tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68217002323306053162024-02-18T21:16:21.055-08:00begin...begin againjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00034650034053143388noreply@blogger.comBlogger315125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6821700232330605316.post-5331995484787380672016-07-04T11:01:00.001-07:002016-07-04T11:06:04.718-07:00narrative medicine 101<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">OK. OK! I know...I've been quiet on Blogger for the past few weeks. But, don't worry. I haven't given up or keeled over or been overwhelmed by anything remotely dramatic. It's just that I've decided to <b>begin again, </b>and that takes time and effort.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I'm beginning work on a new blog:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">storytelling~the healing path</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"The degree to which you can tell your story is the degree </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">to which you can heal."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">~S. Eldredge~</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This blog will explore the importance and role of storytelling in medicine, a field known as "narrative medicine." </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It encourages the healthcare provider to trace his or her own journey into a profession that is both challenging and rewarding, full of both hope and despair, and, depending on the day of the week, both exhausting and inspiring. Perhaps his father and grandfather before him were physicians and to aspire anything less meant outright mutiny in his family. Perhaps she navigated a life-threatening childhood illness, herself. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Narrative enables them to share the stories that unfold for them in the
hospital among the patients they care for. Which patients touched them most deeply, and
why? What scares them the most? </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Where do they find the courage, dedication and solace that make it
possible to go on day after day, year after year?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Another perspective involves the most basic skill in medical
care—obtaining a thorough history of the patient’s illness. Not just the facts (When did it start? What are your symptoms? What have you already tried?) but their feelings and thoughts about it. What it means to the patient to be sick. How it
affects the people around them, and how they feel about that.<o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">The final path is therapeutic. It requires the caretaker to become a storyteller, to develop a talent for re-imagining the patient’s recovery in metaphorical terms, suggesting that healing is possible because someone has already experienced it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Why is any of this important? Because patient outcomes are improved when the provider understands the patient's illness in the context of his or her exper</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ience, culture, and expectations.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Because satisfaction improves when the patient feels he has been heard. And, because (listen up all you health system CEOs and CFOs...) in the long run it saves time and money.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"storytelling--the healing path" will be up and running soon. You can find it at http://www.thenarrativepath.blogspot.com or connect to it </span><a href="http://www.thenarrativepath.blogspot.com/" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">here</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In the meantime, have a wonderful 4th of July!</span></div>
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janhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00034650034053143388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6821700232330605316.post-69582336802673627072016-06-18T09:13:00.002-07:002016-06-18T09:13:57.961-07:00finding the right words<div style="text-align: center;">
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I'm having a hard time finding the right words for things this week, so I thought I would skip writing anything at all today. After all, I just got back from a trip to Pittsburgh, and tomorrow I leave for Massachusetts. I didn't think I had any meaningful commentary to add to this week's news, and I certainly didn't expect to find time to write. I have to pack.</div>
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But when I got up, I couldn't resist going outdoors. When I left the house there wasn't a cloud in the sky, not a breeze. Fields that were emerald two weeks ago had turned to gold. Except for birdsong, the world was silent--not an airplane overhead, not a lawnmower humming away, not a single dog barking in the distance. For me it was the perfect way to start the day...too perfect for words.<br />
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As I walked I remembered the headlines from this past week. I thought about the families who are burying their LGBT sons and daughters today. Families who lost young children in unimaginable tragedies this past week. People fleeing deadly floods and raging wildfires. A friend whose cancer is spreading. For them, this is a terrible day...too horrible for words.</div>
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I walked with them for an hour and a half this morning, but it wasn't enough. Not long enough, not far enough, not hard enough. I may have to go back out again later...</div>
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June 18, 2016</div>
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This weekend we observe Fathers' Day. In a perfect world, every day would be a happy day for fathers. But it isn't. Too many despair of finding and keeping their jobs so they can care for their families.Too many of them are stalked by bitter memories of war or abuse or the shortcomings of their own childhoods. Some are besieged by addiction to drugs or alcohol, to gambling or sex, to the very work they take such pride in. Some have lost a child. </div>
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In a perfect world, the rest of us would be happy to celebrate Fathers' Day with them, but we can't. We don't always know how to comfort them, or heal them, or make peace with them. Some of them are already gone. </div>
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Perhaps we should try celebrating Heroic Fathers Day or Healing Fathers Day or Hopeful Fathers Day for the men out there who can't find happiness. For the rest of you:</div>
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janhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00034650034053143388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6821700232330605316.post-48650762862102696672016-06-05T20:44:00.001-07:002016-06-06T10:47:58.962-07:00writing is a meditationIf you practice meditation you know how hard it can be to quiet your mind while sitting in silence. Our minds like to be busy--thinking back on things that have happened, thinking ahead to what awaits us, guessing, planning, judging, fretting--when our goal in meditation is to let go of all those thoughts so we can remain calm, mindful, and compassionate.<br />
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When our minds wander during meditation, we are encouraged to simply acknowledge the interruption and refocus on the body. When thoughts arise, we label them "just thoughts" or "just thinking" and move our attention back to the next breath--in, out, in, out. Letting go of intrusive thoughts helps mitigate the impact of negative emotions such as anger, anxiety, bitterness and resentment that may have a strangle hold on us.<br />
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This, I believe, is a practice writers should embrace. We are accustomed to labeling our own negative thoughts as "voices" we hear. It's an interesting metaphor. We are advised not to pay attention to the voices of negativity that discourage our creative efforts...voices that insist we're wasting our time, that we have no hope of success, that our work is meaningless or inferior. Voices that make us feel guilty for indulging in something we enjoy when others are so hard at work.<br />
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The voice of a parent might come back to us...something about taking life seriously, earning a decent living or keeping up appearances. It might a teacher or boss or co-worker, all of them with your best interests in mind as they scatter aspersions and dissuasions and conventional expectations along your path as if your journey weren't difficult enough without them.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-ved="0ahUKEwjXz-mrvJLNAhXCdSYKHXTUAbYQjRwIBw" href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwjXz-mrvJLNAhXCdSYKHXTUAbYQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinterest.com%2Fpin%2F535928424381268361%2F&psig=AFQjCNFqRpK4QjRDtfcNECjXc7Gqa-kkPQ&ust=1465270418883456" id="irc_mil" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk;irc.il;" style="border-image-source: none; border: 0px currentcolor; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" height="200" id="irc_mi" src="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/ab/b0/d7/abb0d72b44436e44d380e4f91cab639f.jpg" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="199" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">www.pinterest.com</td></tr>
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The point is that those negative voices are just thoughts. Just echoes from the past, not worth arguing about. They are opinions, and they do not have your best interests in mind at all. Banish them! Return to the breath. Or take a walk. Or call up a friend--someone who encourages you and supports your dream. Someone who understands how hard this is and respects you for trying. Someone whose friendship isn't invested in your success or wealth or fame.<br />
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Do whatever it takes to stay on the optimistic side. Turn your attention back to the truth:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">www.pixilatedbelle.tumblr.com </td></tr>
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When we choose to pursue something as fleeting as a creative urge or as elusive as a dream, negativity is intrusive. Think about it. Meditate on it. Learn how to let it go.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzq7zUQ_CjD5BqKucYHkCpIHgihanJrCEVuJVDPvNruKF_ft_ZrtS8IeSWiQMszU_Cuia7CzBp2r22MaTnu2k61G-CIb_FCoDeY7TTBjgi931M-v9ndR0d9vKCyp3-nY_Hl4sL-vEI4dU/s1600/Lost_Balloon%2521-2nf74t-d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzq7zUQ_CjD5BqKucYHkCpIHgihanJrCEVuJVDPvNruKF_ft_ZrtS8IeSWiQMszU_Cuia7CzBp2r22MaTnu2k61G-CIb_FCoDeY7TTBjgi931M-v9ndR0d9vKCyp3-nY_Hl4sL-vEI4dU/s1600/Lost_Balloon%2521-2nf74t-d.jpg" /></a></div>
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For more on writing and meditation visit my friend Madhu Wangu, at <a href="http://www.madhubazazwangu.com/about-mindful-writing/">http://www.madhubazazwangu.com/about-mindful-writing/</a> .<br />
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<a data-ved="0ahUKEwiM2MyKvZLNAhWFeSYKHZQ2As0QjRwIBw" href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiM2MyKvZLNAhWFeSYKHZQ2As0QjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.madhubazazwangu.com%2Fabout-madhu-bazaz-wangu%2F&psig=AFQjCNEu-o8bCEP1UwkzoOZtUHB6Lq07PQ&ust=1465270735809197" id="irc_mil" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk;irc.il;" style="border-image: none; border: 0px currentColor;"><img alt="" src="http://www.madhubazazwangu.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/unnamed.jpg" height="200" id="irc_mi" style="margin-top: 37px;" width="150" /></a></div>
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She's the expert.<br />
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<br />janhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00034650034053143388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6821700232330605316.post-61762407562646165772016-05-28T18:46:00.000-07:002016-05-28T18:46:52.761-07:00where the poppies grow<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwHPywBn5liDmilWZzYK_qB_ZhQVp411kJ9njV2kkQ6YTRmQV6-LkELgcTjXQYVN0zgeRnuYI9BDEAzvfmWZgoXIjPeKtDgeuTwbH56oQYOyg276daylLGCVFcV6vQehMoN5db6AwPHuQ/s1600/In+Flanders+fields.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwHPywBn5liDmilWZzYK_qB_ZhQVp411kJ9njV2kkQ6YTRmQV6-LkELgcTjXQYVN0zgeRnuYI9BDEAzvfmWZgoXIjPeKtDgeuTwbH56oQYOyg276daylLGCVFcV6vQehMoN5db6AwPHuQ/s1600/In+Flanders+fields.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">www.iwvpa.net</td></tr>
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In Flanders fields the poppies blow</div>
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Between the crosses, row on row</div>
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That mark our place; and in the sky</div>
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The larks, still bravely singing, fly</div>
