The book was amazing, all that I expected it to be and more. It was sensible. It was smart. It was funny. And it provided the encouragement (and caveats) of making that escape. Just as Seth Godin wrote on the back cover “…It will inspire, instruct, and push. No excuses. Don’t wait. Hurry. Go. Now!”

And do I did.

Last week  Pam Slim asked me if I’d like to participate in her Side Hustle and Flow interview series. Well, of course, I said! Besides the fact that Pam’s website is hopping with traffic, I was excited to share my story–maybe even inspire another cubicle-dweller to start planning the plan.

Here is the interview for your reading pleasure. Feel free to share comments–or any other form of congratulations (cards, balloons, flowers, jewelry and The Loft gift cards are always appreciated)–here or on Pam’s blog.

Side Hustle and Flow Interview Series: Gwen Morrison

photo credit: Michael Lokner

After tomorrow, you’ll see a change in the blog. It won’t be the 365 blog anymore, but it will still be me. It will be random. There will be posts on life. On love. On growing up and growing wiser. On entrepreneurship. On laughing until you pee your pants.

The joy of the journey is in the ride

I’m about to start an entirely new chapter of my life and I’m strapped in and ready for the ride!

You with me?

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Now, as I said, these guys appear to be very nice guys with a pretty cool product but what was it in their story that seeped into my psyche only to be unleashed on the big screen during my REM cycle last night?

It’s so strange to me how real dreams feel. At least mine do. I’ve dreamt about weird things — like my husband “cooking my steak too thin,” (I know it doesn’t make sense but apparently that is what I asked him – aloud –one night after drifting off to sleep five minutes after I hit the pillow), and I’ve had dreams that have scared me to the core.

Last week I had the same dream 3 nights in a row. It was an unsettling dream about my daughter, now 24. Every night when I settled into a deep sleep, there she was, standing waist-high in the ocean–far from shore. And every night, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t reach her. She was about 5 years old, standing alone in the deep water. And she looked so scared that I couldn’t stand it, but I couldn’t get to her. And for two nights in a row, the lights would dim and the dream would fall apart (in an Inception-kind-of-way) just before I reached her.

On the third night, the dream opened the same way. I was on the beach. People were everywhere, and Robyn was standing out in the water, looking right at me. But on this night, instead of treading water, trying to keep afloat, she walked right onto the shore, effortlessly — as though she was never in any danger after all. I grabbed her tight, pulling her tiny wet body to mine. And when I woke up I could swear the taste of salt water was on my lips. Spooky stuff.

Well, it’s 10 p.m. and it’s time to turn in for the day, and I wonder what will be playing in my dreams tonight. Will I dream about the tiger that I thought was the neighbor’s dog — the one I fed and let into the basement? Or will I dream that I’m on stage with Bon Jovi, like I did last month when he and I started our European comeback tour.

Who knows what the night will bring!

photo: AlicePopkorn

So, given the fact that I love a good conversation,  it will come as no surprise to you that when Facebook and Twitter emerged on the scene in recent years, I was intrigued. A new way to communicate. A new way to connect with people. I was IN!

My new project — the big “THING” that’s been keeping me from my writing, has finally launched. Endurance Marketing, my new company, is live and kicking. And to be honest, I’m not even sure how it all began, but I’m having a blast! Not only am I helping small business owners navigate through the overload of information out there on social media for business, but I’m connecting with people as far away as Vancouver, Canada. ( Big shout out here, to Margaret Page at Etiquette Page, who is one of the most delightful people in the world to talk to and to work with. Check out her site when you can. Her blog is filled with all kinds of great tips! )

So there you have it. Now, back to the novel writing.

I have shelved the book, for now–but not forever. With less than 60 days left in this 365 days of writing, I feel confident I won’t finish the first draft, so I wonder now what I will do with this blog. Ideas? Should I start over at day one? Or should I simply write every day (which I still do)…and continue to entertain the few of you who have stuck with me through these 316 days?

Hmmm…..what to do…what to do…

Stay tuned. I feel a website revamp coming on….

I stumbled on an interesting blog post at Spousonmics yesterday that inspired me to give some thought to the things I can do for my husband to make him happier—that don’t make me any worse off.

So what got me thinking about that? Pareto efficiency, that’s what.

The concept is simple enough.  A marriage is “pareto efficient” if: “there is no simple change that would make either person happier, or just as happy.” And that got me thinking.

