The Art of Encouraging Others

I didn't realize I was a walking talking ball of encouragement until my husband pointed it out. Well - he didn't say it quite that way. In fact, he began by pointing out how weird I am because I hollered out the car window at an acquaintance. I guess I thought everyone did that kind of thing. I posted about the scenario on social media and learned a lot about myself from the comments made by friends and family. 

I'll back up a bit. I love coffee and I especially love Starbucks coffee. I fell in love with it decades ago when I was traveling for work. I appreciated the consistency of their product and customer service. No matter where I traveled, I Could count on a Venti Vanilla Latte to be a Venti Vanilla Latte. That was important to me. As much as I enjoyed visiting local mom and pop restaurants and coffee shops, when I was busy with work, I needed that one piece of consistency to begin my day on a positive note. Now, I only visit Starbucks when I have gift cards, but just being there puts me in a good mood. Before I digress much more, I'll get to the conversation:

Picture hubby and I going through the drive through on a chilly evening a few weeks past Christmas. It's snowing lightly and the barista hands us our drinks with a smile. (I'm in the passenger seat of the farm truck and hubby is driving)

"wow, it's you - hey Crystal I haven't seen you in a while. How are you?"

"I'm great thanks - more importantly how are you? Good Christmas?"

"Pretty stressful actually - I think I'm glad it's over."

"Well - you're still gorgeous and I'm happy to see your smile!"

"You're so sweet; thanks!"

As we drive away, my husband asked if I was hitting on the barista. I turned to him quite perplexed but of course he was laughing as he says "you know, guys don't say that kind of thing to each other. Women are weird."

We had a great conversation and I guess I've been me for so long I hadn't realized I was encouraging people. It probably started when I was managing people at a call center, or maybe as a child when my doting father was always telling me positive things, but it has become a part of my style and after speaking with some of my children's friends, it's become part of them as well. Once you've done something repeatedly over a long period of time, it becomes second nature. 

The more I chatted with friends about encouragement, the more I learned. We created a list of the top 5 things you can do if you want to become an encourager of others. Maybe you're already doing these - but if not, consider adding a few of them to your daily routine. When you encourage others, your self talk changes as well and you'll find yourself smiling more as you do even greater things than you did before!

- Offer a sincere compliment to a stranger or acquaintance (this doesn't have to be wordy - for example: wow - that's an awesome pair of boots! I love your hair! etc...)

- Provide feedback regarding a business transaction (this could mean leaving a book review on Amazon, mentioning something to a manager or owner at a grocery or convenience store, or leaving a note with a tip at a restaurant)

- Take an interest in someone (you can do this in person, over the phone, social media, email, etc... ask someone how they are doing and have a conversation. Offer a compliment about something they are doing that you find interesting. Ie: that sounds really interesting; you've been working hard toward your goal. Way to go!)

- Refer a friend (this could definitely work with authors and readers, but take it one step further and if you know of a friend who is hiring, offer to share their job posting with your friends, if you know a friend looking for work, offer up any suggestions you have that may help them find work, etc... )

- Get your hands dirty (not really...but sort of... basically get involved and sometimes this sounds like "hey, I know getting to the gym is your goal, I'll help you. Wanna meet up there after work tomorrow?" sometimes it does mean physically getting dirty though... ie: "I know you can can get all these seeds in the ground and make this garden happen before it rains, let me help you". Make whatever is important to your friend important to you and get in there to help them. Being on someone's team is very encouraging. 

Have I mentioned how amazing you are dear reader? I love that you show up, take time to read and digest the information, and I'd love to hear from you! What are ways you've encouraged others? How have others encouraged you? And while you're leaving comments - what's your favorite Starbucks drink or the name and location of your favorite coffee shop?

GO!

Thanks in advance for the comments! You're Fabulous!!!

Hugs,

~Crystal

and now...a little more about me...

