I was in line at my local Ollie’s and this lady comments behind me “Tarot cards”.
I hesitated.
It’s not often I buy these sorts of things but it’s not often I talk about what I believe in spiritually. The tarot cards are apart of that belief.
Not wanting to be rude, I did turn around with a smile and said, “I like the pictures on them,” then I showed her the back of the box with all of the card pictures. I thought that would be the end of the conversation. Usually on something like this it is but she asked me one more question.
“Are these a gift for someone?”
I hesitated with a small chuckle and admitted, “No there for me, I’ve got a collection.”
Thankfully that was the end of the conversation but on the drive home it got me thinking. Why was I so hesitant to talk about the cards?
My own beliefs about the afterlife and spirituality is something I keep to myself. I’ve never told anyone about it. It would be a bit strange. Plus I feel like what I believe in just comes with my own job as a writer and artist. It kinda chose me like my stories did. Seems like most things, people, and animals have come into my life that way. They just show up.
What about you? Are there things that you would hesitate to talk about? Why?
Realizing these things (if you haven’t realized them before) does help you understand yourself more. I recently discovered that I possibly have ADHD. It’s a self-diagnosis but I’ve studied the subject (and on other mental health, illnesses, etc.) to be certain that is the case. It’s allowed me to understand why me and my brain act so different and why I need to do things differently sometimes. It never hurts to be different but knowing why can resolve any unresolved feelings.
But what do I know? I’m just a writer who had big dreams lol!
What’s happening in the studios?
I’ve got a variety of things coming up. One of my meetings this week is with a fellow startup at IU Innovates who happens to be a game studio. I’m excited for this meeting and not sure what will come from it.
Making Connections!
I also have several (new and old) connections to make this week to progress in a few projects. One of the projects I have was going to be a film for a class. I’m not a student in this class but the team I’d be working with will be students.
I had submitted one of my stories and expected them to answer back this past week. It seemed like the perfect project for them (the instructor seemed excited too) but there is a chance it didn’t get picked by the students. I mean, who wouldn’t want to work on a fictional film? Possibly these students?
I should know more next week and if not well I’ll need to make some connections with the instruction to understand what is going on. I have a backup plan for this project if for some reason it’s a no-go by this class.
This won’t be my only connection though. I’ve got a few people to meet and some emails to send but I’ll save those updates for a future weekly update. A lot of it is trying to gather up some creative experts to get some of these projects going.
Fiction Bites and other writing things
Besides that, I think goals are to get to 6k words on project ‘The god paradox’, plus I need to do some recording for the Fiction Bites episode 1 podcast coming this Friday! I’ve been a busy bird so recording was a bit impossible last week.
I am nervous if I’ll get this finished in time. I’m trying to create an introduction for this podcast. Creating music isn’t normally in my wheel house but I’m willing to give it a try. Plus I have some connections I can ask for advice and I might do so. Then again, I might be embarrassed to show something that could be a horrible song in the eyes of these professional musicians lol.
Besides writing some fiction, I will be writing these blogs and starting plans for episode 2 of Fiction Bites! I may need to prioritize project “Esnilear” to get that script ready but it’s a bit in the air at the moment.
Social Media lurking days
I am planning to lurk more on Social Media. You'll see me hanging out on all socials everyday but I wanted to set aside some time to lurk on one platform so that I can do some interaction. I actually did a lurk this morning over on BlueSky and honestly I think it’s better if I do all of my platforms at once lol. There is a low amount of conversations on BlueSky and Mastodon right now so I need to find some different areas to be in on those platforms. For now, here are the days and time I’ll be lurking around the internet. No specific platform.
Monday
Morning lurk: 7:30 AM EST - 8:30 AM EST
Night lurk: 9 PM EST - 9:30 PM EST
Quick story warmup post on BlueSky & Mastodon
Tuesday
Morning lurk: 7:30 AM EST - 8:30 AM EST
Night lurk: 9 PM EST - 9:30 PM EST
Quick story warmup post on BlueSky & Mastodon
Wednesday
Afternoon lurk: 1:00 PM EST - 1:30 PM EST
Night lurk: 9 PM EST - 9:30 PM EST
Update post on Mentorship progress
New art post on Cara? Maybe.
Thursday
Morning lurk: 8:00 AM EST - 8:45 AM EST
Night lurk: 9 PM EST - 9:30 PM EST
Post new pics and videos to Instagram? Not sure yet.
Friday
Morning lurk: 8:30 AM EST - 9 AM EST
Night lurk: 10:30 PM EST - 11 PM EST
Be available for live chats and/or premier chats on YouTube and Substack
In all honest I’m not sure what content to post to socials besides content I release. It’s one reason why I’m choosing to have hangout days so that I can focus on the community on those sites. You welcome to leave a suggestion on possible content (for socials, Fiction Bites, and/or my site).
Art
I do have some art things planned. I don’t know if I’ll be able to share some new art on Cara this Wednesday but I’ll try. I am going through a mentorship so I have an assignment and a video (or two) to watch.
A lot of what I’m doing is learning how to draw and discover what I like about the art I enjoy. It’s very much like candy for my brain (just like my favorite stories). If I do release anything, I may do a newer version of Imposter since people seem to like him over on Cara. I’d like to get back into the black and white style again but figure out the best way to incorporate a hint of color.
Updates coming to the Liath LaVerne Hawke site
Every Sunday I’ll be updating the site with new content for the week and making any bug or accessibility changes. I also want to add some fun illustrations that may or may not do more then just be something pretty on the site. I don’t want to give away the plans yet but more will be coming soon once plans are in place.
I am a bit behind so I don’t have these changes rolled out but expect things to update over the coming week.
Changes to upcoming events on the home page
Updates to project “The god paradox”, project “Esnilear”, and project “Fiction Bites”
Add skip link(s) for keyboard users
Upcoming for Week 37: 9-9-2024 to 9-25-2024
Now for the part you all have been waiting for! What is releasing this week? From my perspective, utter chaos but you may have different feelings about it.
Fiction Bites
9-11-2024 - Substack Blog: ‘So I watched Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’
9-13-2024 at 10:30 PM EST - Substack and YouTube Podcast: Episode 1 ‘Does it have a name’
Medium
9-12-2024 - ‘Why you should establish a routine’
Conclusion
I’ve got one more story for you related to hesitation. As you may know, I am the mother to a flock of chickens. One of whom is named Morrigan. She’s very timied and for good reason too. My rooster, Oscar, kind ran her over a few times when they were first introduced so I keep her in the pen a lot while the other’s run around. Unforntely, she doesn’t go out a lot more for safty reasons. She won’t stay with the others.
But watching her take her Sunday walk today and hesitate at the door made me think more about this blog. She turned a way a few times but eventually stepped beyond it and out into the grass to follow me. She got the courage to explore and be her trueself. Hesitation does this to us. It’s neither bad or good when we hesitate, unless your lieing to a crime scene investigator then that’s bad. But over all it gives us a chance to think, consider, and learn from our actions. We may even grow.
I think that’s all for now so I’ll end this by saying, have you hesitated today?
Lol I think that’s a bad last line. Hopefully you understand my jest here. Thanks for reading.