My husband is a happy enough guy, and outside of the “obvious” things that make him happy (keep it clean, people! My kids read this blog)…I wondered (for a moment) if perhaps we’d reached the point in our marriage where there was nothing more we could possibly do to make each other happier than we are today. Could it be? Could we have perfected this marriage thing?

…nah! I was fairly certain that my husband would say that there are many things I could “still” do that would make him happier (and still not make me any worse off.)

So, Happy Valentine’s Day, honey. Here are 10 things I know I can do for you that will make you happier.

1. Stop telling you how to drive (aka…ignore your mild road rage)
2. Stop moving everything you own, and forgetting where I put it
3. Entertain the notion that my way isn’t the only way (I stole that one..but it fits)
4. Keep my daily recap (rant) short and sweet
5. Spend more time shopping at Victoria Secret
6. Try to remember to put laundry into the dryer the first day it was washed
7. Find a system to organize my passwords
8. Learn to love Sci-Fi films
9. Stop complaining about your spaghetti
10. Try to stay awake for an entire movie on date night

As nice as it sounds–this “pareto efficient” marriage thing– I think there is always SOMETHING you can do to make a person happy (er). And fooling yourself into thinking you’ve reached ultimate perfection is a slippery slope, my friend.

What’s on your list?

photo credit: elycfeliz

When I started this blog, it was for me-to inspire me to write every day. And it started out pretty well. And then, as is the case in most “best laid” plans, it got off course. Railroaded by other goals I set for myself that had to trump the writing time. And that’s okay.

Now, to say I haven’t been writing every day would be false. I’ve blogged and blogged. Written website content and marketing material. I’ve journaled and written grocery list after grocery list. I’m a writer, dammit, you know I’m writing. But the book…ah…the book…The book is on hold. Not forgotten, to be sure, but on hold, for now.

The 365 Days of Writing blog will start over on Day One, in just over 2 months. It won’t be such a “novel” idea– for reasons I just explained, and because, well, it can’t be a novel idea if I’ve already done it, can it? Confusing.

Bottom line is that I still believe that in order to improve as a writer, you have to write. Often. Daily, if possible. Write something.

But,if you’ve set writing goals for yourself that you just haven’t been able to meet, don’t sweat it. Don’t focus on what you haven’t done. Just move the bar. You’re the one who set the rules, so adjust them. Cut yourself some slack. But do write. Something.

Even if it’s not something that supports a particular writing project you’re working on …Sit down with pen and paper, think about something “real” that’s happened in your life, and just write it down. OR, as I like to do, write a journal entry about your struggles with time or motivation, or whatever else is bugging you. Think of it as a personal bitch session. You’ll be amazed how much better you’ll feel once you let go of the frustrations you’re holding onto about expectations you’ve placed on yourself! Quite therapeutic. Give it a try!

photo credit: sirwiseowl

I don’t know if it’s the weather, my current frame of mind, or the fact that I did something wanky with my back last week and have been unable to stand (or sit) for long periods of time without experiencing some level of pain, but I have been hibernating. Physically, not mentally, I might add. Mentally, I’m traveling the world at mach speed, but physically, I’ve found it much easier to just stick to my daily routine, trundling along from day to day without feeling an desire to start up the car and explore the outside world.

I’d like to use the bad back as an excuse for pulling away from everyone, but I know that the retreat happened early in the year, many day before I “threw my back out” while getting ready for bed. (Yes, it’s apparently, at my age, removing your skinny jeans within the confines of a small closet is considered an extreme sport, accompanied by extreme risk). ANYWAY…I went to a dinner with a friend early in the year and I remember saying to her “I’m really not avoiding you, in particular, I’m just hibernating. Don’t know why really.”

So, here I am…back is on the mend and I am finally feeling the need to engage with people outside my immediate family again. All signs are pointing to a sunny, (warm?) weekend and I’m pumped. Motivated. Ready to start wearing pants that have zippers in them once again, run a comb through my hair, and re-enter my social life.

Is is just me? Or does anyone else feel like hiding out when the weather is cold and the days are dark?

photo credit: beingmyself

This is my hair. And it is #10 in top 10 view on Dave's Flickr page--out of more than 6000 views! Not too shabby!

So there I was, with bad hair, MEETING this new friend for the first time. With Skype, if you’ve used it you’ll know, there’s a big image of the person you’re chatting with, if they start the video on their end, but there is also a window that shows YOU. Yes, you. So, I find this a little distracting, most of the time, but especially on this call, when I was having a particularly bad hair day, meeting this woman, as I said, for the FIRST time.

