It’s been two years since I signed up with Women for Sobriety New Life Program. I’d been sober for about six years by then, but one morning I suddenly felt “at risk.” I’d tried AA several years before. As one who understands the profound and lasting effect of words, I could not embrace the hypnotic…
Tag: Focus
Calling to Writers of Faith
I love new beginnings. Five days ago, our pencils were sharpened and new pens were waiting in their holders with a stack of pristine composition books at the ready! Maybe you had your keyboard air blasted and wiped down, your screen dusted and your laptop freshly charged and ready for National Novel Writing Month–Hands On…
Writers, Start Your Engines
Where are you sinking your 50k words this fall?
Shedding What You Don’t Need
When I inherited a friend’s huge library, I had to make some hard decisions about what to keep. In the limited space I currently occupy, my rule is if something comes in something goes out. Which meant I couldn’t keep all the currently owned books if I kept all the inherited ones. What I could…
Words Matter Week March 2-8
Hello there! I’m glad you’re reading this right now. First a quick shout out to some of my more active readers: Thanks to Mike, Kris, Jeremy, Brenda, Michael, and Stuart. Please leave your links in the comments so others can visit your sites and enjoy your great writing. If you’re a writer, you may already…
A Sense of Wonder
Hello faithful reader. Living in the same place for many years, made me complacent, comfortable, and even jaded. In the space where life and routine got upended, I tended to complain. why is my first reaction wanting to return to the way things were? “Missing the old ways” seems to be a common theme among…
The Tale of Two Apartments
Elle and Rose were neighbors in the same apartment complex of nearly 300 dwellings. Management announced that every resident would be going through a mandatory renovation that would take one, possibly two days per unit. Both women were initially upset because of the inconvenience of having to pack up their belongings. However, rather than having…
What could change your life?
An author friend sent me a sheet titled, “What if a question could change your life?” She has not been a fan of beginning of the year resolutions, nor have I. The biggest reason being they seem to have little sticking power. My friend went on to share the idea of setting an intention is…
Opportunity: Triumphs or traps
You’ve set your goal, eliminated the biggest obstacles, and now you can set the cruise control and coast, right? If only that were true. Just as getting a degree takes a certain level of dedication and sacrifice, so does monitoring your trajectory. Many things will try to horn in and squander your time, under the…
Feeding Your Dreams
August two years ago, I mentioned that I wanted to go to the beach. Within a few days, a girlfriend invited me to go with her and her family. My mind ran wild with joy as I packed a suitcase. She called back later apologetic, and withdrew the invitation, promising we’d have a girl’s trip…
Keep Going
I have been at the end of myself more times than I care to admit. And, in talking with a friend last night, you’d think that someone who got as beat up by life as I did, would have given up by now. But, I’m not a quitter. I don’t even know what that would…
Powering Through
One summer, my husband I bought a Kayak. I’d done a lot of research and found an inflatable one with excellent reviews that fit our budget and space constraints. We had both canoed before, and Jack had once owned a sailboat. A kayak is a little different, and an inflatable differs from a hard body….
Juli Ocean 