inspiration Archives - Page 3 of 6 -

January 23, 2018January 23, 2018Leave a CommentBlog

Are You in Denial? Good!

I’d been looking forward to the visioning workshop for a few weeks. It was an annual event hosted at my spiritual center and would be held after Sunday services. The day of the event I made all the necessary arrangements to be gone all day: I scheduled a dog walk, made a lunch, and took an Uber so my son could have the car for the day. I was ready to vision my new year!

What I’d forgotten to do was pre-register. As the church service was concluding, the pastor announced that the workshop was sold out. I felt myself caving with disappointment, followed quickly by outrage. It can’t be sold out! I’m supposed to go!

Updated on January 15, 2018January 10, 2018Leave a CommentBlog

Be Careful What You Ask For

In a recent blog, I asked if there was any topic you’d like me to write about. I thought it would be fun to have an “assignment.”

Dave sent me this: “I would like to hear about your biggest challenges for 2018, challenges you know that if you decided to embody and embrace, you would uplevel as a mom or writer, and allow you to give more of your gifts to the world.”

Hmmm. This is a tough request.

December 27, 2017December 27, 2017Leave a CommentBlog

Is It Me, Or Is It Getting Dark In Here?

This month marks the winter solstice, the shortest, darkest day of the year. It’s a time to turn inward and allow the shadows to loom up and over us while we patiently, trustingly wait for the light. It’s fitting then that when I wrote last week about some of my challenges as a single mom, I heard from readers who were remembering their own dark times.

Three women shared with me why it’s particularly hard to hold the light around the holidays:

December 18, 2017December 18, 2017Leave a CommentBlog

What’s The Gift You Need Most This Year?

Today I want to write about something I’m pretty sure I can’t put into words. I realize that sounds crazy and it probably is.

But isn’t that the fascination behind writing–that desire to brush against the ineffable? To come as close as possible to defining the formless?

It is for me. And since Christmas is the time of year when we make lists of the things we want, I started thinking about those desires of our hearts that we don’t write down, specifically the longings we don’t realize we have until something strikes a chord within us.

Updated on December 11, 2017December 11, 2017Leave a CommentBlog

Not Feeling Jolly? Read This…

Here we are, smack in the middle of the holiday season, and I’m waffling on how much good cheer I plan to spread. Too much will spread me too thin, and too little will make me feel crusty and crotchety. I’ve already told my kids that I don’t feel like buying a tree this year. “Jeez, mom, why not just cancel Christmas?” my daughter said.

See? There’s pressure everywhere to be jolly and generous, to shine brightly, to bake and shop and make polite chitchat. It’s the time of year for white elephants—the kind that come in wrapping paper or as 2-ton grievances that crush the joy out of family gatherings.

December 4, 2017December 4, 2017Leave a CommentBlog

7 Secrets To Writing a Finished Piece EVERY Week

Vince Reidsma started out as just my friend Martha’s dad, the guy who kept the pool clean so we could swim all summer. Later, when I was in my teens, he was the guy from church who spent a lot of time talking to my parents as their marriage was unraveling. More than 30 years later, as one of my mom’s best friends, he has re-entered my life wearing a new hat: seasoned writer.

November 29, 2017November 29, 20171 CommentBlog

Just a Thought: A Rhyme on Writer’s Block

This poem was written by my friend Vince Reidsma, who has been penning rhymes for the Holland Sentinel every week for 27 years!

November 20, 2017November 20, 20171 CommentBlog

Live First. Then Write.

It was my first time facing a group of millennials and I wasn’t sure what to expect. I was serving as a panelist at the Indiana University Media School Career Day. As an alumna with a journalism degree from IU, I was there to talk about writing careers.

How would I relate to a generation steeped in technology and global influences when my college memories included snail mail, interviews conducted on landlines, an electric typewriter, and learning to “burn” and “dodge” photos in a darkroom?

November 13, 2017November 13, 2017Leave a CommentBlog

3 Ways To Massage Your Creative Muscle

I was lying face down in a dimly lit room, listening to the sounds of a harpsichord or sitar or something equally soothing, willing myself to be soothed. I’d been looking forward to this massage all week. I’d finally convinced myself that I deserved it and that I would not, under any circumstances, regret the expense. It wasn’t regret that followed me into the room, but a sticky cloud of anxiety.

Why did I drink coffee before my appointment? And why, why, why did I get on Facebook? I should have known better than to start my day wading through negative stories.

Updated on November 13, 2017November 6, 2017Leave a CommentBlog

Peace Be With You

I’ve mentioned before that I work with a coach. Recently he had me take a “needs assessment.” I thought it might be like one of those quizzes in Cosmopolitan magazine, revealing that I need to buy more silky blouses, or light a scented candle. Or maybe it would be similar to a “love languages” test and tell me what I already know, that I need a lot of hugs.

I was surprised to learn that my number one need is for PEACE.

inspiration

Reserve Your Spot in My Writers Residency Program This Summer