Tag: purpose

Unstuck and Heading in the Right Direction

jcladyluv

I finally launched my magazine the other day and I am feeling really excited about all of its possibilities.  Initially I was scared (or maybe nervous would be a better word) about its release for all of the obvious reasons that anyone would be nervous going into a new venture.  This magazine is a big deal for me and the whole meaning behind Write 2 Be is important for me to get out.

Of course, as with any big venture that you embark on, I am discovering that all of the hard work that went into putting the initial debut issue out is really only just beginning because then there lies the responsibility of promotion and marketing that all falls on me.  Now anyone who reads this blog or who knows me already knows that I struggle deeply with the marketer that is supposed to live inside of me.

As a writer who does not have an agent as her advocate and who has not “hit it big” yet with some big contract from some major publishing house, and without some publicist slaving away on her behalf, I am learning how to market as I go along.  I was one of those aspiring writers who naively just thought that any publishing house would accept her work and of course they would have their own team of marketers and publicists that are working feverishly on behalf of my impending career and success.

Well that just isn’t how things worked out and nowadays as a writer trying to make it you have to be a good marketer of yourself and admittedly I am not.  I suppose it is mostly that I usually feel awkward patting myself on the back and that stems from personal childhood issues but I have slowly but surely started to get past that.  I am getting more adapt to being my own best supporter but it is definitely still a work in progress and is certainly not easy.

Having said all of that, with the release of my magazine I realized that this is a step in the right direction.  I had been feeling stuck within my writing and my drive towards success as a writer but now I know I am heading the right way towards my ultimate goals.  I felt stuck last year, and possibly even the year before that and I hadn’t realized why until I released the Write 2 Be Magazine.

I feel like I am now really beginning to fulfill my purpose and that I am starting to see my vision becoming the reality I knew it could be.  I feel revived and much surer of where I am headed and that I am definitely on the right path.  I feel very optimistic about this year as it pertains to my writing career and I am going to hold on to that optimism for as long as I can.

I have the Write 2 Be Proud and Inspired… What is your Write 2 Be?

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

https://write-2-be.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

Write 2 Be Magazine is now out so please go check it out at http://write2bemagazine.com/.  Also please go and join the magazine on twitter https://twitter.com/write2bemag, join the email listing for the magazine at Write2bemagazine@yahoo.com, and also like the Write 2 Be Magazine fan page https://www.facebook.com/Write2BeMagazine.  Please help support my endeavor and my new journey and help me spread the word about Write 2 Be and its meaning.

When Hitting a Rock, Just Keep Digging

jcladyluv

I opened my emails yesterday and there was a message from Tyler Perry (sent days prior, just unopened) talking about digging deep until we get to where it is we are going and where we know God wants us to be.  He advised that even if you hit rock, if you know that it’s what’s meant for you, just keep digging.

It got me to thinking about just how long I have been digging this well (meaning my attempt at being a successful freelance writer) and just how long it seems like I have been hitting nothing but rock.  I don’t just mean rock that is movable and pliable with just a few whacks either.  I mean really hard, strong, take ten people to move, kind of rock.

Obviously I know that there are many people who are worse off than me and who might look at me and wonder what I am complaining about, and they may be right where it pertains to them.  But when you are hitting nothing but rock you really feel like it is the worst position you can be in and you feel like there is no way to move through it or past it.

But then I remember that I have faith and I have God and while I may not be able to move a rock that would ordinarily take ten people to be able to move, God is said to be able to move mountains.  In Tyler Perry’s email he spoke about hitting the rock and eventually being able to dig deeper, past that rock, and reaching your well of blessings.

I’m not sure how close I am to that well yet, but I have a feeling that there’s only so much rock left to hit and that my well is right around the corner.  I don’t know how many of you out there feel the same way, like all you’ve been hitting lately is nothing but rock while trying to get to your well, but don’t stop digging because your well may just be right past that rock.  Don’t give up too soon, I know I’m not.

