Grateful to be ... Beyond Dreaming to Write—Storytelling To Rise
- Teresita "Angela" Terga
- Jul 20, 2021
- 12 min read
Have you ever wondered whether you could make a living from your passion? I do and haven't yet. I write to see my dream come true. What matters most is being good enough to be read, published, and produced, once reaching a ripe audience. Why? Because how we tell the Story matters. I am a visionary writer, I create worlds from past to future with a purpose, not just a character arc, not just any premise.
But How would I make a living from writing and overcome my mid-life crisis?
I asked myself this and many more questions after walking out of the trap I put myself into as a teacher in Miami-Dade, when I refused to continue being abused.
Welcome to Angela's "Mad Teacher" Blogging Memoir. Contact angelaterga.com or camp1.org, for all your writing and publishing needs. We want to help you create a family memoir, a scifi novel, articles & blogs, academic papers, children's books, and/or a sports or historical biopic. We also cover, breakdown, and budget your screenplay with technology. Adapt your story to different formats! Create your own project fund at camp1.org, the nonprofit for conscious arts. Help us give out art a better chance. With your donation, an artist will be able to contract services, travel, and learn to get ahead with a project.
Thank you for your support. We have a new Peace Education program and we are looking to be booked near us to give your event and group a fun and enlightening peace practice, complete with a talk, a meditation, and your personal art project.
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This season, the keyword from Keywords for Peace by Dr. I. Santos C. published by CAMP at no charge) is:
"GRATITUDE" and I would like to respond to Dr. Wayne Dyer's teachings words:
"When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change." These are my words:
"Gratitude changes the way we look at things and leads us to conscious living."
Giving thanks! God is good! War is not!
My passion for Storytelling came from my experience with children. I believe storytelling is the most crucial talent in the world. It changes the narrative or prolongs the agony.
Storytelling is how we create and destroy myths and empires, birth religions, and interpret the stories handed down to us. Storytelling coalesces cultures and makes them believe in lies, especially since the advent of mass communication means of the digital kind.
Teaching is a storytelling activity, every job is, but intentional storytelling to heal the planet, to evolve the human consciousness, that takes centuries. Especially so when only a few put a notice on the need.
The best stories are not fictional accounts; they are studies in the arts and sciences.
For example, one of my favorire Keywords for Peace from the book keywords for peace, by dr santos, is
Gratitude –the most overarching.
Which decision in your life's history are you most grateful for?
I'm thankful for the courage to stand up for my dreams and walk out on teaching three different subjects without a planning period, not allowed to take the elevator without a special (in-advance) authorization while loaded with materials in a wheeled cart, and then obligated to enter grades for students in my English classes who also took the Reading class. At the same time, administrators took the equipment under my supervision without checking it out. The glass had overflowed after twenty-two years of pouring.
advice for teachers and parents
One of the major concerns parents should address is getting back your child's teacher aides. Teacher aides are needed in pedagogical settings, but were replaced by a digital unconscious curriculum devoid of humanity.
Instead, teachers in training, those who learn the good and evil of teaching (and become the best teachers), are simply erased. Shame, shame, shame! A scam in favor of digital kickbacks!
don't just Change your chains, change your ways
It's time for a change when those assigned to be your voice don't speak out, when you lose your retirement steps if you switch counties, when your professional talent is wasted, and you earn just enough to stay on the edge.
At my second school assignment after switching to the country-county to skip rent, where I worked as a Librarian and TV production teacher M-F while shooting the film Spyderwoman on the weekends in Miami.
Having to move to another county so I wouldn't have to pay rent, so I could make a dream come true, are some of the circumstances artists face when they work at low-paying jobs that keep them going around the wheel paying bills with little to no hope for ever having a dream come true.
Teachers, who hold the world on their shoulders, an outstanding 3,808,920 individuals, 77% of whom are women, are being punished for being on the frontlines of social evolution in the school-to-prison funnel, in which art education doesn't matter.
I never even thought I could have a dream. I had walked this earth from place to place and relationship to relationship like a sailboat without a rudder. The one thing that finally kept me on track was teaching.
But it became a prison when I started to dream.
what now?
After a 22-year run, this teacher, trained by the Smithsonian Institute in Museum education, facilitator of UBD (Understanding By Design) and VTS (Visual Thinking Strategy), with several English/Spanish certifications under her belt, an MFA and MS, feels like she could give some advice on education.
And that is to implement experiential learning all the time.
The lust for freedom that burned in me, which Storytelling set free, became a creative force serving social evolution at a higher consciousness. So, after taking a leap of faith, I spread my wings, and here I am, learning how to fly.
Hope is the spark that illumines the way
At first, a few of the client assignments made me very hopeful, and I was even invited to a Miami-based producer's office, but he was looking for editors.
Still, I dreamed of carving a place in the film industry with my student production credits with the Actor's Guild. Perhaps I could move to L.A. or Georgia, where the action is, to get my film career off the ground. But instead, I took up teaching assignments for lack of film gigs.
