Stop, Please
When my kids were little, I taught them to say the words “Stop, please” if anyone in the family was doing something that bothered or upset them. I made it clear they had to say the exact words in the exact order. They couldn’t just yell, “Stop it.” Because the words themselves were the cue...
A Little Patience Goes a Long Way – Revisted
This post first ran April 6, 2019 Layli Long Soldier is an Oglala Lakota poet, writer, and artist. In an On Being interview with Long Soldier, she said, “Writing has shown me what happens with patience.” Oh wow, I thought. That’s an understatement! I don’t consider myself a terribly patient person. I’m an activator, someone...
Space for All to Grow
A couple of my friends had some of their titles go out of print this year. That’s such a hard thing for a writer, to see a book you loved into existence simply go away. Of course, now with self-publishing they can reprint the books if they can get the rights back and if they...
Do You Even Have an Inner Artist – Revisited
This post originally ran April 27, 2019 When people ask what my blog is about, I often say it’s an inspirational blog to help people tap into and support their inner artist. “Oh, that’s not for me,” some reply. “I’m not creative. And I’m certainly not an artist.” I’m always a little surprised by that...
It’s So Much Work Just Being Alive
My husband laughed last night when I said, “It’s so much work just being alive.” I was describing my day, in which I’d awakened with a list in my head of all the things I was going to get done, and by the end of the day, only half of them were completed. In the...
What Negative Emotions Teach Us About Love
A friend was telling me about a specific regret she has regarding a family member. It surfaces now and then, and when it does, it loops through her head all day. She knows it’s not “healthy” to dwell on that regret, since there’s nothing that can be done about it now, but she can’t help...
Come Out and Play
Dr. Stuart Brown, author of Play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul, has defined eight “play personalities.” You know me, I couldn’t resist taking the quiz to discover mine. The types are: the joker, the kinesthete, the explorer, the director, the competitor, the collector, the artist/creator, and the storyteller....
Matchup: Mind vs. Heart
I raised my kids to follow their hearts; to trust their intuition. I truly believe our gut responses are often the best. So why is it so hard sometimes to just “go with the gut”? Why do our minds feel the need to try to override our intuition? So many times, I get an immediate...