I didn’t do much this l-o-n-g Thanksgiving weekend. In fact, save for the ekphrastic poem I wrote for a writing group, I didn’t do any writing at all. I could have. I had time. But, I think with all the writing I knew I needed to do… book two manuscript, more queries for book one, poetry project… I just needed a few days of idle nothingness. To be honest, doubt […]
Working towards a goal takes time. It takes energy and effort. It takes sacrifice. Imagine working on and on and on, but never celebrating the small accomplishments along the way to your final destiny. Wouldn’t those smaller reminders of success be helpful in getting you across the finish line? I believe it is imperative to stop and celebrate the small steps. These are the steps in between that lead you […]
Possibilities ~ I love this word because it’s full of hope. Anticipation swells in my belly as the word rolls off my tongue. Possibility is defined as the state or fact of being possible. Possible is defined as that which may or can be, exist, happen, be done, be used, etc. When I think of possibilities I imagine tall skyscrapers in bustling cities, or massive mountains in landscape vistas. No […]
Hard-working; an adjective. How much effort do you need to put into your work to consider it hard? How is it measured? I will tell you with examples from my own life (because I am only an expert in my own life). And at the end, I have included a poem from writer friend, Melissa Steffy, because it fits perfectly with this message. My three children have all celebrated a […]
Goal setting is something I strive to do on a regular basis. It’s something many of us attempt either consciously or subconsciously at some point in our lives. Suddenly, we become serious about something we want and decide to make a change. For some this could be an annual event, for example a New Year’s resolution. For others, if could be an accomplishment deadline; recognition for a promotion at work, […]
Rain falls like a rushing creek outside my window. If I close my eyes I can picture the meandering water in my mind. The sharp edges of stones worn smooth in its crawl to find freedom in the sea. Wouldn’t that be every raindrop’s dream? Freedom from their work in the water-cycle to swim… to simply be. They’re always on the go, those water droplets, from one responsibility to the […]
Now that it’s mid-October, I am finally falling into the idea of autumn. I said my farewells to summer. It took a while this year, as I clung to warm weather and sunshine and time… just time. There’s something about summer that makes me smile inside, that slows my pace, that turns a trip to the store into an excursion where inspiration hides around spectacles of produce. I feel so […]
Writers and artists, I have found some simple truths we may have forgotten as adults. Truths delivered in the form of children’s stories, but that any adult harboring a welled-up dream inside would benefit from. Truths like listening to that tiny whisper in your heart, or paying attention to what lights you up inside. Truths about that “what-if” monster, because what if he’s wrong? Truths about never giving up on […]
This past summer I drudged up the courage to go to my first writing conference, the Pacific Northwest Writers Association Conference in July, 2017. It was crushingly amazing. Crushing, because with each passing hour I felt my dreams of becoming an author slip away into a bubbling witch’s brew. All my wishes still prevalent, just liquefied into one big magical mess. It was difficult being surrounded by so many published […]
I am not an author – yet. Who decides? A publishing company? A degree in literature? My readers? I used to call myself a “want-to-be-writer” because I felt the pangs of becoming an author heavy in my chest. Yet, from the mouths of authors themselves, I have been told, “If you write, you are a writer.” But, are you a chef because you have cooked for your friends? Are you […]
