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Writing a First Novel?
Take it piece by piece I have been writing non-fiction articles and blogging for many years, so writing article-length items is normal for me. An idea for a novel-length fantasy story has been brewing in the back of my mind all these years and I have finally started putting the ideas on paper. I wondered if I would even have what it takes to write novel-length fiction. It’s so much longer than anything I’ve ever written before! I had a few false starts where I wrote one scene here and there but fizzled out. I bought myself a copy of Save the Cat! Writes a Novel and did some deep-down…
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Seeing in a New Way
In my creative life, I dabble in a lot of things. Recently, I have been spending time working on collage and painting in my art journal. I’ve also been working on creative fiction writing for the first time in a long time. Both of these types of creative work feed off each other and I’ve noticed they change the way I look at life. Visual Arts: Learning how to see As I practice sketching and painting, I have been starting to look at forms and shading in new ways. The deep looking you need to do to draw or paint a figure trains your eyes in a way that carries…
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Nailing the Basics in Everyday Life
Matt Dixon coaches professional triathletes to prepare them for international competition. In his Purple Patch podcast, which discusses maximizing performance in sport and life, he talks about the importance of “nailing the basics.” For his triathlon team, that means the athletes should eat well, hydrate well, and sleep well before they worry about trying new supplements or the latest training fad. Most of performance success comes from doing the simple foundational steps on a consistent basis. This concept got me thinking about what “nailing the basics” might mean in relation to living a full-color life. What are the key components of intentional living that we should focus on? If we…
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Getting Out of My Head and Recharging
In the book, Breathing Under Water, Fr. Richard Rohr states that most people spend too much time in our head space and need to connect more with our heart space. The head space encompasses our logical brain where we think and plan. The other aspect of being human is to be connected with the heart space. He says “the heart space is often opened by ‘right brain’ activities such as music, art, dance, nature, fasting, poetry games, life-affirming sexuality, and, of course, the art of relationships itself.” The book discusses that many people are only in their head space but rarely in touch with the heart space. This disconnect can…
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Just do one thing
The other evening, I was cooking a meal for dinner. I was fiddling with my phone to set up my favorite podcast. Then I needed to google the recipe. Kids pass by and ask me questions. Eventually, I found that instead of pork and beans, I have made vegetarian pork and beans. I had to chop up some ham and add it at the end. I have many roles in life – mom, interpreter, wife, child, home manager, daughter, etc. During COVID, I play all of those roles from my house. Most of the time, there is a strong temptation to several things at once. I check my work messages…
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Is this actually helping me feel better?
When I get anxious, I tend to run away from it by surfing Facebook on my phone. I feel uncomfortable and nervous and Facebook is something very easy and mindless. My mind sees it as an escape — a pressure release valve. I always picture Facebook as fun posts about my friends, like a fun little mini-vacation into the world of grown-ups. The thing is when I’m done, I often feel worse than I felt before. You never know what kind of content you’re going to get with Facebook, but there’s usually a lively debate or scary news feature that’s making the rounds. It can leave me feeling like I…
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Sleep is the best medicine
Sometimes when I am having trouble with my attitude or life in general, I realize I am struggling with the basics. It could be hunger, which is easy to fix, but often the simplest answer is deep down tiredness. If I haven’t slept well the night before, I will feel it the next day. With four young kids, often we have some issue during the night that causes broken sleep. Another key issue for me is bedtime. When evening rolls around, I want to stay up reading or surfing my phone. Sometimes the evening is the only time Andy and I can have an uninterrupted grown-up conversation. All these things…
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10 Steps to Break Free of Social Media Addiction
Social media addiction. Is that even a thing? Researchers can’t agree if overuse of social media is really an addiction or just a compulsive habit. I’m not an expert, so I can’t answer that question. All I know is that my social media usage was unhealthy. I used Facebook to wake up in the morning. I used Facebook in bed before falling asleep. I spent hours and hours each day on social media. My usage was unhealthy for me. Many times, I would get upset about a post on social media and become anxious and sucked into some internet argument. This was me: It was difficult for me to “just cut…
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Outside in the Fresh Air – Smells matter too
This winter I have been doing most of my bike rides on the indoor trainer. Riding indoors is nice because I can do it while I watch my Continuing Education units for work. I can do it while the kids are playing video games and still keep an ear out for anything going wrong. I can ride the trainer before or after the sun comes up. It’s not cold or wet on the trainer inside. Dogs never chase me on the trainer, although sometimes I think my cat is going to get her whiskers caught in my spokes. Because it was the New Years and I wanted to start the…
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Connecting with Strangers
Finding relationship through phone banking This election season, I signed up to do something that introverts hate to do. I signed up to make phone calls. I support a local candidate and I wanted to help them with their campaign. It was something I felt strongly about, but I never would intentionally make a period of my day all about making phone calls to strangers. It’s certainly not my idea of fun. I see it as self-flagellation as an offering to the universe. At first I thought phone banking would be about the power of the things in the script. I thought it would be about the key points I…