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Mistakes We Make #11 & Vicki Talks Writing on TV Tonight

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errors, mistakes, flaws, authors, writers, novelists, creative writing, nurture, positive environment, constructive solutions, resolutions, what we need, what we want Vicki Hinze, writers library

Note: Vicki will be appearing on WSRE (PBS) tonight at 7 PM talking about writing.

Memorial

On October 15th, my beloved mother-in-law, Leona Hinze, was diagnosed with terminal cancer. She has now passed.

She was a courageous woman to the very end, and one who experienced many changes in her ninety-one years. For 68 of those years, she played the organ for her church, St. John’s Lutheran. In my 34 years with her, she often said when she reached playing for a hundred weddings, she was going to retire, but then someone would ask her to play for their wedding and she always did. At the time of her death, she had played 127 weddings and over 300 funerals.

Music was her ministry and her passion, and I, along with many others, were privileged to hear her express her heartfelt passion often and for a long time.

Once, when I thought I was dying, I told her I had been blessed. I’d had a life of being well loved and of loving well. In real life, that’s about the best it gets. A few days before her death, she told me that she’d thought about loving and being loved and she’d been blessed with a wonderful life. Now and forever all of us treasure those words from her and we’re comforted by them.

In lieu of flowers, the family has requested contributions to the Leona Hinze Memorial Fund at St. John’s Lutheran Church. The address is 3316 Hummingbird Lane at Hwy 77, Robstown, Tx 78380. This memorial fund is dedicated to a new organ for the church.

Blessings,

Vicki

ATTENTION READERS AND THOSE BUYING BOOKS TODAY

CODE #: 18391243

If you are buying books at Barnes & Noble online

or in the store today,

please use the code number above.

BN will send a portion of the net proceeds to

Edge Elementary School.

It costs you nothing,

it can provide the resources

to really help the little ones attending this school.

Blessings,

Vicki

Edge Tigers

Dealing With Stress

WARNING:  This is a no-edit zone...

In the last week, every email that I’ve gotten from those who read this blog has related to crisis and stress.  Understandable, considering. 

Stress either builds slowly over time or comes on like a gangbuster and body slams you.  Either way, we know that stress kills.   Many try to ignore what has them stressed.  They deny, rationalize, ignore, suppress, or otherwise attempt to hide from the stress factors that are burdening them.

It doesn’t work.  And the impairments that come with it impact you emotionally, spiritually and physically.  There is no calm, peace, serenity and the physical body rebels against all those things.  You see headaches, body aches even nausea and colon challenges.  The entire body can be impacted and tossed into turmoil.

What does work?

Dealing with the stress.

How do you do that?

Get physical. 
     Exercise releases endorphins that counter the chemical imbalance stress brings on.

Get rested.
     Weariness and exhaustion destroys our ability to make calm, rational decisions or to set our course of actions.

Get smart.
     Whether your worries are personal, your private business, your professional business, the nation’s business--get informed.  It’s impossible to make wise choices when you don’t know the details.  When you understand the challenge, then you can focus on the solution. 

Making that shift--from the challenge to the solution is paramount in lowering your stress level.  Why?  Because command of the matter gives you confidence that the decisions you make will be good ones, seated in wisdom.

These are stressful times and they’re going to get worse before they get better.  Every generation has its challenges, and this one is no exception.  That isn’t always a bad thing.  It’s not pleasant, but challenges have value.  If we elect not to ignore but to deal with these challenges, we often discover what we stand for, what we will not stand for.  We discover our strengths, our character.  

We discover ourselves . . .

Blessings,

Vicki

Vicki Hinze
www.vickihinze.com

Stork Alert!

The stork has landed...

I'll be out a few days! :)

Blessings,

Vicki

WHAT IS GOING ON?

WARNING:  This is a no-edit zone...

Since I’ve received so many notes asking about the changes on the site, I thought I’d answer here.

In short, someone has too much time on their hands and not enough substance to use it constructively, so they’ve been clipping my articles, attaching them and my name to spam, largely on sites dedicated to mature content.  (Read between the lines and you’ll get the malicious gist of it.)

Not only is this copyright infringement, it’s a greater offense because I have a lot of minor students who use the writers’ library because they’re interested in learning to write or in becoming writers.  If one uses a search engine rather than coming directly to this site, one is apt to see photos and read content one shouldn’t--and doesn’t want to--read.  

