I had the opportunity a few days ago to spend a couple of hours at Starbucks. I don’t know if the best part was the free breakfast or the writing I got done. It may have been the moment of Zen and bonding between the barista and me when we both agreed that this day was the fifth Monday in a row.
I typed and I scribbled – keyboard and paper both. I set my alarm for PT and didn’t worry one minute about the time. Whenever my rant became too vocal inside my head, I took a metaphorical step back and people-watched for a minute and I was able to step back from the edge and regain my focus. And I wrote some more.
Since I started working full time (which I am not complaining about), I have not been able to take my writing time on the road so to speak. I miss taking myself to a quiet meal, pulling out my notebook and jotting down some thoughts that eventually expand into something else; something more.
My witchy ghost straw and I enjoyed this quiet time, and it reminded me that I need to schedule these moments into my month. It doesn’t need to be a long time; it can be on one of my lunch hours, but it is so important to recharge the creativity.
I had another wonderful day the Friday before, joining a pilgrimage at the St. Kateri Shrine in Fonda. I was able to meet new people, hear their reactions to the shrine, sit and listen and absorb the spirituality, the music, the moments in mass, and with the Sister who is part of St. Kateri’s story and miracle. The only word that comes close to describing it is glorious. It truly was that.
That one day there, and these couple of hours at the coffee shop will stay with me for the next few weeks, possibly a month or so, and carry me, push me, and let me move my book, as well as other writing, forward into the new year.
This weekend I went on a much anticipated writing retreat with three writing colleagues. We have been meeting every two weeks for the past year, and the amount of feedback, suggestions, and camaraderie we’ve each received has been a glorious blessing.
We each had our own private bedroom as we shared other accommodations and a small conference room for meeting together and writing.
We interspersed our own writing with writing prompts and exercises to jump start our creativity and we enjoyed snacks, candy, and company and remarkably we each got quite a lot done on our individual projects.
As the “host” I had several goodies planned and I just loved both aspects of hosting and of participating.
The shared space worked out amazingly well, and we have tentatively scheduled another retreat in the fall.
Moving forward from this weekend, I have some goals set that need to be formally set down with specific timelines:
• Sample Book Cover • Book Title Ideas • Chapter Headers (each chapter needs): – Titles – Picture, sketch, or quotation – Fictional narrative of this aspect of Kateri’s life, especially related to the shrines • Timeline both of the formal governments & of Kateri’s life • Questions to be answered
I’m looking forward to the rest of the week, planning, meeting again on Zoom, and focusing on the direction of my book.
Happy Writing to All of Us!
Caption for Photo Collage above:
Our reserved dining table for the weekend
A beautiful necklace one of my colleagues gave me
Protest sign created for April 5th Hands Off protest that three of our group went to
Chocolate chip scone & cup of hot, black tea with milk
Our conference room where we met, laughed, read, and wrote
The end of summer has brought on several inspirationals including some exciting places to visit and collect pins from as well as a Kamala/Walz lawn flag in my neighborhood which made me slightly giddy! Our yard sign should be coming next week. Our neighbor had one that I really loved so I ordered the same one.
A few of the pins already belonged to me but a few are new from the trip, from the places we visited and a couple from my family from their day at Fan Expo Canada.
What are some of the things that inspired, and continue to inspire you this summer, and as summer comes to a close?
One neighbor’s flag. I’ll share our sign when it comes. (c) 2024
I’ll let you know what the pins are in the block below. (c) 2024
August has been full. Already. But as I looked over some of my recent photos, I thought of little things that inspired me and still help me look forward. See photos for captions.
Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.
– Theodore Roosevelt
This is a picture I took in the hotel my daughter and I stayed at right before Covid. Her brother and father were visiting friends in Florida and we stayed in New York, so I took her for one night to a hotel for her to go swimming. It was a fun time. Little did we know how much would change in the next couple of weeks. I’m sharing this photo now because I came across it and it’s been in my phone as a photo that I want to draw and sketch, so I’m including it now to give them the push to try and get it done before the next inspiring post. Wish me luck. (c)2023
January almost always starts off with a bang. I’m organized, I’ve got my calendar, I’ve planned my blog and my classes up to a point, and then around now, not quite halfway through February, it flounders.
