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Memento Mori… a phrase the conveys a simple concept-remember, you must die. Sounds depression, right? But wait, let’s think about this for a moment. Is it true? Absolutely. So why not use that to motivate yourself to do the things you’ve been putting off? In August, I realized that the year had just about passed me by. What had I done for the first eight months of the year? When I reviewed the year, I concluded that the better question was, “What have I NOT done?” In reality, so much. 365 days in the year, 24 hours, 1440 minutes, and 86,400 seconds in a day. We all get that. What we do with it is entirely up to us.

To be clear, I’ve done some great things this year. For example, sitting on the couch with my husband every morning, slowly sipping coffee and talking without a care in the world. Our garden has been fantastic, and over the past month, we’ve begun to can and freeze fruits and vegetables. My parents, nephews, sisters, and I are all in an endless group text message, so I interact with them daily. I’ve stopped absorbing depressing, anxiety-producing news reports and social media, restricting my time in Facebook to writer groups and my author page. I’ve gotten back into a workout routine, lost six pounds, and I feel fantastic. I’ve taken on the attitude that if the world ends tomorrow, that’s fine. I’ll be writing or editing a draft of my next book, picking tomatoes in the garden, or sitting on the couch with my beloved husband, sipping coffee. Basically, whatever happens, I’ll be doing something I wanted to get done. 

In my mind, the year started on August 24, 2020, because that was the day that I reminded myself, “memento mori.” The holiday novel I’m writing on was inspired by this idea that we will all die. My favorite podcaster utters this phrase from time to time. In the beginning, I was very uncomfortable with her throwing the truth out there like that. Then I realized that one of the reasons I admire this woman is because she’s taken this phrase to heart. Doing today, or you might not get the chance.

A Sylvia Wilcox Christmas was sparked by this idea that there is only so much time in life. No one has an endless clock, but there are times when we forget how precious each moment is. Sylvia Wilcox is a workaholic, partially because she is a young widow, but also because there are times when she isn’t sure what else there is to do. In A Sylvia Wilcox Christmas, she takes a moment, a breath, and examines what can happen in a moment of much-needed downtime.

The first eight months of the year were not a loss. I learned a great deal about what I wanted in life and what I needed to leave behind.  Ten years ago,  I climbed aboard an Amtrak with a bunch of books, a few apples, trail mix, and the last sixty buck I had to my name, because I’d figured out that life was too short to stay in stagnation. It was better then, and now, to walk into the unknown. 2020 has made me realize that it was time to get back in the game. Throw caution to the wind and move forward, even if the road is scary and I don’t know where I’m going. I’m confident that the road will eventually meet my feet. 2020, with all its troubles, has ironically boosted my mood back up into the stratosphere. I’m excessively happy again. As an old friend of mine use to say, “She’s all sunshine and lollipops!”

As I continue to contemplate memento mori, and the beauty and mystery surrounding mortality, my level of gratitude increases. Death can be feared,  or  simply recognized as a part of the life cycle. Let it encourage action-not fear or stagnation. I’ve come to think of it as a motivation to live my dreams and keep moving forward without looking back.  This idea that we will all die reminds us that time is of the essence. Do it now, or possibly never accomplish your goals. The good news is that you have time, as do I, to move forward and complete the task at hand. Make yourself proud!

Cheers!

Braylee

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Hello Readers, Fracture is available at various ebook retailers, and it will be popping up at more stores soon! Google Play was not admitting new authors for a while, but now that things have opened back up, all three books will be adding in the next few weeks. Also, hardcovers should be available before the end of the year. Physical books, both paperback and hardback books, are hard to come by these days, but the hope is that things will improve soon. The prologue for A Sylvia Wilcox Christmas will be shared soon! I’ve been having so much fun Displacement is still free. Pick it up! Sign up for my newsletter if you’d like to save 50% on Fracture. I recently opened a Payhip store, so I can now offer newsletter subscribers special discounts. You also will receive other perks, including an opportunity to sign up for my Advance Reader Team, sneak peeks of new books, and tons of free book offers from my fellow author friends. Don’t miss out! Sign up below!        

