I Want to be Known for This
“I want to be known for the things I love.” These lyrics from the Taylor Swift song Daylight speak for me as I return to blogging. Here is where I write about the things I love in life, the things that bring me awesome joy.
The Record Playing
There is a record that has played in my mind for as long as I can remember. It questions everything I have, have not, or should have done. Suddenly, in mid-life, the record is quieting.
How the Revolution Went
It would pain me to begin this post with an overused sentiment (non-conforming is an elusive dream for me) so I'll let the cake do it for me.
Now, the truth. I am deeply proud of my 2020.
Doing My Thing
More often than not, by doing your thing, as opposed to what you think you ought to be doing, you kindle a fire that helps keep the rest of us warm.
Oliver Burkeman said this. He was a columnist for the Guardian, and his final piece has several bits of life wisdom like that. (It also has a brief treatise on why we shouldn't listen to celebrities
How the Revolution is Going
Hi! I'm in a midlife crisis. Can you believe it?! I could have died before I was thirty! Instead, here I am with the rest of Gen X women sort of wondering why I'm not as successful, rich, famous, or together as I thought I would be by now and occasionally despairing about it. THIS IS GREAT!
On Mondays, I'm a Writer
I may have mentioned, but I am all here for all the new year hype.
Over the years, I've done it all. I've made goals (finish the novel in 2018! Nope). I've listed new habits I planned to adopt in order to reach the goals (face the page every day). I've chosen one word. I've chosen three words. This year, I did a worksheet that leads you to your "true north" (i.e., your most important values), which brought me to 5 words.
The Other Side of Disappointment
Eight years ago, I wrote on this blog, "I have a little idea for a novel budding in my head," and that novel is still in manuscript-form on this very computer, resting, rarely opened lately, and otherwise simmering away so that when I face it again I can put it into shape with fresh eyes. I write things wrong before I get them right, apparently it's just a thing I do.
All the Yes
I went to Baltimore for work again last month. I went a little unsteady, emotions-wise. I had a kindred spirit in Australia who had just passed away from ovarian cancer, quickly taken from her life - so similar to mine, from her husband she married the same year I married mine (twenty years ago), from her four children - the oldest two born the same years as my oldest.
That Stage Though
They all say it: I've worked so hard for this, I've dreamed of this since I was six years old, last year I watched this show from a bar across the street.... (that last one belonged to Maren Morris at the CMAs this year, not to an Oscar winner, but the sentiment is the same). I watch them say it from the couch in my pajamas, and I raise a glass, because I hear ya, sister friend. There are way more bars across the street than there is room on that stage.
The Bright Side
Sometimes I think we focus too much on what we have to give up in order to make things happen. If a writer says they don't have time to write, you might tell them to give up Netflix or having a life. But once I had my routine in place - do this much every night - it became about what I would do each day, not what I wouldn't.
The Simple Always
I love this picture.Poor Jake is tackling homework he was assigned, but not I. The lucky grownup in this picture is learning for the sheer, intentional joy of it.It was a free webinar. I have some warring principles at play in my little, dreaming heart.
It's Really Not So Regular
Here's how I know someday I am going to succeed at this writing thing I currently do on the side: Today I got a notice of spectacular failure and still felt excited to get home and start writing again.
I love you, single task
I recently read the wonderful book on simplicity called Notes from a Blue Bike by Tsh Oxenreider . It's a memoir of sorts with this subtitle: The Art of Living Intentionally in a Chaotic World.