The Wisdom of Beginning
I tell writers at my writing retreats: “Don’t confuse beginning with the beginning. Beginning is just starting. It has nothing to do with knowing what the opening of your piece, what your piece is ultimately about, or even where it will end up.” Thinking you need to know the beginning of your project before you […]
Continue readingOn working with troubling health news
This week I got some possibly scary health news. Nope, it’s not cancer or anything life-threatening, but it brought about one of those “holy shit!” moments; the first I’ve had. It’s also complicated with multiple physical things possibly converging to make me have odd symptoms. I’ve had a ton of health challenges in my life, […]
Continue readingWhat I’ve Been Reading
I’m overdue to share what I’ve enjoyed in my eclectic reading life. Pick and choose what calls to you. Hope you find new books and ideas! ESSAYS, INTERVIEWS, AND SMALL BITS ONLINE A Neuroscientist on Love and Learning: An Interview with Richard DavidsonBecause love is everything. Pair with a Loving Kindness Meditation by Sylvia Boorstein or my friend […]
Continue readingA Guide To Creating Your Own Writing Retreat
When you read this, I’ll be halfway through a seven-day personal writing retreat in a cabin off the grid, up high in the Colorado Rockies. I wanted to share my prep and my fears about going on a solo writing retreat because while I lead super fantastic writing retreats, you can make your own, and […]
Continue readingThis is Your Life Purpose
From where I stand, too many conversations about life purpose centers around making money, being original, becoming well-known, making a big impact, garnering a ton of Instagram followers, or having ONE TRUE PURPOSE. As if your life purpose was singular and final, somewhere you arrive. I say hogwash. Your purpose in life is as natural, […]
Continue readingThoughts on Taking Care of Yourself When Life is Hard
It’s okay to feel exactly what you’re feeling. You don’t need to feel any different than you do. (I often forget this and try to fix what I’m feeling rather than witnessing and welcoming.) Raise your arms up overhead. Exhale long and slow. Relax your shoulders. You are here and it’s going to be okay. […]
Continue readingThe wonderful wild mysterious life changing adventure of turning pro
For some of us, there is an essential passage in our creative lives that, if not reckoned with, leaves us frustrated, stymied, and feeling vaguely lost like we’re searching for something we can’t quite name. We may feel we are blocked from becoming our full selves blocked from following what calls to us. I first […]
Continue readingChoosing You
My mom died last week and I’m heavy with sadness. My mind is dull and my sleep is riddled with troubled busy dreams from which I emerge holding only an odd detail like the texture of the blue shag carpet from my childhood home. There was a moment when I was alone with mom, watching […]
Continue readingWhen Death Comes Like the Hungry Bear In Autumn
I am writing this beside my mom’s bed. She is dying and her breath grows quieter and quieter. Her face is like a child’s, soft and without a wrinkle. I was with her just last week and, four days after I left, her brain stopped knowing how to instruct her body to swallow. My sister […]
Continue readingWhat to do when life is pushing you to grow
I’ve been bubbling lately with an intensity unusual even for me. I’ve had a hard time sleeping. I often feel uneasy, like I’ve forgotten something important, but I have no idea what. I’ve journaled about this twitchy feeling and meditated with it; greeting my thoughts and feelings as we do at the Oasis. Yet why […]
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