help Archives - Tiffany Joy

Different Paths: A Poem

by tiffanyPoetry February 23, 2021January 15, 2021No Comments

Different Paths is a poem about how there are different options in life. Sometimes it is confusing and you may choose the wrong path but God can and will guide you.

Paths open.
They may wind away
or lead you home.
One may desire you to stay
while others push you to go.
Only a guide will truly know
what is right and what is true,
so trust the guide.
He will lead you safely home.

Want More?

If you would like to read more of my poetry please take a look at my portfolio. You can also watch a few of my poetry readings.

To Love Was Not Written Alone

by tiffanyrandom ramblings, To Love Updates January 14, 2021January 8, 2021No Comments

The craft of writing can be a solitary endeavor. If you have a day job and a life outside of writing, like most authors, writing a book can also be a lengthy process. Personally, it took me five years to complete my book To Love and a lot of alone time.

I had people helping me

However, I did not write To Love in a void. Yes, I wrote and edited a good chunk of the book in my room or alone at the coffeehouse. There was also a good chunk of time that I wrote with a friend. He worked on his project as I worked on mine. This helped me stay focused and motivated, especially in the beginning.

I also had my sister, who is a fellow writer and my editor, as needed support and help. I could turn to her to talk about aspects of my book and get early feedback.

It was with all my friends and family members that I wrote, illustrated, and published my memoir To Love. Even though writing is a solitary hobby or career, it goes smoother if you have other people to help you achieve your goals.

I had God on my side

Another thing you will need is faith. You need to believe the book you are writing needs to be a book. Your story or knowledge needs to be out in the world for others to read.

I write about the faith it took to write To Love in the book. I talk about the journey the book itself is on. The book changed and morphed from a collection of thoughts into a memoir focused on love. With every change I had to have faith, it was what needed to happen. At points the faith I had faltered, which was okay because it always came back.

One reason I regained my faith in writing the book was because I had faith in God. I was confident He called me to write this weird book. Being a writing is who He called me to be, and this book had to be my first proper book. It was just how it needed to be.

With To Love I learned a lot, grew as an author, and God taught me a few things. It was tough, but I am grateful that I had God and my loved ones on my side.

Want More?

To Love is sold on Amazon and if you would like to read more excerpts you can go the To Love Updates section of this site. I also created some fun promotional videos on Youtube.

Others (A Poem)

by tiffanymy creative self, Poetry June 21, 2018April 24, 2020No Comments

poetry logo for others poem

It will be okay.
It will be alright,
just hold on tight.
Don’t be hurt,
there is no reason to cry.
Just let go
and know this darkness is just the night.

Morning is coming.
It must be near.
Daylight should be journeying here,
but even if it is not,
even if this friendship continues its sleep,
others are waking.
Others are walking,
some close by,
some far.

Others will help.
Others will hold.
Others think of you as dear.
Whether this is night before dawn
or an endless sleep of might-have-beens
others hold you tight
and others will bring your dawn.

Others is a poem that was originally written in October 2013 and only lighting edited when I found it in a journal.

Want More?

If you would like to read more of my poetry please take a look at my portfolio or watch a few of my poetry readings.

Weekly Writing Prompt (#29)

by tiffanyother updates September 14, 2015One Comment

Write a poem describing physical pain. Start the poem with creative imagery about how the pain started but then go into how it feels. What causes it to grow? Where is the relief?
Do you have a mentor? Write a character description about him/ her. What are they like? What makes them someone to look up to?
Retell a story you heard from a friend or someone else in your life. Use different names and if you forget a detail use your own imagination. Basically use a story you heard as a prompt, trying to keep it as close to the original as possible.
Two brother’s walk into a bar and start asking about the strange local crime that has happened. You hadn’t heard about anything strange, but the more you listen the more you realize you fit the target demographic. What do you do? What happens next? (yes, I am ready for Season 11 of Supernatural to start.)
You meet the person that you have you are the biggest fan of. You’ve waited in lines and get up to actually see him/her. What do you want to do? What do you actually do?

