Category Archives: Writing

Something Good

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I made my best effort to find the original source of this image, but couldn't, and also couldn't stand not sharing it with you.

I made my best effort to find the original source of this image, but couldn’t, and also couldn’t stand not sharing it with you. Forgive me.

1. The Power of Asking from Laurie Wagner of 27 Powers. Laurie is an amazing writing teacher, and her next session of Telling True Stories starts on January 7th.

2. Live Your Own Life Now. Permission Slip Enclosed. from Jennifer Boyken at Life After Tampons.

3. This quote from Jonathan Fields, “You cannot create change in others. Until you embody the truth you seek to inspire.”

4. From my Inner Pilot Light, “When you let go of attachment to outcomes, the Universe is free to work its magic, and it’s a great opportunity to learn to trust that even if things don’t go the way you hoped, the Universe has always got your back.”

5. Providence, Poetry and Magic from Stacy Morrison on Filling in the Blanks.

6. Show Your Work from Jen Lee.

7. From Pema Chödrön, on training with uncertainty:

Many of us prefer practices that will not cause discomfort, yet at the same time we want to be healed. But bodhichitta training doesn’t work that way. A warrior accepts that we can never know what will happen to us next. We can try to control the uncontrollable by looking for security and predictability, always hoping to be comfortable and safe. But the truth is that we can never avoid uncertainty. This not knowing is part of the adventure, and it’s also what makes us afraid.

8. From Danielle LaPorte’s Daily Truthbomb: “Creativity is the difference between life and death.”

9. How To Keep Your Heart Open When It Breaks from Lissa Rankin.

10. Regrets of the Dying from Bronnie Ware. This is one I’ve posted before, but it bears repeating.

11. Quote from Kris Carr: “When we accept ourselves exactly as we are, in exactly this moment, we shift from living for tomorrow to appreciating today.”

12. This quote: “There is a way that nature speaks, that land speaks. Most of the time we are simply not patient enough, quiet enough, to pay attention to the story.” ~Linda Hogan

13. I love what Patti Digh has to say about about making strong offerings, “Putting your work into the world without regret, without attachment to outcome, without hesitation. Voicing your voice.”

14. I want this: Walking into Fire: Sidestepping Fear, Writing Your Heart Out, and Letting Your Story Tell Itself with Susan Piver. This is an audio of a workshop with three of my favorite women–Jennifer Louden, Susan Piver, and Patti Digh, “a heart-expanding, writing refreshing day bursting with learning, craft, and creativity.” This whole site BetterListen! has lots of good stuff available.

15. Sas Petherick launched her new site, her new venture. You can download her beautiful book, Body Stories, for free! Keep an eye on this one. She’s going to do some amazing things.

16. 21 Pictures That Will Restore Your Faith In Humanity, ” People aren’t always awful. Sometimes, they’re maybe even just a little bit wonderful.” And 26 Moments That Restored Our Faith In Humanity This Year.

17. This quote: “To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work.” ~Mary Oliver

18. Celebrating Consciousness with Patti Digh, Author and Master Teacher on the Daily Own.

19. Love Apocalypse. I found this site after watching a video Jen Lemen made, Thoughts On Newtown and the End of the World as We Know It.

20. Aimee Mann puts on one of the best Christmas shows ever. Sadly, she’s not doing it this year, but she shared this video (a compilation of videos made to play during her previous shows).

21. 46 Reasons Why My Three Year Old Might be Freaking Out. You don’t have to be a parent to get why this is so funny, (thanks to Susannah Conway for this link).

22. Beautiful pictures by Kevin Russ, (thanks to Susannah Conway for this link).

23. A New Year’s Ritual. Andrea Scher always has the best New Year’s prompts, and this year she shares them in a series of videos, (it’s a total bonus that she’s also super cute).

24. This quote: “Grief is not a disorder, a disease or a sign of weakness. It is an emotional, physical and spiritual necessity, the price you pay for love. The only cure for grief is to grieve.” ~Earl Grollman

Reverb12: Day Two

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reverb12Again, I am answering many prompts, from the various Reverb lists. I might not be able to keep that up, but for now I’m having such a good time, having so much fun with the process–answering all the prompts!

Limits

The full prompt is: “We often learn our limits the hard way. Were there any limits you realized this past year? Alternately, what self-imposed limits were you able to move beyond this year? (Author: Carolyn Rubenstein).”

I definitely felt limited by time and energy. This is an ongoing, lingering issue. I try to be really smart about what I commit to, what I say yes to–it has to be “hell yeah” or I say no. I work to to stay away from energy vampires, time monsters and shadow comforts. I have to keep a close eye on my physical limitations, my energy level and available strength, my body’s capacity for whatever activity it might be.

The self-imposed limits, (besides the ones that are setting reasonable restrictions intended to protect my health and wellbeing), are my beliefs about what is possible, what I’m capable of, my worth and my value. I spent so much time waiting for permission to participate, thinking that the gatekeepers would let me in eventually, that the party planners would send me my invite, that I’d finally earn my certification, my entry into the guild, that the project, my thing, would fall out of the sky fully formed. Then I realized, if I wanted something to happen, I needed to stop waiting and happen.

Help

The full prompt is: Asking for help can be the hardest thing we ever do. When and how did you ask for help? Alternatively, did someone ask you for help, and how did it play out for you?

This year, I realized that one of my superpowers is generosity, I love to help, want nothing more than to ease suffering in the world. With organizations like Kickstarter, Kiva, and Charity:Water (my birthday campaign runs for 28 more days, if you have any interest in helping me raise some money–100% of your donation directly funds clean water projects in developing nations), it was even easier to find ways to help those who needed it. I gave my cousin the $100 I got at the World Domination Summit to help her fund charity work she hopes to do in the near future, I helped John F. Ptak get the cancer surgery he needed, I regularly give to my local dog rescue and meditation center, and I helped save our local independent theater. In return for that last donation, I got to make a slide that is currently playing while people sit and wait for their movie to start.

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Writing

The full prompt is: What piece of writing are you most proud of from 2012? How does this piece differ from your other pieces?

This blog, for sure, is the writing I am most proud of from this past year. The fact that I kept at it, that I have continued to show up, have been open and authentic in my posts, that there are kind and gentle souls reading, sharing and connecting with me. I have loved everything about it. The other writing I’ve done that I feel especially good about has the same quality, of being wild and real and on purpose, not fake, not trying to get you to like me, but telling the truth–beautiful and brutal, tender and terrible.

Two Final prompts so related, they had to be combined for one single answer

Part one: What was your most significant expenditure in 2012? It doesn’t have to be necessarily the biggest expenditure, just the one with the most impact. What difference has it made to your life?

Part two: What was the most memorable gathering you attended (or held) in 2012?

Answer for both: World Domination Summit. It cost me a lot of money–plane ticket, summit admission, car and hotel room rental, food. It was expensive, more than I would normally spend on myself, but it was so worth it. I met so many amazing people, some I already knew but had never met in person, some I didn’t even know existed until I met them there. I was inspired, overwhelmed, gobsmacked. I have stayed connected with many of them. Just this morning on Skype, I had the most heartwarming, encouraging, spontaneous, fun conversation with someone I met at WDS, felt an instant connection to (seriously, it was one of those moments where you meet a complete stranger and think “there you are, I’ve been looking for you”). I continue to do good work, to plan great work, to make a difference because of the spark of that event, that experience.