#SmallSuccess: Write 'Til You Drop

All my small successes this week are writing related. Even though I am on sabbatical at Catholic mom, I am a writing fool!

1. Finished my first draft of my book (Working title: A Pew-Sitter's Guide to Catholic Music). I am super excited and super nervous about this. It's like having my first child all over again.

Many thanks to Jen Fitz for the inspiration for the topic and the "mean friend" chops to help keep me motivated. You can read some of the preview work here. Many thanks, also, to the people who commented on those posts. It was really good to have the encouragement and some challenges to my ideas, too!

2. Finished my first paper for my Summer Philosophy class on Pythagorean music theory.

Yep, it's true. I am obsessed with music and how it mirrors the constitution of the world and the individual soul. All of God's creation is a marvel and everything points us back to Him.

3. Submitted a couple of stories for publication in places where I might get paid.

That'd be a nice thing, I think. Let's see if they agree. I have put this off for more than two years because I was so afraid of the rejection. I finally decided to grow a backbone and just do it.

You know how when you've been sitting too long and you get up and stretch and it feels crazy good? Yeah. That stretch felt really good.

Your turn! Share 'em if ya got 'em!

#SmallSuccess: Beating Stress at Its Own Game

Stress can cripple me.

I simply hide in my bed (or in a book or a project) and let the day just roll out as it will. But the fact of the matter is that hiding from stress rarely solves any problems, but rather, creates many more down the road.

But stress can help me, too. It can motivate me to get things done and sometimes it warns me that my priorities are out of sync.

This week I experienced grace under pressure with a few situations I faced down. And the unifying factor was prayer. When I place the stress in Jesus' lap, somehow it all works out.

Stress can be a very bad thing, but properly handled it can be a motivator. It's that "properly handled" thing that always gets me, though. So this week, my Small Successes have to do with facing problems squarely and handling them as best I can. Here's what I learned:

1) I went to confession.

Yes, this was stressful. No, it should not have been. I had gotten away from saying my prayers first thing in the morning and going to a daily mass at some point during the week. And, I had given up going to Adoration, too. When I'm not putting God first, I sure do feel it. And so does everyone else around me!

That was my first lesson for the week: Handle Stress With Prayer.

2) I signed my contract for the Dublin Irish Festival, reviewed the program for the Mass in Irish and even made a phone call and talked to an actual person.

These are all huge steps for me. Interpersonal interaction scares me. What if someone doesn't like me? What if I do something wrong? So, I put off little tasks like phone calls and emails because I might not do it perfectly. I know: Silly.

My perfectionism is a rejection of God's control in my life. It's me saying, "I've got this, Lord." And when I do that, I dismiss the grace that God has to give me to help me. The perfection game, is related to the stress game in my experience. When I put too much importance on small things, they become big things. Like links in the chains that bind me, the little things can keep me from going places just as surely as the shackles of the big things.

That was my second lesson for the week: Don't Pile Up The Small Stuff.

3) I handled a family problem that needed to be addressed and didn't lose my cool.

Anger is my biggest weakness. Circumventing it is not my strong suit. So, when a family situation arose and I had to defend someone I love, I was pretty happy that I was clear headed enough to think critically, act decisively and wisely, and to do it all without raising my voice. If I can remain in control of my emotions, then people who try to bully me have no power. It's when I lose my temper that they gain the upper hand. But it's important to remember that I can't do it alone. I can only do it through prayer.

That was my third lesson: Don't Let Bullies Dictate How You Behave.

All three of these lessons can help beat stress. If I'm reacting instead of being proactive, then I am more likely to feel out of control and stressed out. And, if I have no choice but to react, prayer works wonders.

Okay, your turn! Share 'em if ya got 'em!

#SmallSuccess: It always comes back to trust

It's true. It always comes back down to trusting God to care for me. 

I wasn't going to post anything today, but as Sarah Reinhard reminded me this morning, it's a good exercise. So here goes:

1) I haven't been in a dead panic about our finances since I quit my day job. Fortunately, God has made things pop into place that will handle everything without my having to make it all fit.

2) I went to a choir practice last night and sang alto. It was a good thing. A VERY good thing. One of the things it taught me is that musicality is not something that I have lost. Even though I steadfastly maintained to one of my professors recently that I am not an artist, I only interpret other people's art, there is an art to interpreting a piece of music. I can still do that, even without the melody and even without my full range and volume. My voice is coming back. It's just taking its time getting here.

3) I managed to complete my reading assignment for my directed study (no small feat) and still post a couple of blog posts, to boot.

God always provides me with what I need to get the job done. I just have to let go of my death grip on control over my life and let him take control.

Works. Every. Time.

Your turn! Head over to CatholicMom.com and share your successes!

#SmallSuccess: BIG Successes!