Shown from left to right:
Delphine riding Honey
Mr. Otto holding Eudora
Crystal riding Marv.
Thank you Forward Farm, LLC 

Crystal is a hot mess of busy-ness who has decided to shorten her bio...

You can find Crystal milking cows, riding horses, and the occasional unicorn (not at the same time), taking the ordinary and giving it a little extra (making it extraordinary), blogging and reviewing books here, and at her own blog - Crystal is dedicated to turning life's lemons into lemonade and she has never (not once) been accused of being normal!

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1 comment crystal casavant, crystal otto, encourage, encouragement, encouraging

Helping Novice Writers Step Out Of The Shadows This New Dawn

I often mention in writing posts that I knew I wanted to be a writer from a very young age. I knew that once I became an adult, I'd graduate from writing stories cross-legged on my bed in black and white notebooks to writing stories for those glossy magazines I saw at the newsstand or were spread across the coffee table in my Livingroom. 

I know now, that had I not been so passionate and dedicated to achieving my writing dream, it may have continued to simmer on a back burner in my life, and I would have stayed in the shadows, writing in notebooks for my eyes only. If that had been the case, I would have wished for a fairy godmother, herself an accomplished writer, who sensed something greater in the words I penned, to have tapped me on my shoulders and said hopefully something like this, " Dear one, you have a gift but you'll never know how far and how wide you can go if you keep hiding your gift under a rock. So I have come to help you step out of the shadows." 

As we enter a new dawn and a new day, after such a tumultuous year, as we usher in healing and hope with our newly elected President, Joe Biden, and our first woman and woman of color Vice President, Kamala Harris, I feel even more motivated as a writer and excited about where my writing will take me. I'm also excited and committed to motivating other writers; friends, family members, and acquaintances I've met through writing, who've expressed their desire to step out of the shadows. I've decided to be their fairy godmother, reminding them that filling journals and notebooks is a starting point for all writers and is indeed cathartic and shouldn't be abandoned, but that they have stories that have outgrown those perfectly lined notebook pages they tuck away in their nightstands at night. They have  stories the world needs to hear, that will make you cry, laugh out loud, and teach you how to make lemonade when life gives you its tartest lemons. They have a gift that shouldn't be hidden under a rock.

Two examples of that are; A good friend of mine writes poetry and bares her soul in her journal about growing up as a foster child and about being a single mother. My sister writes about surviving domestic abuse and has stacks of notebooks filled with stories about how she finally untangled herself from a cycle of abuse and healed. I've encouraged both my friend and my sister to go to the next level with their writing and submit their true-life stories to magazines and anthologies, most recently to one of the Chicken Soup for The Soul Anthologies. It was a proud moment for not only both of them, but also myself, when they wrote and submitted a story to the Chicken Soup for The Soul editors.  

Helping other writers step out of the shadows does my heart good. It doesn't leave me feeling overextended or cause me to neglect my own writing projects, for I don't have to spend hours walking them through each step. I give them basic information, such as to make sure they follow the writer's guidelines, and how to format a manuscript, to get started. Mainly I try to inspire them to cross over the bridge to all the great opportunities waiting for writers on the other side. Who knows, my friend who writes poetry may one day be reciting her poem as poet laureate as eloquently as Amanda Gorman recited her powerful poem, "The Hill We Climb," as the first youth poet laureate and youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history.

So on this new dawn I'd like to share a few things I plan on doing to help novice writers step out of the shadows and into the light: 

1. Offer encouragement without pressure. Just because someone has expressed their desire to publish doesn't mean they are ready to do so when you feel they are, or when you have a magazine in sight that would be the perfect home for their story. They may need time to mentally prepare for sharing their innermost thoughts with an audience and opening themselves up for possible judgement, criticism or rejection. I will let them know they have a story to tell that will inspire and resonate with others on a similar journey and that I hope they will share it soon because I believe in them and their ability to tell a great story.  

