Tiffany Sunday

Author | Poet | TEDx Presenter

Writing

Calling Your Spirit Back

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Two weeks ago, as I was completing Proper Grey Areas, I felt something was missing for the editors. I was frustrated that I didn’t feel whole as a writer, poet, and author. The burden of doing what others thought I should be doing weighted heavy. Each morning during my runs, I mentally wrestled with the problem.

Each morning, I searched for answers in the highlighted passages in two of my favorite books, Sacred Contracts, and the Anatomy of the Spirit by Caroline Myss. 

Reaching into the dark corner of my soul, I was blocked by my ego, which served as a gatekeeper, as I, once again encountered fear.  I kept thinking about what would I have done differently in the past if fear had not been part of the equation.  Fear of what others think, fear of the results, fear of not receiving approval, or fear of success of fully using my creativity. 

As the weeks passed, my soul, heart, and mind joined together on the same path as my intuition continued to push me. I reached a point where I could no longer accept negative inherited family habits and beliefs.  At a crossroads, I had to make a choice. I could continue to allow fear to hold me captive or call my spirit back.

As Myss writes in Anatomy of the Spirit, “What drains your spirit drains your body. What fuels your spirit fuels your body. The power that fuels our bodies, our minds, and our hearts does not originate in our DNA. Rather, it has roots in Divinity itself.”

Working to call my spirit back, my intuition and soul were screaming – write books that fully utilize creativity. My creativity, the core of my soul, needed to be set free, released from my imagined fear.  My intuition whispered let go, write what you want to write. With the suddenness of a Texas blue northern my creative energy return.

With a recharged creative battery, I join the National Novel Writing Month contest this month with the goal of writing a holiday fun romance book.  My soul wore a party hat for a couple of days while I prepared to write a Christmas novel I want to write.

Last week, I read 12 Days of Christmas, by Debbie Macomber, in preparation of writing a holiday novel. The book’s main character, Julia Padden blogs about her kindness experiment. I liked Macomber’s idea of blogging about the process. Along with writing a holiday / Christmas novel, I will be writing about the book, the food cooked by the characters and other holiday goodies.

In September, I hired a new website company and we’re working to add a newsletter signup form. In January, I am launching a monthly newsletter.

For now, use the email info at dillon 5 dot com to sign up for my newsletter and book updates.

With gratitude,

Tiffany

Spotify Playlists for Books, Writing, and Creative Inspiration from Tiffany Sunday

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Today, I created six playlists on Spotify playlists for readers, fellow writers, creative inspiration, and one for fun – a driving playlist. My best thinking occurs when I am driving or taking road trips.

For the books, I created one for Dyslexia’s Competitive Edge and one for the upcoming holiday novel I am writing for National Novel Writing Month.

Music has always been part of my life. I can remember when I was around 5 years old, singing and dancing to the radio. Most days, at least one if not two “radios” is playing in the house for 16 hours or more.

Occasionally, when life becomes too stressful or I am editing a book, I turn off the music, otherwise, music is playing softly in the background.

I binge-listen to songs while I am writing, my soul will lock on a melody or rhythm. For several songs, the play times exceeded 500 times. I believe part of my brain and soul’s insatiable hunger for the song is related to my dyslexia. My brain is hunting for something.

The music becomes part of my writing, songs influence the poetry and fictional characters. Last year, I created several musicians in my book, as their songs the fibers that built Insatiable Consumption of Being. The playlists will be fluid as I edit the songs from time to time.

Enjoy!

Fall is a Writer’s Best Friend

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Today is a perfect day for writing, chilly temperatures, drizzle with a cloudy sky.

Watching the leaves gently fall to the ground, the peacefulness of my surroundings turbocharges my creativity. From October to January, I find myself wishing for more time, more hours in the day to savory everything fall has to offer.

Every year, I long to bottle how I feel on perfect fall days when I am out running through our neighborhood. I seek to capture the calmness and the aroma of my neighbors’ fireplaces. My soul feels alive as I quietly move through the neighborhood.

