Saving the World, One Poem at a Time
I just wrote a post that left me in tears. How could I publish something so ranty, so raw and so potentially argument provoking? I hit save, closed my laptop, and walked away to have my cry out. Here I am again. I’m very upset over not just the government shutdown and the lives in turmoil because of it, but over the reactions of people I know. I have never seen such vitriol, such a lack of compassion. It gets to me. But after a good cry and a good think, I decided that the world doesn’t need another rant from someone who has been hurt by what’s going on…
Blogiversary: Unexpected Lessons from One Year of Blogging
On August 4th, 2012, this space was born. I was away on vacation last week, so we’re celebrating late. Sorry, sweet little blog. I have thought about what I would say in this post often the past year. Much like an actress practicing her Academy Award speech after her first so-so B-film, I thought about what I’d reveal; how much I’ve learned, how much I’ve grown, who I’d thank, etc., etc. Of course, blogging has been a different experience than I’d expected, so I’ve retooled the speech a few times along the way. I’m not a famous, self-supporting writer; rather, I’m a niche-less blogger, one-among-many. Not that I expected otherwise,…
Being Back
I took an unexpected vacation last week. After BlogHer, a trip I’m still processing because I’m a slow learner when it comes to emotional stuffage, I felt very adrift, clinging to my sense of self with one hand. With no job, and thus no paycheck, to validate my worth as a human being (ESPECIALLY an American); with no one beating down my door to publish my writing and confirm my skill with words; with no husband to at least hug me at the end of the day when I felt like a loser, I fled from my life like a refugee from a war-torn country and joined Mike on his…
My First Publication: Huffington Post!
For those not following me on social media, you may not have heard me screaming about my article featured in the Huffington Post today. Let me just tell you, it was so hard to send the email submitting that story. I sat at my computer for about two hours, editing and re-editing everything, asking my cat, “Should I send it?”; yelling to Mike from my office, “I’m scared. I don’t know if I can do it.” I finally got over myself, held my breath, and clicked “send.” I have struggled to articulate this complex story for months now. My relationship with my ex, alcohol, has many moving parts, many explanations,…
Can You Hear Me?
“I have a movie for us to watch,” I too-casually mentioned as we crawled into bed after another soul-crushing week. “Oh yeah? What is it?” Mike asked, squirreling around under the bed covers as he did every night, trying to get comfortable. I turned off the bedside lamp, then nestled into a snug cocoon, as I did every night. “Finding Joe. I saw the trailer. It looks like something we should see.” I neglected to say that I had already watched it while getting ready for work that morning. I was still testing the waters of spousal receptivity. “Wait,” he said, “did you read the reviews on Rotten Tomatoes?” I…
Synchronicity
Synchronicity. Though not an entirely new concept to me, it’s one I’ve been exploring and experiencing lately. No, I did not just come up with this on my own – I may be creative, but I’m not that creative. I first encountered this term studying Jung, then really started contemplating it while practicing The Artist’s Way. Yes, I studied Jung, he’s my favorite psychotherapist. Leave me alone. Synchronicity for this purpose is the idea that it is natural to create and be creative, and as such God (or the universe, or the Force, or whatever) delights in creation, and will provide whatever you need for productive creativity. Now. I know this whole concept sounds…
Why I Am No Longer Advertising
Last November, I made the decision to advertise this little blog a few places, hoping that I’d gain new readers and wider exposure. Six months was the internal deadline I set for myself when I started, knowing that at that point I’d reevaluate my financial situation, the blog’s statistical data and my ROI. Yeah, I can rock the financial lingo with the best of them. Well, there I was at the six month mark last week. In the weeks leading up to it, I’d been thinking a lot about whether or not to pull the plug, and I went into a tailspin of self-doubt because that is part of my…
Blogging Genesis
This blog started out as a life-preserver I threw myself. Going to school for something much grander than what I ended up doing, I settled for a menial job instead of a mentally stimulating, challenging career; the absolute last scenario I envisioned when planning out my life, but I’ve heard it said that life isn’t all that interested in your plans, nor your Herculean efforts to make them reality. Sometimes the economy crashes and your chosen field of work disappears. Sometimes you end up with strange flesh-eating viruses that cut your life short. Sometimes loved ones die. Sometimes you have to do shit you don’t want to do in order…
Passions, Otherwise Known as Unhealthy Obsessions
Hey, lookey-here, another Finish-the-Sentence Friday, courtesy of Katie Hall! Any excuse I can find to indulge in this topic, since I am a very passionate person and sometimes journaling just doesn’t cut it. Plus, this is Friday, and I need to write something easy and non-serious so the first thing visible on this blog isn’t my first public attempt at poetry. Gah. I am very passionate about… Um, everything? More specifically, everything I write about on this blog? Do you need more detail? I guess so. I’m feeling lazy today this week. Must be a twenty-four hour tumor going around. Let me see if I can drill my passions down…
Blogging: Wrangling a Strange Beast
I am not the first person to make this observation, but blogging and writing are two distinctive pursuits. I am a trained writer. I know what I’m doing with the word things and the grammar-ness, for the most part, even though there is always room for improvement. Blogging, on the other hand, is an entirely different beast. It is social media – the key word in that descriptor being SOCIAL. I have never been very adept at the art of people skills or marketing myself, so this has been the most difficult, emotionally explosive part of blogging for me. I would rather hide in my office with strong coffee for…