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Scarce heard amid the guns below.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-ved="0ahUKEwj4lfP3hv7MAhVLmx4KHaSXBmEQjRwIBw" href="http://southernlagniappe.blogspot.com/2012/05/one-nation-under-god.html" id="irc_mil" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk;irc.il;" style="border-image-source: none; border: 0px currentcolor; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" height="198" id="irc_mi" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfe-1Kdliw_SOlvG63CSkDZtaf4QxdSPY19yxWHqn1jfAX8RntuVIIz-4g38ZV8eur7gkLkS8kpMcMQ0ob9RrQ692eKXQhg7FKQ24XGIqo6vm_8o6CJIQ7Q5UrUZoTGg1zWDGq-fclU6Ys/s200/flandersfields.jpg" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">www.southernlagniappe.blogspot.com</td></tr>
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We are the Dead. Short days ago</div>
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We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,</div>
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Loved and were loved, and now we lie</div>
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In Flanders fields.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-ved="0ahUKEwi9oPD_iv7MAhXJ7R4KHe8TAEwQjRwIBw" href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwi9oPD_iv7MAhXJ7R4KHe8TAEwQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailymail.co.uk%2Fnews%2Farticle-2600546%2FLet-French-poppy-I-enclosing-represent-kisses-100-year-old-Flower-WW1-battlefield-love-letter-posted-trenches-U-S-soldier.html&psig=AFQjCNEmsw36RknnQ2iHbIxpO-y4KlGttQ&ust=1464569978544954" id="irc_mil" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk;irc.il;" style="border-image-source: none; border: 0px currentcolor; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" height="200" id="irc_mi" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/04/09/article-2600546-1CF4A22500000578-327_634x396.jpg" style="margin-top: 11px;" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">www.dilymail.co.uk</td></tr>
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Take up our quarrel with the foe:</div>
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To you from failing hands we throw</div>
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The torch; be yours to hold it high.</div>
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<a data-ved="0ahUKEwjVmuGYkf7MAhUF_R4KHW71D0wQjRwIBw" href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjVmuGYkf7MAhUF_R4KHW71D0wQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.shutterstock.com%2Fpic-1480799%2Fstock-photo-your-country-needs-you-little-boy-in-wwi-patriotic-dress-as-an-army-dough-boy-soldier.html&psig=AFQjCNE6RrB8c8qsNswZTF5laeEkXElmFQ&ust=1464571730053512" id="irc_mil" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk;irc.il;" style="border-image: none; border: 0px currentColor;"><img alt="" height="320" id="irc_mi" src="http://image.shutterstock.com/z/stock-photo--your-country-needs-you-little-boy-in-wwi-patriotic-dress-as-an-army-dough-boy-soldier-1480799.jpg" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="185" /></a></div>
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If ye break faith with us who die</div>
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We shall not sleep, though poppies grow</div>
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In Flanders fields.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a class="irc_mutl i3597 iKSNZBo7czPw-dTEICwVRfZc" data-noload="" data-ved="0ahUKEwjTg9L3kv7MAhXC1x4KHQz-BzIQjRwIBw" href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjTg9L3kv7MAhXC1x4KHQz-BzIQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjettbritnell.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F10%2Fremembrance-day-in-flanders-fields.html&psig=AFQjCNEM1LzTpL-L5AkE1CimdRTn1UTcWg&ust=1464572027397586" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" tabindex="0" target="_blank"><img alt="" class="irc_mut iKSNZBo7czPw-HwpH6ZlgJaI" height="320" src="https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQZtPmALZZ4Z0T0GKKWV_urdRCIT9biEsF7WS-AAWUdaJ8py2HifA" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="236" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">www.jettbritnell.blogspot.com<br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">~John McCrea~<br /><div style="text-align: center;">
1872-1918</div>
</span><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">The name of John McCrae may seem out of place in the distinguished company of World War I poets, but he is remembered for what is probably the single best-known and popular poem from the war, "In Flanders Fields." He was a Canadian physician and fought on the Western Front in 1914, but was then transferred to the medical corps and assigned to a hospital in France. He died of pneumonia while on active duty in 1918. His volume of poetry, </span><cite style="font-size: 12.8px;">In Flanders Fields and Other Poems</cite><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">, was published in 1919. <a href="http://www.english.emory.edu/LostPoets/McCrae.html">http://www.english.emory.edu/LostPoets/McCrae.html</a></span></div>
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janhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00034650034053143388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6821700232330605316.post-26157480574465045562016-05-21T18:31:00.000-07:002016-05-21T18:31:18.334-07:00a word of praise, a nod of approvalThis week a member of my critique group asked me to reflect on my experience with the group...specifically, what I think I've learned from my fellow writers. I've posted before about how much I appreciate my fellow writers, and how important it is for a beginner to have a good critique group.<br />
<br />
So, here are five things I've learned from my critique partners in addition to correct grammar, spelling and punctuation:<br />
<ul>
<li>I've learned that it's a lot easier for me to edit some else's work than it is to pick up on my own mistakes (passive verbs, extraneous adjectives and adverbs, pacing, etc., etc., etc.)</li>
</ul>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRFWjr9Xs7AlZQsO68WYhlL_sy3JMxDpcQIDSlzr8k-Wjlu5AHf" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" class="rg_i" data-sz="f" name="wpnw4mQ_TDQbcM:" src="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRFWjr9Xs7AlZQsO68WYhlL_sy3JMxDpcQIDSlzr8k-Wjlu5AHf" style="height: 183px; margin-top: 0px; width: 276px;" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.betterwritinghabits.com/">www.betterwritinghabits.com</a><br />
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The entire process has improved my self-editing skills.<br />
<ul>
<li>We meet once a month. Polishing up a couple of pages in time to make that deadline has helped me forge ahead with my novel. Without it, I would probably never have finished a line of revision or moved ahead to the next scene.</li>
</ul>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRrLZRZoHVM_-4_UbjuVHDeoavJbHOAPnIfpC5Wim0LcjjZDDvj" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" class="rg_i" data-sz="f" height="353" name="1wAPozu7i55phM:" src="https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRrLZRZoHVM_-4_UbjuVHDeoavJbHOAPnIfpC5Wim0LcjjZDDvj" style="height: 167px; margin-top: 0px; width: 189px;" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.snapahead.com/">www.snapahead.com</a></td></tr>
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<ul>
<li>You can't please everyone. What one person likes, another deletes. What one person thinks you should keep, another thinks is needless. I've learned to make the final decision based on what<em> </em>I want to get across to the reader. What is true for me.</li>
</ul>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=fQHr7ZxYA58IKM&tbnid=Wfmk7_cP_xL0CM:&ved=&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amptoons.com%2Fblog%2F2010%2F08%2F02%2Fnew-t-shirt-design-the-ones-i-like%2F&ei=bkkFUarUFszK0AG8_YDgAQ&bvm=bv.41524429,d.dmQ&psig=AFQjCNEQAvyPoJfhpFUUD2j9IsxDLxrVPQ&ust=1359387375041417" id="irc_mil" style="border: 0px currentColor; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img height="200" id="irc_mi" src="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSxgaAsMPwL16bXPXlmNaebDZSZFdrNQd9zMi1LBfE3kAtQwM8LRw" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="172" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.amptoon.com/">www.amptoon.com</a></td></tr>
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<ul>
<li>In their early drafts, even some of the already-published authors among us struggle with the same issues I do as a beginner (scene setting, characterization, plot points, etc., etc., etc.).</li>
</ul>
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<a data-ved="0ahUKEwjbwZaew-zMAhWF9R4KHQaKDRYQjRwIBw" href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjbwZaew-zMAhWF9R4KHQaKDRYQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fscrapingraisins.blogspot.com%2F2016%2F02%2F10-quotes-for-writers-thursday-thoughts.html&psig=AFQjCNE5CULxO6878duiP9_4Z4ma72yURg&ust=1463966676313942" id="irc_mil" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk;irc.il;" style="border-image-source: none; border: 0px currentcolor;"><img alt="" height="200" id="irc_mi" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDjnGYltYjUpU3VuSh3ViQF_NXhgOjyLGbpX7WBnB9Xbw9r6AqoqpxzV8oHuQawZ_9_Vw_ddFqOblE3Rxy3NkK4PlHQ5r0MwifVAwTxB98qRt79CzIVMaGj4nxrK3J-7wEHr-wyJpPqOhO/s200/Joyce+Carol+Oa.jpg" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="200" /></a> </div>
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I've learned to trust the process. The finished-product may scarcely resemble the first draft.</div>
<ul>
<li>I've learned that a word of praise or a nod of approval can do more to motivate a writer than all the advice in the world...</li>
</ul>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-ved="0CAUQjRw" href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=rGo7GO69a2kTpM&tbnid=PjUt5w-P16LK_M:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthemetapicture.com%2Fobama-approves%2F&ei=ilUFUamhCbOt0AHiq4DACw&bvm=bv.41524429,d.dmQ&psig=AFQjCNH1-OxqdznU9O9_L8qnyLebUu2Kzw&ust=1359390474727360" id="irc_mil" style="border: 0px currentColor; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img height="297" id="irc_mi" src="https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSL_QKcHhnLHan4wSbUfTnPMTLMC18EQdhHT1dqlrlMUBU0BWU3jw" style="margin-top: 4px;" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.themetapicture.com/">www.themetapicture.com</a></td></tr>
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...no matter who it comes from :)<br />
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A big round of applause and gratitude goes out to all my critique partners! Thank you!<br />
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<img src="http://modernservantleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/applause-stop-motion-w350x222.jpg" /></div>
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*</div>
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" We do not mind our not arriving anywhere</div>
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nearly so much</div>
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as our not having company on the way."</div>
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--Frank Moore Colby--</div>
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*</div>
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This weekend I'm missing the annual Pennwriters' Conference in Lancaster, less than an hour from where I live. This means I have to miss some terrific workshops, but mostly I miss seeing the friends I only get to see once a year. Miss you guys. Maybe next time...<br />
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janhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00034650034053143388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6821700232330605316.post-26168946794685383462016-05-14T18:22:00.000-07:002016-05-14T18:22:00.293-07:00ten signs you're ready to beginWhen I retired in order to begin all over again as a wannabe writer, I didn't know what I was getting myself into. I didn't know if I had any talent for this kind of thing, any hope of success, or the necessary dedication to it. Nevertheless, I put my misgivings aside, summoned whatever courage I could muster, and cleared my desk so I was ready to try.<br />
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Since then I have learned that there are certain signs that writing is a person's true passion in life. Is it yours?<br />
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In my experience, these are the top ten signs that you, too, may be ready to begin:<br />
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<ul>
<li>At any one time, you carry at least five pens with you (six to ten is even better). Go ahead. Check your purse or briefcase now.</li>
</ul>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-ved="0ahUKEwic2NzC7NrMAhXL64MKHerHCi0QjRwIBw" href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwic2NzC7NrMAhXL64MKHerHCi0QjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.finewritinginstruments.org%2Fpens-and-pencils%2F&psig=AFQjCNFnrrea8SEbg42-uu2SLcW519vD7A&ust=1463359332532882" id="irc_mil" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk;irc.il;" style="border-image-source: none; border: 0px currentcolor; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" height="155" id="irc_mi" src="http://www.finewritinginstruments.org/wp-content/gallery/pens-and-pencils/pens-pencils.png" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">www.finewritinginstruments.org</td></tr>