Since I started writing full time three years ago, I always enjoyed fall, now as a writer, I long for these months to write, think, stretch my creativity, to dream. If Fall was well, I would drink it dry. If Fall was a mountain, I would climb and then write about the experience.

Each day, my soul screams more, more, unplug, discover, create, and then repeat the next day. Embrace and honor the gift and beauty of the season provides by picking up a pen and sharing the feeling and encouraging others to do the same.

National Poetry Day 2020

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In 2019, I transitioned my writing career to poetry and contemporary nonfiction. This past month, I have resumed writing song lyrics.

My mother, who was an Honors AP English teacher, taught from the heart. She believed in the authors and poets that she assigned her students. She encouraged her students to think and explore. One of her favorite movies was Dead Poets Society which seems appropriate.

In the movie, Robin Williams says in a scene, “we read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. The human race is filled with passion. Poetry, beauty, romance, and love is what we stay alive for.”

For many individuals, poetry is viewed as something you had to read in high school or college English class. During these classes, often students were instructed to break apart the poem measure it against some mathematical program to determine its value.

Passion, beauty, and love should never be measured with an app, digital program, or calculator. Poetry is our lighthouse to guide our way, to give perspective, to give us a home, and most importantly reassure us we’re not alone.

For National Poetry Day – I encourage you to purchase a poetry book and support the art of words.

Creative Obsession – Never Give Up On Your Art

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Creative Obsession by Tiffany Sunday Two weeks ago, the creative obsession kicked in as I shifted my attention back to a fiction novel I am writing. Along with the book, I am adapting The Digital Prairie manuscript to a play.

After two books, I’ve learned when my behavior shifts the manuscript is ready to be written.  The awareness is more significant with the third book.

Almost overnight, every part of my being becomes consumed with writing.  I eat the same lunch.  I wear black and listen to the same song on YouTube not once or twice but 50 times or more.  My ability to singularly focus on one task is amazing.

I am a vehicle for something greater than myself.  My soul is determined to write and refuses to allow anything to get in its way.

Artists and entrepreneurs are made from similar DNA.  Launching a business, writing a book, and creating music is art.

All of these endeavors are part of the creative process. 

I am learning to honor and accept my quirky behaviors.  I write at late at night when my mind has the freedom to explore what is hidden beneath the surface during the day.

The creative obsession has been the focus of many studies as researchers work to determine why creatives become obsessed with their work.

From personal experience, my brain doesn’t like to focus on clothes or food because when you are in a creative flow, making decisions is annoying.  Which, I believe explains our need to eliminate non-essential decisions.  I imagine my brain, taking its arms and sweeping everything off the table that is irrelevant to the creative process.

During the creative obsession, you search for a time to create.  For many, it is either the stillness of the night, early in the morning or both.

This fall, I’ve discovered the peacefulness at 4:30 am which is unmatched by any other time during our 24 hour period. It’s when everything, all our worries and the world’s chaos, seems for a brief moment to fade into the background. The new day is beginning, it’s fresh and clean.

When I’m alone with the computer, songs playing over and over in my ear buds, I savor the time. I protect this time.

Our creativity is our humanity.

In the depths of the night, I came across an interview with Pat Benatar and her husband, Neil Giraldo, at 2016 SXSW Music session. Pat talked about the importance of protecting our art.  Our creative expression is a freedom that we should never take for granted.

I write with urgency. I write with a purpose. I write because I need to express what is in my soul.  Sleep feels unimportant until the words appear on paper.

Learning to Work Within Constraints Can Become Invaluable Trait

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When we think about working within constraints, we often think about startups without investor funding. There are dozens of articles written about founders and how they used their given resources to build a successful company.

Learning to work within constraints is a necessity regardless of your profession. Although we live in the most abundant time in human history, we encounter limitations every day.  How we learn to manage these constraints and overcome challenges can become an invaluable trait.