 

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

https://write-2-be.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

 

Write 2 Be Magazine will be debuting on January 15th, 2013 so please go join the magazine on twitter before it debuts on https://twitter.com/write2bemag and join the email listing for the magazine at Write2bemagazine@yahoo.com.  Also please feel free to like my Write 2 Be Magazine fan page https://www.facebook.com/Write2BeMagazine.  Please help support my endeavor and my new journey and help me spread the word about Write 2 Be and its meaning.

 

Being Optimistic Is Giving Me More Drive

jcladyluv

The first week of the New Year has actually started off pretty good.  I mean nothing miraculous happened, nothing earth shattering or life altering, but on the up side nothing terribly bad happened (at least nothing that I couldn’t handle).  I’ve actually been rather productive, at least more than normal, and while there are still things on my to-do list for the week that haven’t been completed yet, I would say that I am very proud of what I’ve accomplished so far.

That’s not saying that I don’t have a lot of improvement to do, especially in my time management skills, but I am a work in progress (as we all are) and I have progressed into not beating myself up over the things that didn’t get done.  I just know that I have to be more determined and more persistent in getting my list completed next week.  I do have some major things that I have to tackle over the weekend in the efforts to finish putting the magazine together and that is actually going to be my main focus for the weekend.

I don’t know why I have not mastered the art of time management yet but I really hope that I can shuffle things around a lot better in the coming weeks.  I have been replacing most of my negative thoughts and fears with positive outlooks and all in all (unlike the last few years) I am feeling very optimistic for this year.  Well I hope all of you have had a very productive first week of the New Year and that all of your projects are off and running.

I have the Write 2 Be Productive and Prosperous… What is your Write 2 Be?

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

https://write-2-be.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

 

Write 2 Be Magazine will be debuting on January 15th, 2013 so please go join the magazine on twitter before it debuts on https://twitter.com/write2bemag and join the email listing for the magazine at Write2bemagazine@yahoo.com.  Also please feel free to go and friend me on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310 and like my Write 2 Be Magazine fan page.  Please help support my endeavor and my new journey and help me spread the word about Write 2 Be and its meaning.

What If the World Were to End Tomorrow?

jcladyluv

The New Year is approaching and, as you know, I am one of those people that like to plan things out thoroughly.  Of course I know that there are only so many things that I can actually plan but I do like to pretty much plan out the things that I need to accomplish step by step to get the bigger goals completed.

This year there is some skepticism around whether or not any of us will even make it to the New Year seeing as though the Mayan calendar has the world ending tomorrow.  While I do not actually believe that the world is going to end tomorrow (although God might have other plans, and in that case I’ll be very surprised) it did get me thinking about how many people there must be out there scrambling to get their life in order before tomorrow gets here.

I am interested to know how many people are suddenly doing the things that they said they would never do before just because they think they won’t be around after tomorrow.  How many of us would actually be doing the things that we are supposed to be doing (while we’re busy procrastinating) if we knew we wouldn’t have time to complete our goals and satisfy our purpose.

I must admit, I almost wished that I believed that the world was ending tomorrow, because even though I have managed to kick my plans into high gear lately, I imagine I might be in overdrive if I thought for one second that what I would have to do tomorrow is explain to God at the gate leading to heaven why I didn’t do all the things he told me to do with all of the time he had given me.

If the world were to end tomorrow I’m not sure that I would be happy with what I had done with the time that I was here.  It makes me just want to strive even harder then I had already planned to next year to make sure that I start actually fulfilling my purpose.  I suppose I had better go and get busy before the real doomsday actually does get here.  Have you all done what you feel you were sent here to do?  If the world were to end tomorrow, would you be happy with the legacy you are leaving behind?

