If something inside of you is real, we will probably find it interesting, and it will probably be universal. So you must risk placing real emotion at the center of your work. Write straight into the emotional center of things. Write toward vulnerability. Risk being unliked. Tell the truth as you understand it. If you’re a writer you have a moral obligation to do this. And it is a revolutionary act—truth is always subversive.” ~Anne Lamott
She could never go back and make some of the details pretty. All she could do was move forward and make the whole beautiful. ~Terri St. Cloud Everyone is going through some shit—or has been—or is about to. None of us gets through this life unscathed. The goal then is resiliency, bouncing back after hardship,…
We spent a recent weekend at the cabin. It was a delightful couple of days, complete with a thunderstorm, a cozy fire, a Yahtzee win, and a nice walk on the trail. One of the best parts of the weekend was a chance to read for more than a few minutes at a time. I…
Live, laugh, LEARN, and love. Value: Life-long learning and growth There is no end to education. It is not that you read a book, pass an examination, and finish with education. The whole of life, from the moment you are born to the moment you die, is a process of learning. ~Jiddu Krishnamurti Since I…
What do you think of when you hear the word “mission?” Mysterious secret agents with self-destructing recordings? Clean-cut young adults with name tags and scriptures? Carefully-crafted corporate purpose statements? Have your ever thought of it in terms of a personal mission statement? A statement that defines your personal life philosophy—an ethical and behavioral touchstone, if…
Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it’s better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring. ~Marilyn Monroe My sister Connie and I are reading The Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown. Connie’s in Arizona. I live in Utah. But we text back and forth about what we’ve been reading—a long-distance book club of sorts….
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” ~Mark Twain Several years ago, I discovered a book called https://www.carolinemiller.com/creating-your-best-life-book/Creating…
“There’s nothing to writing. You just sit down at a typewriter and open a vein.” ~Walter Wellesley “Red” Smith Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later. Since I started this blog, each week I’ve had something in me just waiting to be written. Some weeks, I had the luxurious dilemma of being forced to…
I never thought I’d be an eBook convert. I love the smell of a new book, the weight of it in my hand, the turn of the page. Then I got a Nook as a gift. I thought, okay, I’ll use it to be polite. I might like it for traveling—and I have. I haven’t…
I’m a runner. I’m a writer. These things might seem like they are on the opposite ends of the spectrum. One is sedentary, solitary, usually indoors in my comfy clothes, sipping coffee. The other is active, surrounded by others, preferably outdoors, in my sportswear, grabbing quick gulps of water, if I’m lucky. Yet the two…
When you were a child, your mother, or a teacher, or some other significant adult probably told you, “You can be anything you want to be.” What was it you wanted to be? Movie star, doctor, fire fighter, president, Spiderman!?! Did you make it? If not, what stopped you? Maybe your dream has changed since…
