Tag Archives: Deepak & Oprah

COVID -19, Greenwich Meridian memoir, pandemic, quarantine, Uncategorized

DAY 15: Covid-19 quarantine

April 7, 2020 emmapalova 1 Comment

Finicky spring sun offers hope, ushers in Easter

By Emma Palova

“Hope is a thing with feathers that perches in the soul- and sings the tune without the words – and never stops at all.”

-Emily Dickinson

Lowell, MI – In spite of the grim daily statistics that more than 3,200 people have died from COVID-19 in NYC surpassing the number of people killed on Sept. 11, 2001, spring and Easter are just around the corner.

I walked to the fish pond in the back of the garden this morning and I found some koi fish left that the heron hadn’t devoured in the fall. The pussy willow showed off its silvery and yellowish catkins, while the forsythia shrub was splashed with golden blooms.

This year, I appreciate spring and the gardens more than ever. I can walk outside the house, work in the garden and bathe in the sun, before it hides under the next cloud.

I learned this morning in meditation that when the top layer of the active mind, that constantly thinks and feels, gets fixated on anxiety, alarm, dread, and uncertainty, it cannot pull itself out of its own spiral.

“Mental activity becomes useless to heal itself, just as a runaway car cannot apply its own brakes.”

-Deepak Chopra

I’ve been down on energy for the entire length of the quarantine boggled down also with physical sciatica nerve pain, that just refused to go away much like the coronavirus outbreak.

I forgot to call my amazing Malaysian friend Zurina Ariffin; she had to remind me of her existence.

We talked about cooking, which is our common hobby among others. I immediately felt better. Zurina was making cashew chicken, as she announced that the Kent District Library (KDL) will probably be closed until May.

I felt like I was getting some reprieve today as I watched the fishermen on Murray Lake with the sun glistening on the water.

I worked on the front matter for the upcoming Greenwich Meridian Memoir. It went well, although I have to regain my focus.

Stay tuned for day by day coverage of the COVID-19 quarantine in Michigan.

Camp NaNoWriMo, inspiration, National Novel Writing Month, pandemic, Shifting Sands Short Stories, Uncategorized

Day 5: Creativity offsets COVID-19 anxiety

March 28, 2020 emmapalova 1 Comment

Perfection: All the shades of white

By Emma Palova

Lowell, MI – I have found out that creativity battles the anxiety invoked by the Coronavirus shutdown the best.

Facing the dark stats, how do I wake up inspiration from its gloomy dream? First of all, I had to turn off all the devices I own. Next I am trying to push out of my head all the images of suffering and exhaustion I’ve seen over the last two weeks.

I have to substitute the negative with the positive; easier said than done. I have to transform and focus on the light with its different shades.

I found relief again in the “Hope in Uncertain Times” meditation with Oprah & Deepak Chopra. I can see light instead of darkness.

You can also participate in NaNoWriMo’s initiative to keep your sanity. https://nanowrimo.org/stayhomewrimo

You can sign up for @Camp NaNoWriMo starting in April. It helped me finish my writing projects.

Also watch for my kindle giveaway of Shifting Sands: Short Stories on Amazon.

Featured photo: Perfection: All the shades of white.

book release, book signing, books, Daily Post prompt, fiction, inspiration, prompts, publishing, Shifting Sands Short Stories, short stories, Uncategorized, writing

Symphony of words

August 11, 2017 emmapalova Leave a comment

With our thoughts we make the world.

Buddha

A well-written story is a Symphony of words that click well with the reader. If the reader cannot relate to the content, the writer is not at fault. The reader shouldn’t be at that show. Not everybody likes classical music or country music. But everybody likes music, everybody likes books. They are like pizza. There is no such thing as a bad pizza.

“What inspires you?” people ask me the most.

That is probably the most popular question for any author. There is no single answer, but a multitude of answers depending on the day.

Early in the day, I was inspired by someone else’s selfishness. That person feared that I wouldn’t make the birthday party, if I got into an accident on my upcoming vacation.

I was speechless and flabbergasted. Not a care about the fact, if I was going to make it alive out of the accident. The only thing that mattered was the party.

I always say: “Real people inspire me the most with their actions and emotions, or the lack of both.”

“What powers people’s thinking?”

“With our thoughts we make the world,” Buddha said.

I try to think before I say something and definitely before I write anything.

My best advise to any writer is clear thinking that comes out of meditating, out of that space inside us that we explore, free of distractions and turmoil.

And maybe even more important is the detachment from the outcome, as I found out today while meditating.

After a month of my new book Shifting Sands Short Stories hitting the market, I started feeling resentment for not writing books for all those 20 years that I was working as a journalist for different newspapers.

“Really, Emma?”

That thinking honestly surprised me, and that’s why I went back into meditating.

“Emma, without the journalism jobs, there would be no Delivery of the book, that’s how you built your name recognition and following.”

“That’s how you gained experience, mom,” my daughter Doc Emma said.

I meditated with Deepak Chopra and Oprah Winfrey in their newest Desire & Destiny meditation. I highly recommend it, and not just to writers and authors.

It’s better than any “How to…….” manual.

It starts with the paramount question that we should ask ourselves every day.

“Who am I?”

“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.”

Mark Twain

My next book signing of Shifting Sands Short Stories will be during the Fallasburg Fall Festival & village bazaar on September 16 & 17 from 1pm to 4 pm at the one-room schoolhouse museum.

Everyone is welcome.

book release, books, distress, fiction, inspiration, local author, meditation, passion, relaxation, Shifting Sands Short Stories, short stories, travel, Uncategorized, wellness, writing

Exhausted

August 1, 2017 emmapalova Leave a comment

I am exhausted and ready for a vacation. Follow me on my author’s journey deeper into the Midwest as the sands shift some more into a new book.

I need some reprieve after all the commotion with the recent book Shifting Sands Short Stories that came out in July, both in kindle and paperback on Amazon.

I still have quite a way to go before the vacation next week, so at least I can write about it. It feels good to finally be able to think about some time off.

Watch for exclusive excerpts from the book, and more author events coming to the area.

What keeps me going are my morning therapeutic walks on the gravel road into the peaceful untrodden meadows, and meditations with Deepak & Oprah.

I especially love the Desire & Destiny meditation about fulfilling your purpose in life. It seems so relevant now with the new book.

Today, I did Day 12: “Inspired Me” with the centering thought, “I am inspired. I am unstoppable.”

I found out that I’ve been pushing too hard. I need to be effortless.