2. Gift them writing books as presents. Books such as, "The Elements of Style," by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White, "On Writing: A memoir of the Craft," by Stephen King, "Bird by Bird," by Anne Lamott, and "Writing Down the Bones," by Natalie Goldberg, and the latest edition of, "The Writer's Market," to name a few. 

3. Give them a subscription or information about writing magazines they can subscribe to such as, Poets & Writers Magazine, Writer's Digest, The Writer, or Creative Nonfiction Magazine. 

4. Recommend writing websites, or online courses, many which can be found on WOW, that help writers hone their skills and build their storytelling strengths. 

5. Let them know that the best advice I can offer them, is to write, to write everyday if only for a few minutes, and not worry about the editor or skeptic sitting on their shoulder. Let them know to unabashedly get their story written, and come back to edit later for submission. The more they write, the better they will get, and the more confidence they will have when it comes to sharing their work.

                                                                                           ---Jeanine

Jeanine DeHoney is a freelance writer who has had her writing published in several magazines, anthologies and blogs. 

 

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8 comments encouragement, New Dawn, Novice writers

The Year Isn't Over Yet

When I looked ahead at my posting date today, I wondered what I would say. I didn't have words of wisdom from writing lessons learned these past few weeks. In all honesty, I just haven't been writing that much. At least, not creatively. 

To inspire myself, I looked over a few posts that I wrote last year and came across this gem of a piece that talked about celebrating small successes.  This time last year I was getting rejection letters that seemed really positive. In my blog post, I encouraged people to keep submitting and to celebrate any successes along the way. 

After reading this post, I wondered which story I might have been talking about, and realized something pretty amazing - 

The very story that had been rejected last year had been accepted by a literary magazine a couple of months ago. 

Isn't that something? 

Despite my lack of motivation to write, I have been trying to submit a few stories. I keep getting rejection letters, which is hard because I believe in the stories I'm trying to get published. However, reading this post from last year reminded me that it's worth it to keep trying. It's worth it to keep submitting. You just never know when that story will receive the acceptance it deserves. 

And lately, as this whirlwind of a year draws to a close, I encourage you to keep trying. Keep writing. Keep submitting. And don't forget - this year isn't over yet! You may just get a plot twist in your life that you have desperately needed. 

Hope is never totally lost, and as long as you have a breath in your chest, it's important to keep moving forward. Writing one word in front of another. So, if you are struggling to find something to feel hopeful about, I'm sure you aren't alone. Everyone is struggling these days. I just encourage you to not feel too defeated for too long. Because you just never know what might be around the corner.

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5 comments encouragement, Nicole Pyles, writing

Use Your Inside Voice

...for good that is!!!

Today I'm not talking about the inside voice I remind my kids to use each and every day (realistically several times each and every day). Today I'm talking about that voice inside each of us. The voice that seems to be a mixture of what our parents told us, what our friends said, our experiences, all our exes, and our own self image. You know the one...

"You are more of a book smart person 
than one with common sense"

"Too bad you aren't more mechanically inclined"

"You never were very good at 
putting things together; you didn't 
even like puzzles as a kid"

"Let someone else do that so it works and looks nice"

"Big girls look so awkward dancing"

...etc...

I can usually shut down that stinkin' thinkin' pretty quick, but it's still in there. It's amazing what you can do when you manage to squash those negative inside voices and use the positive ones instead. This weekend was one of those times when I told my inside Negative Nellie to take a long walk off a short pier and I channeled my inner Maya Angelou instead, and it felt oh so good!

I'm still the nerdy girl with the glasses and braces. I've aged, but inside I'm still the "walking encyclopedia" who couldn't find a date for prom. I'm still the awkward girl who got good grades but doesn't even like puzzles or legos (or anything with more instructions than a cheesecake recipe). So...when our dryer broke this weekend I felt pretty helpless. Those inside voices were telling me there's no way I'd be able to fix it, and my husband was busy working on a building project and doing farmer stuff. It doesn't seem like the end of the world, but we cloth diaper and with a family of 7, we do a LOT of laundry (even without diapers). Taking all the laundry and children to the laundromat didn't seem like an option either...so I looked in the mirror and told myself:

"I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels.