I caught myself turning my head left to right, and I was rambling on about my lowlights and how my hair used to be short, and how I wasn’t sure if I liked it. And then I shared that really my hair is never the same…that every time I dry it, it turns out different. (Like this woman really would want to know this? Really? ) I was apologizing for my hair. And she’d really never seen it any other way, so how was she even to know it was  a bad hair day?

The call was delightful, in spite of my obsession with my hair. Somehow over the next few days–where I may have even been still thinking about her first encounter with my appearance– I emailed her and at the end of the email I said something like “Oh, and I’m having a great hair day,” or something of the sort. She wrote back, “How nice! Send me a picture!” (or something like that). And so I did. I took a quick photo with my Blackberry and sent it off.

She sends me a lovely note back saying “Gwen.  You have to “Claim Your Beauty! I have a speech on that!” And boy, did she. She sent me this incredible essay she wrote about seeing herself in a whole new way…pointing out how we, as women, tend to find all of our flaws when looking in the mirror–that maybe we even LOOK for them.

“The human mission, it would seem, is to seek flaws and flush out imperfections,” she writes. “Of course, if that’s what we’re looking for, that’s what we see. That’s why we have to keep our attention on our beauty, the magic that naturally radiates from each and every one of us.”

It was a beautifully-written essay that really hit home for me, and I think most women I know would agree. You know that feeling you get when you put on the most perfect outfit, and you BELIEVE you look amazing…it’s the believing it, no matter what color it is, what size, or what the cost — if you believe you look spectacular in the outfit, you walk different. You stand taller. You are radiant to others because your natural beauty is shining. I’ve been there, too. Had those moments. And if you ask any man, they will say that a beautiful woman is someone who believes in herself. One who is confident and secure. And who knows she is beautiful.

I’ve been testing this theory in the past week. And today, as I was drying my hair, my husband came in the bathroom and I smiled. And the next word out of his mouth were “You know.. you are even more beautiful than you were 20 years ago.”

And instead of saying “Oh, yeah? I didn’t have these wrinkles 20 years ago,” I simply smiled at him and said, “Thank you.”

Thank you Margaret, for the reminder that we are who we think we are.

photo credit: Dave Morrison and Ranti

For our anniversary, I planned a quiet dinner at home, just the two of us. Steak, wine, candles–the whole bit. And when my husband walked in, my heart did a little flutter (and no, it wasn’t because he was carrying a bag from the Cheescake Factory). After 19 years, he still does it for me. Maybe more so, now that we’re both grown ups…all wise and wonderful now.

So what’s the secret? You know, I don’t know if there is any one secret to a long marriage. I think it’s probably different for everyone. My husband, Dave, might say that the secret, for him, is…well…patience and understanding. The fact that he is a “go with the flow” kind of guy, helps in that regard. He rarely gets rattled. He is solid, where I am fluid. He is the constant. I, the change.

We are as different as we are alike. Different enough to keep life interesting, and similar enough that we enjoy much of the same things.

So, happy anniversary honey. It’s been a helluva ride so far!

On our Alaskan Cruise

Posers...

Halloween 2010

At our son's wedding

Laughter IS the best medicine

Looking forward to the next 2o!

Maybe because a big part of my day job is managing our corporate blog — and by managing, I mean posting articles written by OTHER people, applying SEO tactics, adding photos, socializing, posting, analyzing…but not writing, so much. I write the odd post every now and then, but for the most part I am the blog manager…not the blog writer. And, as you can guess…I kinda like writing. The writing is the part of blogging that I enjoy the most.

So, now, that sounds a little ass-backwards, doesn’t it. One would think that since I’m not writing on the day-job blog, I’d be all gung-ho on the blog/hobby/writing/journal-blog …but as I said, there’s a shift. When I think about the blog now, I can’t for the life of me think of a topic that would be of any interest at all to all of you (thank you dear followers…I believe I have 81 now!…and sorry, dear followers, for being such a 365 days of writing slacker…).

So, what do you do when you get like this? When the things you really do LOVE to do take a back seat to other time-consuming tasks…cooking, cleaning…avoiding the reality that maybe I’ve simply run out of writing steam. That I have said all there is to say?

So what do you do when you hit a blogging wall like this? Do tell. Please. Do tell.

photo: the|G|™