Dear Readers, I need your help. I did a lot of soul-searching and brainstorming during the last weeks of December, and as a result, I somehow ended up deciding to write another book. Not the historical novel that I was already working on. A different book; a nonfiction book I’m super-excited about. The problem is, […]
passion
Labor Day: The Meaning of Work
Happy Labor Day, USA! Other than signaling the end of summer and the start of the (false) inability to wear white, what does Labor Day actually stand for? Let’s take a moment to consider the history of American laborers, and how the work we do has changed over time. For most of human history, up through the agricultural […]
Big Question, Writing Prompt: The “Grew Up” Question
Happy Monday morning! As you begin your workweek, before you jump into the minutiae of everyday work and life, take a moment to step back and ask yourself a Big Question. This can be a writing prompt, or just a question to ponder during the day. When I was ten years old, what did I want […]
If I Could Slow Down Time
This weekend I took my son to his favorite playground for the first time this season. Last spring and summer, when I was a stay-at-home mom, we went frequently, sometimes several times a week. Now that I’m a working mom, it’s much harder to find the time or energy after work, and the weekends are often packed […]
Just Keep Writing
Last week, I was corresponding with a friend and fellow writer whom I met at the Writer’s Digest conference back in August. We were comparing notes on the book-publishing dream; we’re both in the process of seeking agents for our first novels. After catching me up on the agents she’d talked to, the re-write she’d just […]
Purpose, Simplified
Let’s kick off the PURPOSE-ful month of August by simply defining what it is, and figuring out how to find it. To my mind, finding purpose is the art of asking yourself personal “why” questions; purpose itself lies in the answers to those questions. For example: Purpose: Parenting Question: “Why do I want to be a parent?” The […]