Category: Encouragement
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Reach…
Today and on and on down the writing road, I am reaching for a lofty goal: finish draft one of novel two, while doing the heavy lifting of pushing novel one out of the nest. I’ll have to spend double time on both projects, lest one be remaindered to the bottom drawer of the desk…
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Ideal, Ideal Day…
What is your ideal day? I have a few. The simplest is cozying up in my writing closet, punctuated by playing piano and reading. Simple, not easy to pull off given the rarity of white spots on the calendar. I had the grandest ideal day at the New Orleans Fairgrounds, soft-shell crab poboy in hand,…
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Body thankful…
One of the highlights of my fun time at Jazz Fest was dancing and singing with thousands of music lovers as Lizzo belted her songs and her Big Girls frolicked on stage. I’m thankful for the current message of Body Neutral, an offshoot of Body Positivity trends which began in the sixties. Body Neutral means…
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Front Loading…
In the realm of time and space and all things that must fit within, I like to remember to front load…my day, my week, my priorities. Setting aside writing time first thing in the morning tells my brain and my heart that writing is an important enterprise. Front loading the week means the first three…
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Leave It…
Leave it alone. Leave it on the page. Leave it behind. It can mean a lot of things. I have returned from an amazing writers’ camp in Sonoma County. The weather was predicted to be crisp, so I left behind summer tops and bathing suit, instead packing mid-weight layers. I’d left behind my knit cap…
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TAB…
TAB is one of my favorite reminders of the importance of watching your language. We don’t often think about the steps that lead to our behavior. It is what happens, deal with it. But there is an attitude that drives that action. Beyond that, there is a thought that informs that attitude. Thought, Attitude, Behavior. …
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Disconnected…
Here’s a secret…keep some content downloaded on your favorite streaming device. Last week our neighborhood experienced outages from our internet service provider. I had several reactions to the inconvenience. The first was arrgghh! And maybe some other choice words. I needed to send emails, upload blogs and do research. The second reaction was to remember…
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Inspiration Strikes…
I recently traveled to an area where wifi was not as ubiquitous as we’ve become accustomed to. Even though I’d downloaded some content to watch when “powering down,” as is my nighttime habit, I chose to hang with family instead. That media deprivation, combined with no computer or writing time led to a spark of…
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Adopt a Policy…
Maybe there is a catchier way to say it, but adopt a policy means to make a decision once about an issue that comes up repeatedly. Then stick to it. When we had a landline, I decided to always respond to the urgings of telemarketers with “I have a policy to never participate in phone…
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Float Your Own Boat…
What floats your boat? Don’t you love that expression? It suggests a personal creative vessel that rides the waves of inspiration. Like water, inspiration can be peaceful or tumultuous. Sometimes we need some chill time, resting in a boat on a quiet stream. Letting the things of this world pass by without too much of…