 

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

https://write-2-be.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

(Re)Defining a Brand: The Message Behind Write 2 Be

jcladyluv

It was brought to my attention the other day that the mission of my company was not made terribly clear.  There were some questions as to what exactly is the message behind the Write 2 Be name and more importantly the Write 2 Be brand.  It is important that I take this month before launching the debut issue of my new online magazine, titled Write 2 Be, to make sure every one of my readers (as well as my soon to be readers) knows and understands what Write 2 Be is really all about and to hopefully get across why I feel it delivers such a message of impact.

There are so many people who hold themselves back from doing so many things in their lives because they are afraid of going outside of a certain box.  People expect so many things from us and we waste so much time not being ourselves because we’re too busy trying to be what someone else wants us to be.

It’s as if we don’t feel that we have that right to be the person that we feel we were meant to be because we’re worried we’re going to let someone else down.  Instead we let ourselves down and let others define us.  Often times we begin to desire the acceptance of others, at the expense of our own individuality and our own creativity.  We sometimes even tend to pass those traits down to our children and they then repeat our cycle.

Write 2 Be is about not fitting inside the mold that other people want you to fit into.  It’s about not letting other people’s thoughts and opinions of you define who it is that you are.  It’s about making the unexpected and sometimes unpopular choices in order to stay true to yourself.  Write 2 Be is about defining yourself as whatever you feel you have the Write 2 Be…

Write 2 Be Magazine will be debuting on January 15th, 2013 so please go join the magazine on twitter before it debuts on https://twitter.com/write2bemag and join the email listing for the magazine at Write2bemagazine@yahoo.com.  Also please feel free to go and friend me on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310 and like my Write 2 Be Magazine fan page.  Please help support my endeavor and my new journey and help me spread the word about Write 2 Be and its meaning.

I have the Write 2 Be Empowered and Innovative….What is your Write 2 Be?

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

https://write-2-be.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

Quitters Will Never Win

jcladyluv

As I was sitting here thinking about what to write today I was thinking about just throwing in the towel.  You know you can only keep trying at something for so long that doesn’t appear to be working before you start to really wonder if it’s just not going to work, or maybe it’s just not meant to be.  Lately I’ve been feeling as if every time I take one step forward, I end up getting knocked two steps backward.  I was beginning to feel like all of this was pointless and that all this dreaming that I’ve been doing had been for nothing.  

Just as I was getting ready to give up and just say to hell with it I looked in my email inbox today and received one of my Tyler Perry mailing list pep talks (it was actually sent a couple of days ago but I hadn’t checked my email in a couple of days).  His message was short, sweet, and to the point.  Simply put it read “IF YOU QUIT OR GIVE UP THEN YOU DON’T DESERVE IT!  Process that and get back in the fight, DREAMER! You can do it.”  As I said before, time and time again, Tyler Perry always has a way of sending out his inspirational messages just as I need to hear it.  

I love writing and most importantly I am meant to do this.  I know it deep down inside my gut.  Even when I doubt myself, I never doubt my ability to write.  Even though I keep getting knocked down repeatedly, I have just been reminded that I can’t throw in the towel because if I do I never deserved it in the first place.  I have never been one to quit anything that I really wanted and that I knew was for me.  I’m not going to start now!  

If any of you are out there feeling like it’s just never going to come together, don’t stop now, don’t give up the fight.  Just when you think it’s time to quit is the precise moment that you need to keep holding on.         

 

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

https://write-2-be.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

www.lulu.com/ladybugpress

Time Is Of the Essence

jcladyluv

I’ve found myself saying to quite a lot of people lately that they shouldn’t wait to do whatever they said they were going to do the next time they get a chance.  That they should take the opportunity to do whatever it is now, in that moment.  Simply put, I have been reminding people that tomorrow is never promised and that you shouldn’t keep waiting for the next available moment when the moment has presented itself right now.  

Isn’t it funny how we can impart wisdom and advice to other people, probably advice that was at some other time imparted to us, but we can never really seem to take that advice ourselves?  I was telling Ms. L. today about how every time I make a plan to really buckle down and get things done I find myself at that moment, with all of my tools lined up around me ready for me to get stuff done and then either something gets me distracted or I simply fall asleep from being so tired.  Hours later I end up with just as much done as I had before which is nothing.  