 Life’s a bitch. You’ve got to go out and kick ass." 

~Maya Angelou

I grabbed my pretty pink tool kit my mama got me for Christmas in 2015, I tied my hair up and put on my ripped jeans, and I prepared mentally for a bad ass battle with my laundry room appliance. I was feeling pretty tough girl, but just in case...I started it up just once more to make sure it hadn't mysteriously fixed itself (because when I was growing up, I watched Bewitched and even tough girls can dream). Still sounded like I was running a chain link fence through a garbage disposal...

I'll save you the details and give you the same version I gave my bestie via Facebook messenger:

Cathy: Sorry I missed your message, we weren't home but you could have used our dryer.

Me: No worries, I fixed it myself!!!

Cathy: Woo hoo! What was wrong?

Me: Some little human washed and dried a pencil that fell out of the lint trap and was trapped in the fan motor. I actually found about 15 of them, but just the one was the culprit. I took off the back, took it all apart, cleaned it all out, removed all foreign objects, put it back together with 1 screw missing...because I dropped it & it was the last of 15, so I clearly figure it's optional?

Yes, I unplugged it first by the way.

Cathy: LOL, I love your description and it sounds like a great blog...


So, I'm not feeling bad ass enough to try and change my oil or anything, but that inside voice that told me I'm not mechanical is more of a whisper today. I'm going to attempt to channel that same Maya Angelou badass girl and finish up my novel from NaNoWriMo too! Today, I am unstoppable!

Here we are the 2nd day of the New Year and the only resolution I'm making is I'm going to be kinder to myself. 
What about you? 
What has your inside voice stopped you from doing? 
What has that voice helped you achieve? 
If you could be someone else's inside voice, what would you say? Have you ever given that much thought? 

If you compliment someone, there's a chance you'll become one of their inside voices - not sure what you can do to change the world this year? 

How about making it your mission to say something kind and encouraging to someone else? 

Do it each and every day and I guarantee you'll change someone's world!

Thanks for listening and make it a great day by encouraging someone today!

xoxox
~Crystal


Crystal is a secretary, council secretary, and musician at her church, birth mother, babywearing cloth
diapering mama (aka crunchy mama), business owner, active journaler, writer and blogger, Blog Tour Manager with WOW! Women on Writing, Publicist with Dream of Things Publishing, Press Corp teammate for the DairyGirl Network, Unicorn Mom Ambassador, as well as a dairy farmer. She lives in Wisconsin with her husband and their five youngest children (Carmen 11, Andre 10, Breccan 5, Delphine 3, and baby Eudora who somehow turned 1 a few months ago), two dogs, four little piggies, a handful of cats and kittens, and over 230 Holsteins.

You can find Crystal riding unicorns, taking the ordinary and giving it a little extra (making it extraordinary), blogging and reviewing books, baby carriers, cloth diapers, and all sorts of other stuff here, and at her personal blog - Crystal is dedicated to turning life's lemons into lemonade!

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1 comment attitude, encouragement, encouraging, encouraging others, positive attitude, self talk

The World Needs Your Novel!

Happy 1st of November! Yes, it's fall and nearly thanksgiving, but as a writer, November brings so much more! It's National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and right after you read and share this article, I hope you'll post the following on social media:

I am going to be taking a break from unnecessary distractions so I can work on my novel during 2018 NaNoWriMo - Thank you for your support!

The only way the world is going to read my novel is if I limit distractions and let's face it, social media is a blessing and a curse. It's a great way to promote ourselves, our work, and share our love with friends and family, but it's a time suck. NaNoWriMo starts now and if we are going to make it to 50,000 words by midnight on November 30th we are going to need to buckle down and get writing. After all, the world needs your novel!

