Surviving the recession as a writer

We are experiencing financial tough times. There is no mistake about it. And it doesn't seem to be becoming easier. What writers need to do now more than ever is to knuckle down and keep on writing like nothing's wrong.

I subsist on a meager budget and yet I have kept writing and discovered some tricks along the way that may help others looking for how to do the same.

One, I cook most of my healthy savory meals myself at home. I have become quite a chef. It's a far cry from my meals a year ago when I took fried onions literally. Flash forward to the present. I've mastered gourmet meals. Red kidney bean soup, beef and barley stew, pumpkin soup, roasted pumpkins, ciders, pumpkin breads, sacred spiral bread, french onion soup, hot roasted chicken (my sis wants the recipe), stirfies, moon cookies. I am a kitchen witch. I hang a kitchen witch on a hook in my kitchen and let her work her magic. I pray to Demeter and Hestia, goddesses associated with food and the hearth and grains. I like to light a candle and clean the preparation area then begin cooking. All of these steps set the mood and awaken the energies and atmosphere for successful cooking. It was a Scandinavian custom to hang a kitchen witch ornament in your kitchen for positive energies and good luck for cooking. It may have been the belief that the kitchen witch would draw the energies. The kitchen witch was well versed in herbs and spices and cooking and the hearth. They looked to the local shaman or seer or witch, if you will, for the knowledge and protection.

I have Scandinavian roots. I cook most of my meals myself and live on a tiny budget and hardly ever need to eat kraft dinner. It is cheaper to eat healthy than to live on kraft dinner. It does not hurt to add a little magic to home cooking. I was given a nice blank journal as a gift. I filled the book up with recipes and it is now my little personal cookbook.

I am conscious of my power usage. I turn off lights and the computer when not in use. Turning the thermostat down when not at home or when sleeping at night can help save a bundle of money. I recycle and use a paper shredder. I use post-consumer recycled paper, recycle my ink cartridges,borrow movies from the local library, buy local and support local farmers markets. I carry cloth bags and take the metro transit and ferry to Halifax. Taking the ferry allows me a few moments of meditation since I am near the water.

I buy in bulk and when food is on sale. I use everything up as much as i can. I also suport local artists and businesses.

All the above things I mentioned do help to save money It costs less for a bowl of healthy hearty stew than it does for a dinner from Wendys Restaurant. I save money that way and then so have money for that bottle of white out I ran out of or a new ink cartridge and a pack of printing paper. I eat an organic food diet and feel the best I have ever felt in my life.

Some argue that organic food is more expensive but then, isn't everthing? Feeling healthy leads to feeling better and that leads to more energy to write.

i also use the law of attraction to attract what I want to myself or to banish bad energies. I use the moon's energies. When the moon waxes, that is a powerful time to try to create prosperity, love, safety, whatever. When the moon wanes, turn inward and use that for a time of reflection or meditation or to turn unwanted energies away from you. If you believe you can attract your desire, it may happen and it takes belief to make it work. If you beliieve that it won't work, it won't and if you believe it will, it will. It takes a lot of faith but using the law of attraction & trusting your intuition can bring more than a writer ever dreamed towards them.

So have faith and cast your spell and let me know when you publish that book!