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<ul>
<li>You have enough pens with you but sometimes you forget to carry paper. Therefore sizable chunks of your manuscript are recorded on napkins, on the back of receipts, on used envelopes, and when that fails...on the back of your hand.</li>
<li>You have perfected the ability to record plot points, dialogue, and gorgeous prose whenever and wherever your muse is kind enough to share it with you...and you can get it down without taking your eyes off the road.</li>
<li>Sudoku makes you cringe.</li>
</ul>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Image result for sudoku" class="rg_i" data-sz="f" jsaction="load:str.tbn" name="ZH9TRBSmYxhBhM:" src="data:image/png;base64,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" style="height: 188px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; width: 188px;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">www.en.wikipedia.org</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<ul>
<li>You are reluctant but willing to concede that your laptop/word processor is a convenience, but you will defend the merits of pen and paper to the end. Remember the likes of Shakespeare, Dostoyevsky, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John?</li>
<li>When you're writing, you sometimes make yourself cry.</li>
<li>Sometimes you make yourself laugh.</li>
<li>When you read what you've written later on, it happens again.</li>
<li>You have made peace with the "delete" key.</li>
</ul>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgieEGOQ7_NK0VkydrwDaWhwGa2kCT5huMpY0VQae7_k02QsxGONSRdgJvq2eSRMoL-u32lClF05Nf2uoFxWxZhYx7LToMG0Ko-Q6gKFj2-fsyWCBmpVabxIl6hLN5VFj3G3x2J0naVUkA/s1600/delete+button.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgieEGOQ7_NK0VkydrwDaWhwGa2kCT5huMpY0VQae7_k02QsxGONSRdgJvq2eSRMoL-u32lClF05Nf2uoFxWxZhYx7LToMG0Ko-Q6gKFj2-fsyWCBmpVabxIl6hLN5VFj3G3x2J0naVUkA/s200/delete+button.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">www.morrissey-solo.com</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<ul>
<li>"I wasted the whole day," is not part of your vocabulary.</li>
<li>You make excuses (Oh, all right--you lie) so that you can stay home alone.</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Oops. That makes eleven sure signs.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
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<div style="text-align: left;">
The point is that unless you begin, you will never know what you can accomplish. You will never put your passion to the test, exercise your creativity, or realize your dream. You will never know if you have what it takes, and you will always wonder about it.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
When do you plan to begin?</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif-oXZefTED6w4A0ZTOqsQD_b9hPFdtGaiizCruIGrIJvRrAi2iamsVqyi-pb_A3nFSXS-dab2pYrFukMWnlSY3RGuYe712U6bKzre8A8AiN-h93DZO-lPnBIkiJWyjHy2NjvqC1l0ZqI/s1600/If-not-now-when.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif-oXZefTED6w4A0ZTOqsQD_b9hPFdtGaiizCruIGrIJvRrAi2iamsVqyi-pb_A3nFSXS-dab2pYrFukMWnlSY3RGuYe712U6bKzre8A8AiN-h93DZO-lPnBIkiJWyjHy2NjvqC1l0ZqI/s320/If-not-now-when.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
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<div style="text-align: right;">
jan</div>
janhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00034650034053143388noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6821700232330605316.post-86345209706070576302016-05-09T21:45:00.000-07:002016-05-10T14:33:45.631-07:00change is good"Change is good." How many times have I invoked that weary platitude in defense of starting a new project--redecorating a room or sprucing up the yard, trying a new diet, or even starting a new story.<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIqRbgSACG7xDStrLx88FMMGTFnLbX-L9thKWZ3oBjvdiwzgX6NJsu94o2V6XIxDq8n8ZnQ1ClNJJwbTnDTJxFWgaLpaVN0p3cqO7RQPNGdz5m-9X8ljP6yd3n2uEBPUb_ogsNKZ7AwfI/s1600/change-is-good.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIqRbgSACG7xDStrLx88FMMGTFnLbX-L9thKWZ3oBjvdiwzgX6NJsu94o2V6XIxDq8n8ZnQ1ClNJJwbTnDTJxFWgaLpaVN0p3cqO7RQPNGdz5m-9X8ljP6yd3n2uEBPUb_ogsNKZ7AwfI/s1600/change-is-good.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.environthrift.com/">www.environthrift.com</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The problem is that I would rather redecorate a room than clean it. A total makeover is so much more fun to think about than scrubbing down the walls or shampooing the carpet, and then tossing a couple of new cushions onto the couch. <br />
<br />
I'd rather put in new landscaping and plant fresh flowers than face the drudgery of edging and weeding the beds I already have. <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQuydzOY_NKoJDA_Zu6BjmkSgcPla_9zgHHnKB1oLudsIMuANjYmazxXIw0at8vgJobFwRLpIWgYykvycg79b2TN_l9o5aolzXo5f0rUM6O6eHDd1XAGDRaSJP5j9oktZFQsAUZpjq8ig/s1600/angry+gardener.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQuydzOY_NKoJDA_Zu6BjmkSgcPla_9zgHHnKB1oLudsIMuANjYmazxXIw0at8vgJobFwRLpIWgYykvycg79b2TN_l9o5aolzXo5f0rUM6O6eHDd1XAGDRaSJP5j9oktZFQsAUZpjq8ig/s1600/angry+gardener.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.webweave.nu/">www.webweave.nu</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div align="center">
</div>
And how many times have I made up my mind to go vegetarian, or vegan, or Mediterranean rather than simply cutting down on the fat, salt and sugar in my diet like I know I should.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTxfONRj_JW37nKtzSGqHDDs6CuHjchyOMc4-P7pIaAdiGwsA62" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" class="rg_i" data-src="https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTxfONRj_JW37nKtzSGqHDDs6CuHjchyOMc4-P7pIaAdiGwsA62" data-sz="f" name="Xtk6C--_CaGDzM:" src="https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTxfONRj_JW37nKtzSGqHDDs6CuHjchyOMc4-P7pIaAdiGwsA62" style="height: 176px; margin-top: 0px; width: 235px;" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.theangrydieter.com/">www.theangrydieter.com</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
There is something irresistible about starting anew, the promise that you can make it bigger, brighter, or better this time around. Imagine what you could do with a truckload of new furniture, or a gourmet kitchen, or a updated wardrobe! Oh, the anticipation, the execution, the endless possibilities!<br />
<br />
It's like starting a new book. You're full of ideas...so sure that this one will be better than the rest! Every day you're eager to get back to work on it...<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSHweJehfQFueps3w5ThFagZAdCveaECRPQVGlY2qMwTjaHN_vnhw" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" class="rg_i" data-src="https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSHweJehfQFueps3w5ThFagZAdCveaECRPQVGlY2qMwTjaHN_vnhw" data-sz="f" name="msJlbnwQ329d0M:" src="https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSHweJehfQFueps3w5ThFagZAdCveaECRPQVGlY2qMwTjaHN_vnhw" style="height: 139px; margin-top: 0px; width: 348px;" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
...when you really should be plowing through tedious revisions on the piece you've simply grown tired of. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHQAPhziLHNkNqg-A89XNNbcNpmDei31KVZFh4piiBeBDD65TQpJclHIbx3GAdsgHNW7vqSMpDkhGJqZgnwAIX6ahZpPyoDrJ9Q8rDLR3sEijLtJ3euKoNGIEIOEfIw5DEanzLWiX-ivw/s1600/discouraged-writer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHQAPhziLHNkNqg-A89XNNbcNpmDei31KVZFh4piiBeBDD65TQpJclHIbx3GAdsgHNW7vqSMpDkhGJqZgnwAIX6ahZpPyoDrJ9Q8rDLR3sEijLtJ3euKoNGIEIOEfIw5DEanzLWiX-ivw/s1600/discouraged-writer.jpg" width="200" /></a> </div>
<div class="irc_mutc">
</div>
<div class="irc_mutc">
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<div class="irc_mutc">
<br />
Spring is a time for change, whether you're working in the yard, giving the house a good cleaning, or starting a new story.<br />
<br />
Sometimes all it takes is a little dusting and polishing, or a little hoeing and raking to spruce things up. Just a few minor revisions can make all the difference.<br />
<br />
Then again, sometimes it pays to stick with what you already have and make it the best it can be. </div>
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janhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00034650034053143388noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6821700232330605316.post-29213389027061092092016-05-01T16:06:00.000-07:002016-05-01T16:06:03.759-07:00ten signs you're ready to begin<div style="text-align: center;">
"Most of us have two lives. <br />
The life we live, and the unlived life within us...</div>
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Are you a writer who doesn't write, a painter who doesn't paint,</div>
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an entrepreneur who never starts a venture? </div>
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Then you know what Resistance is."</div>
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This quote is taken from the book, theWARofART, by Steven Pressfield.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-ved="0ahUKEwi55_yD57nMAhUEYiYKHYjECUoQjRwIBw" href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwi55_yD57nMAhUEYiYKHYjECUoQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FWar-Art-Steven-Pressfield-ebook%2Fdp%2FB007A4SDCG&bvm=bv.121070826,d.eWE&psig=AFQjCNHa5AeyfwfxoaYLTVjfvNME4HtPmg&ust=1462223994542284" id="irc_mil" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk;irc.il;" style="border-image-source: none; border: 0px currentcolor; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" height="200" id="irc_mi" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/71jgxi5WW2L.jpg" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="124" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">www.amazon.com</td></tr>
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In it he talks about the excuses we concoct to defeat the creative urge within us. For example, instead of romancing our muse, most of us worry about financial security. We complain that we don't have the time to take on one more thing. We shun solitude at all costs. It's no wonder we never get anything started...or finished.<br />
<br />
He goes on to say:<br />
<br />
"If tomorrow morning by some stroke of magic, every dazed and benighted soul woke up with the power to take the first step toward pursuing his or her dreams, every shrink in the directory would be out of business. Prisons would stand empty. Domestic abuse would become extinct, as would addiction, obesity, migraine headaches, road rage, and dandruff."<br />
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Why? Because fear of failure, anxiety, pessimism and self-loathing are all bottled up inside, feeding us lies. Waiting to sabotage our first courageous efforts. You'd experience a little resistance, too, if you were trapped in there with all that negativity. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWeZRGxNvP8F-k4U3Lf9lNtQ2KSH8XkqVXf4wDNl0gUVcAh2PxZSijQrJCi-WIdKqbxpc3xcjgi1NwVNKi7I02CvuqBu9-XEeswT9zagQlGZnaLyv5LaIn7ZW4ZB-_tbvzIb0kUAK-BSk/s1600/Don%2527t+believe+everything+you+think.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWeZRGxNvP8F-k4U3Lf9lNtQ2KSH8XkqVXf4wDNl0gUVcAh2PxZSijQrJCi-WIdKqbxpc3xcjgi1NwVNKi7I02CvuqBu9-XEeswT9zagQlGZnaLyv5LaIn7ZW4ZB-_tbvzIb0kUAK-BSk/s200/Don%2527t+believe+everything+you+think.jpg" width="163" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">www.highlandhosp.com</td></tr>
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If, instead, you prefer the company of dreamers, optimists, wishful thinkers, and self-starters then you should get in touch with your muse.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-ved="0ahUKEwiX_LOj7bnMAhWBRyYKHeXjDAYQjRwIBw" href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiX_LOj7bnMAhWBRyYKHeXjDAYQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.huffingtonpost.com%2Fjacob-devaney%2Fvisionary-artist-autumn-s_b_9000120.html&psig=AFQjCNEztX7yFBkmQSpOglJelvEHQwEB2g&ust=1462225668418144" id="irc_mil" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk;irc.il;" style="border-image-source: none; border: 0px currentcolor; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" height="212" id="irc_mi" src="http://www.mosaicvision.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Screen-Shot-2016-01-15-at-3.32.56-AM.png" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">www.huffingtonpost.com</td></tr>
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Whether your dream is to write, or paint, or compose, or perform, she can show you how to begin...or help you begin again if you've already given up. Remember:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiidpbfuXIuLFXkEgPhTFm8D1siMGg6hD-W-BthjObKN3EyHbpJ0FKZfSbnzdz-LZqnzjEF9Cz7vLf3S1s6ATnKMDLThdRIpkuTbJtq7uoEIA3KMeMpkKImbaewxM1kULpcFiPpJFRLPRU/s1600/creativity+takes+no+excuses.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiidpbfuXIuLFXkEgPhTFm8D1siMGg6hD-W-BthjObKN3EyHbpJ0FKZfSbnzdz-LZqnzjEF9Cz7vLf3S1s6ATnKMDLThdRIpkuTbJtq7uoEIA3KMeMpkKImbaewxM1kULpcFiPpJFRLPRU/s320/creativity+takes+no+excuses.png" width="208" /></a></div>
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Here are ten surefire signs you are ready:<br />
