April 1, 2022
Greetings Friends!
What have you been up to since the last time I posted on Veterans Day 2021? I have been working on a few things with regards to my blog and my businesses. In the middle of November, I was talking with the IRS about my nonprofit, Global Alternative Learning Systems (G.A.L.S.), as I learned I made some major mistakes filing my 503c paperwork. I had to take time off writing my B.R.E.A.T.H.S. blog and focus on correcting the paperwork so that I wouldn’t have to start over. On November 18, 2021, G.A.L.S. was officially recognized by the IRS as a charitable organization, it was also my birthday!
Website Troubles
In December, I was trying out new themes when a WordPress update happened and I couldn’t figure out how to navigate my blog, so I didn’t write. When January rolled by, I had spent the entire month driving around California for business meetings, still no writing and my website was becoming more unmanageable. Plugins failed to update, people were making comments on one blog in particular and they still keep coming in on a daily basis. They are really nice and encouraging comments, but I can tell they are spam websites from casinos or random medical prescription links and emails. I also noticed a bunch of ads popping up and the words of my blogs were running off the screen. There were so many issues, I had no desire to go near my website/blog, so I left it alone.
Hiring Help
After a few months of not writing I was getting antsy, I decided to hire someone on Fiverr who was a WordPress expert to work out some of the kinks I was having so that I could at least post a blog. I had a long list of things I wanted help with, but that would require a complete website facelift and I wasn’t ready for that. Instead, I hired a coach to learn about email lists. That is what I am going to be writing about this month as I learn the process of starting, maintaining, and getting a following on my blog.
Sacred Writing Space
My next step to getting back to writing was finding a sacred writing space for my blog and book. In order to be focused and in my writing zone (guided by the spirit), I needed a writing space free of other people and decorated with everything I need to complete my tasks. Things such as: table, chair (preferably ergonomic, maybe yoga ball), ice water, coffee/tea, nuts/seeds/dried fruit (for snacks), candles/incense, portable speaker, cell phone (used for music and timer only), lined paper, drawing tablet, pencils/pens, picture of my book cover (Louise Hay’s idea), and a visual plan/outline/calendar.
Conclusion
For the month of April 2022, I will be blogging about my writing journey with my blog and my book (follow along to see what it is about). I will not be following my usual B.R.E.A.T.H.S. daily themes, but I will sprinkle in some here and there along the way. My goal with this month’s blog is to document a beginning writer’s journey. I will be sharing pictures, tips, failures, successes, and everything in between, giving the reader an up close and personal view of what beginning blogging and book writing can look like. Thank you for reading.
Sending lots of love and gratitude,
Dr. Jaime Brainerd
Looking forward to following you this month. I too am at the beginning stages of writing my book and a beginner blogger. I can use all the help I can get.
Hi Cheryl, thank you for your comment. I am glad I am not the only beginning writer out there. Please let me know if you have any specific questions we can tackle together!
Sending lots of love and gratitude,
Jaime
So glad to see you back in the UBC! Sounds like you’ve had some ups and downs but you made it through! YAY, Lia says hi too.