A Healthy Week To Boost Fitness

by tiffanyother updates, Physically Healthy Me July 28, 2015One Comment

A few weeks, well maybe a month ago, a friend and I were talking about getting together a hardcore diet/ fitness plan that would last one week. This would be to boost our healthy habits and jump-start our thinking about getting healthy and staying healthy.

I did some research, forgot about it, and then did a bit more research. Through research and the knowledge I already had I came up with a little system that I will be trying out. I think this system should only be done for a week as a boost, since it is to push you to be healthier. I also don’t believe in restricting your permanent diet and fitness all at once. That has failed for me in the past. What has not failed is gradually becoming healthier and knowing why.

Before starting anything where goals and a desired outcome is involved I believe you should ask yourself two questions. That being said if you want to join me with this health boost, please ask your self the following question. 1.) Why are you doing this? What are your reasons? Write this down.

Now on to the real system thing that I made. I broke down being physically healthy down to three parts habits, diet and mixed. In this healthy boost system I am going to be focusing on 1 new habit, 2 new diet items and 1 that is a mix for the week.

The lists are as follows:

Habit

Do short spurts of exercise every day. Doing at least 20 minutes of fast exercises. This could be 4 five-minute walks, 2 ten-minute intense spurts of exercise, or even 20 one-minute work outs.
Take deep breaths and relax when you are getting stressed or cut down on stress. Maybe at one point in your day you take a walk by yourself to release your stress.
Exercise 3 to 4 times a week. This should total 3-4 hours.
Add 30 minutes of sleep or get closer to 8 hours of sleep.
Make a list of favorite exercises and pick at random from that list for your work outs.
Work out 1st thing in the morning every day.
Find work outs you can do while watching television or do sit still while watching television.
Exercise for a total of 1 hour every day or an intense sweaty 30 minute work out every day for this week.

Diet

Take vitamin C or get vitamin C into your daily diet.
Focus on eating good fats (avocado, dark chocolate, coconut oil)
Add spice to your dish
Pop some Iron. Iron helps blood transport oxygen apparently.
Sip green tea, it has antioxidants.
Go a week without processed sugar or starches.
Only eat Protein, good fats and veggies.
Never skip breakfast, just make it healthy.
Make dinner your lightest meal
Don’t starve; make sure you eat at least 1500 calories a day.
Drink green smoothies every day for breakfast.
Do not eat any processed foods for the week. This means only fruits, vegetables, meats and unprocessed grains.

The Mixed list

Drink water (2-3 liters a day)
Drink coffee 1 hr before exercising (Do not add a lot of sugar or cream, try to keep it fat-free milk [if you can].)
Use smaller plates. (It may seem silly, but you will get full with less food. It also helps with portion control.)
Eat every 3-4 hours but eat small meals.
Put down your fork between bites
Designate one place to eat and eat there. Also cut down on distractions when eating.

I also am on pinterest and have a few boards that may help you boost your health. The first is my boosting healthiness board, where a lot of the research and ideas were pinned. Follow Tiff’s board Boosting healthliness on Pinterest.Next is my general fitness board, where I put a bunch of different exercises, work outs on and a few quotes to help me stay motivated. Follow Tiff’s board fitness on Pinterest.

The last two boards are my healthy eating and smoothie boards. These are focused on the diet part of being healthy.
Follow Tiff’s board Healthy food on Pinterest.

Follow Tiff’s board Smoothies on Pinterest.

Finally, I want to leave you with an important tip. Do not weigh yourself every day. Weigh yourself before you start and after. Also measure yourself before and after the week. Do not do it during the week. Plus the number on the scale or on the measuring tap is not what is important in the long run. The goal should be becoming healthier, not skinnier or lighter.

I hope this helps you. Let me know if you are trying this and I will let you know the end results.

Kitty's Monologue

by tiffanymonologue, my creative self June 19, 2015One Comment

Kitty is a character in my novel, who can not talk. She finds different ways to communicate and share knowledge. There is a lot to her, but she can’t always get that across. This monologue is an internal monologue taking place inside Kitty’s mind to Noah, one of the other main characters and the person she is closest to.

