Get Up One More Time Than You Are Knocked Down

The Kiss- digital mixed media

That sheer feeling of elation when a goal you have set for yourself is achieved. That is exactly what I felt when at 6:41PM yesterday evening I received an email from the managing editor of Artful Blogging Magazine telling me my blog was chosen to be featured in their upcoming November issue! Artful Blogging is a gorgeous magazine published by Stampington and Company four times a year. I've been reading this magazine for years and admiring their beautiful printed magazine, drawing inspiration from many other artists and bloggers. For a long time I promised myself that one day I would have my work in a Stampington and Company publication, but fear of failure held me back for years.

Then, one day in May, I decided that I was being a hypocrite. I was writing blogs about taking control of your life, not living in fear, and reaching for your goals and yet here I was being held back by the very thing I told everyone else not worry about. Fear. So, I decided to get off the proverbial fence and just do it. So, that very day, May 22 to be exact, I wrote a submission email to the managing editor of Artful Blogging...and held my breath.  A week later I received an email telling me that she had received my submission and that a decision would be made at the end of June or beginning of July. Ach...that is a long time to wait. But, what was I to do? I felt encouraged that they didn't say no right off the bat, so I just filed it in the back of my brain and moved on with my busy life.

June passed.  No word.

July began.  No word.

I decided that if I hadn't heard by July 7th, the end of the first week of July, that my blog probably wasn't chosen for publication. July 7th came and went. Darn. I was disappointed, but not discouraged. Since it was a goal, I would just work on my blog for a while and resubmit. July 8th came...my mother called and asked, out of the blue, "Have you heard about your blog submission?" The question stung a bit because I wanted so badly to say YES and that it was chosen. I wanted to make her proud. But, I hadn't heard a word, so I told her the truth, "No, I don't think it was chosen.  I'll have to try again later."

I guess my mother putting it out into the world was a blessing because later that evening, at 6:41PM, my iPhone pinged the alert that I had received an email in my work account. I checked it immediately and was elated. All I read was, "Congrats! Your blog has been selected to be featured in the upcoming November issue of Artful Blogging that hits newsstands November 1, 2015!" I let out a squeal, jumped out of my chair, and exclaimed to the two construction workers in my house at the time, "I DID IT!" They paused in their work, looking at me like I was a nut and asked calmly exactly what it was that I did. I rambled on, my words a confused waterfall of exclamations and explanations, about setting a goal, going after it, and achieving it...My art was going to be published in a magazine I had long adored! I am pretty sure they thought I was possessed at that moment and I am not at all sure they understood a word I said.

I ran around the house telling anyone who would listen, including my daughter's friend who was over at the time, that I had overcome my fear of failure and had achieved a career goal! Elation.  Pure elation. I was proud of myself for overcoming all that has happened in the last year and a half and never giving up on my goals. So, please keep your eyes out for two amazing things happening this fall...I will be having a solo show at The Gallery at 122 Main in Elkton, Maryland, featuring my photographs and my digital art. I will also be published in Artful Blogging magazine, hitting the newsstands on November 1! Thank you to all my family and friends who support me in everything I do and celebrate life's victories with me. I love and appreciate you all. xo