Oh, the days I’ve wished away. If I had the chance to count up all the hours … the minutes … the seconds … they’d probably spill over the edges of my cupped hands like the sands inside an hourglass. Gone. But I’ve enjoyed my days too. Savored the sweetness of times woven through with laughter and yes, even tears …
In Others’ Words: Ideas
Writing wreaks havoc with my sleep. There are some nights that, just as I snuggle underneath the blankets … just as I hear the first whisper of sleep welcoming me … an idea pounces. And I’m awake. Oh, sure. I try to ignore the idea. I tell the you-can’t-ignore-me idea to wait until morning. I might even sit up …
In Others’ Words: Start
Monday is a great day for beginning, isn’t it? Sure, I may drag some things to do over from last week — but I play a little mental mind game with myself as I look at a brand new To Do list. I’m not confronting last week’s leftovers. Nope. I’m taking on a brand new list. But if I’m …
In Others’ Words: Worth the Dreaming
“Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway.” Earl Nightingale (1921-1989), American motivational speaker and author I hang around writers. We’re dreaming all the time. Dreaming up imaginary characters — and how to mess up their imaginary lives so that we can create an …
In Others’ Words: Pretty is …
“Happy girls are the prettiest.” (1929-1993), Audrey Hepburn, actress Aren’t the girls in that photo pretty? Yes, I’m incredibly biased. You’re looking at a photo of my youngest daughter, my two oldest daughters (one’s the bride), and my daughter-in-love. They are each beautiful, inside and out. But look closer at that photo. Their beauty is accentuated because they …
In Others’ Words: Tug of War (Guest post)
“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear.” ~ Mark Twain (1835-1910), American writer & humorist There are times I struggle with discouragement. Desiring to write a story that will speak to peoples’ hearts, I pressure myself to excel in this endeavor. Instead of achieving, however, I battle dismay. Analyzing why I am where I am, …
In Others’ Words: Fear
“If it scares you, it might be a good thing to try.” ~ Seth Godin (1960-), American author & public speaker The more times I read this quote, the more I like it. I kept much-too-close company with fear for too many years. Wasted a lot of time letting fear decide what I did — or didn’t — …
In Others’ Word: Choosing Fun
“When you stop doing things for fun, you might as well be dead.” Earnest Hemingway (1899-1961), American author & journalist Sometimes I forget to have fun. Does that ever happen to you? I get so caught up in the business — also known as “busyness” — of life, that I can’t be bothered with something as silly as fun. I’ll …
In Others’ Words: Storytellers
“If a nation loses its storytellers, it loses its childhood.” —Peter Handke (1942), Australian novelist My childhood was full of books. I whiled away many an hour, turning pages, lost in an imaginary world. And, yes, I was one of those kids who walked and read at the same time. And who didn’t hear a word anyone was saying …
In Others’ Words: Procrastination
“Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday.” ~Don Marquis (1878-1937), humorist, journalist & author We all procrastinate. Some of us are just better than others at putting things off until tomorrow, or the next day … or next month. The result? A pile of stuff waiting to be done — and it’s all got to be done …