In the Mumford and Sons song, “Awake My Soul,” there’s a line that says, “Where you invest your love, you invest your life.” I just returned from a trip to visit my aunt. In her bathroom, she has a towel that reads, “Love, Family, Faith.” In those three things she has invested her entire life...
I’ve started off this year enrolled in an eight-week creativity class. Me, a 30-year veteran of the creative life. You’d think I’d know it all by now, but I sometimes need to sharpen my creative tools or be reminded why this work matters. As part of our homework for this week, the instructor suggested we...
It’s awfully quiet around here. Oh, there’s the noise of a mini bulldozer moving dirt at the neighbor’s house and a ridiculously loud motorcycle going by and a dog barking down the street. There’s the hum of the microwave running as my husband reheats his coffee and the dryer tumbling. I can create more sound...
Yesterday, I needed a break. So, I bundled up against the cold and went outside for a walk. As I picked my way around the ice patches on the sidewalk, I asked myself, “What should I write about on my blog this week?” Seconds later, my answer literally stepped in front of me. A man...
We were night owls in my family, my mom, my brother, and me. Getting up early for school and work was challenging. So, my mom started a contest. If we did not hit our snooze alarms, but just got up, we could put a tally mark beside our name. Whoever did that consistently for 30...
Sally Field will never live down that speech at the 1985 Academy Awards when she won Best Actress and pronounced, “I can’t deny the fact that you like me, right now, you like me.” It’s got to be one of the most cringe-worthy moments in television history. Honestly, though, part of the reason we all...
I haven’t written much poetry since high school. I would never have described myself as a poet, nor did I think I’d ever want to. But recently I wrote a poem that sort of came gushing out, mostly because it was something I’d been wanting to write about for years, but the topic was too...
Today, a close member of our family had major surgery, and another had a minor procedure that concerned me a bit. It’s hard to focus on work when you’re worried. You tell yourself that everything will be fine and you must assume the best. You tell yourself you are “professional” enough to not let fear...
When my kids were younger, they used to listen to a song that went like this: Everybody’s stupid, everybody’s stupid, everybody’s stupid but me. I’m not sure where they found it, but they loved to sing it. Okay, admit it, there are days when those lyrics ring true, right? Especially when you find yourself in...
Someone recently asked what I thought about Bob Dylan winning the Nobel Prize in Literature. Opinions among writers on the internet is certainly divided. Some feel there are plenty of accolades and awards for songwriters, and that Dylan has achieved more than his fair share of fame and fortune from the music industry, and that...