because words are powerful
Listened to podcasts when I woke too early Monthly Zoom conversation with church folk Embroidery projects – finished one and started another Cups of Melbourne Morning black tea Plants and seeds watered Weeds pulled Multiple episodes of Tell Me More with Kelly Corrigan on pbs.org Pedicure with Manda with coral polish Cheesecake Blizzard from DQ…
When I lost power steering just blocks from my office, what I heard myself say was, Oh gosh, well, I better see if I can make it to the Firestone. What I did not do is panic. If you’ve followed my writing at any point in the past eight years, you know that I have…
I did not share the day’s big news during two substantive conversations I did not describe losing the power steering on my commute a few blocks from my office and the trusty Firestone location There were more important things to hear: post-surgery progress, lost rodeo bull found, balloons for a baby gone 16 years Trauma…
Snip. Snip. Snip. I am typing on my keyboard for a few hours, and can feel my nails catch on the keys in a way that distracts me. I have been a life-long nail biter. I rarely have nails long enough to get caught on anything but my teeth. I have been working at breaking…
The first time I experimented with mental photography, I was a rising senior representing my college at a church camp in Maine. These were the days of film when you wouldn’t know what you’d captured until you took the film cartridge to the grocery store film counter and waited for the envelope that contained your…
I chose YES as my word of 2022. I can only predict how the word I choose will shape the 365 days that lay before me. I had hoped that this new website might open up new opportunities to which I could say yes. That has not happened yet, but two unforeseen opportunities to answer…
I thought about the question Katie posed in between bites of zucchini bread. We were catching up in a coffee shop near my office. My explanation was brief. I haven’t been writing much. In truth, I haven’t felt like I had much to say—at least not much I’d like to post online in quite a…
I am an active participant in three writing groups. The group we call Word Church meets weekly on Sunday afternoons. The other two meet monthly. One focuses on poetry and the other concentrates on the process of writing. Each group and the beloved communities that show up helps me to keep my creative juices flowing—even…
By now you know the drill: a group of writers come up with a list of words from which to draw. We write on our own for 30-40 minutes, and then come together to read what came from those words. It’s such a meaningful experience, we’ve come to call it Word Church. I am a…
I saw it coming. I shed preemptive tears. I even admitted I was aware that sadness would soon follow. I dropped off my roommate at the airport. As I pulled away, I was a tire with the air let out. I barely cracked open my journal. I fell asleep with a heap of books and…
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