Rerouting course: weighing the options
Earlier this year, my husband booked a weeklong summer trip for two at a cabin nestled in the Northern Arizona mountains. With a forest preserve just yards from our front porch, we intended to take advantage of the cooler temperatures by hiking as much as possible. However, with the wild fires raging across the state…
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Shiny object syndrome: keeping a focus on the here and now
My shiny object appears in the form of an invitation. For me, a shiny object translates into any situation on which I focus my attention, but drop when something new and/or exciting comes along. In this case, it arrives in my inbox with a subject line that beckons — as if giftwrapped in sparkly paper…
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The roles we play: to lead, to follow or to go our own way
The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking landscapes, but in having new eyes. ~ Marcel Proust I set the pace on a recent sunrise hike, my partner close behind. A little over halfway around our weekly “loop,” he assumes the lead to finish out the 4+ miles. My energy at first keeps us…
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A minimalist life: just the necessities, please
For many of us, the past 18+ months presented myriad opportunities to reassess and reprioritize what we do and how we do it — ultimately forcing us to reconsider if there might be a better way…whether today, or years down the line. It might mean something simple, like removing excess “clutter” within our daily lives…
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I have no idea what I’m doing: but I’m having a blast
Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come…You don’t give up. ~ Anne Lamott A few weeks ago, I listened to an interview in which Sarah Werner, host of The Write Now podcast, spoke with one of my…
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How to find joy in the journey: a ‘retirement mentality’
Finding joy in the journey. It’s a cliché, right? Because how can you find joy when you’re digging in the trenches, managing a household, caring for an aging parent, grieving a loss — not to mention coping with global, and even local, unrest? Self-help books and speakers tout the need to detach our focus from…
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The power to take flight: ‘What if?’
One of a writer’s tools includes asking the what if question, and then throwing our characters under the bus (sometimes literally). I ask myself the what if question often. Not just on paper for the stories I tell, but when it comes to my life as a whole of its sum parts. For example, what if I…
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A big or little thing called perspective: it’s all in how you look at it
Welcome to my inaugural blog post! Although it actually marks my 959th entry (you can access previous posts at Always The Write Time Blog), I’m excited to hang out with you at my new home—where today’s topic focuses on perspective, brought to you by a recent hike in the mountains. While my surroundings changed from…
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