My word for 2023 is “Intentional.” I want to live intentionally, give my time to what matters to me, be useful in some way, find purpose in my daily life. Like many other people, I often live randomly, just wandering from one activity to another, unplanned and disorganized. I know I can’t plan every moment of my life. In fact, that wouldn’t be a good way to live. There has to be time for spontaneity, ...
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It’s December again – already. Where has 2022 gone? There have been ups and downs for sure this year; but here we are, getting ready to celebrate the various holidays that occur in December and looking forward, not backwards. By our actions we are showing optimism. We’re traveling, we’re shopping, we’re going to parties, being with family and friends, being crazy busy, just like in the past. But, we’re still struggling with Covid, and now ...
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Our country and the world seem to be in chaos all of the time these days: extreme weather events, political upheaval, deep divisions among people with different ideologies, wars, racial discrimination, starvation in many parts of the world, mass shootings and on and on. How can we be grateful? Yet, there are things I am grateful for tucked in among the anger and hopelessness. I have to stop sometimes and put aside the negatives for ...
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I began October at a weekend writing retreat in southern Missouri at a place called Dawt Mill, a historic mill, now a resort. It’s a small retreat held in both the spring and fall, usually with visiting writers who lead workshops in poetry, fiction and non-fiction writing. But this fall it was a pared down version with just local leaders and no workshops. We had plenty of time for writing, creating our own workshops with ...
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You may not think of September as a new beginning as you do January 1, the new year, but to me it feels like a time to take stock and maybe even do something different. The hot days of summer are receding into cool nights and warm days. I feel more like tackling projects and spending time outdoors. Although I have no children in school, school starting up again feels like a fresh start. I ...
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I have been reflecting on many of the most recent happenings in our country and world and trying to take stock of where I am in all of it. Sometimes, all that I see and hear going on overwhelms me, and I want to retreat back into myself, push everything out of my mind, turn off the news, and just pretend everything is okay. But I can’t do that, really, in a world where news ...
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As I am writing this, the US Supreme Court has overturned Roe vs Wade, taking 50-year-old freedoms away from women in this country. It’s about abortion, yes, but it’s about so much more, too. It’s about a group of people who want to impose their beliefs on everyone else. It’s about control. It’s about keeping women “in their place,” which is farther down the ladder than white men. I’m always amazed at women who subscribe ...
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I just got back from Hot Springs, Arkansas, where I was the featured poet at Wednesday Night Poetry (WNP), a weekly open mic event at a great little coffee shop, Kollective Coffee + Tea. It is the longest running open mic in the entire country, begun February 1, 1989. I read for it often after it went virtual during the Covid pandemic but decided to drive down to Hot Springs and read in person, since ...
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Earth Day was on April 22, and there were many activities and celebrations designed to make us think about how we are treating the earth. Maybe this year on May 8, Mother’s Day, we can continue the conversations and actions to save Mother Earth. Climate change is real, and pollution is an issue we can’t put off any longer. Fires are raging in the droughts of the southwest and west. Blizzards keep popping up even ...
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We’ve already had the first day of Spring in March, but now it’s really beginning to show. Although, the sunshine and warmth have been welcome, here in Southwest Missouri those days have been interspersed with some cold, rainy, gloomy days. Up and down the temperatures free flow, and we never know what to expect when we get up in the morning. One thing the rain has done is green up my grass, planted in the ...
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