I'm going to say that again - even louder!

The World Needs Your Novel!

Stop and think about that for a moment. 

I'll wait...

You have a story to tell. The only guarantee in life is that none of us will leave this life alive and if we don't share our story it will be lost forever. You knew that, but take a moment to really let it sink in. What if Jane Austen had waited until 1818 to start writing? We wouldn't have Pride and Prejudice, that's for sure! There's a big difference between writing a novel that isn't published until years after you pass on, and passing on before writing the novel you've created in your head. Don't take those words and that story with you when it deserves an audience. The World Needs Your Novel!

In 1999 National Novel Writing Month began with 21 authors and now all you have to do is google search National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo and you'll find thousands upon thousands of people just like yourself - people who are joining together to share their love and passion and ensure that these novels are being written.

What's holding you back? Time? Confidence? We all have doubts about our abilities - don't wait until
it's too late to share your story. This has been a tough year for me professionally and I lost a business acquaintance who had become a friend - I often think about the fact that I will never have another opportunity to read a new book by him. I know he was working on a new book (he was always working on a new book) and yet he was taken by a tragic accident. Those stories will never be told. His memory is pushing me to participate this year - I don't want my story to go untold. 

Have you participated before? Tell us about your experience as a comment on this post.

Will you be participating this year? Why or why not? We want to know!

Thank you in advance for your comments and support - I can't wait to see what you write this month! (And I'll be first in line to read and help you promote it once your novel is published! - GO YOU!)

Hugs,

~Crystal

Crystal is a secretary, council secretary, and musician at her church, birth mother, babywearing cloth diapering mama (aka crunchy mama), business owner, active journaler, writer and blogger, Blog Tour Manager with WOW! Women on Writing, Publicist with Dream of Things Publishing, Press Corp teammate for the DairyGirl Network, Unicorn Mom Ambassador, as well as a dairy farmer. She lives in Wisconsin with her husband and their five youngest children (Carmen 11, Andre 10, Breccan 5, Delphine 3, and baby Eudora who somehow turned 1 a few weeks ago), two dogs, four little piggies, a handful of cats and kittens, and over 230 Holsteins.

You can find Crystal riding unicorns, taking the ordinary and giving it a little extra (making it extraordinary), blogging and reviewing books, baby carriers, cloth diapers, and all sorts of other stuff here, and at her personal blog - Crystal is dedicated to turning life's lemons into lemonade!

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2 comments encouragement, NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month, writing

I AM...

I write a lot about self talk and today's post is no different. It's the new year and many people are making resolutions to change things in their lives, and to change things about themselves. I'm all for positive change, so long as it doesn't come at the expense of how we view ourselves. A resolution shouldn't sound like this:

I AM SO FAT, I'M GOING TO GO ON A DIET AND GET THIN IN 2017

I AM SUCH A SLOB, I'M GOING TO KEEP THE HOUSE CLEANER THIS YEAR

I AM SUCH A CRAPPY WIFE, I'M GOING TO MAKE AN EFFORT AND FLIRT WITH MY HUSBAND THIS YEAR

I AM THE WORST MOTHER EVER - I'M GOING TO MAKE MORE TIME FOR THE KIDS THIS YEAR

So many of us fall into this trap (especially this time of year).

We can make the same resolutions, but let's do it in a healthy for our head kind of way:

I AM GOING TO BE STRONGER THIS YEAR; I WANT TO EAT HEALTHY IN 2017

I AM GOING TO BE MORE ORGANIZED AND KEEP THE HOUSE CLEANER THIS YEAR

I AM GOING TO FLIRT WITH MY HUSBAND THIS YEAR AND BRING BACK THE SPARK IN MY MARRIAGE

I AM GOING TO ENJOY MY KIDS THIS YEAR BY MAKING MORE TIME FOR FUN ACTIVITIES

and what about our writing?