Happy Friday! I hope everyone is doing well. This has been a great week for me and I wanted to share some of the going-ons in my world, and give an update Fracture, and a surprise announcement of another book that will be out in November. Yay! Productivity has returned! You may be wondering why my engine has suddenly been revved up and there are a few simply explanations to why I’ve been more productive in the past two weeks, than I’ve been the rest of the year. Exercise and living in the present moment.

2020 has been a year for re-evaluating everything from my career to my weight. As I hunkered down in my house earlier in the year, I will admit that I was frustrated and angry, but over time, I realized that there was so much opportunity in those moments. What was working? What wasn’t? How could things be different? Once I stopped following social media eliminated what I’ve heard termed, “doom scrolling” I just focused on my life. What could I do to become a better person? A few of the ideas I came up with were getting back into shape, writing several books a year, and getting to know the town where I live. When I first moved to Utah, I loved living in Salt Lake City. It was so clean and pleasant, and I had no choice but to learn the city, because I didn’t have a car. As the years passed, I moved into a teaching career and eventually relocated to a suburb in northern Utah. That was back in 2016 and I still don’t care for the area of the state I live in. Over the past few months, I’ve taken some time to analyze why this is the case.

One of the reasons I fell in love with Salt Lake City was because I didn’t have a car. I walked or used public transit to get everywhere, and I became a part of the city. At one point, I lived in the 9th and 9th neighborhood, which was 2.7 miles from my job. On nights when the bus was taking forever or stopped running, I’d walk home. I don’t recommend walking alone at night. Still, it was something I did in part because I felt like Salt Lake City couldn’t possibly have anything that Detroit had not thrown at me. While this is probably true, I realize now that I should have just asked for a ride from the scores of concerned coworkers who often volunteered to take me home. But, I was in a phase of my life where throwing caution to the wind was a daily occurrence. Right or wrong, those long walks home helped me become a Utahn.

Moving to northern Utah was a bit of a shock to my system. First of all, I’d never been to the area until I met my husband. Most of the people I knew spoke of all points near Ogden as “out there.” Well, they weren’t wrong. It takes close to an hour for me to get back to Salt Lake City, and if I-15 is shut down, I have to take a roundabout, long route that weaves through mountains and adds about half an hour onto the drive. Needless to say, I don’t drive down there often, and during 2020, I have only headed to SLC a handful of times. No matter how much I love Salt Lake, I don’t live there anymore. It’s time to move on and embrace the present.

Salt Lake City is a unique hub for transplants and misfits. There isn’t another place in the state that is as welcoming to newcomers. With that said, after moving to northern Utah, I fell into a habit of rarely leaving my house. Could that help explain why I don’t feel connected with the place where I currently live? I spend time in my garden, head out to the grocery store from time to time, and I do have one friend that lives in the neighborhood, but for the most part, I drive to Salt Lake City for all significant socialization outside of my hubby. This, of course, is not healthy, and it led to a twenty-four-pound weight gain. Yes, I’ve eaten all the loneliness, stress, and unfriendly encounters I’ve experienced over the last few years. Well, you know what? I’m done with it. I live where I live, and there’s no reason why I shouldn’t love it. So this week, I’ve been embracing everything that exists right now.

Each day this week, my husband and I have taken walks on the Ogden River Parkway. It’s a cozy little blacktop trail that travels along the river’s edge throughout communities in the area. We park and walk to the Ogden Botanical Gardens where we browse through the rose garden and stroll along the short trails. There’s one spot, tucked away in the shade where we like to sit and chat while resting up for the walk back. It’s just a pleasant, quiet place in the world where we can relax and take in the beauty of the area. It’s also a way to feel connected to where we live. That little bench is “our seat.” We now have a set path and a general time that we take to the parkway for “our walk”. All of s sudden, this place feels more like home than it ever has before.