I do hear you. I do understand you. I do deserve my position. I really do and I know you know I should be where I am. I just wonder if the others think I belong. Sometimes I know that I don’t, but then you look at me and I belong. Your brother seems hard and protective of his mission. He can’t see that it is my mission too.

I am locked inside my mind. I wish I could just tell you and your brother. Really I wish I could tell everyone what is happening inside. It is like the neural pathways connecting my voice and thoughts are missing. With every trauma or change they are erased and I must relearn how to make sounds that would be considered words. To make matters worst my memories are misplaced. They are not lost, just misplaced. This makes it hard even know what I know. All my memories are intact, but they are hidden from me and it seems like just when I find a memory or way to connect my vocal cords and thoughts together they are erased or jumbled up.

I hope you understand that I am doing my best. Your smile makes me think you know, but how? I never know until I start reconnecting things. Maybe that is why you’re with me; to help me remember that I am not permanently broken just different with misplaced memories.

Hopefully one day I will get to thank you. Hopefully one day everyone will understand. I am smart and I am worthy of helping. It may be a long time, but I do hope.

I hope you like this and if you follow my blog you will learn more about the characters of Duality, since I am pretty focused on it. At least I am trying to be really focused on it.

My Bad Morning (a Short Story)

by tiffanymy creative self, Real Life, short stories, Short Stories Portfolio, Stand Alone Short Stories December 12, 2014January 5, 2021One Comment

Based on a true story.

I woke up today, not wanting to get out of bed. The reason was nothing big. I just wanted the weekend to come a day early.

My adult self woke up, and I got out of bed. I got ready and took part in my work’s fancy Friday. When you work in a company of hackers, who also have nerd tendencies, casual dress is more common than not. Most days people dress in jeans and t-shirts, but not on Friday. Friday people dress up. There is one person who appreciates fancy Fridays the most and who I believe started the tradition. It was this person’s birthday, so took part in what she enjoyed. I found my dress pants and my favorite button-up shirt. I put on my makeup and did my hair. Then I put my heels on and went out the door.

I got a latte from my favorite cafe. My day had a later than normal start, but it was going fine. It wasn’t until I got on the highway that everything stopped being fine. A loud noise erupted as if my car was driving on something. Maybe there was something stuck under my car. I got off the highway, and the sound changed a bit to more of a thud-thud sound, as if my tire was flat. It was strange since when I was on the highway it was just loud. I pulled into a grocery store’s parking lot and got out of my car. Something blew my tire with holes in all of it.

The Start Of The Tire Change

It was still okay. I was going to change a tire. How hard could it be? I had it all under control. I started by taking the spare tire out. This should be the easiest part, right? I just needed to undo the bolt and slide it out from under my car. It sounds simple, but when you are in fancy Friday attire you get determined to stay clean, and need to pull something out from under your car, things get difficult.

On top of staying clean, I did not want to get my clothes wet. It had rained the night before, and as soon as I tried to get the spare tire out, it started sprinkling. I ended up in yoga positions and weird poses just to figure out what I could do to get the tire out from under my car. After a fight and a struggle, I freed the dirty rescue tire from its cage.

Now, it was time to get the jack in place. Again, this should be easy, right? Don’t you just put it under your car and crank it up? Apparently, the answer to both those questions was ‘no.’ After the wheel did not move, but the car frame moved, I looked at my manual. It was inside in my glove compartment.

Once The Jack Was On

I went to the front of my car and saw my delicious latte sitting abandoned. I thought it best to show it some love by taking a sip. It thought it best to spill all over my car. Thankfully I did not get burned, because it was lukewarm by now. Yes, I got to enjoy one, maybe two sips of hot coffee before my tire blew and now the fight over the spare tire caused my coffee to be lukewarm.

I sighed a heavy sigh and flipped through the manual to figure out what to do with the jack. It had now started to full-out rain. Once I thought I had everything in control, people asked me if I needed help. My Pride and my confident wouldn’t let them help. I would finish this task. I know I am a woman who is looking fancy, but I can do it. Everyone should be able to change a tire.