In spite of a rocky start to the semester I finally managed to finish. And I finished well.

This is a HUGE success for me. There have been many obstacles that have been thrown in my path. My daughter's marriage fell apart and she and my grandson had to move in with us two weeks ago. The weather here was extreme (even for Ohio) this winter. I had surgery to remove my thyroid just three days before the semester started and didn't even get to start with the rest of my class, beginning a week late and having a few little speed bumps along the way with medication regulation, allergic reactions and just plain, old exhaustion.

Frankly, I have been scrambling all semester to keep up. 

But the thing that almost always characterizes the ends of my major projects and the week of finals is that I can always feel the hand of God on my shoulder. It's when I shake that hand off and try to do things on my own that I begin to sink, and sink fast. When I trust in God's plan for me and allow Him to guide my words and my study, everything turns out just right.

Trust is a big issue for me - I am not good at trusting other people I can see, let alone a God that I cannot see or touch. But, Faith is a funny thing: I find that the more I trust, the more I can see God's presence and work in the world around me. The more I respond to Grace with Faith, the stronger that Faith becomes.

So here are my small (REALLY HUGE) successes for this week:

1. Following my surgery in January, I am currently cancer-free.

2. Last Friday, I won the top presenter prize for my podium presentation, "Finding a Voice: It Sounds Like a Personal Problem to Me" (A Jungian literary critique of the novel Possession by A.S. Byatt). I didn't know there were prizes. It was a nice surprise to be rated so highly, but the prize was a really great cap to my semester.

3. I am getting my grades back, now, but it looks like I had another 3.9 - 4.0 semester.

So this weekend, my husband and I are celebrating! We're going to the Symphony concert this weekend and having a nice, quiet dinner.

What small successes (or big ones) are you celebrating this week? Head on over to CatholicMom.com to share them.

#SmallSuccess: New Website! New Major! Edition

I'm a bit late, but I have to get these in. I am so excited!

So this week has been an eventful one.

1) I finally got my website up and running, thanks to the very patient folks at eCatholic.com. You can see it at www.BeautifulMusicChallenge.com.

2) I changed my major to Philosophy and I will have a minor in English. This is in preparation for going on for my Master of Arts in Theology.

3) I got the facade for the organ at St. Stephen the Martyr to the church. This is a major accomplishment. Now we have to put it together and put it on the organ.

4) I got the script for my big presentation done for tomorrow.

5) I got my daughter and grandson safely moved and (a little bit) settled.

If ya got some successes, share 'em here, or head over to CatholicMom.com!

#SmallSuccess: Cleaning it up

As I am approaching the end of another choir season, the end of a semester and the beginning of a major project, I have been cleaning things up a bit. I've been sorting through things, tossing out old stuff and managing the chaos that I call a life.

It isn't so much that I am a messy person, or particularly disorganized, either. I'm just busy. So when I come in from school at the end of the day, I throw down what I don't need and grab what I do need and I'm back out the door again. But every now and then, I lose things in the mess and I have to clean up.

The same thing happens with my interior life. One of the things I am cleaning up is my prayer life.

Apart from the fact that this was a wretched Lent for me, I have also let my prayer life fall apart. I used to say the Divine Office everyday. Now, I'm doing well to get the Morning Offering and a gasped "Hail Mary" out in the morning. What's happening?

Well, I had taken all my Catholic Apps off my phone to make room for an upgrade. Turns out, I need that reminder. So, back on they go.

I had also lost myself in the quagmire that is academia. You know, when you commit yourself to a goal and you move toward it without wavering and you will get somewhere. It may not be the place that you were expecting to be, though, and that's where I was headed.

This past week I had to ask myself some tough questions about where my life is now, and where I want it to be at the end of next year's classes when I graduate.

In truth, I have been asking myself these questions for about two months, now, but I haven't really been spending much time relying on God for direction. So, I made a re-commitment to prayer. Instead of asking, "Where am I really headed?" "Are these the best decisions for my family and for me?" and "Is this really what I want to spend the rest of my life doing?" the questions had to change.

This isn't about me. It's about the will of God for my life. So the new questions are for God, not me: "Where do you want me to go?" "What is your will for my family and for me?" and "Is this what you want me to do for the rest of my life?"

The results surprised me but I have a sense of clarity about my direction that I didn't have before. And it looks like a much better track than it was before. I'll share much more about this later after the final pieces are in place.

So here are my small successes this week:

1) I have been walking at least a mile 3 times a week. Last night we bumped it up to two miles.
2) I completed my final paper for my British Literature class. I took a big risk with the construction, but I think it's a good paper.
3) I spent some quality time in prayer re-evaluating my goals and priorities.
4) I was selected to present a paper at the University's Student Research Symposium. I will be presenting an analysis of "Possession" by A.S. Byatt. It's a great book and I highly recommend it for adults who love literature. But be ready to read between the lines.
5) I have a domain name. I have a website built. Now I just have to get the two put together and then you will be able to see it.

