I'm happy to report that I've exceeded the $100K milestone as a copywriter. I remember (when I officially hung my shingle and "went for it" in November 2008) how impossibly distant $100,000 seemed. And now I've surpassed it.
Actually, if I include the year that I was employed as a fledgling copywriter for an on-hold company (all of 2007 and the first week in 2008) I exceeded the $100K mark well over eight months ago.
How cool is that?
It's official: I make my living as a copywriter and author. And I have never been happier in any job I've ever held. It consumes my life, but it's going by in the way I always dreamed of living my life, so what's not to love?
So tonight I'm congratulating myself on the beauty of my dreams and encouraging all of you to go for yours. If you'll work for yourself as hard as you work for other people, you can make it, too.
Read SETTLE FOR BEST: Satisfy the Winner You Were Born to Be. It's a blueprint to your future! It works. I'm living proof!
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Saturday, February 23, 2013
A Salute to Pat Derby and Other Animal Welfare Advocates I Have Known
This afternoon I've been thinking back--and feeling like Forrest Gump!
I have had the pleasure of meeting and/or working side by side (briefly or longer term) with so many renowned animal welfare advocates over the past forty years--Cleveland Amory, Roger Caras, Jerry Brown and Virgina Handley (of Fund For Animals), Tippi Hedren (of Shambala/the ROAR Foundation), Pat Derby and Ed Stewart (of PAWS--the Performing Animal Welfare Society), Virginia Knouse (of PAWS--The Progressive Animal Welfare Society), Eric Sakach of HSUS, Belton Mouras (Animal Protection Institute of America), Dian Fossey (gorilla savior), Vernon Weir (American Sanctuary Association), Penny Patterson (Koko's benefactor), Joyce Tischler (Animal Legal Defense Fund), exotic veterinarians and advocates Ned Buyukmihci and Chris Cauble, and on and on--and now I see we're losing them at warp speed. We lost Cleveland Amory years ago; we just lost Pat Derby on February 15th.
And there are the names of lesser-known animal welfare advocates whose names will not be shared on national television as they are shoveled off this mortal coil--stalwarts like Edward E. Smith, the late, great Rick Hendrickson (Yuba County Animal Control), Nancy Graf, Cathy Strote, the volunteer staff at Shambala ... so many others.
Animal lovers share a special bond. We're not confined to feeling concerned about each other--we share a common concern and affection for the rest of the beating hearts on this planet, animal and human. We know what's at stake if we continue to be callous and unconcerned about our fellow creatures.
It's sad to see animal advocates with big, big hearts passing on. The only good thing about it is that on the other side of Rainbow Bridge they will be welcomed with open paws, flippers, and other kinds of digits by the critters they've loved who have gone on before them, critters they served with every breath they took.
I salute you all. I'm honored to have met you and called so many of you "friend." Because my legacy (minuscule as it is) will include working shoulder-to-shoulder with so many of you, I have the small consolation of knowing that I actually did something of note beyond stringing words together, taking care of the Kelleys when they needed help, and being a sister, daughter, aunt, friend, nursery supervisor, employee, and "mom" to too many critters of my own to mention here.
Animal advocates are angels of God, send to remind us that because we're made in God's image, we have an obligation to care for the creatures He gave us dominion over. Animal welfare advocates are doing it right. Applause, applause!
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Gee, maybe my next book should be about the animals and animal advocates I've known and loved...or maybe I can share the stories right here in this blog. Who wants to hear them? (Let me know! Silence is deadly when I ask a question.)
But...do I remember the stories well enough to tell them? ACK! I might need some help from the advocates who are still alive!
The Beaver Rescue (never before told--with Cleveland Amory)
The Beginning of Pat Derby's PAWS
Shambala Memories
API Memories (read Burro-ing In: Animal Advocacy 101 in "Let No Day Dawn that the Animals Cannot Share" for one of the API stories!) (Dr. Ned, Mt. St. Helens eruption and fawn care, etc.)
I have had the pleasure of meeting and/or working side by side (briefly or longer term) with so many renowned animal welfare advocates over the past forty years--Cleveland Amory, Roger Caras, Jerry Brown and Virgina Handley (of Fund For Animals), Tippi Hedren (of Shambala/the ROAR Foundation), Pat Derby and Ed Stewart (of PAWS--the Performing Animal Welfare Society), Virginia Knouse (of PAWS--The Progressive Animal Welfare Society), Eric Sakach of HSUS, Belton Mouras (Animal Protection Institute of America), Dian Fossey (gorilla savior), Vernon Weir (American Sanctuary Association), Penny Patterson (Koko's benefactor), Joyce Tischler (Animal Legal Defense Fund), exotic veterinarians and advocates Ned Buyukmihci and Chris Cauble, and on and on--and now I see we're losing them at warp speed. We lost Cleveland Amory years ago; we just lost Pat Derby on February 15th.
And there are the names of lesser-known animal welfare advocates whose names will not be shared on national television as they are shoveled off this mortal coil--stalwarts like Edward E. Smith, the late, great Rick Hendrickson (Yuba County Animal Control), Nancy Graf, Cathy Strote, the volunteer staff at Shambala ... so many others.
Animal lovers share a special bond. We're not confined to feeling concerned about each other--we share a common concern and affection for the rest of the beating hearts on this planet, animal and human. We know what's at stake if we continue to be callous and unconcerned about our fellow creatures.
It's sad to see animal advocates with big, big hearts passing on. The only good thing about it is that on the other side of Rainbow Bridge they will be welcomed with open paws, flippers, and other kinds of digits by the critters they've loved who have gone on before them, critters they served with every breath they took.
I salute you all. I'm honored to have met you and called so many of you "friend." Because my legacy (minuscule as it is) will include working shoulder-to-shoulder with so many of you, I have the small consolation of knowing that I actually did something of note beyond stringing words together, taking care of the Kelleys when they needed help, and being a sister, daughter, aunt, friend, nursery supervisor, employee, and "mom" to too many critters of my own to mention here.
Animal advocates are angels of God, send to remind us that because we're made in God's image, we have an obligation to care for the creatures He gave us dominion over. Animal welfare advocates are doing it right. Applause, applause!
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Gee, maybe my next book should be about the animals and animal advocates I've known and loved...or maybe I can share the stories right here in this blog. Who wants to hear them? (Let me know! Silence is deadly when I ask a question.)
But...do I remember the stories well enough to tell them? ACK! I might need some help from the advocates who are still alive!
The Beaver Rescue (never before told--with Cleveland Amory)
The Beginning of Pat Derby's PAWS
Shambala Memories
API Memories (read Burro-ing In: Animal Advocacy 101 in "Let No Day Dawn that the Animals Cannot Share" for one of the API stories!) (Dr. Ned, Mt. St. Helens eruption and fawn care, etc.)
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