I can’t keep repeating this same cycle of having a whole lot of plans to do something and ending up with very little to nothing actually being done.  Is anyone else in a cycle of repeated procrastination or is it really just me?  I only hope that I somehow learn to take my own advice (and advice given to me by others in the past) before time really does get away from me and it becomes too late to do anything about it.  

As much as people would like to believe that it is never too late to do the things that you were meant to do, everyone’s time is up at some point.  If I leave this earth without making a good enough use of the gifts and talents that God gave me and without fulfilling the purpose that he placed before me, then I really will have wasted all of the valuable time that I was given and I will have nothing to show for it.    

 

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

https://write-2-be.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

www.lulu.com/ladybugpress

Could Reality TV Be the Next Best Marketing Strategy?

jcladyluv

The other night Ms. L. and I were talking about reality television.  You know the usual, what train wrecks are worth watching and what is just simply too much drama even for us.  We both talked about how we are not really ‘Reality TV show watchers’ even though there were some that had managed to reel us in over a period of time.  I’ll give Ms. L. credit in the fact that she hasn’t been as reeled in as I have.  

There was a time that if the caption about the TV show said reality I would instantly turn away and wouldn’t even give it a second look.  But then I realized something that I think some people still have not caught onto yet.  Reality TV is not truly Reality.  I mean think about it, they have writers on Reality TV shows (why if the show is in fact unscripted as they try to convince us).  Not only that but there is a whole lot of editing film to make the show’s end result look just real enough to not look like most other television shows and yet still fake enough to know that this much drama could not possibly happen this often to this person.  

But the reality shows that I truly love the most are the one’s with a purpose at the end of it.  You know, the competition one’s like America’s Next Top Model, Hell’s Kitchen, Master Chef, HGTV Design Star, Food Network Star, those types of shows.  However, I have been thinking a lot lately about what a Reality TV show can do for a person who might be trying to make a name for themselves and isn’t having much luck at getting their name out there.  If you think about it, these people (you know, the one’s who are at the center of all the drama) are actually smarter then we give them credit for.  

Let’s take Snookie from Jersey Shore for example.  If she ever decides to stop boozing it up and grows up (hopefully before her child gets here) and she decided that she wanted to start a new business, she doesn’t have to worry about getting her name out there, it already is.  Everyone and anyone knows who she is and like her or hate her, she has made probably millions off of the drama that she is the center of.  She could literally forge any type of career she wants all because of her stints on reality TV.  

It just makes you wonder, just how easy could it be for any one of us to make the name for ourselves that we want.  I’m in no way, shape, or form, interested in ever being a part of a reality show (not that I think anyway) but that is largely in part because I care way too much about what people think of me.  But if I had the nerve, I can’t say that it wouldn’t be a consideration.  Hell these days with the new phenomenon of web series on YouTube you could really start your own.  I mean personally I think that there are way more talented people out here then the Snookies and Kardasians of the world that could stand to make a name for themselves.  Reality could be the next new way that people can market and brand themselves and become the household name that they want to be.  Would you ever consider starting or being a part of a reality show so everyone can know your name? 

 

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

https://write-2-be.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

www.lulu.com/ladybugpress

Oh the Obstacles We Duck and Dodge While Investing In Our Future

jcladyluv

“If you make the investment up front, the return will come back later.”

~Bishop T.D. Jakes 

As writers we go through many obstacles, if we’re lucky, before ever really hitting our stride in our career (and I say our, because I am speaking my future successes into existence even though it is not quite a reality yet).  We go through tons of rejection, writer’s block, having doubters and negativity with anyone who doesn’t see the vision, and often times we are our own and biggest obstacle that stands in the way.  

