Death and taxes!

I blame in on the fires and little emergencies that pop up out of nowhere in our life.

Here’s what I mean. I try to pay attention to the things that matter most at the end of the day, like family, friends, relationships. These are all solid things, but then I get pulled away in another direction and all Hell breaks loose.

For example, I had read that blood supplies in our area were running low. I absolutely hate the sight of blood. I plan to write about that at some point, but at this point, it’s just important to know that blood makes me queasy. In any event, I felt it was important to help out, so I signed up to give blood. I made sure to schedule it at time that worked and blocked out my schedule. I didn’t let anything sway me. I kept the time blocked.

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Of course, the Cosmos decided to work against me. Sure enough, the day that I was signed up, one of my clients was having a fire drill over one problem or another and called a meeting. I tried to talk my way out of the meeting, but no such luck. My date with the bloodmobile went up like one of those special effects explosions on the latest DC Comics or Marvel movies of the month.

The last kaboom had barely gone off and I was cancelling my appointment. (Oh, I’m trying to reschedule, but I really don’t want to cancel twice.)

In my blog, A taxing day, on The Heart of The Matter, I write how I get frustrated by things like work or financial worries or filing income taxes that can take over for and push out the things that really matter in our lives. They cause us stress and worry and get us so preoccupied that we miss out on what matters.

When I filed my 2022 income taxes recently, I felt like the weight of the world had been lifted from my back. Little by little the stress had been building and pushing out the things that make me happy and really matter to me. Check out my story. Let me know too how you handle life’s stresses and keep your focus on what matters most in life.

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When you check out my post on The Heart of the Matter today, do me a favor, be sure to listen to Vicki Atkinson, Wynne Leon, and my podcast conversation on expressive writing in Episode 8: Expressive Writing. I’m a star! Okay, maybe not, but you get the idea. You can find the podcast on Apple, Amazon, Spotify and Pocket Casts by searching for Sharing the Heart of the Matter.

Vicki Atkinson, Wynne Leon, and I touch base on why we feel the urge to write and the compulsion to create and to tell stories. For me, writing is like breathing. I’ve always needed my writing to help me better understand the world around me. I would go so far as to say, I don’t know what I truly believe until I write it down on paper. My writing is the truest thing to opening me up and seeing what’s written on my heart. It’s my very own lie detector.

Hopefully, our conversation will inspire you to be creative — no matter the outlet — in your own life. No matter what, the conversation was a blast. Let me know what you think.