Storytelling Archives - Page 2 of 3 -

Divorce Unscripted: A Conversation on Finding Your Power and Peace

How’s this for a conundrum? I spent eight years writing a book about divorce, then when I finally reached those two magic words I’d been certain would never materialize on the page—the end—I discovered that I was expected to talk about it. A lot.

In my mind, once I put the story on paper, I’d never again have to relate this difficult time in my life. If someone had a question about my past, I could point them toward the nearest bookstore and say “Read the book.” I could move on to writing happier, made-up stories.

Updated on April 20, 2021June 18, 2019Leave a CommentCreativity Storytelling Writing Life

3 Ways to Add a Little Woo-Woo to Your Writing

If you know me at all, you know that I like a good dose of woo-woo in my world.

I believe in following my intuition, prioritizing my spiritual practices, and recognizing divine messages. This is the lens through which I find inspiration and make decisions. It’s also, to me, a way of having fun.

I’ll admit, it’s an odd form of fun that can show up in strange ways.

Updated on December 30, 2020May 16, 2019Leave a CommentInspiration Storytelling

My Personal Message to Mothers Everywhere

The dedication in my memoir reads: to my mother, and to all single mothers, who are doing the very best they can.

In my book I wrote, in part, about the challenges I faced going through an unexpected divorce and how many of those experiences helped me appreciate what my own mother went through as a single mom.

Updated on December 30, 2020April 22, 2019Leave a CommentResistance Storytelling

‘Keeping it Real’ Part 2

Last week, I wrote about how ‘Keeping it Real’ can be hurting your writing. I shared the reminder that if our goal as writers is to create dramatic action (and of course that’s the goal!) then we need to remember that fiction is not reality. It’s concentrated, intensified reality.

I told the story of my humiliating attempt, at age nine, to jump off the high dive at the local pool. Both that story and the idea of turning real-life events into fiction elicited some great responses that are too good not to pass on.

Updated on December 30, 2020April 4, 2019Leave a CommentStorytelling The Buddha at My Table Writing Life

3 Ways to Enjoy the Givingness of Life

I was standing at my kitchen sink this morning, washing dishes and looking at an affirmation card I have stuck on my refrigerator that says the givingness of life never leaves me. It got me thinking.

First, I wondered, is “givingness” even a word? I looked it up and yes, it is, except in the Scrabble dictionary. I’m not sure what the Hasbro company has against givingness, but the more I focus on it, the happier I feel.

Updated on April 20, 2021March 4, 2019Leave a CommentCreativity Inspiration Storytelling Writing Tips

Why It’s A Mistake To Not Tell Your Story

Today I feel like writing about mistakes. Heck, I’m even open to making some. Not that I haven’t already made my fair share. From the workplace to the home front, as a parent, wife, or friend, my mistakes sometimes include big life moments and, other times, small sweaty details.

Updated on December 30, 2020January 24, 2019Leave a CommentCreativity Storytelling

The Pleasure of Your Company is Requested (If You Want to Write)

Have you seen the video on Facebook about how people react when company comes? A comedian does a bit about how having company used to be such a treat. Mom would make a coffee cake, bring out the good china, and the family would eagerly gather in the living room awaiting the doorbell.

He contrasts this to today when the ring of a doorbell makes us flip off the lights, dive for the floor, or hide behind the curtains, peering out suspiciously to see who dares to drop by unexpectedly. The idea of interaction makes us cringe.

Updated on December 30, 2020January 2, 2019Leave a CommentNews and Events Storytelling

Give Yourself the Gift You Need Most

I got a text this week that had four magical words in it. They were the same four words that had inspired me in the past to write a blog, so I searched my files and found that it was almost exactly a year ago, at Christmas, that a simple phrase from a friend became an unexpected gift. What were those words? Read on to find out:

Updated on December 30, 2020December 26, 2018Leave a CommentMemoir News and Events Storytelling Writing Life

Your Voice Needs to be Heard

Happy Holidays! I receive regular emails from a wonderful resource called The Daily Flame. They arrive like love letters full of guidance and inspiration from my “inner pilot light.” The one I got this week was so sublimely perfect and expresses my sentiments so well that I decided to share it here.

Consider this a sort of Santa swap, where I’m re-gifting these words to you.

Updated on December 30, 2020December 10, 2018Leave a CommentStorytelling The Buddha at My Table

Not Naughty, But Nice: How to Co-Exist With Your Kids’ Stepmother

My ex-husband and his new wife were a picture-perfect couple. So much so that they were photographed for the cover of Crain’s Chicago Business magazine. They were featured in an article about how stepparents are either relegated to support status or simply invisible.

But his new wife wasn’t invisible. She was posed with him and our three children on the front steps of my house—sorry, now their house—as if she had lived there for more than two months, as if she had been mothering my children for years. She was being interviewed because she started a support group for other women like her.

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