What are your small successes? Feel free to share them in the combox, or head over to CatholicMom.com to share a link to your blog over there.

#SmallSuccess: Take 'em where ya can get 'em

So this week has been a whirlwind and I really thought:

"Small Success, eh? You've got to be kidding."

But, yes, I have a couple.

1. Managed to pull out an A on my Philosophy exam, even with the diminished focus on study time.

2. I am still standing while the hurricane of chaos that is prep for Holy Week rages around me. Things are getting done. I am learning to delegate, to say no (but provide alternatives) and to keep my temper with people who frustrate my plans. And I have the most wonderful staff in the world.

3. I made a little bitty post to my other blog, The Beautiful Music Challenge. Small, but still a post. And, if you're a "language nut" it's kind of interesting post.

What are your small successes this week? Share them!
And head over to CatholicMom.com to see what other people are sharing.

#SmallSuccess: New Beginnings

This week has been a big week for me. I am officially one month post-op and doing well. I feel like I'm starting to hit my stride again.

My energy is coming back and so is my focus. I still can't sing (much) and I also still can't climb the stairs without losing my breath. But I've gotten to the point that I can walk across campus without feeling like I've run a marathon.

And, in addition, I've gotten a few things off the ground this week.

1. Academic - Monday I took my first exam of the Semester - and got an A.

2. Blogging - Yesterday I launched a new feature at CatholicMom.com called Catholic Artist Spotlight. My first subject is the lovely and talented Bernadette Carstensen. I posted her work a couple of weeks ago as my Five Favorites post, but this interview gives you a deeper look into her creative process and how her faith informs her work.

I am truly excited about this new series because it will introduce some very talented and creative people to a larger audience.

2a. More Blogging -  I got my post for Beautiful Music Challenge's series on Liturgical Music researched, written and posted. (Actually, that's no small success. That's huge!)

I'm really excited about how much ground we've covered in five weeks. I am really hoping this information is helpful and beneficial for people who want to know more about where the music for Mass came from and how it works.

This week's post is on The Order and Ordinary of Mass and explains (briefly and simply) what they are and how they fit into the worship of the Catholic Church worldwide.

3. Spiritual Life - Since the beginning of the year, I've been trying to make it to daily Mass at least twice a week. I actually chopped time out of my schedule to do it this week. It's really the most important thing I can do and when I forget or push it aside thinking I don't have enough time, I am always sorry. Now, I've got to get back to doing some Adoration...

So, now it's your turn!
Got some things done this week? Share them with us!
Hop over to CatholicMom.com to share your blog post.

#SmallSuccess: Setbacks and Successes Go Hand in Hand

This week has been a big challenge. I'm not gonna lie.

Monday, I had an allergic reaction to some pan spray I used while baking and spent the morning at the ER and not in class.

I felt really stupid for not thinking to check the label. Seaweed derivatives, it would seem, are everywhere. And they're dangerous to me in a way that is terrifying.

The reaction swelled my throat shut and filled my lungs with fluid within about 20 minutes - as I was driving. Combined with the extreme cold, I have re-injured my voice and damaged the interior surgery site in my throat which meant no school for me yesterday, too.

"Disappointment" does not adequately sum up how I feel about this.

But, setbacks and successes go hand in hand. Because I had to stay indoors to help my throat heal, I have managed to get some significant work done on a couple of big projects.

1. I'm making good progress on my series at The Beautiful Music Challenge on liturgical music for people who aren't liturgical musicians. There's been discussion, which I'm very happy about. And it's been gaining readership, too, which is downright exciting!

2. I updated the website for Fiesta Cinco de Mayo (a fundraiser for the Missionary Servants of the Word Sisters who staff two parishes in our diocese). I am really excited about the updates.

I added a blog to the site so that people could see what the Sisters are doing every couple of weeks throughout the year. These ladies are amazing! Truly! Their work with evangelization is flourishing here, so please keep them in your prayers. And if you've got the inclination, and a few bucks to spare, please consider sponsoring their work.

3. I actually managed to close my computer, turn off my screens and visit with my husband for an hour last night. I tend to get lost in my work and ignore my "real people". This is a small success. Really. An hour out of twenty-four is paltry compared to the gifts that he gives to me. But it is a start.

4. I have five artists cued up for the Catholic Artist Spotlight Feature that begins on February 12th at CatholicMom.com.  I can't wait to share their stories and work with everyone. Now, I just have to make their responses into posts!

