An End I'm Looking Forward To!

Judith Ashley is the author of The Sacred Women’s Circle series, romantic fiction that honors spiritual practices that nourish the soul and celebrates the journey from relationship to romance.

For this fifth Monday in April I’ve decided to write about a subject I’m eager to have end—spring allergy season. In the past couple of years I’ve had more problems. Not because I’m sensitive to a new plant but because the plants that used to bloom sequentially now bloom concurrently. In the past I had a couple of months of itchy, watery eyes and runny nose. And those symptoms were not constant.

Now, in 2018, I’m using an Albuterol Inhaler and still have problems depending on where I am and what I’m doing. While I’m looking forward to purchasing geraniums and planting them in the pots around my back deck, I’m not looking forward to being outside to do that. If it is a rainy day I’ll at least breathe better. If it isn’t, I’ll most likely wear a mask to help protect me from the worst of the pollinated air.

I truly am looking forward to the end of spring allergy season. I’ll be happy to be outside until the summer heat hits (used to be a few days in the 90’s and even fewer in the 100’s—now it’s weeks of hot temperatures).

Fall? If there is no smoke from forest fires like there was this past year, I’ll be fine.

Winter? Winter is pretty much my favorite time of year. No allergies. I deal with the cold better than the heat. Love snow on the ground or better yet, watching the snow fall but not stick! The only drawback is the lack of color from the flowers in my yard.

And you? Is there a season of the year you want to end before it even begins?

If you’ve followed this blog you know that in addition to writing romance, I’ve also ventured into writing non-fiction. My first book, Staying Sane in a Crazy World is available at your favorite e-retailer. By following the simple process outlined in this book, if there are things in your life that drive you crazy, you’ll have a plan to change that!

Do you ever feel as if the world around you is tumbling out of control and there is nothing you can do to make your world a better place?

Do you ever wish there was?

Staying Sane in a Crazy World may help guide you toward stopping the tumbling and choosing how to take effective control of your life.

The reality is there is no One answer that fits all but we each have Our answer.

In this short guide, Judith Ashley leads you through a straight-forward process that allows you to find Your answers. Answers you’ll use to craft a Personal Staying Sane Plan that will help you regain and keep your balance whenever the world around you is out-of-whack.

On the fiction front, your complimentary copy of Lily: The Dragon and The Great Horned Owl, is waiting for you. To download it, you need only sign up for my mailing list. I will not spam you and, you can always unsubscribe.

As an indie author, your support in the form of reviews is appreciated. Please note in your review that you received a free copy of Lily in exchange for an honest review. 

Learn more about Judith's The Sacred Women’s Circle series at JudithAshleyRomance.com

Follow Judith on Twitter: JudithAshley19

Check out Judith’s Windtree Press author page.

You can also find Judith on FB! 

© 2018 Judith Ashley

Finish! or End!

Judith Ashley is the author of The Sacred Women’s Circle series, romantic fiction that honors spiritual practices that nourish the soul and celebrates the journey from relationship to romance.

Finish!

When do we ever truly finish some projects or aspects of our lives?

Yes, I can finish a book but if it really touched my soul, it is on my “keeper shelf” and will be reread.

Yes, I can finish painting a room but in time it will need a fresh coat.

Yes, I can finish with spring planting, fall harvesting but next year I’ll be doing it again.

Yes, I can learn something new, gain expertise in a new area, figure out something about myself, but am I ever “finished” growing as a person?

End!

The end of a journey?

The end of the road?

The end of life?

Even if I go on a completed journey at another time, it will not be exactly the same as my first trip. Something will have changed either in myself or the roads or the people I’ll meet along the way.

And the road? When I drive to another part of the town where I live, it also changes. If there’s been a few weeks or months, I’ll notice a new building, construction in the road itself, some house painted, new people on the street, perhaps a change in speed limit or traffic design. Even if it is a trip I take every day, there is something different if I’m open to seeing it.

Then there are some journeys that do take us to the end of the road – what lies beyond is the vast ocean or a canyon or river with no bridge to cross. And yet, if I take the same road on another day, there will be some aspect of that end-of-the-road view that will be different.