Do we submit for a contest and get down on ourselves because we didn't make it to the top? Do we send out query letters and get down about how many times we have been rejected? How can we turn those experiences into positive I AM statements?

How about:

WELL, WITH THIS REJECTION, I AM ONE STEP CLOSER TO MY GOAL

I AM MOVING FORWARD; THIS IS NOT GOING TO STOP ME

I AM AN AUTHOR; I HAVE THICK SKIN

I've written plenty about how we talk to ourselves in our heads and in the mirrors. What is something you have been saying to yourself that you shouldn't be? How can you turn that into a positive I AM statement? Share your ideas in the comments of this post - you just may inspire yourself or others, and it will help you stay accountable to your goals. It's impossible to be positive all the time, but there's so much negativity in the world today that we should try to encourage ourselves and our friends.

Make today a wonderful day by loving yourself and those around you!

Hugs,
~Crystal

PS - I AM A LOVING MOTHER AND WIFE; A TALENTED WRITER, A GREAT FRIEND AND ENCOURAGER!

Crystal is a church musician and secretary, babywearing cloth diapering mama (aka crunchy mama), business owner, active journaler, writer and blogger, Blog Tour Manager with WOW! Women on Writing, Publicist with Dream of Things Publishing, Press Corp teammate for the DairyGirl Network, Unicorn Mom Ambassador, as well as a dairy farmer. She lives in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin with her husband, four young children (Carmen 9, Andre 8, Breccan 3, and Delphine 1), two dogs, two rabbits, four little piggies, a handful of cats and kittens, and over 230 Holsteins.

You can find Crystal riding unicorns, taking the ordinary and giving it a little extra (making it extraordinary), blogging and reviewing books, baby carriers, cloth diapers, and all sorts of other stuff  at: http://bringonlemons.blogspot.com/ When she's not doing that, she's baking bread and cookies for her friends and neighbors. She says "the coffee is always hot and you're always welcome here!"

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5 comments being positive, encouragement, encouraging others, encouraging yourself, new year, positive talk, reality, resolutions, self talk, two powerful words

Finding Encouragement at the Book Sale

As I write this I'm at the beach or, as I like to think of it, in recovery. I'm in recovery from the Book Sale. For approximately seven months out of the year my job in the marketing department of a local newspaper includes the Book Sale.

This is no "throw up a few tables in the back room and throw out the books" affair. This is a huge event that happens twice a year and is exhausting for everyone involved. But it's worth it because it funds the Newspaper in Education program that allows the newspaper to donate newspapers to local teachers to use in their classrooms.

Of course the big heroes are our readers who donate thousands...tens of thousands of books...to the sale each year. But there are also dozens of employees at the newspaper who do everything: answer phone calls about the sale, haul books from our offices to the mall where our sale is held, sort books into categories and shelf books, create ads, collect the banana boxes from local grocery stores that we use to move the books, show up to sell the books and countless other jobs that contribute to our sale.

The book sale affects me in two ways. I'm a sorter, opening up the bags, boxes and assorted containers that come to us filled with books and sorting them into categories: fiction, self-help, children's, history, gardening, and on and on. Thousands of books pass through my hands each year. Thousands! Initially, the reader in me is excited by all the books. Yay, books! I am literally surrounded by boxes of books. It is like a dream come true.

But then the writer in me begins to see these piles of bound paper as something else...competition. Why would someone want to read a book by me when they have all these books to choose from? Surely, all these authors are much better writers than me. If these books ended up abandoned in a grocery bag at a used book sale what chance will a book by me stand? I bet the book I'm writing has already been written by someone else and is sitting on one of these tables. (Did I mention sorting is a solitary task -- just me, the books, and lots of time to think depressing thoughts.)

