Wheel of Fortune

My husband and I have a New Year's Day tradition to lay out 12 cards in a circle for each month of the year to come. To get a feel for things in advance so to speak. Wheel of Fortune is my card for this month and I want to talk about it in a post as the events that have transpired have truly represented the meaning of this card. Traditionally, Wheel of Fortune means the ups and downs of life. You could also use Forest Gump's favorite saying with this card, "Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get." There are deeper implications to this card such as what once was could come back; the circular nature of life. In my life, both the traditional meaning and the coming back of things have proved to be the case.

For starters, work has resumed its rhythm of the years past with long-term subbing. Teachers, for whom I've subbed throughout the years, have been reaching out for coverage. That would explain why I've been too busy to blog or why I started eating wheat again. Maybe. As many of you can probably attest, excluding all wheat and sugar is unsustainable. Eating in moderation and including healthier choices into the diet is more my speed. I find that asking good questions before reaching for food far supersede any diet and they are: Why am I eating this? Am I hungry? Am I tired? Is something else going on? How am I feeling?

Secondly, fiction writing that has been on a hiatus for more than two years now suddenly reappeared this month full force. I've been receiving emails, both purposeful and accidental, from my long-lost buddies from a writer's group I was a part of for over four years. I also finally heard back from a publication about a novel excerpt I've submitted a while back. Lastly and most profoundly, I felt a strong, lively urge to start writing again. Seeing one of my writer group member's emails reminded me of NaNoWriMo, a nonprofit, online organization that supports writers to get that scary first draft out of them by holding an yearly National Novel Writing Month in November where millions of writers aspire to write 50,000 words in one month. With no warning whatsoever, my heart shouted, "THAT'S WHAT I WANT TO DO!"
        I answered, "Okay, okay. But what should I write?"
       A young adult novel that has been buried deep in my files sprung up as if to say, "Pick me. Pick me!"
        I sat down to write a fresh summary of it to see what it had to tell me, if anything changed from last time. Because as far as I remembered, it fell flat on its face and never got up again. However, once those fresh flood gates have been opened, the new summary downloaded through me as if it's been waiting to take a long awaited breath. It's official. I'm going to tackle getting that first sh**ty draft out in one month. That might probably mean no posts for the month of November. But it'll be a small price to pay in exchange for a completed draft of a forgotten book, not to mention the revival of writing itself.

Thirdly, my musical partner and husband, have been receiving plentiful invitations to perform, do interviews, and even be a part of a communal album with the local musicians of Los Angeles. These events have ignited us to prepare to record our long awaited second Non Duo album.

But not all the chocolates this month have been sweet and exciting. I also ate some bitter ones like receiving a notice to appear in court because my employer, Los Angeles Unified School District, wants to appeal the unemployment benefits I received this past summer for being sick 1 day. On that note, I've also been dealing with some unexpected health issues.

Through the ups and downs, I'm remembering my Tarot teacher, Dennis Rudolph, saying, "As the wheel spins, join in the fun when the wheel is up, but go to the center when its on the downward movement. This way, you can never lose."

Anyone up to take a ride on the wheel?

CREATING MARINA