The goal for this new feature is to point to the visual and performing artists among us, whether their art is specifically religious or not. Beauty and the power to create are gifts from God and our faith naturally informs how they are expressed in the arts. In exploring the creative process of an artist, we can draw inspiration for our own lives - even if we don't share those particular talents. Plus, we get to meet new artists!


Do you have some small successes?
Maybe you got a little tiny job done that had been put off for larger tasks. Sometimes those are more important than they might seem.  Share them with us! You can share here in the combox or head over to CatholicMom.com to join in the link-up.

#SmallSuccess: Quietly Working

Lots of people think I'm an extrovert, but that's not really true.
I talk a lot in public, but it's a facade for nervousness.
Actually, I crave the quiet.

This week I have been working quietly at home following my thyroid surgery.

No, really. I'm being quiet. ish.

Actually, I've been trying to be quiet, but I keep getting excited about stuff and try to talk too much, which hurts my neck, so then I have to be extra quiet. But, I am healing well and things are getting back to what passes for normal around here.

Things that have surprised me this week:
- I can talk. I wasn't expecting this.
- I can sing/hum a very little bit and only in about a four note range. I'm not pushing it, though.
- I can whistle really well. A welcome replacement for singing to myself which I apparently do a lot.
- Homemade white corn meal mush with real butter is delicious. Especially when prepared by my husband.

Since I've been at home with not much to do, I've been working on a few new projects for the Spring and I'm really excited about them. Taking some time to step back and look at the resources and skills I have developed over the past couple of years has helped me set some goals, and I've determined a little more clearly where I'm headed and how to get there.

So, my small successes this week look a little preliminary, but they're a start.

1. I started work on a new set of posts at The Beautiful Music Challenge that talk about the physiology and science behind music and how it helps us pray.

Yep. Science. We are wonderfully made.

You can check out "What Is It About Music?" here.

2. I began my second semester as a junior in college with a request to present a research paper in early May for a collegiate competition. I was thrilled, honored and flattered.

3. I learned that prayer can be just offering up your inability to pray.
Pain (and the meds that control it,) sleep, a hospital roommate watching a marathon of "Say Yes To The Dress" are all great distractions.

4. Started work on a new series for CatholicMom.com that will spotlight visual and performing artists, whether their art is specifically religious in nature or not. We'll be exploring the intimate link between faith and art and meeting lots of new artists in the process. More on the series when we get it rolling! By way of introduction, I'll be writing about the link between Faith and the Artist coming up next week.



So, what are your small successes this week? Following the holidays are you taking stock and laying groundwork like I am? Is just breathing in and out enough of a challenge? (Hey, that's a success! Not breathing has some dire consequences...)
Share your successes in the combox or head over to CatholicMom.com to link up to your blog.

#SmallSuccess Thursday - Small Steps Are Still Progress

I actually had to ask my husband and mother what my small successes were this week.
It's been that kind of week.

Michael: "Well, you hung up the Christmas Cards..."
Me: "Honey, you did that."
Michael: "But I couldn't have done it without your support." (pats me on the knee)
Me: "Hmmmm...." I am unconvinced. Our Christmas tree is still in boxes in the hallway.

Mom chimes in:
"You figured out how to get your sound files downloaded to the computer from your digital recorder."
Me: "Well, only halfway. I still can't edit and save them. But, I think that's a software problem, not a problem with me."
Mom: "It's still one step in the right direction."

And, of course, Mom is right.

It's easy, especially at the holidays to look at the list of things I need to get done and worry about all the gifts that still need to be bought, the tree that still needs to be put up (I think this is an annual problem,) and the rehearsals that just aren't falling together. I get all caught up in the things I didn't get done and I miss all the things I did accomplish. But, that's what Small Successes is all about. It's realizing that I am actually moving forward, perhaps slowly, but still in the right direction.

So here goes:

My Well-Begun-is-Half-Done List of Small Successes

1. I did, indeed, figure out how to transfer my recorded tracks to the computer.
2. I made an Amazon wish list of all the books I'm going to need for next semester (and it's going to save me a bundle.)
3. I helped get the last of my daughter's wedding thank you notes addressed.

There you go. Short and sweet and halfway to where I need to be, but I'm not going to talk about what I've left undone. These small steps are better than getting nothing done at all. 

And I do feel much better, thank you.

So, what are your small successes this week?  Feel free to share them in the combox or add it to the CatholicMom.com link-up.

#SmallSuccess Thursday: Finals Week Wrap Up!

I have only one, big success:

1. I finished my semester and I did well in my classes!


Yep. I am pretty darn proud of m'self.

Well, okay, I have a couple more...
2. I am in the upright position and at work after pulling an all-nighter (I know, bad study habits...)
3. I managed to dress myself this morning and I look pretty good, too (for getting no sleep).

Share your successes, no matter how small!
Pop over to CatholicMom.com to post a link to your blog, or share them right here in the combox.