In between the snow post and the 7Pi7D finale post, there was an additional post by MY who lives over at For the Love of Life. Her post went live earlier today; do have a read and let her know of your comments.

Change is relative. Change is what you are made to believe must be different. You cannot make change happen by yourself. Can change also just mean evolve? I never think that we change. I think we just simply evolve.

We are not born into the people we are today. We are who we are today because of a decision you made before, and that decision you made , was influenced by someone else’s decision, and their decision was also influenced. So you see, its all predetermined. nothing is actually yours, nothing that you think you changed was truly done by you. It is the conglomeration of many CIRCUMSTANCES  that were presented before you, and yours, and theirs- before that.

Circumstances have determined everything in your life. You only feel the need to get moving if there is a force, or a purpose in your cause-  TO GET UP IN THE MORNING. Free will, does not exist. If we all had free will , then we would be complete products of our nature -and our nature was not determined by us either.  Nothing would propel us to move. Do we make our own decisions?  Or is it someone else that did for us? Our society? Our belief system that was the rise and fall of who we are today? It is our environment that is the cause and effect of the world around us. It moves you. People move you.

Without each other, -You, Me, who are we?

And those are my random thoughts.

Bless,
MY

I am MY and I blog at For the Love of Life

It has been quite a week on this blog! For anyone who hasn’t been up to speed with the happenings, let me tell you what 14 other bloggers and myself have been upto!

In January 2009, this blog began it’s participation in NaBloPoMo. NaBloPoMo is an innitiative as such, to get bloggers to post on a daily basis. The idea is also to try and blog on a particular theme, but it is not mandatory. The theme for January 2009 was “Change”. It was a subtle theme to begin the year with because January is normally about change, about resolutions, about improving yourself; but January 2009 will also stand out in history as the period in which this world witnessed a truly historic political change which affects almost everyone.

As part of my daily blogging routine, I wanted to gauge how “change” was going to affect the people who read this blog, and more importantly, what is their view of change as they see it in their life. To measure this (using no particular scale as such), the 7 posts in 7 Days (7Pi7D) project was born. The scale of the initial project had to be altered, but the concept remained. This blog was opened to fellow bloggers and non-bloggers to air their views, opinions, and thoughts on this subject of change.

The result of this was amazing, and far exceeded my expectations. The quality of posts which each of these 14 bloggers put together was pretty outstanding. Moreover, I think we can clearly identify that the daily battles which most of us face may be unique to each one of us, but is something that each one of us can definitely relate to. I love the fact that new blogging friendships were forged during this project, and hopefully each one of these guys will see and benefit because of the newly formed alliances.

Another aspect of the 7Pi7D project was a prize for the 500th comment; the prize would go to the 500th commenter ofcourse, and the blogger on whose post the comment appeared. The winners are AnonymouslyMe (blogger) and Digital Niqabi (commenter). An Amazon voucher, and a charity donation are on their way!

As for this blog, well, NaBloPoMo in January was very enjoyable! Saying that, I don’t think I will participate in NaBloPoMo for a while. A major part of my blogging experience is to actually read other blogs, and relate to them from my personal experiences. Unfortunately, during January, I have hardly had time to read and comment on the blogs which I love and follow. I miss this big time, and want to get back to this ASAP. My studies have also taken a fair bit of a hit because of the marathon blogging and the time which it took last month; I want to pick that up again too.

Saying that, I am not one to sit down and continue with a fixed routine! I want to definitely give the blog a facelift, and this is top of a priority list over the next two months. I am also looking at collaborative blogging, and need to further thrash some ideas out in that area. What I do know is that I am reading more blogs outside of my comfort zone, and these are helping me identify challenging areas as a blogger. A little bit of work on the ideas, and we can have something interesting going, not only here but also on other blogs.

I will begin February 2009 by going “shush” for sometime. Work is a little hectic at the moment, and I am begining my month out of London for most of the coming week. I should be alive on twitter, and hopefully back to my blogging best by the end of the week!

The last week of January 2009 was great fun! I want to thank everyone big time for participating. Each of you is in my reader already, an hopefully I will catch up with reading and commenting in the coming days.

I will leave you with 14 of the best! They are linked below in the order of their appearance:

Antonella

Pipi

AnonymouslyMe

Mars

MaliZOMG

Sarah Elizabeth

Falak

HFM

HanniePants

Ms Outcast

Digital Niqabi

Katherine

Dallas Diaries

Lili

MY *updated* – One more for good measure!

Have a good February everyone!

You know when someone guest blogs, they always start off with the major in-your-face ad about themselves and then explain that they are guest blogging for so and so, and hopefully you like it?

Yeah. Well this is no different.

Sorry.

Current mood: Miffed.

I almost left my job to get a TV gig. That’s how close I was to losing any sense of reality. I did the pilot and a few promos and then the promises came, but the call did not.

Well, actually, I got the “don’t call me, I’ll call you” from the network.

And then months later, I noticed some yup faced 23 year old replaced me.

(Thanks, TV world, I should have never told you I’m almost pushing the 30 year old mark)

A certain form of defeat always comes when you put yourself out there, attend multiple casting calls and auditions and get a false hope that the person that you once were- the little child star– still has the ability to kick ass in the industry.

A certain form of cynicism builds up when people in the industry are in reality, a better actress than you are, only because you bought their overly enthusiastic reaction to your audition hook line and sinker, only to realize they’ve been trained to give you enthusiasm, regardless if they like you or not.

