How to Lose Your Creative Voice Preheat the environment with a year-long global pandemic. 2. Mix together despair, grief, and self-doubt. 3. Add several dashes of social media. The seasoning will become extra strong if you combine vitriol directed at your profession (teacher), and criticism directed at your identity (mom). Fold in frightening news coverage. […]
faith
10 Things I Can Do Instead of Having More Kids
Last week was my daughter’s second birthday. I’m happy and grateful. I’m proud of all the growth she’s done this year and how many obstacles she’s already overcome. I’m also a little bit sad. She’s my baby, and now she’s not a baby anymore. My husband and I aren’t planning to have more children. I’m […]
The Path of Anxiety in my Mind
I would not classify myself as an anxious person, but I do have a predisposition towards feeling anxiety once in awhile. When I’m feeling anxiety, there’s an unnaturalness in my brain, a threat of unpredictability in the world, and an extra layer over my reactions to people and events. My brain catches all of my […]
The Only Tool You REALLY Need For Productivity
We’re all familiar with the standard productivity advice given to those who want to accomplish something big. “If you want to [write a novel, run a marathon, crochet 100 afghans],” the productivity gurus say, “you must make it a habit. Do it every day. Wake up early. Track your time, and then figure out when you can […]
What’s The Opposite of Fear?
Many emotional states have polar opposites. Happy, unhappy. Excited, calm. Accepting, resisting. But what’s the opposite of fear? To my mind, these are the top contenders: Courage, Faith, Hope, and Logic. Courage is the most obvious choice. The opposite of something should be capable of combatting it. If you feel courage in the face of fear, […]
The Sowul Commandments
One of the things I found most inspiring in Gretchen Rubin’s The Happiness Project was her list of “commandments” for how she wanted to live her life. I decided to make a list of my own, and share it with you. I’d love to hear if anyone else has created personal commandments, either formally or informally, […]