The root of the matter is your perception of the challenge. Do you wait for something or someone to find a solution or do you problem-solve?  How we elect to manage, these challenges will determine the success of our business, organization, and life.

Strategies for the Top Four Constraints
Time

In my office, I have a small poster with an ocean view.  Written at the top is a quote, “Time is life’s most precious commodity, use it wisely.” The source is unknown.  We often forget during our busy day that time is a non-renewable commodity.

Three years ago, I read the book, The Road Less Travel, by Dr. Scott Peck.  He talked about how our parents, teachers, and peers can directly or indirectly influence how we value our time and ourselves.  This influence becomes evident when we reach adulthood and must manage our work and professional life.

Each day, I think about how I spend my time.  Not, which appointment to schedule next or which task to add to a list of busy work.  During my morning runs, I mentally allocate where I will use my time and energy for next 12 – 18 hours.  Each day, running, writing, and enjoying “just being” are priorities, not an afterthought.

I follow Jason Fried, co-founder of Basecamp and his life and work philosophy is similar.  As I wrote before, “being busy” or “slammed at work” is not a badge of honor it is a misalignment of priorities.   Busy work accomplishes nothing.

Financial

If you are a startup or have worked for one, you know about financial constraints.  Every day, the founders and key team members worry about money.  You worry about sales; you worry about reaching your hurdle rate.  As a small business owner operating in a sea of regulations and growing competition, worrying about cash flow is a constant stress.  There is no escape.

Last year, I read an article in Inc. Magazine.  A successful business owner was a guest columnist and wrote, “Looking at your sales every day and how much money you’re making or not making will drive you crazy.  It’s a marathon, what you earn over a 12 month period or longer.”

He went on to talk about how it is important to be aware of where the company is from a big picture perspective for cash flow, but the constant worry will do more harm than good.

I have thought of about his advice.  I believe when we become hyper-focused on the lack money, we send out negative energy.

If you believe the sales and customers will support your business, then this faith in yourself and the business comes through.  Most people do not like to work or buy from businesses or organizations that are collapsing or believe they are failing.  People can sense the negativity.

Recognize financial constraint is a given. Develop a system to keep tabs on the cash flow without becoming consumed with daily worrying.  If you are too focused on this constraint, you will most likely miss an opportunity.

Leadership

Leadership is a combination of innate talent and skills developed over time.  Leadership is difficult and cannot be learned in a two-day seminar.  We often write and talk about leadership, yet it tends to be a mouthpiece to satisfy something that has no meaning. It requires a unique combination of skills and a certain personality.  Most businesses and organizations do not have the luxury of having a strong and gift leader.

In these cases, employees and team members will need to determine how they create strong leadership at the bottom without insubordination.   Which isn’t easy either, how do you create leadership within the ranks while continuing to support an ineffective leader?

This is when creative problem-solving becomes curial. I often tell my son that to be a good leader; integrity must be at the core with an understanding of coaching people with grace.  When I say or write, these words people’s immediate reaction is that the approach is too soft, which is incorrect.  This approach involves structure with empowering team members.  Leadership is about building effective proactive teams.  These teams can work to achieve the organization’s goals even when dealing with unfavorable constraints.

Resources

Constraints we encounter to do our work and run our business is constant.  For my business, I need to upgrade the computer system.  The operating system is dated which creates problems with the software programs I use for client work.

An entrepreneur friend, once said, “Don’t make any large purchases or hire employees until the pain is absolutely unbearable.” Based on his advice, I continue to develop a work around to delay purchasing a new computer.  There are some of you who may disagree, and that’s fine.  Between working for startups and being a small business owner, I’ve learned to protect the second most valuable resource – cash flow.

Of three constraints I’ve discussed; I believe where most people fail to placed importance – is time. For us, time feels unlimited as we get up each day and do the same thing again.  It’s only when we start looking back at how we spend our time do we realize its real value.