It's hard to believe March is halfway over. We've finally reached that milestone, turning the corner from winter into spring. Once we lose the hour in the morning and gain it at night, it feels like winter is officially over. But of course, it isn't. We still have a ways to go, so what's been happening as I wait?
1. Getting a new phone: The new phones are Motorola, and are longer and bigger than my Samsung from 2017. Not exactly life changing, but it takes getting used to nonetheless. I managed to choose ringtones and sounds that aren't too irritating. But I rarely use the cell phone for its original purpose, talking. Recently I actually had two real conversations on the phone with old friends. I've gotten so used to texting, if only because I don't like to bother people by calling if they might be busy, eating driving, sleeping.
Talking on the phone isn't brain surgery, but for some reason I've always hated making phone calls. It always felt strange talking to people I'm used to writing. Then there's people I can't call anymore, because they are no longer with us. I wish I had their voice messages.
I never thought I'd turn into one of those people who became addicted to their "smart device". It bothers me how much I rely on my phone. Mostly I use it to take an endless roll of pictures, and short videos. I have a tendency to overdo it. Somehow I never get tired of my cats, the clouds, sunsets, or the trees in my backyard. So I feel compelled to take yet another picture. My new phone's camera is high definition, and you can tell the difference in how sharp they are, but only on the phone itself, since my laptop isn't high def. The zoom is 8X instead of 4X, and there's slow motion and time lapse on the video, which I haven't tried out yet! This phone seems to be tied in with Google, so there isn't a "gallery" setting, all the pictures go straight to Google Photos. I think I'll get a micro-SD card so my photos will be backed up that way.
2. Learning some new things: I've been watching more webinars about how to make money online, since that would be an ideal situation for me. I'm not an idiot, so I don't bother with ones that are "too good to be true". Even the legitimate ones all have an extended sales pitch at the end, encouraging you to buy their course, to guarantee success. I'm sure that might work for some people, but I'd rather go it alone first. Here's hoping I become a "Fulfilled by Amazon" bookseller in the near future. There would be some irony to this one, as back in my nursing home days, a resident accused me of stealing books and re-selling them! Maybe he was a prophet!
3. Started an Author page on Facebook: I still have mixed feeling about this, because I'm a private person, and don't relish the idea of promoting myself to strangers. It's also geared towards selling, so they want you to buy advertising, engage your audience, and there are lots of analytics telling me how unsuccessful I am so far. You have to start somewhere.
My plan is to start thinking like an author, and actually think beyond all these blogs I've started. It would be nice to actually make money on my writing, even if my primary goal is to inspire others with my words. The Bee Gees had a profound line in their song "Words". It's only words, and words are all I have, to take your heart away. I'm not trying to win anybody's heart, just make people think. And if I'm writing a letter to you, I'm sincere. Here's hoping my author page will spur me onto to finish up my sports essay compilation, poetry collection, short stories of life (kind of like Andy Rooney, except not as sarcastic) maybe a Bruins "Fan-atic" compilation condensing all those years of writing about the Bruins from 1983-2001.
Ultimately, I'd like to write e-books that are about things I know about. Nowadays it's possible to produce and publish your own work, and make a residual passive income from it. You just have to figure out where and how to publicize it, and I'm confident I'll be able to figure it out.
Whatever you've been up to so far this month, enjoy! Don't live to work, work to live! Take time for yourself, and go for your dreams, whatever they are, or no matter how unrealistic they may seem. If you can dream it, you can do it.