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--You're already in the habit of jotting notes on napkins, cashier receipts, or the back of your hand.</div>
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--You carry between five and ten pens with you at all times.</div>
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--You prefer to listen to the voices in your head than to engage in conversation with the person next to you.</div>
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--Somewhere stashed away in your house is a crate of moldering paints, petrified brushes, and unfinished canvases from who knows when.</div>
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--You haven't had the piano tuned for years and the books stored in the bench are starting to smell funky.</div>
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--The last thing you painted was the ceiling.</div>
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--The last time you sang in public was at the start of a ball game.</div>
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--Dread drops anchor with you some time after 3pm Sunday and doesn't lift until after 3pm Friday.</div>
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--You doodle on the back of corporate memos.</div>
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--Play is your idea of good honest work.<br />
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These are all tell tale signs that you have it in you no matter what you come up against. You already possess the desire, the spirit, and the tools to harness your creative energy.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0WuDswSySJP8ALaCbor9NEFu8iZwsCHJRJav-R4VU7XuiVlvG5yXT7tUTcJdrqJJWgtqpfSyas9yt93JXptBeXF9jKH6_I_L7KuJIYyEXtGub9GmsFQUX06GO5JmUeoMVzYAyZKNR5WA/s1600/glimmer+of+hope+10-9-11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0WuDswSySJP8ALaCbor9NEFu8iZwsCHJRJav-R4VU7XuiVlvG5yXT7tUTcJdrqJJWgtqpfSyas9yt93JXptBeXF9jKH6_I_L7KuJIYyEXtGub9GmsFQUX06GO5JmUeoMVzYAyZKNR5WA/s200/glimmer+of+hope+10-9-11.jpg" width="195" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">www.acelebrationofwomen.org</td></tr>
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The question is what will you do with yours?<br />
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"Why should we all use our creative power?<br />
Because there is nothing<br />
that makes people so generous, <br />
joyful, lively, bold, and compassionate,<br />
so indifferent to fighting and<br />
the accumulation of objects and money."<br />
--Brenda Ueland--</div>
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jan</div>
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janhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00034650034053143388noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6821700232330605316.post-91920482620431555792016-04-24T15:02:00.002-07:002016-04-24T15:02:55.945-07:00meet buttercupMeet Buttercup:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4INtG3oECEUP7taK4hvbcvmgMkgPfCAX5YANvtJu1QA5_7UkuO6k5ojhJy_NZDHfEuhxzPMIvOdZ0xcaIkOvD62ZaeoXT9GIjuxcbE4sF3X5kknNr3c_ey5fJQzWBPq74z2UIWrtUgzU/s1600/2016-04-23+09.50.55.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4INtG3oECEUP7taK4hvbcvmgMkgPfCAX5YANvtJu1QA5_7UkuO6k5ojhJy_NZDHfEuhxzPMIvOdZ0xcaIkOvD62ZaeoXT9GIjuxcbE4sF3X5kknNr3c_ey5fJQzWBPq74z2UIWrtUgzU/s200/2016-04-23+09.50.55.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhexLVjTlkZJ3-SJz42aGBDw3p-U-ED0t6-0eE19r9GFRzeCqQPFs4APMeJjjIY8QKL60NlvZtwsNMOIAXZ4n1S76LUdyy2Hj7YTUS3SyA3bodM4dg2gZKjBVfNh5Jw87t8mRUutPriIzE/s1600/2016-04-23+09.59.33.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhexLVjTlkZJ3-SJz42aGBDw3p-U-ED0t6-0eE19r9GFRzeCqQPFs4APMeJjjIY8QKL60NlvZtwsNMOIAXZ4n1S76LUdyy2Hj7YTUS3SyA3bodM4dg2gZKjBVfNh5Jw87t8mRUutPriIzE/s200/2016-04-23+09.59.33.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>
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I'll be walking her for the Central PA Animal Alliance until they can find a foster home, or better yet, a forever home for her.</div>
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A woman in North Carolina came across her during the winter, out in the cold, trying to keep her litter of newborn puppies warm. They'd all died.</div>
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So, to make a terrible situation worse...Buttercup ended up in a "kill" shelter. Thankfully CPAA rescued her. She is now living at Farm-View Kennels, about 20 minutes from where I live. They've been looking for volunteers to walk her. </div>
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If you know me, you know I love dogs and I love to walk so, hey--it was meant to be!</div>
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I met Buttercup last week and I walked her on Saturday. She's such a sweetie. She was a little excitable when I first got there, but once we took off, she did fine. There are acres of pastureland around the kennel, so we had a good long walk--lots to sniff (she snorts like a pig when she finds something interesting to explore) and lots to see now that the birds and groundhogs are out.</div>
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Certain individuals, who will remain anonymous, are convinced I'll end up adopting her...but I'm holding out. Stoically.</div>
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You can find out more about Buttercup and her friends at <a href="http://www.farm-viewkennels.com/">www.farm-viewkennels.com</a>. Also, check out <a href="http://www.cpaa.info/">www.cpaa.info/</a> . </div>
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Remember:</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCFrfHb9B4CN6q14pQDLqwocNNFzMjNrqdKsUJruIkjIRnSEUw_eHKzQy6o-r4afhcFxRM0oBW6vmb5eoP8EHcnX1vNzmBxfmMtgnRKs5Od4Cr-wxIWP1B1RUVpBdoz8GHLafWqoBIxAw/s1600/You+can%2527t+buy+love+but+you+can+rescue+it.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCFrfHb9B4CN6q14pQDLqwocNNFzMjNrqdKsUJruIkjIRnSEUw_eHKzQy6o-r4afhcFxRM0oBW6vmb5eoP8EHcnX1vNzmBxfmMtgnRKs5Od4Cr-wxIWP1B1RUVpBdoz8GHLafWqoBIxAw/s1600/You+can%2527t+buy+love+but+you+can+rescue+it.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">www.pinterest.com</td></tr>
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jan</div>
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janhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00034650034053143388noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6821700232330605316.post-10809412731860928212016-04-18T06:44:00.001-07:002016-04-18T06:44:06.274-07:00are you a wave runner or a tree hugger?Are you a wave runner...<br />
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<a data-ved="0ahUKEwiAg8GazJbMAhVLNj4KHdyFDpgQjRwIBw" href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiAg8GazJbMAhVLNj4KHdyFDpgQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.canstockphoto.com%2Fillustration%2Fsurfing.html&bvm=bv.119745492,d.cWw&psig=AFQjCNFTxMeVQmnxTLOsO3j881UOKVJ-Dg&ust=1461014100467685" id="irc_mil" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk;irc.il;" style="border-image: none; border: 0px currentColor;"><img alt="" src="http://comps.canstockphoto.com/can-stock-photo_csp3951042.jpg" height="200" id="irc_mi" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="190" /></a></div>
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...or a tree hugger?<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAvfyuATZeI5T9h475OAxCGHh3KV3AVGw4n6b07WCMFb-e19jKj11eBDACOfF1EydyuqGmSTx_sScI1p7S2iBu_MiV9ZX1E5Vu6YC4IArtnvy7dg1mRYcnBzOhyphenhyphenA0pjxwARUIyjxbPl04/s1600/Treehugger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAvfyuATZeI5T9h475OAxCGHh3KV3AVGw4n6b07WCMFb-e19jKj11eBDACOfF1EydyuqGmSTx_sScI1p7S2iBu_MiV9ZX1E5Vu6YC4IArtnvy7dg1mRYcnBzOhyphenhyphenA0pjxwARUIyjxbPl04/s1600/Treehugger.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">www.commons.wikimedia.org</td></tr>
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This issue came up over the weekend at a retreat I attended with a friend.<br />
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We found ourselves with some free time and we had to make a decision: Should we head over to the beach (even though it was too cold to put even a toe into the water), or should we head to the park and walk in the woods?<br />
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In the end, we ended up at the water's edge...because she had the car.<br />
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I am a tree hugger. I love the woods. When I need peace of mind or strength for the day, I like to lean on a tree. After all, trees are rooted deep in the the Earth. They survive right where they're planted, even though they don't have any choice in the matter. They weather the ravages of Mother Mature--wind, rain, and drought, and they change with the seasons. I think we can learn a lot from trees. They are wisdom, and strength, and support to me.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg35l3AJktg1zvXQik2-6fBmdxEVHwCYMv9HfDcvq-JtmMCPYh-zGhGdLp9XuP_anWwR3X0gR1FrNr14hSslyZ2lGeaUHcr-lEpjMLOhZANCzmJIsLRn_trkEFrzsLxFLIv_Y1G0e350QI/s1600/2015-07-29+08.12.52.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg35l3AJktg1zvXQik2-6fBmdxEVHwCYMv9HfDcvq-JtmMCPYh-zGhGdLp9XuP_anWwR3X0gR1FrNr14hSslyZ2lGeaUHcr-lEpjMLOhZANCzmJIsLRn_trkEFrzsLxFLIv_Y1G0e350QI/s200/2015-07-29+08.12.52.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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My friend, on the other hand, is a wave runner, drawn to the water. When we got to the beach, she kicked off her shoes and planted her feet in the sand. For her, the ocean is cleansing, soothing, rejuvenating.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNssZLIekeiOfMvwloMz3oc56Rw7j5W2kvstp-9oW4v1kk3L5kTOUv-hfn8SgtIV2HNI2Ojaf0rN4X3ZN_yFK3bK32BeUZTeBvRP66t6Z4D_4BWeaoNxZ0qt_xsHSSxAbeMsJwSdPz2AI/s1600/2014-09-24+15.06.12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNssZLIekeiOfMvwloMz3oc56Rw7j5W2kvstp-9oW4v1kk3L5kTOUv-hfn8SgtIV2HNI2Ojaf0rN4X3ZN_yFK3bK32BeUZTeBvRP66t6Z4D_4BWeaoNxZ0qt_xsHSSxAbeMsJwSdPz2AI/s200/2014-09-24+15.06.12.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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She has her source...and I have mine. She prefers one thing...I prefer another.<br />
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This is important to understand if you're a writer. It raises the age old question: Are you a plotter or a pantser?<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6HFF_qG70zh3A9D8Y8QWDcol3EvTc4TNEEVurU8x2Tc3AIw9O4LTjNMk3wVvZuCoduTI0e0zNBKAIh1ovRodDjw10qXPOw2-5NRJ7hecUQnHYpJNEhTUcgbhcuQW7JaARyAGRU-vXHoU/s1600/Pantser+vs+Plotter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6HFF_qG70zh3A9D8Y8QWDcol3EvTc4TNEEVurU8x2Tc3AIw9O4LTjNMk3wVvZuCoduTI0e0zNBKAIh1ovRodDjw10qXPOw2-5NRJ7hecUQnHYpJNEhTUcgbhcuQW7JaARyAGRU-vXHoU/s320/Pantser+vs+Plotter.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">www.karentyrell.com</td></tr>
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Do you sketch out your entire story before you write the narrative? Or do you plunge right into the story, then let it develop as you go?<br />
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I am a tree hugging pantser, myself. My mind wanders when I write. I can't work out every detail in advance. After all, how do I know where my characters will take me until they figure it out for themselves?<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-ved="0ahUKEwiB5K7Po5jMAhVHET4KHcrhC0IQjRwIBw" href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiB5K7Po5jMAhVHET4KHcrhC0IQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fplymouthfoodpantry.org%2F&psig=AFQjCNFOuJ3FPiAOCH6IpT7fNZIzljrVPA&ust=1461071945685847" id="irc_mil" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk;irc.il;" style="border-image-source: none; border: 0px currentcolor; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" height="236" id="irc_mi" src="http://plymouthfoodpantry.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/this-way-that-way-sign-istock-6068691medium-209x236.jpg" style="margin-top: 79px;" width="209" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">www.plymouthfoodpantry.org</td></tr>
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Nevertheless, as hard as it is for me to outline a book, I gave it my best effort last week. I'm working on a non-fiction manuscript that, I thought, lent itself readily to an outline: Chapter--point, point, point. Chapter--point, point, point. The problem is I would start to make a point, but the narrative would carry me away. I just kept writing until, before long, the whole chapter was written. I hadn't thought about what should come next. Before I knew it, I was pages into the book in true pantser form.</div>
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Plotting and outlining are as uncomfortable for me as a cold dip in the ocean, as water up my nose, as sand in my shoes. I'll never be a plotter, any more than I'll ever be a wave runner. Remember:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-ved="0ahUKEwjMxKnuoZjMAhXDOz4KHQLDCwgQjRwIBw" href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjMxKnuoZjMAhXDOz4KHQLDCwgQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fsociety6.com%2Fproduct%2Fnot-all-those-who-wander-are-lost-jrr-tolkien_print&psig=AFQjCNHBvxdWpbJbBfKaZccHatb7JgoAZw&ust=1461071474728206" id="irc_mil" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk;irc.il;" style="border-image-source: none; border: 0px currentcolor; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" height="320" id="irc_mi" src="https://01.img.society6.com/society6/img/LfHKyj-LCD4prYbBoHXwcprZpnw/w_700,h_700/prints/~artwork/s6-0056/a/23930808_16475801/~~/not-all-those-who-wander-are-lost-jrr-tolkien-prints.jpg" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">www.society6.com</td></tr>