But…
It hasn’t floundered. Not really.
I think I may have found a routine, sort of, some motivation, kind of, and even though it’s not perfect, well, nothing is, it seems to be working (for the most part).
I’m still trying to find the perfect storm of organizing while not being overly fastidious and ridiculously detailed.
I’m sitting at my desk (read: dining room table that was actually cleaned last night for dinner, but is currently not even remotely close), surrounded by folders, papers, planner, notebooks, car keys (which actually have a home, but are not there at the moment), and my cell phone.
I have a meeting in ten minutes, and I’m still trying to get this post halfway done so I can put it up tomorrow (Wednesday). It would only be two days late (in my mind) so that’s okay, and that’s what I wanted to talk about.
Since the beginning of the new year, I’ve been on top of things. Not only on top of my website writing, but the site housekeeping is coming up this week (ch-ch-ch-changes), and I’ve been getting ready for my two new classes in March, and working on organizing my two books on Scrivener, my storyboard program.
And, the list goes on and on. Not sure if that’s such a good thing.
Since my success in November with NaNoWriMo, I’ve been really excited about writing. I’ve tried to keep track of my writing time, word counts, ideas for future items, and writing every day. Almost every day. This has been coupled with moving all of my computer folders onto an external hard drive to better organize my writing and be able to see what I have and what I can do with those old workshop pieces. Next up is transcribing those workshop notebooks that go back about a decade.
Things seem to be coming together, and I’m hoping that by writing about it, I won’t jinx it.
I had my final therapy appointment (until I find another therapist) last week. I’ve decided to take a month off and see how I’m feeling. It’s been ten years and therapy has been a lifeline as well as a mental comfort. I’m not sure how I’ll be, but I’m hyperaware of how I feel, and I have my coping. There have been so many changes recently and a lot of the positives began about ten years ago when I found therapy; my faith; my writing. It’s been a lot in ten years and the changes take some getting used to. Including deciding on a new therapist.
I had a funeral last week for a wonderful woman in my writing group. At her funeral (and unrelated to my friend), I believe that I was given inspiration for a short story.
Inspiration is everywhere.
I’ve been on a new social media site, Spoutible. It opens to the public on Thursday and despite its glitches and slowness, it’s amazing. The atmosphere is truly the anti-Twitter. Everyone is so nice and friendly and we’re all following each other. We’re helping each other figure things out and having conversations, and I think I’m going to really like it there.
It’s still in beta (and will continue to be on Thursday) but it’s a million times better than a week-old site should be. I feel safe, I feel lighter, something I didn’t feel on Twitter. I can feel my blood pressure remaining steady. And when I open it, I don’t see Jim Jordan, Ted Cruz, or Lauren Boebert like I do on Twitter at the top of my feed even though I don’t follow any of them. It’s kind of annoying. I mean, I can’t mute everyone, can I?
I will have a Spoutible account attached to this site, something I did not do with Twitter. I’m not sure how I’ll use it but come along for the ride.
That’s it for now. I have an exciting Friday Food coming up at the end of the week. Come back for that!
“A day’s work is a day’s work, neither more nor less, and the man [person] who does it needs a day’s sustenance, a night’s repose and due leisure, whether he be painter or ploughman.”
George Bernard Shaw
I’ve been on and off my computer quite a lot and it’s only just come to my attention that my last publication was back in May. While my bout of covid was mild by all standard metrics, it has still taken me some time to return to what my normal is. As our family closes out the school year with a graduation and my formal writing classes finish, I’ve taken on a few new things, both personal and professional. My third child is also joining the summer workforce and planning her junior year. My (draft) presentation for the Cursillo community went very well, and I have a focus for my book’s introduction. I have also been asked to teach a writing class for our local continuing ed program at our school district,
Prior to this and during my covid days I had trouble finding the inspiration to do more than what was essentially required of me. I had commitments that needed to be rescheduled, phone calls to make (and that list is still significant), but during all this busy time, where did I find inspiration?
My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.
