Let's Talk About Words

Riding Waves is a book about learning to navigate the joys and trials of growing up, falling in love and going to college. When Harper's relationship with Dan starts taking her down a path she doesn't like, she will have to make some hard choices. Can Harper ride the waves of life or will they take her under? Excerpt: July 2011     The sun feels warm on my shoulder as Ashley and I play tennis on the street in front of my house. We have been best friends since the sixth grade, and we just graduated from high school this year. I see a car coming so we stop playing for a minute to see if it is coming this way. As the car gets closer, we realize that it is her parent’s car, and that her brother Dan is driving. I wonder why he is here and if Ashley has to go home? Or maybe he is here to see my brother, Jake? Even though, I am seventeen and she’s already eighteen, neither of us have our own cars. We were too lazy to ride our bikes to the tennis courts today so that’s why we...

I love the written word for many reasons, and cannot imagine a life without the feel of a book in my hands or deprived of the character's words replaying in my head. as difficult as it was to do, I chose three of my favorite books in order to understand why I like to read and how I can get lost in a book... http://www.chicagonow.com/look-good/2016/12/wish-i-had-a-list-of-books-that-i-have-read/

Nelson Mandela said, “No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”  Words can be powerful, but so can our thoughts.  Most of the spiritual books that I have read discuss how powerful one's thoughts and intentions are. We create our experience of the world based on how we think about it. What are you thinking? How are you responding? What are you creating? Is your intention positive or negative? We all know that hitting someone and calling names can hurt, but intentions and thoughts can hurt others as well as we damage ourselves. When you hate others, you bring that onto yourself. When you are negative, you draw more negativity in your life. There are countless songs like the one by Sister Hazel that sing, "If you want to be somebody else, change y...

Although I love this blog, I am currently writing a blog called #lookingforthegood for ChicagoNow. Please follow me there since I post twice a week! http://www.chicagonow.com/look-good

 I may not even use it on purpose. #Iamawriter http://www.amazon.com/Susan-Marie-Schulhof/e/B00IBPFHV8 https://twitter.com/SchulhofSusan

As I sit here changing my address again for the third time in four years, I am reflecting on how much resistance I give to change in my life. I like to be challenged, but on my own terms, not because of situations in life that I seem to have no control over. It seems though that more I resist and fight these alterations, the more that I hurt. Today, I choose to focus on the positive and just lean into the changes coming my way, if I can....  https://twitter.com/SchulhofSusan http://www.amazon.com/Susan-Marie-Schulhof/e/B00IBPFHV8 https://itunes.apple.com/us/author/susan-marie-schulhof/id613849093?mt=11 http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/Susan+Marie+Schulhof?fs=0&_requestid=358537

  As I was reflecting on a conversation today, I had this insight about my philosophy of leadership. I believe that Leaders are only there to help others succeed. Yes, there are tasks to be done, and no we don't want to do their job for them, but we need to help them be successful in their roles. To me that is how I know that I am succeeding...whether my teachers are. It may take some discussions and brainstorming, but isn't that what it takes to "lead" others. If they can't see how to have success on her own, together we need to set goals, figure out a plan and determine how to achieve them.  http://www.amazon.com/Susan-Marie-Schulhof/e/B00IBPFHV8 https://twitter.com/SchulhofSusan

. ...I am happy to be alive when I see the waves wash upon the shore, when I see the colors in the sky, when the rain falls slowly on a warm afternoon. It does not cost me anything to experience these gifts, and I do not need to travel to far lands or perform great feats to see this beauty. I only need to stop and notice the beauty that is all around me. I have come to understand that the joy that I experience does not come from the beauty that I see, but from the beauty that I feel, the beauty of a simple joy.     “You,” she whispers again.      “Oh Grandma. This was from your Grandma Sarah. Isn’t it?”    She nods yes as I say, “It was written before the war, and you still have it and now you want me to have it?”    She smiles and then closes her eyes.    “Thank you Grandma. I will keep it safe. It is the best graduation gift that you could have given me.” I read it one more t...

Riding Waves   is a YA and NA Fiction Novel about learning to navigate the joys, as well as, the trials of growing up, falling in love and going to college. It appears that Harper’s life is heading in the direction of her dreams as she graduates from high school and begins to date her best friend’s charismatic older brother, Dan. As she struggles to balance her own needs with the demands of being in a relationship, she loses her best friend and is in danger of losing herself. She has some hard decisions to make when her choices lead her only to confusion and pain. While on vacation in Florida, she writes a poem comparing her own life to how she feels when body surfing. She realizes that just like in body surfing, she must decide which waves will take her to shore and towards her dreams, and which choices might take her under and cause her only pain.  Can Harper ride the waves of life or will they take her under? https://itunes.apple.com/…/susan-marie-schulhof/id613849...