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Do you prefer to frolic in the surf, or wander through the woods? Are you a wave runner, or a tree hugger? Are you a plotter or a pantser?<br />
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jan</div>
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<br />janhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00034650034053143388noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6821700232330605316.post-32967454922347653512016-04-10T13:34:00.001-07:002016-04-10T13:34:45.875-07:00success is like a snowy day in AprilA couple of weeks ago the thermometer hit 75 degrees. To celebrate the arrival of spring, the optimists among us dusted off our patio furniture and arranged it on the deck. We put our winter coats and woolen sweaters into storage. Some of us ran to the garden center to pick up some early bloomers.<br />
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Today we got snow.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjywM7gSf8mOfGETgRcgM2ZYYu860LsmCx2Pc5Qbpqcpg1lfIcjkSxmmds3ovL20H8HV9vY_bq9UQyMVLCS_zgeciqxJgGc08bwBIugwKbwXO4Tjd0iFxQJVsjOrBXUHkxc5QwxXnNNMbc/s1600/2014-03-05+14.07.06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjywM7gSf8mOfGETgRcgM2ZYYu860LsmCx2Pc5Qbpqcpg1lfIcjkSxmmds3ovL20H8HV9vY_bq9UQyMVLCS_zgeciqxJgGc08bwBIugwKbwXO4Tjd0iFxQJVsjOrBXUHkxc5QwxXnNNMbc/s200/2014-03-05+14.07.06.jpg" width="149" /></a></div>
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Just when spring felt like a sure thing, it slipped away.<br />
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Success can sometimes feel the same way. You spend months at your desk, laboring over a manuscript, or a poem, or an essay. You plant yourself in your seat and write even though you'd rather be outdoors, or shopping, or visiting friends. You trudge through bouts of writers' block. You start to wonder if it's worth the effort. You just want it to be finished.<br />
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Then, one day you get that letter in the mail. You have a publisher! Your poem has won a prize! Your story is going to appear in print!<br />
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You celebrate the achievement as if you have uncovered the secret of success. As if it will be clear sailing for you from now on. As if nothing can stop you now...<br />
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<a data-ved="0ahUKEwjTnPT87oTMAhXEQCYKHYaXC0IQjRwIBw" href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwjTnPT87oTMAhXEQCYKHYaXC0IQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Firuntheinternet.com%2F01&bvm=bv.119028448,d.eWE&psig=AFQjCNEIzxajB-PpxTxxLIHgbByKAffHbA&ust=1460405037068850" id="irc_mil" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk;irc.il;" style="border-image-source: none; border: 0px currentcolor; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img height="211" id="irc_mi" src="http://iruntheinternet.com/lulzdump/images/1233087185.jpg" style="margin-top: 27px;" width="320" /></a></div>
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...until the first rejection letter arrives. It feels a lot like a cold, snowy day in April.</div>
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Nevertheless it is inevitable that, sooner or later, spring will arrive. Which is why you must always:</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-ved="0ahUKEwiW8Zjz8oTMAhXJOSYKHal9D-cQjRwIBw" href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiW8Zjz8oTMAhXJOSYKHal9D-cQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmetimeplease.com%2Fproducts%2Fquotable-magnets-proceed-as-if-success-is-inevitable-4024&psig=AFQjCNFrwYuS-4W1NFZ7Rw83jXhCq3aORg&ust=1460405965341605" id="irc_mil" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk;irc.il;" style="border-image-source: none; border: 0px currentcolor; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img height="208" id="irc_mi" src="http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0423/5461/products/4024-hero.png?v=1401798804" style="margin-top: 2px;" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">www.metimeplease.com</td></tr>
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Sooner or later, it will arrive.</div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
jan</div>
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janhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00034650034053143388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6821700232330605316.post-63434833850907957692016-04-03T08:40:00.002-07:002016-04-07T13:15:00.368-07:00finding the right wordsAs if writer's block weren't enough of a problem for hopeful authors, there's another obstacle we all encounter. It happens when we've already come up with a great idea--a beautiful setting or a compelling action scene. Even a sexual encounter. It comes to us intact in our mind's eye, ready for the page but for some reason we just can't find the words for it. The description sounds flat. The action feels sluggish. The romance lacks passion.<br />
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Mark Twain came up with one solution for this problem:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-ved="0ahUKEwidhZaLw_LLAhWBHR4KHd7yCyQQjRwIBw" href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwidhZaLw_LLAhWBHR4KHd7yCyQQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jarofquotes.com%2Fview.php%3Ftag%3Dadjective&psig=AFQjCNHEWmGiFsXPy1OkOH6ph5ptosN0ug&ust=1459774739715665" id="irc_mil" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk;irc.il;" style="border-image-source: none; border: 0px currentcolor; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img height="242" id="irc_mi" src="http://www.jarofquotes.com/img/quotes/9c2310187ec6fde77aa52088d8b2e73a.jpg" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">www.jarofquotes.com</td></tr>
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But, there are other ways around the problem, too. Metaphor and simile work well...if you can come up with something fresh and new, not these old rags:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-ved="0ahUKEwiurLT_yvLLAhVLmR4KHfl2DSUQjRwIBw" href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiurLT_yvLLAhVLmR4KHfl2DSUQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fquotesgram.com%2Fholes-quotes-and-page-numbers%2F&psig=AFQjCNFW8TIT3KIwAi9vt23f0spvaCD3qg&ust=1459776720392080" id="irc_mil" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk;irc.il;" style="border-image-source: none; border: 0px currentcolor; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img height="240" id="irc_mi" src="http://bookunitsteacher.com/reading_holes/Similes.jpg" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">www.quotesgram.com</td></tr>
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Instead, try something like this:</div>
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Telling the reader that something has reawakened her character's feelings of guilt, Ann Patchett puts it this way: "The great lumbering guilt that slept inside of her at every moment of her life had shifted, stretched."</div>
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And later, instead of describing her character as giving up, she writes: "The clear resolve she had had in the restaurant seemed to have broken like a fever in the night..."</div>
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The senses speak louder than adjectives. Don't tell me the man is angry...let me hear the teacup clatter on the saucer when his fist hits the table. Smell, taste, and feel your way through the story.</div>
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<ul>
<li>She smelled her own wooliness." (A woman, dressed for the winter weather she left in Minnesota, arrives in the steamimg Peruvian jungle, from "State of Wonder" by Ann Patchett.)</li>
<li>"The accent in Naples is like a friendly cuff on the ear." (from "Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert.)</li>
<li>"There is a sweetness about him. A bitterness. Something irresistible, like Swiss dark chocolate. Like good red wine." (from one of my drafts...)</li>
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<span style="text-align: center;">In my last post I suggested you describe the color red. Like me, you may have come up with a few similes and metaphors: the color of blood, a ruby, a cherry. The color of the setting sun that promises fair weather. A color that angers a bull. A lost balloon.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwPHRWFTjd5QMOEyejjvJ8m3EQoYl_nxOCEt3EX5LWT7t6vkiuNO7OUwoVCnYpqCpCOqqApT8xSeb8QyzHLs2HhNRx8vmAChNj8IgUYUem9r4xluPuxE4iO6xATLYerqzEv0mZAvKxvpc/s1600/Lost_Balloon%2521-2nf74t-d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwPHRWFTjd5QMOEyejjvJ8m3EQoYl_nxOCEt3EX5LWT7t6vkiuNO7OUwoVCnYpqCpCOqqApT8xSeb8QyzHLs2HhNRx8vmAChNj8IgUYUem9r4xluPuxE4iO6xATLYerqzEv0mZAvKxvpc/s1600/Lost_Balloon%2521-2nf74t-d.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">www.shirt.woot.com</td></tr>
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Then, I asked you to describe the color red to a blind person. I drew a blank. How did you do?</div>
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I still sometimes have trouble coming up with the right words. How about you?</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-ved="0ahUKEwiL2oXs4vLLAhVLqB4KHU9XAScQjRwIBw" href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiL2oXs4vLLAhVLqB4KHU9XAScQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fquotesgram.com%2Fright-words-quotes%2F&psig=AFQjCNENaKiqyeVCvN-B1eqynsTV74NGpQ&ust=1459783326284993" id="irc_mil" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk;irc.il;" style="border-image-source: none; border: 0px currentcolor; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img height="320" id="irc_mi" src="http://static5.quoteswave.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/One-day-i-will-find-the-right-words.jpg" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">www.quotesgram.com</td></tr>
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jan</div>
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janhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00034650034053143388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6821700232330605316.post-52058235149586693732016-03-28T16:35:00.003-07:002016-03-28T16:35:56.669-07:00where to start your storyWhether you're just getting started as a writer, or you're a writer starting a new project, you soon learn to expect trouble. You may encounter difficulty knowing how to start your story. You may having trouble putting your best thoughts into words.You also learn to take well-meaning advice with a hefty dose of discretion. I'm not convinced that Ann Patchett or Elizabeth Gilbert would agree with Dean Koontz on this matter:<br />
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<a data-ved="0ahUKEwi4np6XhuLLAhUI6yYKHWLBCiIQjRwIBw" href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwi4np6XhuLLAhUI6yYKHWLBCiIQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.relatably.com%2Fq%2Fdean-koontz-quotes&psig=AFQjCNFgeejO_MRrbpY13qZkfGrc6r7Neg&ust=1459208537537621" id="irc_mil" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk;irc.il;" style="border-image: none; border: 0px currentColor;"><img src="http://www.relatably.com/q/img/dean-koontz-quotes/sc-blog-koontz-literary-fiction-quote.jpg" height="182" id="irc_mi" style="margin-top: 27px;" width="320" /></a></div>
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Nevertheless, I hear this in my critique group again and again: "The writing is good...but the<b> story</b> doesn't really begin until (let's say) page 37," when what they mean is the <b>action or conflict</b> doesn't begin until page 37. But those are two different things. In thrillers, fantasies, and mysteries the story may jump right into the action...but, in literary fiction, the author may first need to set the stage so the conflict that follows has a similar sense of urgency.<br />
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For example, in "Talk Before Sleep" by Elizabeth Berg, the story begins with casseroles in the refrigerator and the memory of hanging laundry on the line--pretty tame stuff until we learn that the protagonist is battling end-stage breast cancer. As she plumbs the depths of emotion and friendship, her story becomes as gut-wrenching as if it began like a medical thriller--with the first plunge of the scalpel blade and the blood stained surgical drapes.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh85cN7Pt0sQk__Th3QXVKpz5cAasnwwOjmj4NQumqgN5q5PuyD0Mrn52iS7G-gvDiR0THR7GUjdqDnFCEieDD9O6IOKFnhZcaKNj7SFeMY3QxGYRU39Hvre322jW271JtllMYwBR0iFGU/s1600/Talk+before+sleep--4-10-12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh85cN7Pt0sQk__Th3QXVKpz5cAasnwwOjmj4NQumqgN5q5PuyD0Mrn52iS7G-gvDiR0THR7GUjdqDnFCEieDD9O6IOKFnhZcaKNj7SFeMY3QxGYRU39Hvre322jW271JtllMYwBR0iFGU/s200/Talk+before+sleep--4-10-12.jpg" width="129" /></a></div>
