I'm making significant progress on my book about my trip to Turkey.
Last month, I finished a first draft. I ended up with more than 43,000 words, which is about 173 pages. Afterward, I sent it to my brother Robert to proofread. Now, I'm taking his suggestions and incorporating them into a rewrite.
My hope is to have a manuscript ready to send out to publishers after the first of the year.
In the mean time, I am beginning to think about a possible trip this summer. I would appreciate any ideas for another online endeavor.
I'll keep you posted. As always, thanks for reading my blog.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Saturday, October 2, 2010
It's Going to Get Better - October 2, 2010
Although economists say the recession is officially over in the United States, it's hard to believe with the national unemployment rate hovering near 10 percent and with the pervasive sense of fear and pessimism lingering in the culture.
I think it's safe to say that we all know someone who has lost his or her job. I'm grateful to still be working, but thousands of teachers across the country have been let go due to reduced tax revenues. Many of us also know someone who has lost a home or is underwater on a mortgage.
In such a sluggish economy, laid- off workers with job experience and education are having a hard enough time finding work, which is why as a teacher, I sometimes worry about the job prospects for those who will be graduating in the next year or two.
It's easy to become overwhelmed, and I admit I've spent more than one sleepless night wondering about my fate if the economy doesn't pick up.
Lately, though, I've been thinking about the words of Albert Einstein, who once said, "The most important decision we make is whether we believe we live in a friendly or a hostile universe." In essence, Einstein was saying a person chooses to either be optimistic or pessimistic. A person is either trusting or fearful.
When I was traveling in Turkey having to rely on the assistance of others for everything, I lived in a constant state of optimism and expectation, and wonderful things kept happening to me, but over the last few months, I've lost some of my optimism. Last week, I decided it's time to get back to my Turkish mindset.
The reason for the sudden switch was that I was invited to speak to a group of college students about my trip to Turkey. While I was preparing for the talk, I thought about what I had experienced in Turkey and felt I needed to readopt a positive outlook.
I realize that being optimistic isn't going to create jobs or fix the economy, but pessimism, especially from those who have no reason to be pessimistic, makes things worse.
During my talk, I took the opportunity to try to reassure the college students. No one knows what's awaiting us in the future, but we can all take consolation in the fact that eventually things are going to get better. The economy will get back on track. Employment will pick up, and the pessimism will fade.
Right now, that might be difficult to visualize, but back in August 2009 as I launched my blog, I wasn't sure if anyone would ever read a word I wrote, let alone donate enough money for me to get overseas. Since then, I've had almost 4,000 hits on my site from more than 40 countries, and I received enough money to survive for a month in Turkey and still had money left over for charity.
Dreams do come true, and brighter days are ahead.
MEDIA UPDATE
On Friday, the local Dalton newspaper ran a follow-up story on my trip. Here's the link.
I think it's safe to say that we all know someone who has lost his or her job. I'm grateful to still be working, but thousands of teachers across the country have been let go due to reduced tax revenues. Many of us also know someone who has lost a home or is underwater on a mortgage.
In such a sluggish economy, laid- off workers with job experience and education are having a hard enough time finding work, which is why as a teacher, I sometimes worry about the job prospects for those who will be graduating in the next year or two.
It's easy to become overwhelmed, and I admit I've spent more than one sleepless night wondering about my fate if the economy doesn't pick up.
Lately, though, I've been thinking about the words of Albert Einstein, who once said, "The most important decision we make is whether we believe we live in a friendly or a hostile universe." In essence, Einstein was saying a person chooses to either be optimistic or pessimistic. A person is either trusting or fearful.
When I was traveling in Turkey having to rely on the assistance of others for everything, I lived in a constant state of optimism and expectation, and wonderful things kept happening to me, but over the last few months, I've lost some of my optimism. Last week, I decided it's time to get back to my Turkish mindset.
The reason for the sudden switch was that I was invited to speak to a group of college students about my trip to Turkey. While I was preparing for the talk, I thought about what I had experienced in Turkey and felt I needed to readopt a positive outlook.
I realize that being optimistic isn't going to create jobs or fix the economy, but pessimism, especially from those who have no reason to be pessimistic, makes things worse.
During my talk, I took the opportunity to try to reassure the college students. No one knows what's awaiting us in the future, but we can all take consolation in the fact that eventually things are going to get better. The economy will get back on track. Employment will pick up, and the pessimism will fade.
Right now, that might be difficult to visualize, but back in August 2009 as I launched my blog, I wasn't sure if anyone would ever read a word I wrote, let alone donate enough money for me to get overseas. Since then, I've had almost 4,000 hits on my site from more than 40 countries, and I received enough money to survive for a month in Turkey and still had money left over for charity.
Dreams do come true, and brighter days are ahead.
MEDIA UPDATE
On Friday, the local Dalton newspaper ran a follow-up story on my trip. Here's the link.
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