So I filed reports with the FBI and they’ve been terrific.  All of this has sidetracked me from my own work, trying to undo the nastiness. I’ve lost mental track of the number of abuse reports filed, the number of notices of copyright violations, etc. (Yes, I did retain hard copies, electronic copies and backups.  I’ve nearly filled a flash drive with this nonsense.)  Authorities and an electronic investigator have been hard at work running all this down to nip this challenge in the bud.

A head’s up warning:  do check your yahoo groups.  I discovered my public email address had been subscribed to lists I hadn’t or wouldn’t join.  I had no idea.  (Lesson learned:  monitor all.)

Anyway, with all of this going on, I had to do something to a) protect the young adults from exposure as best I am able and b) protect my copyrights.  So I moved the Writers’ Library to a private access site.  It requires an ID and password (more work on this end), is monitored (even more work on this end) and is computer specific (yet even more work on this end).

There were two choices:  stop sharing or go private access.  I elected to go private access.  I don’t like it, library users (I’m sure) don’t like it (though they’ve expressed understanding and support, for which I’m grateful).  But one of my missions in life is to mentor and so it’s an extra effort I wish I didn’t have to take, but I will take to not be derailed from my mission.

Initially, I was advised to put my Faith Zone blog posts on the private access site as well as the Writers’ Library.  Actually, I was advised to put the instructional blog posts written here in My Kitchen Table, the Faith Zone posts, my podcasts and the Writers’ Library on the private access site.

I did move the Faith Zone and Writers’ Library.  But the Faith Zone being behind closed doors really rubbed me raw.  I write it to share my spiritual journey so others can see we all stumble and fumble and fall to our knees, scrape our noses and still get up and move forward again. That’s the entire purpose of sharing it.  If it’s locked behind closed doors, so to speak, then it can’t fulfill its purpose for existing.

So again I was at a crossroad and it was decision time.  Do I allow someone with poor judgment (committing destructive acts just to annoy or damage rather than focusing on their own personal, constructive forward momentum IS poor judgment) to interfere?  Or do I elect to drop the project?

Dropping it would have been easier.  Much easier than this negative time-eater (for me and others!).  But, you know, that’s a cut-and-run resolution to this challenge, and that’s no solution at all.

So I prayed a lot, moved many of the Faith Zone posts back into the open forum, and have some monitoring assistance that is exceptional at doing what they do.  And I recall something my dad once said and I’ve not forgotten:  “If it’s worth doing, it’s worth fighting for.  If it’s not worth fighting for, why are you doing it?”

Faith Zone is worth doing.  

Going through the private access site challenges is worth doing.

Nipping copyright infringements and adopting a zero-tolerance policy on them is worth doing.

The added demands on my time and resources to mentor with the library are worth doing.

Bottom line, I’m doing what I believe has worth.

So that’s what’s going on.  It’s why my posting has been sporadic.  It’s why things are shuffling around and processes and permissions are changing.   It’s why I’m taking a bit longer to respond to emails and why I’ve recruited a little extra help.  I nicknamed her “The Enforcer” and him “The Hammer.” ☺  

If you happen across a violation, please let me know.  If we allow this nonsense, we’re doomed to more of it.  Getting away with it only encourages more of it and for others prone to this type of thing to violate us, too.  I don’t like feeling violated, and I’m sure you don’t, either.  So it’s on to pro-active time.

Here’s a quick list on what’s where now:

My Kitchen Table blog is public and HERE on the writing website. (www.vickihinze.com)

Faith Zone blog is public and HERE on the writing website.  (www.vickihinze.com)

Kids’ Faith Zone blog is public and at www.faithzonegran.com.  (Audio has been added.)

Writers’ Library is on a private access site.  Apply for access HERE.

Newsletters are public and HERE on the writing website. (www.vickihinze.com)

Readers’ Discussion Guides for readers’ groups are on the individual Book Pages.

Podcasts are public and HERE on the writing website. (www.vickihinze.com)

Everything else remains the same.

One note:  There are still a few posts in the Private Access Site FAITH ZONE blog that have not been migrated back to the public site.

So that’s what’s been going on here.  It hasn’t been fun, but it certainly has been informative. Soon, I’ll post a Tip Sheet on things you might want to check to make sure none of the nonsense is going on with you--and if it is, what countermeasures you can take.

It’s worth it.  You’re worth it.