I got the jack in place and was ready to remove the tire. Now, I just needed to get the nuts off. In the movies, they make it seem pretty easy. Plus, this is harder than it should have been already, so now the easy part should happen. I am almost done. I just need to get the tire off.

Finally Changing the Tire

Well, after a few minutes of trying to getting them off with increasing force a nice older man came over to should be a trick. He got on the wrench thing and jumped. Yes, he stood, full weight on the thing, and jumped. Awesome I know how to do it now. I thanked him, thinking that was all I needed. I just needed a tip from a stranger. He accepted the gratitude and went on his way.

In my heels, I hopped with both feet on the wrench thing. Nothing happened. I had a thought of, “Hey, I’m light.” My next thought was, “Oh my goodness, I am so weak I can’t even get this nut to loosen.” After a minute of hopping on the wrench thing, another man came and helped me. He told me to lower the jack and loosened the nuts for me.

After I finished taking the nuts off the wheel was easy to get off. My little detour was close to completion. I just needed to get the spare tire on and then drive less than a mile to the tire store. By now, though, I knew that stupid tire would not be easy. I picked it up and waited until finding the issue. The struggle was aligning the holes with the bolts. This task felt like I was trying to line up an ancient key with its keyhole. It took longer than it should have. Of course, the entire process took longer than it should have. Finally, after one more person asked to help me, which I refused on the fact that it was only the spare tire now, I could get it on.

The Ending Of The Story

I got up with my outfit still clean and one more friendly person stopped to help. It was amazing to me how many people wanted to help me. I told the guy I replaced the tire already, but I figured it wouldn’t hurt for him to make sure they were tight enough. He did and could tighten them a bit more.

I was now off to the tire store, where I was told that I need four new tires. While they were pricing the tires, I cleaned my hands and arms, which were the only things to get dirty. It was then when I decided I never wanted to change a tire again, so got all four new tires, hoping it would at least postpone the tire-changing nightmare.

It was an hour’s wait before I could go to work. I got to work. After an hour, I made myself peanut butter on toast. I was still proud of myself that I did not get any dirt on my clothes. I tell you this because after I finished with my snack, I looked down and saw that some peanut butter had dropped on my shirt along with my pants. The only thing I could do was laugh. I can change a tire while staying clean, but I can not eat and stay clean.

I hope you enjoyed reading about my morning.

Want More?

If you would like to read more short stories please check out my Portfolio or perhaps you would enjoy watching readings of my work on YouTube. Also, I post snippets of my short stories and other writings on my Instagram account and Facebook page.

Voice

by tiffanymy creative self, other updates August 20, 2014No Comments

Why do I have a voice and where does it come from? Am I just a person going through the world, doing what I want and saying whatever comes to my mind? No, the answer has to be no. I am more than just a stranger with no message. I am more than a blank face in the crowd. I want to stand out in the seas of the world and declare I am not normal. I am not just a yapping dog trying to get scraps of attention. I am not simply a girl wanting to better myself.

So Why do I have a voice? Where does it come from? I have a voice to shine love on everyone. I have a voice to encourage and show others that they can reach for the stars. They can do everything they want to, because they are breathing. I have a voice to share my story. And I have a voice to shout my love.

Where does it come from? My voice comes from being able to breathe, from being alive. It comes from God above who has taught me what true love is. My voice comes from the God who has given me breath and life. It comes from the people around me who tell me that I do indeed have this voice and lifts me up to be all that I was meant to be. My voice comes from far deeper than I let on.

If there is a reason for my voice and I have things I want to say with it, and since it comes from the greatest being ever to live, than why don’t I use it? Why do I blend into the crowd of the world and act like a yapping dog begging for attention? Why do I not stand up and declare “You are loved! You can be all that you want to be!”

You will be seeing changes from me.

Stay (A Poem)

by tiffanymy creative self, Poetry August 12, 2014One Comment

Can I give you strength?

Will you run away

If I tell you I love you

If I build you up

will you stay?

How can I help you

How can I help you grow

If I do what will happen

If I lend a helping hand

Will you show me that you care?

I really do hope I can help

I really do hope you will stay.