Our lives is another place where there is an end. There are a few people who are resuscitated and come back to live a bit longer. For the vast majority once we cross over or pass or die, we’ve come to an end. Whether it is “The End” or not depends on our beliefs.

During part of March and April, I decided to reread the seven books in my series, The Sacred Women’s Circle. I felt distanced from them because I’d been distracted from writing for most of last year and the first part of this one.

As a series, after Book One, the first scene in the next book picked up the next  circle sister's story. At the end of Book One, we learn Elizabeth is leaving the next day for Ireland. Book Two opens with Elizabeth in Ireland and ends on Winter Solstice. Book Three opens on Winter Solstice with Diana questioning her marriage after bearing witness to the unconditional love shared between Elizabeth and her new husband. Book Four opens at Diana's wedding. Book Five opens with Ashley and her new husband off on their honeymoon.

However, when I came to Books Six and Seven: 

Gabriella: Chaos and Symmetry and Sophia: Endings and Beginnings things changed. Each of these books start before the end of the previous book. Having just reread the series I pondered why these last two books overlapped in a different way. 

Of all the women in the series, these two had made choices along their paths that kept them separated for longer periods of time from the other women---both by choice and circumstances. In the end, they too had to face their personal demons, their fears. They had to accept help that was offered and even more daunting, they had to ask for help.

In the end, to no one’s surprise. they find the man who will cherish and love them unconditionally. After all, I do write romance.

In addition to contemporary romance or romantic women’s fiction, I’ve ventured into writing non-fiction. My first book, Staying Sane in a Crazy World is available at your favorite e-retailer. By following the simple process outlined in this book, if you’ve unfinished projects that drive you crazy, you can create a plan to change that!

Do you ever feel as if the world around you is tumbling out of control and
there is nothing you can do to make your world a better place?

Do you ever wish there was?

Staying Sane in a Crazy World may help guide you toward stopping the tumbling and choosing how to take effective control of your life.

The reality is there is no One answer that fits all but we each have Our answer.

In this short guide, Judith Ashley leads you through a straight-forward process that allows you to find Your answers. Answers you’ll use to craft a Personal Staying Sane Plan that will help you regain and keep your balance whenever the world around you is out-of-whack.

On the fiction front, your complimentary copy of Lily: The Dragon and The Great Horned Owl, is waiting for you. To download it, you need only sign up for my mailing list. I will not spam you and, you can always unsubscribe.

As an indie author, your support in the form of reviews is appreciated. Please note in your review that you received a free copy of Lily in exchange for an honest review. 

Learn more about Judith's The Sacred Women’s Circle series at JudithAshleyRomance.com

Follow Judith on Twitter: JudithAshley19

Check out Judith’s Windtree Press author page.

You can also find Judith on FB! 

© 2018 Judith Ashley

Finishing Books

Judith Ashley is the author of The Sacred Women’s Circle series, romantic fiction that honors spiritual practices that nourish the soul and celebrates the journey from relationship to romance.

Another “finished” project is my first non-fiction book Staying Sane in a Crazy World. I started that book in September 2017 with the idea that I’d publish it in November or early December. I knew it wasn’t going to be a really long book because my message was simple.

Know your Core Values.

Know what you can control/change and what you can’t.

Plan #1: Craft a plan (and I give the reader the format to create their own personal staying sane plan) to accept the things they cannot change and over which they have no control.

Plan #2: Craft a plan to change the things they can or at least the part of whatever the challenge is that they do have some control of.

This month I plan on finishing my edits of Visions of Happiness and send it off to my First Reader, who will do just that. Read it and give me feedback, input about what she likes in the story and what doesn’t work. I won’t have it back from her by the end of the month—but I will have sent it on to her.

If all goes according to my schedule (and I almost snorted as I wrote that), I’ll start working on another long-term project. I’ve been going to bundle the books in The Sacred Women’s Circle series. First three (3) in one bundle. Last four (4) in another and all seven (7) in a third.

By the time I finish the Bundle’s Project, I should have Visions of Happiness back.

There is something delicious about seeing long-term projects come to fruition. I’ll be sending notices to my mailing list as these projects are completed. Everyone on my mailing list gets an early notification and a special pricing. If you aren’t already on my mailing list, you can sign up here.