Blessings,

Vicki

Important Note

Effective today, I will be posting my blogs on my website as follows:

Writing: Craft, Art, Business and Life: My Kitchen Table

Spirituality: Faith Zone

The "Vicki Hinze on Writing" blog will be incorporated into the MY KITCHEN TABLE blog.

The website url, should you have link challenges or desire to paste into your browser is:

http://www.vickihinze.com

Blessings,

Vicki

P.S. If you're viewing this via reader, you'll need to visit the www.vickihinze.com website to view any updates.

I apologize for any inconvenience, but I'm paddling as hard as I can, and I just can't keep up, so I'm having to consolidate where and when possible. Appreciate your understanding.

For your convenience, I will still notify you of new posts here.

Vicki Hinze
www.vickihinze.com

TAGS: Vicki Hinze, hinze blog, CREATIVE WRITING, feature article, writing craft, books, novels, readers, authors, emerald coast writers, novelists, booksellers, book reviewers, everyday woman radio, romance writers, thriller writers, suspense writers

Take a Step...

Stealing Religion

This one of those “can you believe it” days.

In the news this morning, there’s a report on a thief that has me shaking my head and wondering, “What is s/he thinking?”

Stealing isn’t a novelty; unfortunately, it happens with monotonous regularity. So what made this theft, or this thief, noteworthy?

The objects stolen. A nativity scene from a family’s front yard. Statues of Mary and Joseph and more. Not only did the thief steal these things, s/he also trashed other items in the family’s display--including bells and trees.

People have fought wars over religion throughout recorded history. They’ve corrupted religion, and hidden behind it when it suited them. They’ve committed all manner of crimes to all manner of people and dragged religion into it to justify their actions, regardless of how inappropriate or insincere they were in citing them. We’ve seen these type actions often--Saddam Hussein is a prime example, and there are many, many others.

It makes one wonder how a thief can twist and rationalize his/her actions to make stealing, much less stealing these types of things, acceptable.

The majority of us find stealing morally repugnant. We find stealing religious symbols representative of significant events to the owners even worse. Our disdain is palpable, our empathy with the targeted family engaged.

And then we learn that this family suffered this flagrant violation not once but twice. In a single week.

Twice they’ve been violated, had their boundaries trespassed upon and their property stolen. Twice the thief or thieves had no regard for the family. And twice the family was left with the rubble in their yard and with the task of cleaning up the mess the thief/thieves had left behind.

As I think of this family this morning, I wonder if they’ll build their display again--a third time. I hope that they do--and that they consider using electric fencing materials. A little shock could make a would-be thief stop and think. A shame that’s legally considered entrapment when it could spare a soul.

And I find my thoughts veering to the thief and, for the life of me, I can’t imagine how s/he has justified to him- or herself these actions. Stealing a religious display. It’s as warped as stealing religion itself. Will s/he recall the theft with each glance at the stolen nativity scene? What sickening baggage will s/he attach to the theft? Will s/he even grasp the magnanimity of what s/he’s done to him/herself?

You know, the sad truth is s/he probably will not. Anyone twisted enough to highjack religious displays is likely too twisted to know the truth when it’s staring them in the face.

Which is not to say that there won’t come a time when the scales are lifted from the eyes and the thief sees his/her true self with all the veneer stripped away. The truth shall set you free, right?

But first it’ll be a long look into a harsh mirror in which nothing is hidden and all that is true is exposed. Then the thief will learn the penalty of his/her actions, and then s/he will suffer the utmost consequences. Because in the very symbols stolen are promises that remain intact: you reap what you sow. And from that, the thief cannot hide.

I wonder. When the thief sows, feels the full weight of the consequences of his/her actions, how will s/he feel about stealing then? Because the truth is, the thief(s) might have stolen and damaged and destroyed that family’s property. But s/he did far more lasting damage to him/herself. The kind self-inflicted that requires far more than mere repayment to be satisfied. It requires forgiveness, and that requires divine grace.

Do you think, stealing a nativity, that this thief will have the courage to ask for divine grace?

Only s/he can answer that. But one thing is certain, while the family returns to its life of joy and peace, the thief or thieves will experience the absence of joy and/or peace and will experience the question being called over and again--in a year, five years, twenty or thirty years--until s/he does answer.

Knowing that, one has to ask: In stealing, who--the family or the thief--has and will suffer the greatest loss?

Blessings,

Vicki

P.S. After completing this post, I googled the article title “Christmas Vandals hit again.”
There were over 41,000 related stories...