A Writing Life

Another Sunday

I think joy is a deep sense of well being. I lay in bed in bed this morning, feeling the edges of myself under the warm covers. Chickens clucked next door. Sun poured onto the bed. I picked up my…
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Pride and Joy

This month, I completed several big projects. The first one was writing and editing my dear friend Ben Livingston’s website. It was a total joy to work with him, and his website is now a complete compendium of his work,…
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Retreat

I just got back from a five day retreat with some very fine writers. It was productive and cozy and fun. Here’s what worked: I brought one manuscript to work on and one book to read. That’s it. I checked…
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Jealousy and Revenge

Believe it or not, some people write from this place:
I am so much better
I’ll show them
They will rue the day
Pride turned sour.
You see, we have to have a certain amount of hubris to sit down…
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Shame v. Redemption

Once again on Facebook, I paused for quite a while debating whether or not I should wade into a  discussion. The initial post was about rectifying a racial wrong. Great, got it. But the tone of the post (underlined by…
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The Joy Inquiry…So Far

I skipped yesterday. Intentionally. I wanted to see what would happen. You see I was describing my experiment to two dear friends. “I’m trying to discover and use different neural pathways around writing. Over so many years of deadlines and…
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This Morning

I ‘finished’ reading a marvelous book. It will never be finished because it is the kind of book that can be read at different ages and it will always give you a new perspective. It has a kind of omniscience,…
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The Delicious Threshold

“Do you think I’m crazy to start a relationship with someone who has ended a twenty two year marriage?” M asks me. I smile. The fact that he called me, someone who used to fling herself into love with the…
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Maybe It’s God

I don’t belong to a church. Or follow a religion. Or believe in any particular creation story. I love the mystery of existence and spirituality of sand dunes. I understand the collective community of church. I defer to the safety…
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This Thing Called Joy

I told some dear friends yesterday about my inquiry into joy and one of them asked, “You want to be more joyful?” No. That’s not it exactly. I love it when the incorrect reflection of something I’ve said asks me…
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