Natasha Fondren

How like us are the dogs we pick? A research report from the University of California compared dogs and their owners. It found that when we select a purebred (not a mutt), we pick a dog like us. There is no predicting which traits are similar (could be physical or personality), except for friendliness, which tends to be more consistently similar.

I thought that was fascinating, so I looked up greyhounds. I almost got a greyhound—I was a week away, but I ended up getting a guy instead.

Aren’t they beautiful? In personality, I am totally a greyhound. I am reserved with strangers, but loyal and affectionate with those I know well. I love to be active, and yet I also love to cuddle.

If you were a purebred dog, which breed would you be? And which breed would your main character be?

It’s a happy ending, I promise:

The umbilical cord was snaked around the baby’s neck, tightly. Think a turtleneck with five circles. The baby’s eyes were shut and I saw no sign of breathing. As far as I knew, no sign of life.

So as the operator went on reading the standard directions: "Wrap the baby in a clean cloth or towel… tie a shoelace tightly around the umbilical cord…" I stopped following her. I focused on the neck. Didn’t even look down to see what gender the baby was.

"Oh my God, the baby’s not breathing," I said. "Breathe baby, breathe."

You can read “Breathe, baby, breathe!” at CNN.

I ended up in my playlist of musicals today, and I remembered how much I love “Hold On” from The Secret Garden musical. (Loved the book growing up; read it a million times!)

When you see the storm is coming,
See the lightning part the skies,
It’s too late to run—
There’s terror in your eyes!
What you do then is remember
This old thing you heard me say:
"It’s the storm, not you,
That’s bound to blow away."

Here’s a fantastic performance by Melissa Combs (definitely worth a listen!):

As many of you know, I hand-code and design eBooks. I know you’ve all been passing my name around (THANK YOU!), because I’ve been so busy doing it, it’s taken forever for me to get my website up.

It’s finally up!

So I have a favor to ask: Could you please check out my website, The eBook Artisans, and let me know if you see any errors or confusing bits? Let me know what you think?

And if you could link, blog, tweet, or post to Facebook about my service, I will be ETERNALLY GRATEFUL!

I’ve paired up with Ink Slinger Designs to offer a fabulous deal: a digital cover, Kindle file, and ePub file for $250. Click here to get started.

If you already have cover art, a Kindle file & ePub file are $149.

Many other services are available, too!

This week, I’ll be editing and finishing my Kindle formatting series, so if you have any questions or anything in particular you want me to cover, please let me know!

So did your team win at the Super Bowl? Did you watch? What was your favorite commercial? And most importantly: WHAT’D YOU EAT?

I love this TED talk! (Thank you, Heather!) It’s twenty minutes long. It’s one of those talks that has tons of buried treasure, but could’ve been a little more focused.

Very worth a listen, though.

To sum up, in her research and work, Brene Brown discovered that the people who have a strong sense of love and belonging have it because they believe they’re worthy of it. And even more, they fully embrace vulnerability—that’s not to say they enjoy the discomfort of vulnerability, but they believe it’s a necessary part of welcoming love and connection into their lives.

I think she and they are right.

The things that unravel vulnerability, and thus the feeling of love and belonging, are fear and shame. Not sharing out of shame, not risking rejection out of fear: these things cause loneliness and a loss of belonging.

There’s nothing to lose in being vulnerable, though: when we’re vulnerable, we risk rejection, yes—but choosing not to be vulnerable doesn’t protect us from rejection; we end up being the ones rejecting connection with another human being.

Either way, worst case scenario, we are disconnected.

If, on the other hand, we risk vulnerability, then we have a chance at connection and greater intimacy.

My favorite lesson from the video is that if you numb the uncomfortable feelings, like fear and shame, then the happy and joyful feelings get numbed, too.

Here is a lovely image I stole from her website:

What do you think?