Tag Archives: editorial

Believe It Will Come – Better Days Ahead

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We all know there are some days that feel like the world is crashing down on you. There are terrible days when it feels like everything you’ve ever done has been for naught. Maybe today has been one of those days for you and maybe it hasn’t. Maybe it’s been one of those days for me. Maybe it’s been a long stretch between good days for us all, even years for some of us. But on days like these, it doesn’t matter how you feel about it. It matters how you decide to think and act on what you believe.

The difference between a survivor and someone who never gets up when they’ve been knocked down is in how they perceive the future. Even if they don’t see a silver lining, or even light at the end of the proverbial tunnel, they believe that there will still be better days ahead. Even if that brighter day takes years to arrive, they still anticipate it will come. They know it will. They – I – keep the faith that something extraordinary is ahead in the future.

Heartbreak and change can alter a person’s future in an instant, but sometimes the dull ache of today is tomorrow’s triumph. Losing a dream can bring the birth of a new one; the one that can make you happier than you ever thought possible. And that new dream will make you so content that your old life, yearnings, and dreams seem paltry in comparison with the things you know now; the things you would never have seen come to fruition had you given up when things got tough.

I’m no different. I’m certainly not preaching to the choir and taking credit where it isn’t due. I’ve had many days when I thought I might not keep going. I’ve had days when the pain was so much that I thought I might not be able to bear it anymore, where painkillers did nothing to dull the physical pain. I’ve had dreams die, dreams in which tutus and Broadway suddenly seemed too far away to reach.

But during those moments, those awful times, I never saw a novelist in the mirror. I never saw a storyteller taking form. That storyteller would never have come to be if I hadn’t believed in a better day and a better future, even when I couldn’t see past my pain. WAR MACHINE would never have been written and I’d still be crying in my soup if not for the sheer will power to survive.

Don’t give up. Don’t give in either. Keep on fighting and believing. Tomorrow will be a better day. Open your eyes to the smallest of blessings and the people who make your life worth living. Cling to your faith and beliefs with all you have.

Tomorrow could be the best day of your life. But you’ll never get to see its wonders and joy if you give in now; now will you?

Love and hugs,

Maggie Lynn Heron-Heidel XOX

God bless you

Life Doesn’t Have Tivo – The Consequences of Virtual Reality

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I am a rebel. I prefer books to e-readers. I live in real life as opposed to a virtual reality. I dance on my own time instead of running to the world’s relentless clock. I create instead of consuming creation. I write with a pen and paper before my fingers ever touch a keyboard.

We all have our own way of doing things, but I refuse to be a statistic lost to the ever consuming sea of advertising and technology.

Now don’t take this as an attack on technology. No, I see it as an aid to help with tasks, not a way of life. However, when I read these statistics, I felt I needed to address our future:

“Technology is so important to Millennials that 53% would rather give up their sense of smell than their tech. Over 80% sleep with their mobile phone and 32% of millennials check social media from the toilet. A Nielsen report on Millennials found that more than 74% feel that new technology makes their lives easier. While 54% said that new technology brings them closer to their friends and family.”

The article from Forbes was on VR, that being virtual reality and how we as humans are embracing it. But as we tip into dangerous territory, we risk being consumed by the very things that we are creating. We all already know someone who is obsessed with their phone to the point we feel our presence in their life isn’t as important as their fixation with their tech.

My point here is that we cannot let our minds slip into the potential Venus fly trap that is our new ‘reality’. Technology is made to assist our lives, not become our lives. We are at the precipice of a very deep chasm and one that would be next to impossible to climb out of once we fall in it.

So the next time you see a beautiful picture of roses on social media, perhaps instead of hitting the like button I’ll instead ask you to go outside and enjoy their delightful scent in real life. Our world is not just a virtual reality. It’s not a picture, a video, or a blog post that we can come back to later once a moment has passed. It’s our reality and every choice shapes it. Be present in every second because once a moment is gone, it’s gone. Life doesn’t have Tivo. Life doesn’t have a pause button. But it does have a power cord that can be cut short at any moment. And there’s no plugging back in once the power has been shut off.

Love,

Author Maggie Lynn Heron-Heidel

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Fight For What You Believe In – A New Challenge

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There’s a lot to say about the world these days, but few people are willing to see what’s right with it. Likewise, even fewer of those who do see what’s wrong are willing to do anything to change it.

We all say things need to be changed, but no one seems to be standing up. Those who are slightly inclined to do so rely on leaders of groups – movements – political parties – to do their talking for them. And yet we wonder why we’re all in the same mess we’ve been for years, centuries, and possibly even eons?

Think of one thing you want to see change in the world today and think about the last time you actually moved to try and change it. Have you sat back and complained about the issue instead of doing something about it?

Understand me: this article is not a guilt trip.

It’s not. Truly it’s not. It’s an effort to move whoever is reading it right now to stand up for something good in the world. We see wars, we see riots, we see starvation, we see orphans, we see abuse – and very few times do we say ‘I want to see this stop.’ Instead, everyone says ‘that’s the world we live in’. But is it? Does it have to be that way?

I want you to think of someone you really admire and ask yourself, did they accept the world we live in? What change could they really have made if they instead had cast a blind eye?

Consider this your call to action. I can even apply a shiny, plastic, and socially acceptable hashtag to it if you need it. Helping others should not be an instagrammed moment or something that you want to go viral. That’s vanity talking. I’m asking you to stand up because it’s the right thing to do. Can you do that? Can you?

#thinkaboutit

– Xo Maggie Lynn Heron-Heidel

Rudeness: The Ill-begotten Child of Selfish People

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Rude… An interesting word with many different meanings. When I hear it, I think of only one thing: the death of any favorable opinions I have on anyone or anything.

To me, rudeness if the epitome of social suicide. And worse, it’s best way to instantly and succinctly tank your career. I have seen it happen so many times and am currently watching someone’s complete pomposity being turned around on them, the community getting completely fed-up with their outrageously snide tendencies.

As a part of the writing and filmmaking community, I am a part of two very tight knit families. And as anyone knows about being a part of a community, word gets around pretty quickly about who to befriend and who to avoid at all costs.

For example, when an ‘author’ invites new members to join in their ‘blog’ and then within two days manages to alienate the new members completely, word will get around to other authors in the community. Being hostile towards religious groups and also towards members who took a sick day because of their health also doesn’t translate well into keeping good relations with your readers, now does it? Someone should really understand that being a considerate person does not rob of you of the spotlight you are trying so desperately hard to achieve.

It is an odd thing, being rude. Being mannerly, kind, and helpful seems to be a good solid rule for business and society in general, but so few people actually seem to grasp the simplicity of the concept these days. For mannerly people, just general consideration towards one another is enough to suffice as a reason for being pleasant.

‘Give a little, get a little’ is what selfish people should take it as.

Either way, the message needs to be screamed from the rooftops to those who still engage in such appalling behavior: the world does not revolve around you. Be kind, be mannerly, and if for no other reason, avoid being rude because you never know who you have just scorned. That person may know people in high places…