I was just talking to Ms. L. earlier and saying that I really wish that my journey to this success that I know I am destined for could be going a lot smoother and with a few less obstacles to stumble over.  But then I quickly took that back because I remembered something I heard while listening to Bishop T.D. Jakes talk about living your life on purpose.  He talked about making investments in your future, in your purpose, and how sometimes our mistakes and our struggles are our investments.  

They are what make our successes all the more worthwhile.  He said that sometimes “what you think is working against you is actually working for you” and that “it is the digression that causes the progression”.  I suppose that is what is meant when people say what doesn’t kill you will only make you stronger (although it never feels like that when you’re going through whatever it is you’re going through).  Our struggles are in many ways our fuel and motivation to keep going and to keep dodging those obstacles as they come.  

Bishop T.D. Jakes also said that when it comes to making investments into your future “you can never reap of a dividend where you don’t make an investment—you sow first and reap later; you can’t sow and reap at the same time.”  I suppose that I have to be a little more patient as I make my investments and have a little bit more faith that everything will work out the way that it should.  

I can’t honestly say that all of the obstacles along my journey have not had their purpose.  It may not have felt like it at that particular point in time, but looking back on them now, they all, in so many ways, served their purpose.  I think that all of the struggles that we go through are simply just preparation for when our success comes to fruition.  Then we’ll be able to say to anyone who has something to throw at us to bring it on because there won’t be anything that they have to hit us with that we can’t handle.  

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

https://write-2-be.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

www.lulu.com/ladybugpress

Smiling Through the Not Knowing of It All

jcladyluv

“Nobody trips over mountains.  It is the small pebble that causes you to stumble.  Pass all the pebbles in your path and you will find you have crossed the mountain.” 

~Author Unknown 

You ever have those days where you sit and think about all of the things that are just not going the way that you expected them to.  Where you are not where you thought you would be and you’re tired of trying so damn hard because it all seems like it just might be for nothing.  

Today wasn’t a bad day for me necessarily but I had a conversation with someone who was talking about how much they doubted themselves at what they’re purpose was at one point in time and how they finally decided to move out of their own way and get hustling even if no one else believed in them.  

It’s the way I used to be and the way I would love to be again but I just had that slight feeling of ‘what’s the point’ after having that conversation.  I believe in me but to this very minute I still feel like I’m the only one that seems to believe that I am good enough at what I do to ever make a decent living at it.  Ordinarily there is nothing wrong with being the only one who believes that you’re good at what you do, for a while that is.  

The only thing is that with being a writer, there has to be someone else that believes you’re good enough eventually if you ever want to make a living at it.  I don’t just mean the one person here and the one person there that comes around so sporadically that you can’t really call that a decent living, I mean the steady stream of people that are willing to take a chance on the belief that you have in yourself.  

Well when I have one of those days, where I just want to throw in the towel on it all and simply give up I try to listen to music that motivates me and gets me back in the right frame of mind again.  One of the best songs for me to listen to when I feel like giving up is Kirk Franklin’s ‘Smile’ because the lyrics of the course are just what I need to hear.  

I Smile. Even though I hurt see I smile

I know God is working so I smile

Even though I’ve been here for a while, I smile.

Smile.  It’s so hard to look up when you’ve been down.

Sure would hate to see you give up now.

You look so much better when you smile, so smile. 

How can you not smile after hearing such lyrics?  How can you want to give up after hearing those lyrics?  How could you not feel motivated to do what God put in motion for you to be doing?  After hearing that song everything seems to be put back in focus again.  My purpose seems to be back front and center, where it should have always been.  

The fact is that I would not just be letting myself down if I was to toss my dreams aside, but more importantly I would be letting God down as well.  I just have to remember that just because I am down right now, just because I am not where I want to be right now, doesn’t mean that God isn’t still working on me and my life.  I guess I keep forgetting that I am not the only one who believes in me and my gifts, because God believed in me first.

 

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

https://write-2-be.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

www.lulu.com/ladybugpress