Here’s more information about Staying Sane in a Crazy World. It is now available at your favorite e-retailer. By following the simple process outlined in this book, if you’ve unfinished projects that drive you crazy, you can create a plan to change that!

Do you ever feel as if the world around you is tumbling out of control and
there is nothing you can do to make your world a better place?

Do you ever wish there was?

Staying Sane in a Crazy World may help guide you toward stopping the tumbling and choosing how to take effective control of your life.

The reality is there is no One answer that fits all but we each have Our answer.

In this short guide, Judith Ashley leads you through a straight-forward process that allows you to find Your answers. Answers you’ll use to craft a Personal Staying Sane Plan that will help you regain and keep your balance whenever the world around you is out-of-whack.

On the fiction front, your complimentary copy of Lily: The Dragon and The Great Horned Owl, is waiting for you. To download it, you need only sign up for my mailing list. I will not spam you and, you can always unsubscribe.

As an indie author, your support in the form of reviews is appreciated. Please note in your review that you received a free copy of Lily in exchange for an honest review. 

Learn more about Judith's The Sacred Women’s Circle series at JudithAshleyRomance.com

Follow Judith on Twitter: JudithAshley19

Check out Judith’s Windtree Press author page.

You can also find Judith on FB! 

© 2018 Judith Ashley

Finishing Projects

Judith Ashley is the author of The Sacred Women’s Circle series, romantic fiction that honors spiritual practices that nourish the soul and celebrates the journey from relationship to romance.

I’ve lived in my house for over forty-two years. When I first bought this house, there were several things I wanted changed.

A light fixture in the stairwell going up to my room instead of a bare bulb.

Book cases on either side of the fireplace,

Every room painted (the previous tenants loved a blue, chocolate brown and yellow palate). So not me!

A few walls removed to open up the finished attic that I’d claimed as “my space.”

A nice deck in the backyard,

A rose garden in the wide area between sidewalk and street, etc.

I painted the main rooms before I moved in – a beige color with white trim. The living and dining rooms as well as my office are now a labor intensive five coat rose with 3 different colored glazes so depending on the light, the rooms are different colors.

My son and I built book cases on either side of the fireplace – obvious work done by amateurs.

I took the walls done upstairs. I tried to use some kind of patching stuff to even things out but…

I built two 8 X 10 connecting decks in the backyard.

And, with the help from my dad, I planted that rose garden.

Somewhere along the way when I had some work done on the house, I had professionals finish off the upstairs.

I also ended up having the back decks professionally built (more than once as the sun is brutal in that part of the yard).

But this post is about “finished." So what is “finished?”  

On March 26, an electrician came and installed the light fixture I’ve been wanting for 42 years! I love it!!!

Last month I also had a trim put on the bookcases. It hides the raggedly edges that shouted “we were built by amateurs.”

A couple years ago, I gave up on wood decks and had a PVC-type decking installed. To keep it looking good, it only needs a good hosing in the Spring and Fall.

What’s important to realize is that nothing that’s being done is a Major Project. But as each of these tasks that finish bigger projects is completed, I feel a lightness, an ease of a long-held tension I no longer noticed.

I am proof positive that finishing a started project can be a joyous and satisfying experience.

However, there were those 42 years…

While I'd like to think that everyone finishes everything they start, that isn't true. Not everything we start will we finish. After forty-two years of an unfinished project hanging around me, I've learned a few things.

To keep that unfinished project tension from taking root in your body, the key is “to choose.”

Choose to not finish the project.

Choose to pass it on to someone else.

Choose to put it aside with a commitment to look at it another time. Perhaps that will be a better time to move forward or maybe not. And choose again.

I can honestly say “Don’t do as I’ve done” and natter around about wanting or even needing to get this done. Remember that scene in Star Wars when Yoda tells Luke Skywalker that there is no try, there is only do? I'm living proof that you'll feel lighter and freer and be more relaxed if you live by that mantra and Do It or at the very least Choose To Not Do It.

