Well, it has been a short while since my last post as I have been busy with the final steps of getting my new little book ready for launch, stay tuned my friends I am almost there and I am SO grateful and excited at the same time.

On a lighter note I had the most fun I have had for a while during a driving course recently. As an instructor I am required to evaluate a driver while we are on the road, I am looking for hand positions on the wheel, braking, throttle control, lane position and of course the attitude of the driver (the most important piece of driving) and this is my favorite as I believe it is an energy thing. I get to sit with someone I don’t know and share what I know without being critical or sounding like an “instructor”, my favorite way to do this is by using a little humor whenever I can.

I was out recently with a wonderful soul, and she was a top notch driver, she was making my job easy and enjoyable, so while we were out on the rural leg of our adventure my mind was relaxed and I was enjoying the countryside and appreciating nature. I noticed some wetlands, now goodness knows i have driven by these wetlands many times, but this particular day I really noticed them and I wondered how deep they might be.

Sure enough, because I was in the right seat and had all the time in the world to actually process this question, I came to the realization that these ponds did indeed have a depth, they were in fact Duck Butt Deep, I was able to establish that the waterfowl inhabiting these ponds were obviously feeding off the bottom while exposing there…uhhh… watertight areas. Therefore i resolved that most ponds in the Rural areas of Alberta are are Duck Butt Deep, while some ponds are Goose Butt Deep which is just a tad deeper than Duck Butt Deep and unacceptable to the smaller ducks in the area.

And now you know…🦆

I LOVE my job😎

Rounding the corner to the finish line, my little book is the final stretch prior to publishing, just have to proof read (Thank you Rachel Small Editing) and to make sure everything lines up, approve the cover, then give the nod for printing. What I am looking forward to the most is getting back into marketing with Beth Kallman Werner from Author Connections, then loading some copies in the saddle bags of the Harley and heading out to get my book on the shelves of all my favorite stores.

The excitement never seems to end, even though this is my 6^th time around, it is still exciting and still gets my heart beating (thank goodness, these meds are making that tough these days) and it still makes me proud to see a project all the way through and to hold something I did, in my hands.

Even before the launch, word of mouth pre-sales have been exceptional, lots of interest being shown in my immediate friend bubble, and even more interest from FB connections far and wide. I look forward to sharing this new little book as it is filled with my word hugs, my inspiration, some of my images and lots of uplifting energy, all things we were running short of after such a long year of change and zero momentum or movement.

 Stay tuned my friends you will be the first to hear of the launch and the locations to purchase both locally and US, and for all of my faraway friends I won’t forget about you.

WI:)ND 🌻😊🦋🤗

I was reminded this morning how important it is to appreciate life, all life, and to understand that each of us plays some part be it small or large in someone else’s life, often we are unaware at just how important we may be. Every morning I share my thoughts and my inspiration on my Facebook page, and every morning I have no idea who I reach, or who may find benefit from my words, I just know it makes my heart smile every morning to have the opportunity.

I know there are others in the world that are as bright and determined to make the world a better place, in fact i feel somedays like I am surrounded by the kindest, brightest souls in the universe and together we are making smiles happen. This morning however i was shown by the universe that it is important to support each other, to do everything humanly possible to help others believe in themselves without feeling responsible for their flow, that is out of our control. We can lead, show, nudge, guide or point out directions, but it is always up to an individual to make their own choices, good or bad, right or wrong, the choices are up to them, and we can watch them learn, their way, their own lessons, and live with the outcomes, because we have had ours, we have made our choices and we are here now because of them, to share what we know.

Kindness comes in many forms, for me it is the ability to see energy, to read people and focus on their positive energy, I believe in my direction, and most of all I believe in the souls that surround me, and they all support me because we share the same belief:

People are people and life will happen, and our energy will set us apart, but some people need help to be better people and that always comes from the heart.

WI:)ND 🌻😊🦋🤗

My little book is progressing nicely, it is in excellent hands and I know when it is done this stage it will will be exemplary, this makes my heart happy. We were discussing my marketing options, and marketing of course is one of the most important steps of self publishing, and I learned SO much when i published my first five books. I was in charge of distribution (in the saddle bags of my motorcycle) promotion (walking into stores and sharing my smile) entries into countless awards groups (I received three for my books from Next Generation Indie Book Awards) requests for reviews (some were good, some were bad, ALL were important) and merchandising (t-shirts and feather bookmarks), the best part of being a self published author is putting all the pieces together, the effort is worth the result.

But through it all I continue to write my inspiration, in fact I have been writing my poetic quotes every morning for so long I can’t remember when I started, and this morning I realized as my next book is in the works, that I have not changed who I am, or how I write, I have maintained a non biased, non gender, non religious, sans profanity view of positive light and energy. I am proud to be working with the best in the business to publish the best of my writing and I know that I will be proud of what I have accomplished so far and I will continue to enjoy doing what I love to do.