It just didn't work, and I found myself physically immobilized (probably from fear), living in the drained Everglades (sugar country), again, helping family out, and surviving the COVID pandemic.
Memoir versus novel. Fantastic movie.
Hip replacements restored my mobility, and hope grew; then blessed was I with an old family house to fix after my father passed.
Can you ever have enough education?
I found myself retired from the FRS and disabled by the State, taking steps into the new void: Writing to make a living.
First, I did what I know best—I earned a new MA in Media Management which gave me an incomplete roadmap on the journey of a writer for YAYA -–now with marketing vision–and improved writing skills. The completion of the roadmap is what I have learned in these past 5 years about indie versus traditional publishing, screenplay pitching, and book marketing.
taking inventory of the road travelled
accomplishments
Two websites and a dozen publications later, me, myself and I (angelaterga.com and the nonprofit, camp1.org, offer professional writing and publishing services that promote conscious artists' products such as books (on Amazon) ( and musicians, alexmarie.com.
Because CAMP was founded by a teacher, it offers peace education programs like Peace Talk & Art Workshop based on Dr. Santos' Keywords for Peace, and the Weekly Path to Peace journal by CAMP.
Our services are available at no cost to conscious artists daring to follow their dreams. Call (863) 434-6989 or fill out this form:
Visit camp1.org
With time and effort, I hope to see the return on our investment and be able to reach artists and philanthropists.
look how far we've come
So far... up to now, November 28, 2025, besides our web marketing efforts, we've completed five story coaching assignments, written several screenplays, including adaptations, biopics, historical Romantasy, a scifi series, a children's talk show script, have published 12 books, and the CBS People of Distinction Podcast with Benji Cole interviewed me. Weekly Path to Peace and Spiderwoman Taharai, an Amazon Hybrid, are featured at the Guadalajara Book Fair 2025.
how can you help camp1.org?
Today, November 29, I'm taking inventory of the road we've travelled, and seeing how much is still left to do.
Purchase of one of our books is a great way you can contribute to our growth. CAMP's Weekly Path to Peace, based on Keywords For Peace, featured at the Guadalajara Book Fair, is a great purchase and leads the way into our Peace Talk Art Workshop.
Most of our books are listed here: https://www.angelaterga.com/product
ENTRE Magazine published one of our multicultural stories
Roller Skates And The Healer
Click to prchase:
The evolution of our soul is at stake. Consciousness calls.
"Roler Skates And The Healer" is a true story about the time I was a child in Cuba and hurt my ankle while skating with a younger kid on my back. Papi came in the Buick and took me to him. The Healer stood inside his one room hut with his back to me. When he turned around, I saw his olive skin and his soft black eyes were looking through me. He said nothing....then waved a hand over my swollen foot.
The trip back in the Buick was quick. I got out of the car and jumped back into my skates, having been touched by an angel.
What is the best way to submit to magazines, publishers, and agents? What is the best way to pitch your scripts to the industry decision makers?
We need artist managers to help us figure out a way that is both practical, doable, and successful. But without a budget....How?
Well, here is how. First, find the service provider you want to contract. Then reach out to donors. Finally, have the donors pay for your contractors. You can do it through CAMP.
We are pro bono service providers for conscious arts.
Which service providers do you choose?
Learn more about how we can help you get funded ...
WHAT IS CONSCIOUS arts, camp1.org?
CAMP is a Peace Education Program which applies conscious arts pedagogy to promote healthy thinking strategies consisting of trigger words called Keywords For Peace, (from the book Keywords For Peace by Dr. I. Santos C.). CAMP's founder, Angela Terga, created the Path to Peace Journal and Meditations for Peace to extend the teachings of the 15 keywords any and all disciplines of artistic expression intentionally targeting one or more essential concepts that create peace in our mind and body.
Peace Practice is a stress-relief formula that helps us become the essence of peace.
When you book our Peace Talk & Art Workshop for your parties and events, you get our interactive program consisting of a 7-minute speech on the benefits of practicing peace and how to participate in our conscious arts activity.
We created this practice because we believe that happiness is within our means in our surroundings, being content with what is, and finding purpose in community.
To give you a taste of our workshop, after the 7-minute speech, you will Spin The Wheel For Peace and set out to create a piece of everlasting art for peace based on one or more of the keywords for peace, depending on how many times you spin the wheel.
Afterwards, you take the Keyword card with the instructions and get creative. Next, you will choose a way to express the meaning of the keyword for peace in action.
You will express your subconscious. Poof! There will be Art!
What is the Weekly Path to Peace Practice
We want you to leave with a taste of peace, inspired to pursue the calm beauty and euphoric feeling of contentment that peace practice can bring.
Using our Weekly Path To Peace Journal will bring you to your knees. It will help you focus on Peace through language communication from your unconscious to your conscious mind, creating awareness and witnessing.