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In "The Far End of Happy," Kathryn Craft begins by describing the protagonist's diary. It's beautifully written, and familiar to anyone who keeps a journal. Nothing special until you learn that her marriage is coming to an end. Nothing to get excited about until you learn that her marriage ends with her husband's suicide. That comes later.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM3UOBSAiIoOBPwAtaHaYtqxfA0aIN8QAn3fPU2-bBly7twasVaKEqp2aCAao3xBPlV86ezdFox31La9DqJxygsyFqKMbIubwzG69k3MvGi5tXxII_inMmt-_8uEQyccK8luKNOUf1osI/s1600/The+Far+End+of+Happy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM3UOBSAiIoOBPwAtaHaYtqxfA0aIN8QAn3fPU2-bBly7twasVaKEqp2aCAao3xBPlV86ezdFox31La9DqJxygsyFqKMbIubwzG69k3MvGi5tXxII_inMmt-_8uEQyccK8luKNOUf1osI/s1600/The+Far+End+of+Happy.jpg" /></a></div>
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In Anne Tyler's "A Spool of Blue Thread," the story starts with an older couple getting ready for bed, the woman removing the hairpins from her topknot while her husband pulls his socks off. Ho-hum. Until the phone rings, and life as they know it changes in a heartbeat.<br />
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Emotional engagement is as important in literary fiction as explosive action is in sci-fi and thrillers. The conflict may not unfold right away, but the emotional energy builds just as convincingly whether the action begins on page 1, or page 15, or page 37. Begin with whatever draws the reader in. It might be emotional or psychological narrative, lyrical prose, or world-building. Don't worry yourself silly over the page numbers.<br />
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No matter how you start your story, you will sometimes have trouble finding the words to express what you know so well. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">www.quotesgram.com</td></tr>
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For my next post, think about how you would describe the color red. Then describe it to a blind person.<br />
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jan</div>
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<br />janhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00034650034053143388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6821700232330605316.post-24510202205873072362016-03-13T11:26:00.001-07:002016-03-13T11:26:42.906-07:00unanticipated delight, deep contemplation, and pure joyNot many people learn to love the woods in the winter. Not many people I know like winter at all.<br />
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Most of my friends avoid venturing out when the weather turns cold and snowy...when the landscape turns soft and deep and white. But then, not many of them are lucky enough to have a house in the woods with a stream behind it where the current curls into ripples that freeze hard around the stones and glitter in the sunlight. Beneath the ice.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1vxvA78X7a0zJsu0oIiLYYz2rT8OKmi79s6OxQzhbAO5jvb4jBvNeGUNqaBKQw_4UcT62BlAEavuF_2EpzFOIva0pO0968QLPXzJOm_0lMfogaCThe9ov2ujPg50NyEwFicKphYDXNmI/s1600/wintwer+snow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1vxvA78X7a0zJsu0oIiLYYz2rT8OKmi79s6OxQzhbAO5jvb4jBvNeGUNqaBKQw_4UcT62BlAEavuF_2EpzFOIva0pO0968QLPXzJOm_0lMfogaCThe9ov2ujPg50NyEwFicKphYDXNmI/s200/wintwer+snow.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>
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We just see it differently.<br />
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Where I see soft gray shadows stretching out across a blank white canvas, they see sooty slush.<br />
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Where I see a fire crackling on the hearth, they see beach umbrellas and blankets.<br />
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When I head outdoors with a snow shovel, they gaze longingly at their golf clubs.<br />
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Last fall I decided to forego a gym membership in favor of continuing my fair-weather walking program. I bought a good waterproof jacket to wear in the rain, and I lined up sweaters, jackets, hats and mittens in case of snow. I reminded myself that when I was a kid, I was a die-hard skier. Nothing kept me away from the slopes--not drifting snow, not pelting sleet, not sub-zero temperatures.<br />
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So, this year I resolved to make this a walking winter. That was before I learned that it would be a mild one. That it would hold unanticipated delight and wonder. Deep contemplation. Pure joy.<br />
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Day after day I ventured out under a glacial blue sky.<br />
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The air was as still as if Mother Nature were holding her breath. Silence was interrupted only by the episodic barking of a dog in the distance, or a plane rumbling overhead. Never mind the fact that the Earth was spinning on its axis at a speed of over 1,000 mph and hurtling around the sun at a speed of over 18 miles per second.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">www.blog.solarhaven.org</td></tr>
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The air was still. The universe silent. The woods peaceful.</div>
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Now that the snow has melted, the temperatures have come up, and the birds are back, other delights await.<br />
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The near presence of the deer.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3B3xfYlerIEQo8eksqqcWMcW1mv59OPQVaWRZA_jY_cH7zXMCfG1osWT4I1hjlgPaj8iFw2iAPKNduyj0roa3zYgACiqJcPh8h8Nk99yNJzDMl-IFBe4oco7vun29owaCV9cgkAhGKBU/s1600/2015-10-02+11.31.59.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3B3xfYlerIEQo8eksqqcWMcW1mv59OPQVaWRZA_jY_cH7zXMCfG1osWT4I1hjlgPaj8iFw2iAPKNduyj0roa3zYgACiqJcPh8h8Nk99yNJzDMl-IFBe4oco7vun29owaCV9cgkAhGKBU/s320/2015-10-02+11.31.59.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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Birdsong. And before long, the fragrance of lilacs and honeysuckle...<br />
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...all of which is fine except that I still love the winter woods.<br />
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<a data-ved="0ahUKEwjgyY2snr7LAhWKGj4KHV0fC-8QjRwIBw" href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjgyY2snr7LAhWKGj4KHV0fC-8QjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinterest.com%2Fk69jm1943%2Fare-there-really-ghosts%2F&bvm=bv.116636494,d.cWw&psig=AFQjCNFnwUg6wTGHb6yys-Bzs8cBbu9YiA&ust=1457978058545693" id="irc_mil" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk;irc.il;" style="border-image: none; border: 0px currentColor;"><img height="353" id="irc_mi" src="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/83/71/5c/83715cc2ff6d2ba801a583281d6169de.jpg" style="margin-top: 20px;" width="236" /></a></div>
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jan</div>
janhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00034650034053143388noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6821700232330605316.post-75772145062738751882016-03-10T13:23:00.002-08:002016-03-10T13:23:33.351-08:00hope springs eternalWe're enjoying a couple of days of sunshine and unseasonable warmth here in the Northeast...enough to fool Mother Nature into thinking that spring has arrived. All sorts of feathered and furry friends have been out and around this week. The bluebirds are back. A flock of wild turkeys wandered into the yard this morning. The deer have ventured out into the meadow. And today, I spotted a school of minnows darting this way and that in one of the nearby creeks. This, too:<br />
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The weather has some women thinking about giving the house a good cleaning. But I don't like to clean, so I was thinking a new spring wardrobe would be nice...even though I know that spring is still a couple of weeks away. </div>
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This is just a little teaser. It won't last. It lifts your spirits and and gives you hope...but you know from experience that the weather will turn cold and wet again before the real thing arrives.</div>
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As a writer you may have experienced the same kind of thing. Let's say you've been working long and hard on a story, a poem, or a novel. You begin to think the drudgery will never end, that success will never be yours.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">www.parttimewriter.com</td></tr>
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Then the day arrives when your critique group raves about pages you share with them. Or, your short story is accepted for publication. Or, the agent you queried requests your full manuscript. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">www.clipartion.com</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Suddenly, there's hope! Reason for optimism! You're energized, ready to take on the next project. It feels like the first day of spring after a long, cold winter of revisions and rejections.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEialhdwsrF_S4u1j8HD1G8DLcE25jMp7YNmB59XCHQ1tdXk3oAiKMLm5RP3SMla_Sm5VJSLXiCFtHOwTMeGe7GsoyyKtf_ar2SAZozi77bgOpKpjAZvdIUSAawxewQg9DMsrYvCBhHxpWs/s1600/first-day-of-springbanner_zps703bd151.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEialhdwsrF_S4u1j8HD1G8DLcE25jMp7YNmB59XCHQ1tdXk3oAiKMLm5RP3SMla_Sm5VJSLXiCFtHOwTMeGe7GsoyyKtf_ar2SAZozi77bgOpKpjAZvdIUSAawxewQg9DMsrYvCBhHxpWs/s400/first-day-of-springbanner_zps703bd151.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">www.westendsalonboulder.com</td></tr>
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...until you face the blank page again and the clouds roll back in.<br />
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I fully expect the weather to change again, soon. I'm certain the temperatures will fall and cold rain will sweep in. Perhaps even snow. It will follow us back inside where the hard work of writing and fear of rejection will have us wishing for spring again.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">www.notable-quotes.com</td></tr>
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jan</div>
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janhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00034650034053143388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6821700232330605316.post-41791966380941834052016-02-21T11:27:00.000-08:002016-02-21T11:27:24.735-08:00how to bribe your museI get the distinct impression my muse is upset with me. Usually, it's the other way around. Usually, I'm the one ranting and raving because she hasn't shown up for awhile, or she refuses to answer when I call for help.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRJI5o8FyNxdi256MvHZP1s5pBzwW-br-4LqQEPCuMrY2Ai7_-ifKLlQpRw1WjM0D7l0r1tCnnt9xTh71gUBBJNTAr2hIuBNs4FixqdVsEGX_yHIBuB8XEtkMO0bxsy5CfyU-u1MsMtkk/s1600/one+does+not+simply+tell+their+muse+what+to+do+meme.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRJI5o8FyNxdi256MvHZP1s5pBzwW-br-4LqQEPCuMrY2Ai7_-ifKLlQpRw1WjM0D7l0r1tCnnt9xTh71gUBBJNTAr2hIuBNs4FixqdVsEGX_yHIBuB8XEtkMO0bxsy5CfyU-u1MsMtkk/s1600/one+does+not+simply+tell+their+muse+what+to+do+meme.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">www.jroseallister.com</td></tr>
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Lately though, she has been showing signs of irritability. Why, just last night I heard her complaining to the boys in the basement...you know--the ones who send up the good dialogue when you least expect it.</div>
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It seems I've been assigning her tasks she doesn't enjoy--long, reflective journal entries, and a couple of talks I have to give at an upcoming retreat. <br />
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I think she's trying to tell me she wants to get back to storytelling. Every so often she gives me a little nudge--an opening line or an abbreviated plot line. She tags along with me when I walk so I have to stop and take notes every so often. And, she's been waking me up at night, too.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn66G5gyR7y5luTqa4YeFPMfGn6AR5MKgqjksWtSFYxblataVyf5Sne9qSNt7hWhweUXifufS9yKYI_KSP3m68k_shMnTyeZlQR-rAyB_u5Q1F0nqp8kSNFeJqdJmxB99UU7radCYVNZQ/s1600/Excuse+me+but+don%2527t+you+have+a+novel+to+write.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn66G5gyR7y5luTqa4YeFPMfGn6AR5MKgqjksWtSFYxblataVyf5Sne9qSNt7hWhweUXifufS9yKYI_KSP3m68k_shMnTyeZlQR-rAyB_u5Q1F0nqp8kSNFeJqdJmxB99UU7radCYVNZQ/s320/Excuse+me+but+don%2527t+you+have+a+novel+to+write.jpg" width="255" /></a></div>
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So, today I made a deal with her. She agreed to stop nagging me until I can clear my schedule a bit. She said she'd help me get those short stories revised if I would agree to give the next novel some thought. She promised to stick around for it, but I don't trust her. It would be just like her to wander off again the minute I start writing.<br />
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Then I have to coax her back. Sometimes, she accepts bribes. Dark chocolate and good red wine usually work. But mostly, she just likes to hear a good story.<br />
