What I Learned in October
Posted:
November 02, 2015
Under:
This Thing Called Life
Emily over at Chatting at the Sky has made it a practice to record the things she learns each month. It’s a valuable habit, this habit of reflection, and so I’ve been joining her in it this year. If you’d like to join us as we remember, you can comment on this post with what you … Continue reading "What I Learned in October"
Read MoreOn Writing and Community
Posted:
October 30, 2015
Under:
Loving Others
I’m thinking about writing, and reading about writing, and listening to podcasts on writing. I’m writing, and editing, and writing some more. With my fiction course in full swing and NaNoWriMo right around the corner, it seems every spare moment is given over to the craft of stringing words together, of making them sing. I am … Continue reading "On Writing and Community"
Read MoreWherever You Are, There is Grace For You
Posted:
October 28, 2015
Under:
Loving God
A few weeks ago, I wrote the following in my journal: Speaking of cliché, I wonder if my blog is becoming just that. I write things that are true – or try to – but do I make it out as though “choosing this moment” is easy or natural or simple? I try not to … Continue reading "Wherever You Are, There is Grace For You"
Read MoreWhy I Write
Posted:
October 27, 2015
Under:
Loving God
I was flipping through the library’s copy of the 2013 Writer’s Market, hoping and failing to find the perfect home for a short story I’d written, when I came across the following line: “I started [this magazine] so that a century from now, when people read it in landfills or, preferably, libraries, they’ll say, ‘Gee what a great time … Continue reading "Why I Write"
Read More{Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real}
Posted:
October 22, 2015
Under:
This Thing Called Life
~Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life with Like Mother, Like Daughter~ I had thought to try to avoid filling my phfr posts with pictures of Katie but, let’s be honest: she’s my main companion for the majority of my waking hours, she’s the most photogenic person in this house, and she (and Jonathan) … Continue reading "{Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real}"
Read MoreGiving and Receiving
Posted:
October 21, 2015
Under:
Loving Others
I’ve realized, as I’ve spent more and more time on this online fiction course I’m taking, that I will only get as much out of it as I put into it. Which is common sense, of course, only obvious. A lesson I should have learned long ago, for it is true of most everything in … Continue reading "Giving and Receiving"
Read MoreThe End of Friday Night Dinners?
Posted:
October 20, 2015
Under:
Loving Others
At about this time last year, we began the practice of opening our home to others on Friday evenings. We called it Friday Night Dinners, and the premise was simple: anyone and everyone who knew us was welcome to share a meal with us. We would provide the main course; we asked those who came … Continue reading "The End of Friday Night Dinners?"
Read MoreSmall Steps Forward: NaNoWriMo and Perspective
Posted:
October 19, 2015
Under:
Writing
After a few weeks of debating, of hemming and hawing, of going from being excited about a plot idea to wondering why I even think I can write at all, I did it. I logged into my account at NaNoWriMo.org, created in 2013 when I had more time and the need for a therapeutic brain dump of … Continue reading "Small Steps Forward: NaNoWriMo and Perspective"
Read More{Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real}
Posted:
October 15, 2015
Under:
This Thing Called Life
~Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life with Like Mother, Like Daughter~ Life, it seems, gets busy, or I like to use that for an excuse, anyway. How else can I explain the fact that it has been nearly four months since I participated in phfr? For there have been many, many pretty and … Continue reading "{Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real}"
Read MoreWhat Being a Writer – and a Decent Human Being – Is All About
Posted:
October 14, 2015
Under:
Loving Others
“If your daily life seems poor, do not blame it; blame yourself, tell yourself that you are not poet enough to call forth its riches; for to the creator there is no poverty and no poor indifferent place.” –Rainer Marie Wilke, Letters to a Young Poet My free moments – those I manage to squeeze into … Continue reading "What Being a Writer – and a Decent Human Being – Is All About"
Read More