The Weekly Path to Peace Journal and Meditations takeaway
Plan your week with the mindset of peace.
*Practicing peace with the fifteen keywords (Keywords For Peace, by Dr. Ismael Santos) with our Weekly Peace Journal is an intentional way of meeting your day.
Let the magic of peace lead the way.
Being the best article writing service I could be has been an agent of growth for me as a writer and entrepreneur. In other words, I learned to commercialize and diversify my MFA in Film with marketing skills where I used my storytelling skillset to architect blogs and articles that resonate with their intended audience.
Circumstances draw you out of the zone where you'd rather hang out, but that doesn't ever have to mean that you give up on your dream1
The journey shows itself to you with what is, and you must learn to accept and see its benefits with a grateful heart.
Regain the creative flow
Since my departure from full-time teaching and double hip replacements, I have been learning content marketing as an entrepreneurial activity, looking for the best way to market my scripts and books.
THE FUNNEL = AUDIENCE JOURNEY
When I was a teacher of Language Arts and English Communications, I had no idea about the use of keywords to rank on Google. After an MFA in Creative Writing for Film and producing several shorts and a feature, I still had no idea.
Freelance SEO Article Writing and Editing Services to pave the way to glory in storytelling was the beginning stage of my entrepreneurial activity angelaterga.com in my freelancer life.
SEO writing services came to me like a call to action if I wanted to survive as a writer. And I knew I had to be versatile.
Practice makes better
I don’t know how many SEO articles I have written about moving, elder care, money management, acupuncture, dietary supplements, roofing contractor insurance billing, fintech, finance, and more. They were, each one, fascinating teachers of the ability to tell a story and to capture readers' imaginations around a topic. All thanks to a niece, I got my first freelance article writing job.
Storytelling For Peace
how to become a published author
The Journey teaches us
The process of becoming a published author has been very interesting, as well. I have created my own book formats and cover pages. I have also edited and proofed my own work. These exercises have helped me develop my writing style and become more aware of the publishing territory. Thus, I published three versions of the same book and slightly changed its title. The story has grown into greater proportions and a series has developed out of what was once a tale to get my fourth graders’ attention.
editors | reviewers | subscriptions
When I hired an editor for my book, I did not know what to expect nor how to work with an editor. This was a professional editing service I paid for but did not get the most use out of.
I was not satisfied with all the development and syntax analyses and changes proposed. As I read the notes over and over and compared to the original version, I became very confused and felt like I was losing control of my author’s voice. So, I decided not to accept a lot of the changes that the editor proposed. Instead, I rewrote. Editing is not like a cheap article writing service, it requires more time and a lot more interaction between the editor and the writer than what I got.
After editing other people’s works, I realized the importance of establishing a schedule that includes time for discussions with the author, as the work of the editor must include the author’s input. Likewise, SEO work requires keywords and these in turn are a result of integrated communication using the story of a customer’s journey.
film scripts pitch
During the time when I became disabled, I also started looking for ways to take advantage of my first profession. The Translation and Interpretation skills acquired at one of the most prestigious schools for Interpreters, Berlitz, a Swiss school nonetheless, in Venezuela, would surely come handy at a time when freelance work would be a lifesaver.
Being bilingual is having total control of expression in more than one language. To speak, write, and be able to express the same feeling and tone in two different languages is a taught skill. And practice makes better, always. I’s say a life-long interpreting and translating serves translators well.
what multicultural really means
In art, we all work and study in a multiracial, multicultural, multiethnic, multi-generational, and multidimensional marketplace where we access each other’s trade skills through bartering or guild.
I was Iimmersed in multicultural experiences, teaching at an all boy's school , meeting the Hollywood producer, (K.C. Schulberg, a third-generation filmmaker, at a workshop by FilmGate Miami at O Cinema in Wynwood. He gave us a presentation of his movie project “A Dream Last Night,” allowing us to view part of the film's breabudget and apply for production jobs. At that time, independent filming in Florida may have taken on new horizons. But Tallahassee's incentive cutoffs and the COVID pandemic dismantled small and large productions.
K.C. Schulberg is related to one of the first Oscar nominees of the film industry in the US. He has produced several films, and the one he exposed was "A Dream Last NIght," the daring protagonist, a magic woman, promised thrilling action. But the project was boxed up.
I just wish there were more like him in South Florida, Northwest of Miami Beach, in the Naples area, where a holistic culture seems to be growing in the healing arts.
KEEP THE DREAM ALIVE
I’d say the best will rise to the top. But that may be the best prepared, for art is always unique, not one is the best.
When it comes to writing, quality cannot be underestimated. Put your best foot forward. Treat everyone like you would a Hollywood producer who might just like your film's business plan enough to believe in it, and option your film.
We will listen to your personal and business story, see your vision, and help you get to the next goal.
We value you as a conscious being and want to give you the best finished product, unique for your business, your novel, your script, your translation, or your article or blog.
This is our commitment to the world.
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