joy. For me, it increases my faith and gives me a new perspective on life.

Back in 2002, I visited the Badlands of South Dakota and found this was the place that brought this out in me more than any other place I've ever visited. I went on a road trip there at the time with my Dad because we went to my cousin's wedding. At the time, I thought how I wanted to go back periodically and get re-centered in my spirit. To feel the sense of overwhelming beauty.

Therefore, to be able to share this with my best friend and husband only made it more wonderful in 2009. I think it made us connect even more as a couple.

Never mind what it did for me as a writer.

Bless my husband and his never-ending patience at how I take hundreds of pictures (okay, almost 1,000) of these places. Rocky Mountain National Park also brings it out in me.

What places do you have that make you feel connected?

What about intentionally making a plan to go to an old spot for vacation in person and also planning another to find a new one?

Take some pictures.

Keep a journal.

Make it so you can close your eyes and visit there any time you want. Take a mini-vacation, as I call it. they're the ones inside one's head.

Find connection. Tap into creativity. See beauty.

Happy Friday.

Blessings,
Stacy Duplease

I'm Back

Greetings, everyone. I'm back and it feels like ages since I did my last blog. How are you? I hope you are well. Let me know.

I'm refreshed and energized after a road trip from Denver to Omaha to see my new home and then from Omaha to Rapid City, South Dakota to see Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Bear Country USA, the Badlands, and the Black Hills. Then, went back home to Denver.

2,300 miles later, I feel better than I have in years. I have a fresh perspective and a new outlook on life in general, never mind professionally speaking. I'm less stressed, am relaxed, and am ready to do what needs to be done. (More on that in a moment.)

I feel more pinpointed in my mind and less all over the place. In other words, I'm focused on what matters and are not focused on the superfluous clutter we tend to add to our hearts, minds, and lives. I'm ready to start over and have a new beginning.

Today is my new beginning in several ways:

1) I'm moving to Omaha at the beginning of next month and am in the trasition between the only home I've ever known to moving to a new place where I don't know anyone. It is scary, difficult, exciting, and motivational for me all at once. It will be an adjustment, but I know it will be worth it. So, this is a new beginning as I work on making it what I want it to be. I control my reactions to the new situation and I choose it to be a blessing.

2) I'm excited to get back writing. I'm seeing it as something very different than I did even two weeks ago. (More to follow.)

3) My blogs will look very different now and I'm adding a few more to my collection. I'm adding: a patriotic blog, a sacred blog, a marriage blog, a writing blog, and a journalkeeping blog.

4) I'm going to setup my own webpage.

5) I'm starting two new companies... (More on that in a moment.)

6) I am excited to be back to writing again, blogging again, and journaling again. I have a fresh perspective and know what I want to do now. I only thought I did before.

7) Can't wait to apply all of the new insights I learned at the Colorado Christian Writing Conference (CCWC).

~Stacy Duplease

Writing Conference or Bust

Reminder of Vacations:
I'm going to be out of touch from Wednesday, May 13 to Tuesday, June 2nd and will start to check email and get back into the swing of things on June 3rd. I'm going to the Colorado Christian Writing Conference (CCWC) in Estes Park and then going on a road trip with my husband.

Lists:
Normally, I'm not a list girl. I might send myself email reminders, but I'm not a list girl. There are exceptions, however, to that rule. This is one of them. I am so excited about my two vacations that I don't want to forget anything. Therefore, I'm making lists and checking them not twice, but more like five or six times. (Just added to the list three times while I wrote this paragraph.)

Writing:
I'm excited to be through this conference's preparation time. Thank God for that. It means I can focus less time on editing and more time on writing. I prefer the balanced approach of doing a little of both every day. But, a little more writing. Therefore, hang on tight when I get back. I'll be adding a lot more blogs about my latest projects and so on.

Thank You:
I just wanted to thank you for reading my blogs. Bless you. It means a great deal. I promise to be more focused on writing and life rather than on editing from here on out. No, that isn't true. The next conference is in September. So, September will bring more editing again, but from now until then, stay tuned for the crazy stories of Stacy moving from home state to another city in another state and leaving family, starting our family, and meeting new people.

If I can guarantee one thing about the upcoming blogs, they will make you laugh and shake your head (and maybe roll your eyes). I'm a hoot. I tend to do something or say something that is so, well, Stacy, that you'll see I'm one of a kind.

See. Just in this blog, you're seeing the less frazzled Stacy and are seeing the more laid back one who can freely laugh at herself because I often get myself into situations where there's nothing let to do but laugh.

Genesis' Lack of Patience:
I will keep doing blogs for you to read the story of Genesis every day. It's a book about marriage. Here's my hook for this book:

Hook: Does every marriage have what it takes to go the distance? Aubrey says, "Yes!" The question is: "Do you?"

In our age of divorce at the drop of a hat, I tackle the issue of how to fight for your marriage even in the middle of infidelity, video game addiction, and suicide. It's a rather heavy book, but it inspires you to cherish your marriage and become best friends with your spouse.

Take care.

Stacy Duplease