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Does your muse ever nag you to get to work on something different? How do you get her to stick around once you start? Or don't you believe in her at all?<br />
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"Fool," said my muse to me.</div>
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"Look in thy heart and write."</div>
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~Philip Sidney~</div>
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<br />janhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00034650034053143388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6821700232330605316.post-75024102135266505812016-02-15T17:27:00.001-08:002016-02-15T17:27:10.335-08:00how to do what you like and like what you doThe recent surge in the popularity of adult coloring books reminded me that the fruits of creativity are available to all of us, whether we like to paint or write or sing or dance. Whether we're good at it, or not. There are plenty of ways to pursue the pure pleasure of creating art for art's sake...for the pure joy of the process.<br />
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So...if you like to color, sit down at the kitchen table with a cup of tea, or a bottle of beer, and color. Don't think for a minute it isn't a worthy pastime. Don't fret because you can't get your masterpiece into a gallery. Don't worry because no one is going to buy it. Put some music on, pick your favorite colors, and start filling in the blanks.<br />
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If you like to sing but don't have a band to back you up, or you fail to make the choir...sing in the shower, or turn up the radio and belt it out in the car.<br />
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<a data-ved="0ahUKEwjIz8LC__rKAhXKbT4KHci6D-gQjRwIBw" href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjIz8LC__rKAhXKbT4KHci6D-gQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Ftips.how2improvesinging.com%2Fsinging-quotes-2014%2F&psig=AFQjCNHRhxbo2Wp5NNB93Wuqwbm6Eo-b7Q&ust=1455667638824085" id="irc_mil" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk;irc.il;" style="border-image: none; border: 0px currentColor;"><img height="200" id="irc_mi" src="http://tips.how2improvesinging.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/10-I-only-sing-in-the-shower.-I-would-join-300x300.png" style="margin-top: 47px;" width="200" /></a></div>
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If you enjoy writing, but you can't find a publisher, keep a journal. A lot of journals. Title them. Have some fun. "People I could live without right now..." or "If I had the money..." Personally, my favorite journal is titled: "If I had to be completely honest..."<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-ved="0ahUKEwiAkOWzgvvKAhVIej4KHXCRBugQjRwIBw" href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiAkOWzgvvKAhVIej4KHXCRBugQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinterest.com%2Fpin%2F426082814716970878%2F&psig=AFQjCNHGhrW4LhdJ7AMakRij7004adBkyw&ust=1455668323594141" id="irc_mil" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk;irc.il;" style="border-image-source: none; border: 0px currentcolor; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img height="200" id="irc_mi" src="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/d1/bb/1c/d1bb1cd83fd6e3fe18b56d96ed373212.jpg" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">www.pinterest.com</td></tr>
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If you like to dance but you never took lessons, put some music on and show the dog what you can do. Better yet...go take a class.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">www.silverlakelibrary.org</td></tr>
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Do it for the fun of it. Turn off the TV, put your phone away, and shut down your laptop. There! See? You DO have time for this! Your brain will thank you for it. Your muse will cheer for you. Your soul will applaud your first faltering efforts.</div>
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Whatever you do, don't alter a word of your story, a stroke of your brush, or a step of your dance in deference to the critics who (whether they admit it or not) envy you for doing what they may not have the courage to do themselves.</div>
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Go ahead. Take a bow. You've earned it.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">www.pinterest.com</td></tr>
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Besides writing, this is what makes me happy:</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Caleb<br />10 months</td></tr>
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jan</div>
janhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00034650034053143388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6821700232330605316.post-16715995128444529902016-01-31T18:15:00.001-08:002016-01-31T18:15:19.944-08:00today is the dayLast week my grandson, Caleb, forgot his limitations and took his first two tiny steps without holding on.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5ngbYQsOzkt9G1N25qd3pHmO6ErQd-bsdhMTaErQuzhZArvNSYvtBFrvHEUmsN0dkesI_NCvg3gxPkxVg2HwnWMp7VkyDc5mo9v7H2SwpKwgDJllm-lFGRFx_iUWKd6rTXq2-zrb5n3E/s1600/2016-01-25+10.03.21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5ngbYQsOzkt9G1N25qd3pHmO6ErQd-bsdhMTaErQuzhZArvNSYvtBFrvHEUmsN0dkesI_NCvg3gxPkxVg2HwnWMp7VkyDc5mo9v7H2SwpKwgDJllm-lFGRFx_iUWKd6rTXq2-zrb5n3E/s320/2016-01-25+10.03.21.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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I'm not sure what scared him--the fact that he forgot to hold on, or the wild cheering that greeted it--but he promptly dropped to the floor and stayed there. He was content to crawl around and cruise in safety, holding on wherever he went.</div>
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Until today. </div>
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Today, in the middle of sign language class (No, he isn't deaf. Doesn't everyone sign?) without a second thought, he stood up and took four bold steps in front of everyone. </div>
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Walking is one of those things you're either ready to do, or you're just not. It happens one day when the people around you least expect it. But oh, the excitement! Oh, the celebration!</div>
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This, I believe, is how we should greet all fledglings--all beginning writers, artists, musicians, performers, and toddlers with their first faltering efforts. They deserve deafening applause and lavish encouragement. </div>
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I mean, it takes courage to put that first piece out there for people to read, whether it's a story or a poem or an essay. It takes pluck to step onto the stage, to hang your first painting, or to belt out a new song. It takes time and practice to get good at it. </div>
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We should be like babies who are learning to walk. They never give up because it's important to them and it's fun! So every last one of them of them is successful. </div>
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Forget limitations. Caleb's first steps might someday take him to the World Cup. Your first novel could be the next best-seller. Your song might just top off the charts. Your debut could earn you rave reviews.</div>
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Don't be afraid to take the first step. Get yourself a nice sharp pencil and some clean white paper, and start writing. Take out a plain blank canvas and some paints, and get started. Sing in the shower. Dance in the street. Tell yourself you're ready. This is the day.</div>
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"A journey of a thousand miles</div>
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begins with a single step."</div>
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~Lao Tzu~</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCQ3m1nbMyDmzaQ7gsVTzrCt9Qg6eFSwojbzKhFif1BKOIRTcqQR4vwv_U2CCaWHk7yBab_LhVF8UXGb9ABdVPPp14R0tzPgypkjA3kI6RDZZ69198yXGtdULqLHS1cjR1Y3_ZMElrPQE/s1600/2015-12-04+10.55.22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCQ3m1nbMyDmzaQ7gsVTzrCt9Qg6eFSwojbzKhFif1BKOIRTcqQR4vwv_U2CCaWHk7yBab_LhVF8UXGb9ABdVPPp14R0tzPgypkjA3kI6RDZZ69198yXGtdULqLHS1cjR1Y3_ZMElrPQE/s320/2015-12-04+10.55.22.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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Where will your journey take you? What are you waiting for?</div>
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jan</div>
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janhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00034650034053143388noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6821700232330605316.post-54930164908784204472016-01-17T11:07:00.002-08:002016-01-17T11:07:23.755-08:00life at the thresholdLet's say you're barreling along on your novel...or putting the finishing touches on your painting...or practicing a new piece on the piano when the doorbell rings. Someone has come to visit, or to sell something, or to win your soul over to the Lord.<br />
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As an artist, you embrace solitude but, because you're such a friendly person at heart, you set your work aside and open the door. Without warning, a powerful gust of wind carries you out into the world--across the fields, over the rolling hills, and into a shifting mist.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a class="irc_mutl i3597" data-noload="" data-ved="0ahUKEwjc0MextazKAhVDcj4KHR1AAHwQjRwIBw" href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjc0MextazKAhVDcj4KHR1AAHwQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.landscape-photo.net%2Fdisplayimage.php%3Falbum%3D197%26pid%3D5407&psig=AFQjCNH2UtjzI-LJ6_FNUEPE06NMgxLRnA&ust=1452967856775101" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img class="irc_mut" height="211" src="https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSb54mhDPw_2lpDFnEcvp7WTL1Uy3VyTI7ufDVWwIGN0aaOLfll" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">www.landscape-photo.net</td></tr>
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The wind dies down and deposits you in an unfamiliar land. No, it isn't the Land of OZ. Someone, somewhere needs your help. They've fallen through the ice, or they're stuck in the mud, or they've lost their way. You do what you can to help. You throw them a lifeline, or look for a shovel, or jot down directions for them. Whatever they need.<br />
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By the time you find your way back to your desk, or your studio, or the keyboard, you've lost a whole day. Maybe several days. Your thought process has been interrupted, or your paints have started to dry out, or you can't seem to pick up the melody again.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-ved="0ahUKEwimiLXyt6zKAhUINT4KHbLjAckQjRwIBw" href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwimiLXyt6zKAhUINT4KHbLjAckQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.canstockphoto.com%2Fwriters-block-19912827.html&psig=AFQjCNFqYaWOA9-VqEg4HlP8tL8t0nNj5A&ust=1452968340062523" id="irc_mil" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk;irc.il;" style="border-image-source: none; border: 0px currentcolor; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="http://comps.canstockphoto.com/can-stock-photo_csp19912827.jpg" height="320" id="irc_mi" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="211" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">www.canstockphoto.com</td></tr>
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This is what happened to me last week. I received a late night text from a friend, and spent the next four days with her at her mother's bedside where we wrestled with the end of life decisions no one is ever prepared to make. Then we waited to see if God and the universe approved our plan.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-ved="0ahUKEwjBk8CPvLHKAhULcD4KHU7oBoQQjRwIBw" href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjBk8CPvLHKAhULcD4KHU7oBoQQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinterest.com%2Fpin%2F219198706837817416%2F&psig=AFQjCNGEoAX3pQsS2AlBtWZ0pnxRBqtKkw&ust=1453141455516967" id="irc_mil" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk;irc.il;" style="border-image-source: none; border: 0px currentcolor; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img height="213" id="irc_mi" src="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/a2/44/3a/a2443a2e993cdd8398653ccbc2686872.jpg" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">www.pinterest.com</td></tr>
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As it turned out, they were both cheering for us.<br />
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The vicissitudes of life can sometimes carry us away. They can make it hard for us to pick up the creative thread again. They can saddle us with added worry, or sadness, or disappointment. The thing is...they are part of<i> </i>the creative thread of life itself. As we head back to our desks or studios or workshops, we gather up the tattered scraps of our lives, the faded remnants of sorrow, and the ragged snippets of despair. Then we pick up our thread, and we more or less patch them all together again.<br />