Maya Angelou
New Writing Space for the next six weeks. (c)2021
Vacation’s over. School’s begun. The Jewish Holidays have come and gone without nary a new goal or resolution in sight. First therapy session of the new season is in the books. And what do I have to show for it?
It’s not nothing, but I honestly don’t know.
The monthly greeting: How are you doing always feels like a trick question. If I’m fine, am I fine? If I’m okay, why am I here in the first place? Will I actually say what’s really on my mind?
*shrug*
I don’t know. Somehow, I muddle through another session, sometimes wondering why I still come. I’m not suicidal. My anxiety is under control. It is more than the familiarity and routine of it. Part of it, I know, is that having it on my calendar gives me something positive to look forward to. If I have moments of struggle or lows, I see the appointment on the calendar and it gets me through; I know it will be okay until the next time. It gives me something to strive for. Could I get through the month without this one hour? Maybe. But why risk it?
It’s a safe place. We all need them. Big, small, in public or private, look around for yours.
The fall is the beginning of my year. Will it remain so when my kids are entirely finished with school? That day is sadly growing closer, and I both dread it (for me) and relish it (for them). I also have so many ideas. So much to write about. Places I’ve traveled that I want to share about, both as reflections and travel advisories, advice, and photos. I have ideas for new series, new columns, new book ideas. I have ideas to expand my Facebook page for those of you on FB. I even have a list of prayers to write.
My six week memoir class has begun again. The library is sponsoring it, and even though they won’t let us in the library (a change since we registered), they have found us a pavilion in a local park that really gives off a super creative writing vibe. We’re gathering with some people who we haven’t seen in two years. We’re missing a long time friend who died last year (not Covid related). Hopefully, it remains warm enough for the six weeks we’ll be outside, but cool enough to keep the mosquitoes dormant. For those of us who’ve been meeting in the park for the last year, this weather is a piece of cake. The library provided clipboards and the teacher brought cushions for the picnic tables. I brought my own chair but I may swipe one of those cushions next week.
Our ongoing park-meeting group has a new inside place to meet – the local fire house!
I’m hoping all of these writing groups with assignments will inspire me for the rest of the fall and into the new year to come.
Last weekend I attended a writing retreat. Three days of prayer and a choose your own writing adventure retreat.
It was wonderful.
This was the second year of a January weekend writing retreat, although I’ve gone to two other retreats with this director, and they are all special in their own ways. Last weekend was also very unusual. It was entirely on Zoom, and while that sounds daunting, it was nothing but fantastic all around. I think we’ve all adapted nicely to our technological advancements during these pandemic times.
On the very last morning, our subject was inspirational writing.
As it happened, prior to the weekend, I had been trying to write a reflection on the insurrection at the Capitol the week before, and it just wouldn’t come out. I’ve been told in previous writing classes that for the free write, if you can’t think of anything, just start writing. Something will come.
So that’s what I did, and I thought I would share it with you as we begin another weekend in a new era of this new full-of-potential year.
Inspiration writing is hard.
How do I conjure just the right balance of motivation, spirituality, and reflection on any given topic?
Am I supposed to inspire you?
Tell you what I find inspirational?
Be more subtle than that?
Johnny-on-the-spot and the spot is quicksand.
I made breakfast. It was terrible. Except the tea. The tea was good.
“There’s a million things I haven’t done, but just you wait.”
Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton: An American Musical
Throughout this pandemic, I have written and arted and journaled and prayed, usually with no rhyme or reason, letting the time at home and the mood of the day take the lead.
Last week, I volunteered, but was also asked and encouraged to write something for our weekly Cursillo newsletter. Our lay director decided to start it during the pandemic to keep everyone in touch.
I was happy to do it, but it took forever to start it. I had three drafts about online retreats; just a paragraph each. I skipped two lines to try again, and then it was July 3rd.
Our day revolved around watching Hamilton on Disney+. It was the premiere and for those of us unable to see the Tony Awared winning Broadway or the traveling shows, it would be the first time to view its magnificence.
I woke my family with shouts of “It’s Hamiltime!“
And that began the piece that would eventually make it into the newsletter.
It was inspired in subtle ways, and then it just came to me while sitting at the keyboard.
Griffins and Ginger Snaps 