The Journey of Words: Rediscovering Flow in Writing

The impish author I’d grown to think an impostor starts to perform again.  The magical mystery befuddles me. How can a once prolific practice abate when I paint? I wonder. Then the stirring starts. I’m enamored with the flow and cadence of thoughts transforming into words. With passion and purpose the prose progresses. I’ll never figure …

Embrace the Creative Stirring: Tips for Artists and Writers

The creative stirring starts.  Sleep evades me, so I rise early to write.  The Creative Stirring This sense that something is missing. There's more to come. God has other opportunities on the way. My mind mulls over what I read on  https://janefriedman.com:Is It a Book? 5 Ways to Test Your Nonfiction Book Idea by Bethany Saltman and …

The Creative Exchange

What are creative exchanges? They're when creatives share expertise to enhance skills, overcome challenges, and achieve artistic goals. I find myself at the critical juncture of navigating my second manuscript through the rigorous editing phase of self-publishing, a process that triggers memories of past challenges. Editing proved particularly daunting during the preparation of Refrain from …

The Power of Words

Recently, I came across a post I'd written back in 2016 called "The Power of Words." Former posts often show up in my blog stats when someone, somehow finds them online. There's always a reminder in them for me. I've been missing my writing. My passion for art as well as just living life had …

How Big is your Garden?

I’ve always wanted a bigger garden than I could possibly manage. I’d scroll through Pinterest and ooh and ahh over archways and gates that beckon entrance, white-picket fences, and trellises that cradle ripening fruit. Yet, the demands of life and suburban living whittled my gardens down to a few raised beds. Tending a garden isn’t …

10 Best Practices for Balance

Are there any other creatives out there who struggle with balance? I sure do! I imagine my efforts to hold onto all that I love as if they are balloons tied to strings that I'm grasping: I found this reflection in my book, Refrain from the Identical: Insights and Inspiration for Creative Eclectics, and thought …

The Blessing

I carry the blessing in my writing journal, tucked inside the front cover like a hidden treasure map.  My father penned the blessing and gave it to me at a time, unbeknownst to him, when I really needed encouragement. I was struggling with what my life’s purpose was all about when his blessing came: “Hi …

Planting Seeds of Hope

Hope grows in the most unlikely of places, searching out souls huddled in darkened corners of despair. I know, I’ve been there, and hope found me.  So, I want to plant seeds of hope: Hope made possible by the gift of God’s grace. The surety of His trustworthy nature. His promise to never leave or …

The Mysterious Wave-like Nature of Writing

How interesting that when I am most stripped of thought and emptied of soul, eventually, the sighs rise inside, like ocean waves, and then roll through my pen. Something someone can relate to splashes onto paper; no guile, no posturing, just an honest description of a human dilemma. And when this happens, people relate, and …