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: 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: 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 …
In Others’ Words: Silence
“Silence is one of the most effective forms of communication.” ~ Anonymous In Your Words: When did silence speak louder than words for you?
In Others’ Words: Ain’t That the Truth
“A writer is somebody for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.” ~Thomas Mann (1875-1955), German novelist The more determined I was to achieve something concrete as a writer — publication — the harder it got to write. The bar was raised — by me and all the writers I learned from or who mentored me. …
In Others’ Words: Knowing
“I think knowing what you cannot do is more important than knowing what you can.” ~Lucille Ball (1911-1989), comedian When I was younger, I thought I had to do it all. I wasted a lot of time trying to be someone I wasn’t. Case in point: From my teens to twenties, I took three sewing classes before I realized …
In Others’ Words: Writing & Reading
“If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.” ~Stephen King (1947-), author I’m an author and, yes, I’ve heard the “To be a good writer you need to read” admonition so many times I’ve lost count. Of course, I’m lousy at math, so losing count isn’t that difficult …
In Others’ Words: Plans
“Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work.” ~Peter Drucker (1909-2005), writer I start Monday with lots of plans for the week. Some of them end up being nothing more than good intentions by the time Friday rolls around. And, yeah, that’s frustrating. Sometimes legitimate interruptions derail my plans. And sometimes I derail my plans. …
Taking the Challenges: The Letter “T” & Twenty-five Things about Me
I know, I know. This is a blog about quotes — not about me. And usually my blog posts are short. But I’ve been invited by other blogging friends to “list x number of things about yourself” — and never complied. I’ve always been too busy … pushed to the max by deadlines and “to dos” and … really? …
In Others’ Words: Joy
“I’ve grown to realize the joy that comes from little victories is preferable to the fun that comes from ease and the pursuit of pleasure.” ~Lawana Blackwell, author, The Courtship of the Vicar’s Daughter, 1998 Little victories. What do those look like? Getting to the end of a long day … maybe not finishing everything … crawling into bed and …