Inspirational Saturday: Making Your Life Novel

("Feet on Vacation" A shot I do every vacation)

I'm hitting the road early this morning with Julie. We're cemetery attendants at an amazing-race like event called the "Cemetery Crawl." It makes much-needed cash for the cemetery association while giving participants a crazy road race that involves going to a lot of cemeteries, doing tasks, road blocks and a fun stay over and supper together. It's a really fun event associated with MVD Ghostchasers Expect us to probably be on tonight to update everyone on our crazy trek and I will, of course, be taking lots of crazy vids and pics.

It's just another example of living a novel life. Every day, find something that makes your day memorable or novel so you're no longer asleep at the wheel of your life:

Eat supper leftovers for breakfast instead of danish.
Order chai instead of coffee.
Drive a new route to or from work.
Wear a hat.
Use candles and china for a mid week supper.
All day long, take a picture here or there at different times of the day to send to your loved one to share your day with him/her.
Pick up an old instrument you used to play.
Pull out a sketch pad at a cemetery.

The key to making your life novel is to embrace your individuality and how different you are than others, your quirkiness, your nerdiness. Start collecting Star Trek memorabilia, wear a pocketwatch instead of a digital watch and pull it out and use it. Sometimes, being un-tech in a tech world is novel enough, being a vegetarian in a meat-eating world, wearing all one color all the time, are ways to express your individuality.

Consider doing familiar things in unfamiliar ways. I recently did a post where I videotaped a beautiful scene in several locations but I did a slow 360 filming of the scene and then slowly began to spin very fast. Same scene, completely different mood. A novel life is not always about doing new things, but doing them a different way.

Here's an example of something I did. When my brother died suddenly in 2001, I took my long hair and grabbed a piece underneath on each side of my head and made a tight small braid--my warrior braids. I wore them in my grief for one entire year. People would ask me about the thing braids within my curls and I would tell them they were my warrior braids. They smiled blankly and moved on. I was determined to release my grief when I released the braids in one year's time. Every day they reminded me I am strong, I can do this, I am a warrior.

Try looking at the people you encounter every day, from family to friends to coworkers, in a new light. Observe their expressions, think about what they fret over when they're just sitting there staring off into space, then do something they totally don't expect like start breaking into song or doing a dorky dance. You just made them smile and shake their heads, and created a novel experience for yourself and others. Just don't do the expected. Step it up and do the "I never would have expected that."

**Don't forget my giveaway--you have until Sunday night at 11 pm EST**