But most importantly, the biggest form of annoyance at the world, to where you ALMOST get to the point of pulling out a sledge hammer and bludgeoning materialistic things around you happens when you head back to your actual 9-5 bill paying job after an audition, in the rain, with your hair almost to the point of reliving Medusa’s life, and you think you scored a front row parking to the building, only to realize:

The new hire who is pushing 75 years old parked his black corvette in two parking spots, closest to the door.

When you lose a part in an audition and head back to the job you really don’t like, and someone takes up TWO.PARKING.SPOTS.CLOSEST.TO.THE.ENTRANCE, it makes you just…

… snap.

I was *this* close to keying his stupid car as I walked the mile back in the rain to the entrance of my work.

Another day in Dallas. Thanks for listening. You’re cheaper than my shrink.

Hi, I am Dallas Diaries and I blog at Because it’s the Dallas etiquette.

Perhaps it’s narcissistic.  You probably don’t give a damn about the inner dialogues of my mind.  But, no matter how many times I sat down to write about the momentous change we all were privileged to witness last week, I was unsatisfied.  I deleted it five times over.  I gave up, shut my lap top, drank buckets of coffee, and drummed my fingers on the table.  Was it spectacular?  Yes.  Did a tsunami of hope come over me when I watched Obama swear into office?  Of course.  Can I tell you anything that a million other writers haven’t already said a thousand times over, with more eloquence than  I could ever hope for?  Nope.

So, here is my story about change.  My change.

I grew up in a five bedroom house in oil rich south Texas. No, I don’t have an accent.

When he was governor, I once saw W standing on the steps of my church.  I like listening to him talk.  2004 found me living, courtesy of my father’s pocketbook, in a small college town in east Texas.  A staunch conservative, a shiny black W sticker glistened on the bumper of my Ford mustang.   I voted for Bush.

I still cringe a little when I say the word.  Liberal.  I still feel a little out of place in my own opinions, kind of like wearing a prom dress in a bowling alley.  It just doesn’t fit.

But, my eyes were ripped open in 2005 when I married an immigrant, lost my health insurance, and began work as a domestic violence advocate in a shelter for women and children.

Where to begin?

I poured every dime into just keeping my husband living in this country, legally.  I worked two jobs to pay for fees and forms and legal advice.  I parked my car up against a tree to keep it from being repossessed.  I defaulted on my student loans.  I dropped out of college.  I gave away my cat. I pawned my beloved diamond charm bracelet.  I moved to Canada.

The US government lost our paperwork.  We had to start over.  No refund.  No apology.  Start over.

Dropping out of school, I lost my health coverage.  Due to medical conditions, I could not afford more insurance.  There is still a stack of red envelopes on my kitchen table, bills from emergency rooms and hospitals.

Years later, my first real job out of college in a shelter surrounded by women who cannot afford housing, health coverage, clothes for their children, psych meds.  Fathers deported, leaving behind five US citizens under ten years old to live very meagerly off of social services and charity.

I have seen first hand the magnitude of the hurdles facing people just to live in this country.  I  have seen people shackled together in an immigration office.  I once saw a starving women, in the United States of America,  shit in her pants at the table because her body didn’t know how to react to a full stomach.  I have seen children covered in dirt, and sores, and lice – living in cars.

Liberal?   Really, you?

Yes.

I lived it.   I witnessed it  I became a victim to my own blind choice.  I changed.

Change is in the air, and as most citizens of this country and other countries watching worldwide, I am standing with open arms ready to embrace it.

My Name is Katherine, and you can read me on Katherine Unabridged.

Change;
(Noun), “Change is a-coming!”
(Verb), “Change the subject, please.”
Simultaneously effortless and impossible.

The path to transformation is littered with debris,
including a million lists of tasks to be done,
a few epics containing dreams to be realized,
and a lengthy playbill of the people I’ve disappointed.

A lonely trail,
one in which I seek only my own company
because I am too afraid
to see myself in the eyes of my loved ones.

An unlit road,
where I go through the motions of the day
as if under a cloud,
and I feel I really should have just spent the day in bed.

It comes like a hot flame,
shining a light on the scars within,
guiding me towards the Only One who will hold my hand,
burning to bits the debris of a former life.

Making it so
I can breathe
again.

Change is not easy,
and if I achieve it,
I’ve waged a most meaningful battle.
I can’t change the world, but I can change myself.

This was a Nomadic production from Digital Niqabi.

Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding!

As part of the 7Pi7D project, I had announced that I will give away a little something something to the 500th commenter and the blogger on whose post the comment appeared.

Well we have our 2 winners, and I will reveal their identities on Sunday! I will contact the winners before then and let you know how we go about the prizes. Thanks very much to whoever has participated so far, and I hope it will not stop you guys from commenting on some really good posts (don’t you think?)!

Look out for a review of this week on Sunday, the names of the winners, how I go forward on this blog in February, and some new development on the status of this blog!

Look forward to the remaining posts!

I know these special people, I’ve known them for some time now. When we get together, there are side splitting stories, with hearty laughs and truck loads of happy memories. We laugh and we cry – but we’re okay in the end.

I know these special people who’ve done a lot or me and if they had half  the chance I’m sure they’ll do a lot more. Whether they realise it or not they helped me overcome my demons, reassure me when i’m down, help me after something goes wrong.

I know these special people – who over the years have helped me discover myself, help me mould myself, they look past my faults, concentrating on all the good things. They are awesome & understanding, hilarious & comforting, lovable & adorable people who’ve changed me for the better.

I really don’t know what I’d do without them. And i don’t know for how long we’ll be together but i know that i’ll remember them forever.

I am Ms Outcast, and I am THE original Organised Chaos.