I was listening to an old interview with Louise Hay on the Hay House podcast, You Can Heal Your Life. Louise said when people started coming to her for help, she noticed that all of their problems fell into four categories, money, health, relationships, and creativity. At first, she tried to address each category separately...
Tag: writers
It’s Okay to Feel Homesick Right Now
I was talking to a very lovely but very sad woman in my pandemic dream last night. We were in a foreign country surrounded by beautiful scenery. “What’s wrong?” I asked “I’m just so homesick,” she said. I sat down beside her. “I know, and it feels kind of wrong, doesn’t it, to feel homesick...
Can Success and Complaining Go Hand in Hand? – Revisited
This post originally ran Jan 26, 2020 I’ve noticed when things are going well, we lose our right to grumble or complain. No one wants to hear it, what’s more, they can’t even fathom why you would want or dare to complain. Let’s say, for example, you just got that big commission you’ve been hoping...
What Is Your Worth?
When I first started writing for a living, I worked for several local newspapers and small magazines. I wrote mostly feature articles, often history related. It was not uncommon for me to spend 8 hours on an article for which I was paid $25-50. $75 if I was lucky. At the time, I knew the...
Is It Ever Positive to Be Negative?
How many times have you been told to “focus on the positive” or “look on the bright side” or “count your blessings?” All of those things are important, and I try to do them as often as possible, but what happens when a negative thought or reaction creeps in? If we believe too firmly the...
Not All Writers Are Narcissists
My book club recently reached a full consensus about a book: none of us liked it. In fact, four of the ten chose not to finish reading it. The conversation about the book was entertaining because whenever there’s agreement, people can speak freely, and some of their comments about how much they disliked the book...
The Artist as Witness
I was conducting a virtual school visit with a fifth-grade class the other day, talking about my children’s books about World War II, each of which are inspired by real people I interviewed. I’d already explained to the kids I wasn’t alive during the war, so I was surprised when one boy asked, “Did you...
Passion and Permission
This week marks the seventh anniversary of this blog. Someone asked me how I had maintained the stamina for such an endeavor and how I came up with new ideas every week. I told her it all comes down to passion and permission. In 2014, friends had been urging me to start a blog for...
When to Play it Safe and When to Trust Your Desire
Brené Brown recently interviewed Dolly Parton on her Unlocking Us podcast. Dolly said two very different things that have been swimming around in my mind. The first was a comment about the pandemic. She said, “You can’t be too safe, but you can sure be too sorry . . .” Her second comment came in...
What’s Your Poison?
I was thinking today about a fundraiser my husband, daughter, and I attended a little over a year ago for our local museum. We dressed according to the theme and enjoyed free food and drink. I had every intention of being on my best professional behavior — after all, I had been hired as a...