In the meantime, in case you missed the news, I’ve also ventured into writing non-fiction. My first book, Staying Sane in a Crazy World is available at your favorite e-retailer. By following the simple process outlined in this book, if you’ve unfinished projects that drive you crazy, you can create a plan to change that!

Do you ever feel as if the world around you is tumbling out of control and
there is nothing you can do to make your world a better place?

Do you ever wish there was?

Staying Sane in a Crazy World may help guide you toward stopping the tumbling and choosing how to take effective control of your life.

The reality is there is no One answer that fits all but we each have Our answer.

In this short guide, Judith Ashley leads you through a straight-forward process that allows you to find Your answers. Answers you’ll use to craft a Personal Staying Sane Plan that will help you regain and keep your balance whenever the world around you is out-of-whack.

On the fiction front, your complimentary copy of Lily: The Dragon and The Great Horned Owl, is waiting for you. To download it, you need only sign up for my mailing list. I will not spam you and, you can always unsubscribe.

As an indie author, your support in the form of reviews is appreciated. Please note in your review that you received a free copy of Lily in exchange for an honest review. 

Learn more about Judith's The Sacred Women’s Circle series at JudithAshleyRomance.com

Follow Judith on Twitter: JudithAshley19

Check out Judith’s Windtree Press author page.

You can also find Judith on FB! 

© 2018 Judith Ashley

Taxes

Judith Ashley is the author of The Sacred Women’s Circle series, romantic fiction that honors spiritual practices that nourish the soul and celebrates the journey from relationship to romance.

Several years ago when I decided I wanted to consistently write a blog, I stumbled around trying to figure out what to talk about. A year ago, I settled on having a monthly theme.

Last month’s theme was Commitment.

This month’s is Finish-End.

In the United States, April is the month our annual report to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is due and any taxes owed are paid as well as any taxes due (a refund) is requested.

As I write this on Saturday, March 31, 2018, I’ve all my figures gathered and noted on sheets of paper. As I finally made my appointment to meet with the person I worked with last year, rather than pay them to organize everything, I’ll do it myself.

What that means is that between now and Tuesday, I will sit down with a clean sheet of paper and transfer those figures in neat rows that can easily be seen, understood and put into the computer system that will spit out my return.

I’ve several friends who do their own taxes but I’m not that brave. Nor do I necessarily trust putting numbers into a tax form on the computer and hitting send (although I do sign the paperwork granting electronic filing privileges to the firm I use).

While I’m not as early I have been in the past, I’m nowhere as late as I was last year – filing a few days before the October deadline. Next year I’ll be much earlier because I’ve my new system and can easily keep in up each month.

An old saying is the only thing certain is death and taxes. I expect I’ll be doing this dance between the first of February and the middle of April for years to come. By my calculations, I’ve at least another twenty-five years!!! Unless a law is passed that says once you celebrate your one hundredth year, you no longer have to file! What do you think about that idea?

In the meantime, in case you missed the news, I’ve also ventured into writing non-fiction. My first book, Staying Sane in a Crazy World is available at your favorite e-retailer. By following the simple process outlined in this book, if paying/filing taxes drives you crazy, you can create a plan to change that!

Do you ever feel as if the world around you is tumbling out of control and
there is nothing you can do to make your world a better place?

Do you ever wish there was?

Staying Sane in a Crazy World may help guide you toward stopping the tumbling and choosing how to take effective control of your life.

The reality is there is no One answer that fits all but we each have Our answer.

In this short guide, Judith Ashley leads you through a straight-forward process that allows you to find Your answers. Answers you’ll use to craft a Personal Staying Sane Plan that will help you regain and keep your balance whenever the world around you is out-of-whack.

On the fiction front, your complimentary copy of Lily: The Dragon and The Great Horned Owl, is waiting for you. To download it, you need only sign up for my mailing list. I will not spam you and, you can always unsubscribe.

As an indie author, your support in the form of reviews is appreciated. Please note in your review that you received a free copy of Lily in exchange for an honest review. 

Learn more about Judith's The Sacred Women’s Circle series at JudithAshleyRomance.com

Follow Judith on Twitter: JudithAshley19

Check out Judith’s Windtree Press author page.

You can also find Judith on FB! 

© 2018 Judith Ashley