The other day I was editing a post I’d written about the dichotomy between gratitude and greed when a similar post popped up from the delightful and lovely blogger, Julia Preston. It wasn’t exactly the same – she was talking about a similar tension between love and fear. But it was close enough that I felt my internal defensiveness spark off instantly. Something like a … Continue reading Am I Copying? Getting Over Writing Defensiveness
The last time I took a new job I wasn’t a writer. Well, I wrote white papers and technical manuals so I could put pen to paper. But I didn’t have a personal writing practice. But four months into a new job and I’m surprised how much creativity is a part of my job. Sheesh, that sounded dry. Bear with me – I think I’m … Continue reading Creativity as a Job Skill
Two days ago, I was in the car with my friend on the way to listen to a book reading. As we drove, my friend commented on how observant my four-year-old son is. It immediately sparked some stories about conversations we have when he’s riding in the back seat of the car. Like on a recent frosty morning when we passed a baseball field and … Continue reading Creatively Seeing
What happens when your husband dies in an avalanche and then you marry his best friend? It’s a fascinating question that artist and writer Jennifer Lowe-Anker set out to answer in her 2009 book Forget Me Not. The Backstory Jennifer Lowe-Anker was married to the famous climber, Alex Lowe, and they had three sons together. When Alex had another really early morning departure for a … Continue reading Climbing to The Top of the Rankings
At a recent elementary school open house, my daughter’s third grade teacher said something profound. Well, she said a lot of wise things, because the knowledge of teachers is immense. But one particularly thing about writing and reading that caught my ear. Here it is – that she looks for books for these young readers to be either “windows” or “mirrors.” Windows are the books … Continue reading Writing Windows and Mirrors
I had to have the conversation with my eight-year-old daughter the other day. You know the one I mean? About Santa? We were driving in the car and I broached the subject as “Do you want to talk about what your friend said the other day about Santa?” Two days before I’d overheard her friend tell her that Santa wasn’t real. Then the friend took … Continue reading Do You Believe In Magic? Do You Write About It?
As a mom of a 4-year-old and 8-year-old, I frequently find myself using the phrase, “Use your words.” The other day, my youngest wanted something on a high-up shelf and was pointing to it. I looked up and there were only like a gazillion possibilities. So I said, “use your words.” At his age, his words are imprecise. Last night could mean the night prior … Continue reading Use Your Words
My adventure is coming to an end. I couldn’t think of a better way to mark the occasion than by finishing the poem that I started at the beach in Malaga at the beginning of my trip. Finishing and publishing this poem feels like coming full circle. An incredibly beautiful journey of over 850 km of steps and endless talks. Continue reading I wonder as I wander
Jesus wept. The shortest sentence in the Bible. As a pastor’s kid, this is the type of trivia that I know. Although I know I’m not alone, and that one doesn’t have to be a Bibliophile to know this. The short sentence has power. You couldn’t guess that I know this from my writing though. The readability analysis of my writing is forever telling me … Continue reading The Power of Short Sentences
I’ve been speed reading blogs lately. My apologies to anyone with whom I haven’t done a good job of keeping in touch. Somehow, I got behind (I say it somehow like I don’t know how, but we all know how life piles up sometimes). Then with notifications that I had 200+ blogs to read, just from the blogs that I follow, I endeavored to speed … Continue reading Speed Reading
The other day I was introduced to a brilliant piece of self-promotion in the course of my work. A man had a small business that he wanted to promote. I don’t know the exact number, but there are probably at least 100,000 other businesses in the United States that do the same type of technical consulting he did. He didn’t want to buy Google or … Continue reading Promoting Your Writing With Search
The stats on my personal blog show that the most viewed posts are my weekly ones where I publish photos that I took during the week with a quote. The themes vary based on activities – vacation, the puppy, my kids, hiking but they generally are the fruits of enjoying life. These posts are short and sweet. But the stats also show that my longer … Continue reading Is Short Form Content What We Want?
Is love conducive to our bottom-line goals? Perhaps when it is the goal itself but from my experience, love is the big disruptor that often interrupts our progress on the things we can measure. Continue reading Loving and Learning
There was a carousel in the town I grew up in that held a special attraction for me as a kid. It was originally built in 1909 and had beautifully carved wooden horses big enough that they could create the illusion of really riding. But in addition to that, the ride purveyors had added a chute of rings that riders on outside horses could reach. … Continue reading The Universal You
I’ve been thinking a lot about defiance lately. Actually, because I’m very much a contrarian at heart, I’m always thinking about ways to defy. That’s what contrarians do; they defy conventional wisdom (among other things). (By the way, it seems pretty clear that we need a lot more contrarians in the world.) I guess you could also say that I’m part of the resistance against … Continue reading Repost: Napping as an Act of Defiance
After posting My Favorite Writer Quotes last week, I loved the ones submitted in the comments so much that here’s a post of your favorite writer quotes. “People do not seem to realize that their opinion of the world is also a confession of their character.” – Ralph Waldo EmersonSubmitted by the insightful and delightful Vicki Atkinson of the Victoria Ponders blog “One thing that … Continue reading Your Favorite Writer Quotes
I think it’s safe to say that writing is the subject that I’ve studied longest. Sure, it started with just grasping the pencil with some dexterity and has developed through school essays, technical writing, and now to developing a personal angle with memoir writing, and blogging. But whatever the genre, it feels like an incredibly rich and vast subject of study. So here are five … Continue reading My Favorite Writer Quotes
At school I was always told that, “I couldn’t make a living from staring out of the window.” But then I became a pilot! Staring out of a window became my profession. Often, while staring out of the window from 40,000’, my mind would wander. Just like the clouds outside, my thoughts would take on all sorts of shapes and sizes. Eventually I decided to … Continue reading 3 Snippets of Wisdom
I was sitting at my kitchen table working yesterday afternoon, trying to tie up the last few items before closing my laptop and going to get my kids when the doorbell rang. It was the <ding-dong><ding-dong><ding-dong> of repeated bell pushes used most frequently by the 7-years-old and under set. So I wasn’t surprised to find the 6-year-old twins from four doors down the street hanging … Continue reading The Inspiration to Write: A Short Vignette
I’ve recently discovered that there are a lot of parallels between having a new job and a new puppy. Weren’t expecting that combo? Let me explain. Both making doing yoga in the morning hard. And both benefit from a lot of training. In some instances when they get a hold of you just right, both have sharp teeth that bite. Not to mention that both … Continue reading Unlikely Learning Mates