My advice to you all is never give up on yourself, if there is something you really love doing, then do it, if something makes you smile then enjoy it, believe in yourself, create your own happiness BE the flow of your own energy, life happens because you live it, happiness happens because you let it. Listen to those voices in your head, trust your judgement, keep in mind you can’t please everyone, and you don’t have to.

WI:)ND 🌻😊

Have you ever noticed how long things seem to take when you wait for them to happen? What do you do while you are waiting? Do you have a method to the madness for that which you seek?

I shared a theory a while ago of how i believe time passes differently in different situations, and the slowest of which is the near stand still of time while we are waiting for something, but, I am sure it is entirely dependant on whatever it is we are waiting for. For example; if we are waiting for results it can take a lifetime (especially if our lifetime is concerned) as compared to waiting for paint to dry or a cake to bake, we know the outcome, but it does not require waiting, per se.

Now having said this I find myself waiting for my book, not “counting the minutes” waiting, but “anticipating the outcome” waiting. I am looking forward to the cover, the content, the design, the subtle restructuring of the manuscript, and this is the positive beneficial waiting that we all experience occasionally, and I am also realizing that it has taken a lifetime of learning how to appreciate waiting for things to develop the patience required to enjoy the wait. I have also acquired the ability to walk away from a line knowing I don’t have to wait, it is a choice.

Don’t get me wrong, I totally understand how the negative impact of waiting can make it an unwanted experience, but, it is also becomes a means of achieving a calmer zen-like inner you, you just need to adjust your mindset, don’t count the minutes, enjoy them, don’t hold your breath, enjoy breathing, and most important, don’t wait, appreciate.

Take the time to be grateful for having the time to wait, don’t waste your life rushing things, enjoy things, life will happen when it happens, and your happiness is created by you in the moment you make it, not tomorrow or the next day, don’t wait to be happy, be happy while you’re waiting.

WI:)ND 🌻😊

So, you have done all you can do and you are now experiencing the moments when you have nothing to do but wait. You have done the work of an author, you have written a book, and it has taken some long days, sleepless nights, lots of anxiety, self editing, self-doubt, lots of questions, lots of worrying, and all of this effort has led you to this point in your adventure when you have given your work, your “child” to someone else to look at, I mean, thats it right, you just want them to look at it, not make any changes, unless, they really think changes are necessary.

Well now it’s time to relax a little, if you have done this before then you know what to expect, if you are a new Indie author, then you are in for a fabulous adventure, what happens now, while you wait, is the fun part. Have you thought about marketing your book, do you have anyone to talk to about it, for that matter does anyone even know you have written a book and are publishing it? You know of course that now it’s all up to you to make sure people are aware of your work, and while you are waiting for the next step you begin this step.

Keep the excitement going, you’ve just written your first book, or perhaps another book, so start building an audience for your book, let your friends know, they all have friends, the word will flow from there, build a website, write a blog, if you already have these things then reactivate them, let your followers know you are there and alive and excited. It is your energy that creates the forward momentum, it is your smile that lights the way through the shadows of doubt you may experience.

My biggest thrill about being an author is I get to share my thoughts, my ambition, my energy. In the photo I am sitting on my motorcycle waiting for traffic to start moving again, and while I was waiting I was appreciating the moment I was in, I was surrounded by nature, friends, motorcycles and making new memories, and now I wait for my book to start moving, and I am appreciating the moment, I am surrounded by happiness, supported by friends and sharing my thoughts, inspiration and energy.

Nothing you do that feels right to you should ever stop you from growing,

You are always the flow of your energy and your smile should always be showing.

WI:)ND🌻😊

In order to accommodate personal growth or self development, sometimes we need to incorporate changes, we need to make choices and we need to allow growth to happen, in whatever form that growth may appear, if it is a single step forward in any direction, it is growth. The challenges in life happen because life happens, and often we have no control over what happens in life, what makes it interesting is how we react to what life throws at us, how we adapt our dreams to fit in with where we are in the big scheme of things.

The important thing is to never quit dreaming, if you have an image in your mind of what you want to happen, keep that image as a reality, then work backward from there to make the dream happen. If it turns out that you can only do a portion of your dream right now, then make the portion important, if all you have is a piece then make the piece fit the picture you have, the rest of the pieces will come.

It is always up to you to decide what you want out of life, and believe me i have learned through experience that life is guaranteed to no one, tomorrow may or may not happen, so waiting to do what makes you happy only puts off that chance to be happy. Let your happiness happen, write your book, paint your picture, take the courses, find the job that makes you smile, you should never have to suffer while you’re making someone else rich, your life is too important, your light needs to shine for you… today!

