I’ve written before about the journal I have kept for the past twenty years. About two years ago, sometime after the pandemic started, I decided to add a paragraph each day listing things I was grateful for. I’d read about the healing powers of keeping a gratitude journal, and this […]
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My Journaling, Then and Now
Twenty years ago today, March 16, 2002, I opened up a lined blank journal and began writing. I’ve posted before about my first words in that journal (“The only way to start is just to start—take the plunge”). I still recall the trepidation I felt as I faced that blank […]
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Thoughts on Writing, from Before I Started Writing
I recently reread my journal from December 2002, trying to find the exact dates we’d traveled to Aruba that month. I came across an entry about writing. In 2002, writing was still a pipe dream of mine. I thought I wanted to write when I retired, but I hadn’t made […]
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On THE ARTIST’S WAY and the Truth in Fiction
I’ve mentioned before that I attended a diversity program called “Women Supporting Women” in late September 2005. When I declared to the other participants in that program, “I will write a book before I die,” one of the women in the group handed me a Post-It note. On that Post-It, […]
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Writing Milestones: Journaling and Blogging
I don’t want March to get away from me before I write about two milestones that occurred this month—the fifteenth anniversary of when I began keeping a journal, and the fifth anniversary of this blog. I’ve written before about starting my journal. One of my early posts on this blog […]
Continue readingWhy Do I Ask Questions At the End of My Posts?
The short answer to why usually I ask questions at the end of my posts is that I read somewhere that it was a good thing for bloggers to do to get readers to engage. The long answer is a little more complicated. It is true that I’ve read that […]
Continue readingFocus on the Present: Be a Buddha, Not a Janus
One morning last week as I wrote in my journal, I grumbled about the Midwestern cold and ice. The snow that had fallen a few days before Christmas had melted just enough to leave a glaze behind on walks and driveways. On Christmas Day I fell on the ice and […]
Continue readingPreserve Your Family’s Stories During National Family History Month
October is National Family History Month—a month for those with an interest in genealogy to spend a little extra time on their hobby, and a month for all of us to reflect on our forebearers and on how our pasts have shaped our todays and tomorrows. For tips on activities […]
Continue readingLife Without Electricity
Sunday morning the electricity went out in our house. It seems to happen more and more frequently. The lines in our subdivision are underground, so usually the lights just flicker, or we get our power back after a minute or two. But Sunday morning it was out for over an hour, from […]
Continue readingTop Ten Lessons Learned about Blogging
I’ve been posting regularly (at least weekly) on this blog for a year now, and since May 2012 I’ve posted twice a week (on Mondays and Wednesdays). I’ve had some successes, but I also know I can improve. Here are the top ten lessons I’ve learned in the past year […]
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