Thankfully, the actual book sale knocks these thoughts right out of me. Not the sale exactly, but the customers. They show up, year after year, in droves. They don't just wander in haphazardly. These people have planned their whole day around the book sale, taken time off from work, brought lists that are pages long. First-timers look around at our shelves and immediately begin calling or texting friends telling them "you have to come up here". Our customers don't buy one or two books. They buy two dozen books, two bags of books, so many books that they need to use our cart to transport everything to their car. They are joyful. This is their favorite day of the year that doesn't involve a national holiday.

And suddenly I am reassured that my book will someday find an audience. How could it not with so many enthusiastic readers out there?

Need a writing boost? Volunteer at your local used book sale!

Jodi M. Webb is writer living in Pennsylvania who also is a WOW blog tour manager. Her next tour will be Sugarland by Martha Conway, a novel that involves murder, Chicago and 1920s jazz clubs. Contact her at jodi@wow-womeonwriting.com if you're interested. You can find her blogging about books at Building Bookshelves. You can check out photos of the book sale that discourages and encourages her here.

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3 comments book sales, encouragement

Celebrate You!

Celebrate YOU, today and every day!

I was pretty excited when I found out I would be doing the WOW! Blog post on Cinco de Mayo. What better day to encourage fellow writers to celebrate than on what is observed in the United States as a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride? Today is a great day to talk about pride in our vocation, and how we deserve to celebrate our successes. Author Joel Osteen said it eloquently: “When nobody else celebrates you, learn to celebrate yourself. It’s not up to other people to keep you encouraged. It’s up to you. Encouragement should come from the inside.”

If you have always been confident in your writing abilities or have always been embraced by agents, publishers, and readers, I want to know your secret! Many of the rest of us view each rejection as a step closer to our goal, and yet there are those moments when we wonder if maybe the school guidance counselor was right and we should have chosen what was categorized as a "real job." Wherever you are in your career or your literary journey, you have something to celebrate, and pride is a lovely thing. Pride plays a vital role in self-confidence. You may not want to go as far as commissioning a European sculptor to create a life-size statue of yourself in the center of town, but find a way to celebrate that feels comfortable to you. Our family has a large framed picture in the entry way (pictured below). Within this frame are some of our proudest moments and we have strategically hung it where we can see it when coming and going. It is a reminder of hard work and goals. It keeps us focused but is also a daily reminder to celebrate who we are. Other celebratory ideas include (but are not limited to):

• Throw yourself a book launch party
• Start a writers' group in your community (and don’t forget the coffee and snacks)
• Start a Facebook page and/or blog for yourself as an author
• Frame a copy of your book cover, magazine article, newspaper article, etc. and hang it in your office
• Treat yourself to a massage, manicure, pedicure, or whatever makes you feel good
• Buy yourself something you wouldn't usually buy (ie: dinner at a particular restaurant, a new hand bag, a fun necklace, etc.)
• Buy a bottle of champagne or your favorite wine and enjoy a glass with that special someone in your life




There’s a time and place for being humble, but when you’ve reached your goal (whatever that means for you), remember to make time to celebrate. Better yet, celebrate without hesitation or guilt. The celebration will help you stay encouraged to set new goals and achieve those too. Remember the quote at the beginning of this post—“encouragement should come from the inside” and this is no time to be bashful. Take pride in your work and get out there and celebrate everything that you are!

Thank you WOW! for today’s blogging opportunity and the daily opportunity to work with so many talented individuals. Readers, I would love to hear from you—what are some ways you’ve celebrated you and your accomplishments? If you haven’t celebrated in the past, tell us why and maybe let us know how you plan to celebrate in the future.

~Crystal

Crystal J. Casavant-Otto is a church musician, business owner, active journaler, writer and blogger as well as a dairy farmer. She lives in Reedsville, Wisconsin with her husband, two young children (Carmen 6 and Andre 4), three dogs, and nearly 200 Holsteins. Crystal is expecting another child at the end of September.

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9 comments celebrate success, celebrate you, encourage yourself, encouragement, encouragement for writers, goal setting, pride