Janet Grace Riehl and WOOFer Power!

Janet Grace Riehl is an all-around creative WOOFer having made the rounds of every discipline in the arts: writing, visual art, music, acting/storytelling, and dance. Since 2006 her work has mainly focused on writing and publishing. Her most recent project is "Sightlines: A Family Love Story in Poetry and Song" that extends the written work in "Sightlines: A Poet's Diary" into the realm of sound.


ELDER POWER LOVES COLLABORATION:

Janet Grace Riehl’s Village Supported Her Dreams Publishing a book! That was the dream I pursued all my life and in my 50s, I made it a reality. A few years later at 60, I expanded the print version into an audio book. It took bliss, yes—that is to say, it took vision and passion. It took effort, yes…old-fashioned sweat, guts, and tears. And perhaps most importantly, it took a village; yes, a team of collaborators. It was the village that made it possible to see “Sightlines: A Poet’s Diary” into print in 2006 and in 2009, produce “Sightlines: A Family Love Story in Poetry and Music” in a 4-CD album -

Sightlines: A Poet's Diary
Sightlines: A Family Love Story in Poetry & Music

For the book I was mainly on my own, but I had a mentor by my side only an email away. When I needed something, amazingly, a friend would appear at my doorstep--if only for 15 minutes--to help me.

For the audio book, my team expanded to include my father; a blogging buddy, who led me to her son-in-law, who became the sound-cum project manager; my legal guy for licensing and copyrights; a poet friend and blogging buddy who read the intro…and now the 20 bloggers helping with this Internet tour. I was the team leader, but what a team! They smoothed the way and kept me from falling into the ruts I hadn’t realized were in the road.
Why is collaboration a natural tool for Elders?

• We are often not as arrogant (or as blissfully ignorant?) as we once were and more open to working with others. It allows us to blend strengths and offset weaknesses so that we don’t have to learn whole new set of skills.

• Knowing that we can count on others relieves some of the pressure and makes our dreams seem achievable.

No matter what your dream is, know that you can achieve it if you don’t hesitate to use your Elder Power to call your collaborative village to your side. It can be as close as your kitchen table or your Internet connection.

Thanks, Janet for giving us your secret of Elder Power, or as we say around here, WOOFer Power!

As a bonus, if readers click here (this will take you to the top post on Riehlife) and comment on the video, they'll be eligible to be chosen in a contest raffle.

In addition, click on this link, http://www.riehlife.com to sign up for a 10-minute audio download of poetry and music from our new audio book, "Sightlines: A Family Love Story in Poetry and Music."

Read more about Janet Grace Riehl July 20 on Bookland Heights

Visit Janet's next Blog Stop - Janet's Jargon


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