Smile because you are you, you don’t have to settle, and don’t think you are settling if sometimes you have to change things a little, if you are making something happen that makes you smile then that is growing not settling.

Positive thoughts bring positive things, a bird won’t ask why, it’s just happy to sing.

WI:)ND 🌻😊

“The flow” is so often referred to as something we are supposed to go with, the flow being someone else’s guidelines perhaps, or maybe a suggestion of how one should live so as not to create waves, the flow could very well be contrived expectations we are just supposed to ok with. Well, I for one have always had a problem with going with the flow, and believe it or not, my rebellious behaviour was sparked by simply watching nature, nothing in nature seemed to go with any flow, the river IS the flow, the wind IS the flow, the ice becomes the flow, in fact the flow is always altered or adapted to suit that which is living in it, take the industrious little Beaver for example, he actually stops the flow, to create an environment more suitable to him, and his family.

So, I now truly believe and am quite happy knowing that energetically speaking, I AM the flow, I create my own opportunity, I choose my own path, I make my own happiness happen. Where I am going with this is in the last 10 years I have watched, listened, learned, and saved all the information I needed to publish my books, that in itself became my flow, my creative energy flowing in a direction that led me to become a published author, now, so many years later I am still a published author and I still have more books to publish.

Don’t get me wrong, I totally understand that everyone else may have a flow they might have to go with but I have found it is often easier to make things happen on your own. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, look around and see whats out there, you may find different ways of doing things, ways that may enhance the flow you have created.

Never stop creating, never be told you have to wait to create, never go with any flow that stops you from creating your happiness, and for goodness sake never say never, you are always the flow of your own energy, your happiness happens because you let it. I am making my book happen by working with people that appreciate the effort involved in making a smile happen, and those same people also know there are always going to be Smiles in the WI:)ND because I AM the flow of my own energy.

WI:)ND 🌻

Making this decision to reignite the creative fires was an easy decision to make, but, it took a very long time to make it. For the longest time I believed it was not the right time, that perhaps the Universe wasn’t ready for my books to be published, and I let them go, thinking one day I would get a sign. Well, when reality finally hit me i realized it wasn’t a sign I was waiting for it was financial requirements that I needed to publish. There are costs involved for editing, designing, publishing, printing, marketing…etc. So, could it be that the Universe was actually waiting for me to understand the situation and rethink it.

I was definitely not in a financial position to publish a series of books, but, I can certainly publish one, and the timing right now is perfect to share some real, positive, from the soul inspiration with the world. We have had a year of gloom and doom, changes and mandates, new guidelines and desperate measures, people have forgotten how important a smile can be.

What I am enjoying the most about this adventure Is, I have been here before, but, everything still feels brand new. I am excited and overwhelmed, I am critical (I am my own worst critic) and I have reaffirmed my belief in the fact that I AM the flow, this direction I am choosing will take me where I need to be, and I will be smiling for the entire journey…

The most beautiful thing we will ever see

is our smile in the mirror when we are happy to BE.

WI:)ND 🌻

So, here I am after 3 years of inactivity, well, inactive on this site, I have been keeping active on my daily input on Facebook, and once a week or so adding my writers write pages, but, I woke recently with a desire to not only get back into my blog page but to blow the dust off of the tools i was once familiar with and reconnect with my creative side.

I am, as of January 1st 2021 officially engaged in the exciting task of getting my next book out there to the world, I felt like now, more than ever, the world needed some inspiration and some good positive energy. I believe we never lose our creative flow, often though it ebbs, still there, but unseen, unused, and it goes un-noticed, so, somewhere in my soul the spark ignited the fire and I could feel the flow return, I reactivated my website, bawbsravenfeathers.net and my blog page at wordpress, bawbsravenfeathers.com, I reached out to my “Book family” to let them know I was back, and I think I could actually feel the smiles I created.

I can give you what I have done so far, the cover is designed, the title will be Smiles in the WI:)ND and it will be filled with words and images created by me that come from my soul, there is nothing I enjoy more in this world than sharing smiles everyday and what I like to call my word-hugs. I will keep you up to date with my progress here on my blog site and I invite you to send me your smiles and if you need a little extra energy one day, you will know where to find me, I have lots to share.

And I will start this adventure with a huge shoutout to those in my book family that have always been there, and my friends I have grown to appreciate so very much for sharing smiles and energy, for without all of you, my words would go unread and become mearly my thoughts shared with my smiles… in the WI:)ND.

I believed one day I would write a book, I wrote 5, then I believed it would be sold in the big bookstores, and I saw it sitting on the shelf, and now I believe it will move from the local Authors section to where it will be noticed, I believe in positive thinking and I believe my next book will be noticed by those who need a smile.

Stay tuned…

Bob