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<a href="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/d7/80/d0/d780d0fa3292cf7b1e45def4ff589e68.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Quote: A single thread of hope is still a very powerful thing. www.HealthyPlace.com: " border="0" class="pinImage rounded" data-load-state="pending" height="188" src="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/d7/80/d0/d780d0fa3292cf7b1e45def4ff589e68.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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After a couple of days, my friend's mother went home to the comfort of her own bed, where she was attended by gentle, caring souls right up until the moment she crossed the threshold.<br />
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Ram Dass was correct when he said,<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><b>"We're all just walking each other home."</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI33RCaym91EogJcQPbY12WFAPqaPKAfg2DOhYan0iw18TlRyllK-1ueOGJ3g95pUXdKXtUWF1pBbLr_npto3vZ7ZxYKJG9xGg7zEzQwGJz2KJJD-MXQv8LELyVR5k9bSwF_C2Zz3JcRQ/s1600/2015-07-29+08.07.25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI33RCaym91EogJcQPbY12WFAPqaPKAfg2DOhYan0iw18TlRyllK-1ueOGJ3g95pUXdKXtUWF1pBbLr_npto3vZ7ZxYKJG9xGg7zEzQwGJz2KJJD-MXQv8LELyVR5k9bSwF_C2Zz3JcRQ/s320/2015-07-29+08.07.25.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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...even though we may, sometimes, feel lost.</div>
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jan</div>
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<br />janhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00034650034053143388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6821700232330605316.post-51095593553002703832016-01-04T06:58:00.001-08:002016-01-04T06:58:59.320-08:00how to proceed in 2016It's natural to think of the New Year as a time to begin something new, or to begin all over again if your plans for last year fizzled out. For instance, this might be the year you take up painting, or adopt a needy dog, or begin a dedicated meditation practice. Or, you might want to make another attempt at something you started last year that didn't work out for you--the diet, the budget, the job search.<br />
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<a class="quote_fb_share" href="http://quotepixel.com/quote_share/fb/motivational__quote-you-must-do-the_16810-0.png"><img alt="Make custom picture quote about motivational - You must do the thing you think you cannot do" src="http://quotepixel.com/images/quotes/motivational/quote-you-must-do-the_16810-0.png" height="237" title="Make custom picture quote about motivational - You must do the thing you think you cannot do" width="355" /></a></div>
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Going forward in 2016, are you optimistic or pessimistic? Will it be a better year for you, or does the year ahead look bleak? Perhaps, it's a little bit of both.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-ved="0ahUKEwjQ84WcmY_KAhWJ7yYKHYgXCWQQjRwIBw" href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjQ84WcmY_KAhWJ7yYKHYgXCWQQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.quotationof.com%2Foptimism.html&psig=AFQjCNHttaSqHAxbfCVUmvEySIX4PLGOaw&ust=1451963851049040" id="irc_mil" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk;irc.il;" style="border-image-source: none; border: 0px currentcolor; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="http://www.quotationof.com/images/optimism-quotes-1.jpg" height="303" id="irc_mi" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">www.quotationof.com</td></tr>
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Frankly, I am not optimistic about certain issues. I seriously doubt we will witness an end to corporate greed...the kind that adversely affects our economy (including my personal IRA and yours), that perpetuates poverty and world hunger, that infects the health care industry, and ravages the environment.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="267" id="irc_mi" src="http://dingo.care2.com/pictures/greenliving/1142/1141576.large.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 63px;" width="443" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">www.care2.com</td></tr>
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I am cautiously optimistic, however, that the kindness, integrity, and perseverance of good people will be enough to keep Mother Earth in her preferred orbit for another year. That the unassuming compassion and decency of ordinary human beings will be enough to ease someone's suffering. Perhaps to save someone's life.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6XmCXQGHfsJNshAVS-huLWPdFPsT4tZvAR0dlqszuS-4dYj-drczJubeO2xCHVog61J3ocS2UTr-1n1XAcHxvQA4XamTXKu1mOFXIIE8bDF1L6SfZ_0zJd14q8c0Fc3GykfwXwQSPqPU/s1600/P1000272+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6XmCXQGHfsJNshAVS-huLWPdFPsT4tZvAR0dlqszuS-4dYj-drczJubeO2xCHVog61J3ocS2UTr-1n1XAcHxvQA4XamTXKu1mOFXIIE8bDF1L6SfZ_0zJd14q8c0Fc3GykfwXwQSPqPU/s320/P1000272+%25282%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Loborsoit, Tanzania 2014</td></tr>
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And, I am boldly optimistic...hopeful, at least...that this will be a year of mindfulness for me. That I will find my elusive voice and get it onto the page. That someone will be happier, or gentler, or wiser because of it.<br />
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What do you hope for in 2016? How will you make it happen? How will you begin?<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">~author unknown~<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">
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Ready? Set? Go!<br />
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jan</div>
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janhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00034650034053143388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6821700232330605316.post-42503209535823079942015-12-29T07:10:00.000-08:002015-12-29T07:10:36.168-08:00Christmas in a cocoon<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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For a few hours at least, my house is like a cocoon on Christmas Day.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.thesuitcaselady.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.thesuitcaselady.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/1.jpg" height="150" id="irc_mi" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">www.thesuitcaselady.com</td></tr>
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The TV stays off, the laptops are closed, and the phones are silent. While the world outside is no less threatening, or dangerous, or disheartening than on any other day, something wonderful happens inside. Something changes.<br />
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Music fills every room. Candles flicker and lights twinkle. Thoughtful and generous gifts are shared amid laughter, and sometimes amid tears of joy. Stubborn grudges, everyday worries, and yesterday's sorrows take a day off. Gratitude settles in. Harmony thrives. Peace reigns...<br />
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..for us. But not everyone is lucky enough to celebrate the Christmas this way--insulated from bad news and weather, sheltered and safe, warm and well fed. In fact, it wasn't until the next day that I learned about the severe weather that devastated parts of Texas and Oklahoma...even though my brother lives in Dallas. I didn't know anything about the tornadoes that swept through the area until I read his Facebook post saying they were grateful to have come through it safely.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="223" id="irc_mi" src="https://heavyeditorial.files.wordpress.com/2015/12/adam-goebel-tornado-11-e1451180738422.jpg?quality=65&strip=all" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 39px;" width="400" /></td></tr>
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www.heavy.com</div>
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While I had hoped in vain for snow on Christmas Day, folks in New Mexico were buried in it.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-ved="0ahUKEwi8v-zc6__JAhVMKCYKHdXdCKwQjRwIBw" href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwi8v-zc6__JAhVMKCYKHdXdCKwQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mercurynewsdaily.com%2Fblizzard-blasts-new-mexico-texas-piling-snow-up-to-10-feet-high-5754%2F&psig=AFQjCNEfiQZTsfllsCou1dKOD4Q2n_yIYg&ust=1451436218660654" id="irc_mil" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk;irc.il;" style="border-image-source: none; border: 0px currentcolor; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="http://mercurynewsdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Blizzard-blasts-New-Mexico-Te.jpg" height="190" id="irc_mi" style="margin-top: 5px;" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">www.mercurydailynews.com</td></tr>
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While I cleaned up the ribbons and wrappings, people were picking through the wreckage of their homes. While I prepared dinner, people went hungry. While family and friends filled my home, others spent the day alone. While my heart swelled with gratitude, others mourned. Such is life outside the cocoon that holds my family on Christmas Day.<br />
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It takes time and effort to spin a decent cocoon. If I start now, though, I believe that by this time next year, I can make mine big enough, strong enough, and safe enough to invite the whole wide world inside for just one day.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-ved="0ahUKEwjJp8GGqoHKAhWMOiYKHfhFBzoQjRwIBw" href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjJp8GGqoHKAhWMOiYKHfhFBzoQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.clker.com%2Fclipart-people-holding-hands-around-the-world.html&psig=AFQjCNGwjwtuTa7TErVYTYe3LqI416rJWg&ust=1451487112236098" id="irc_mil" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk;irc.il;" style="border-image-source: none; border: 0px currentcolor; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img height="200" id="irc_mi" src="http://www.clker.com/cliparts/t/a/C/n/w/j/people-holding-hands-around-the-world-hi.png" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">www.clker.com</td></tr>
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"The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree:</div>
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the presence of a happy family</div>
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all wrapped up in each other."</div>
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~Burton Hills~</div>
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jan</div>
janhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00034650034053143388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6821700232330605316.post-52211542848815034882015-12-14T09:47:00.001-08:002015-12-14T09:54:05.413-08:00a winter without snow is like a book without a readerI'm ready for Christmas. I decorated the house both inside and out, covered the tree with lights and ornaments, and mailed the cards. The gifts are wrapped and ready to go under the tree. Everything is ready for the big day!<br />
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I'm also ready for Old Man Winter. I dusted off the snow shovels, stocked up on Quik-melt, and filled the freezer with hearty homemade soups to keep the chill away.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">www.sodahead.com</td></tr>
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The problem is that there is no chill! A record breaking heat wave has blanketed the eastern half of the country when it should be blanketed with snow. I love snow! I live in anticipation of a white Christmas! This is just not fair.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfwFdJqz8PL_i257gEHsS0DwrA4_RbHuUnMocNgv0HUJ3cE4HHxazAXHbEMAEz3JMSX3kJ8gYi3aA4Y9KPkTbbzHja0oWa3nq1eotoFOaGt0TQlrxF6ViQtSDsptZeOGbolj3YO_CFFGQ/s1600/2015-12-13+10.49.02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfwFdJqz8PL_i257gEHsS0DwrA4_RbHuUnMocNgv0HUJ3cE4HHxazAXHbEMAEz3JMSX3kJ8gYi3aA4Y9KPkTbbzHja0oWa3nq1eotoFOaGt0TQlrxF6ViQtSDsptZeOGbolj3YO_CFFGQ/s200/2015-12-13+10.49.02.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">What's the matter with this picture? </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">(Hint: it's the middle of December...)</span></td></tr>
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All that preparation. All that anticipation. For naught.</div>
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This, of course, is consistent with much of a writer's life. You work hard to get ready for the big day--when you finally query an agent about your masterpiece. Your word count is adequate. The chapters are numbered and titled. Everything has been checked and rechecked. Revised again and again. You are ready...</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9dR96P89zTk7U8kiFWg58yvzFFsqG7CCV-cnk2zYevM1pr-di3UvgIIoXKBymLMCgPdojKBk1BthPAcp8BY-MGnzPtYT5TOrUy6wnkX0jUf-kkDQJc-uwi6RKhKCurWdYM_CVw-h-N8k/s1600/Happy+writer.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9dR96P89zTk7U8kiFWg58yvzFFsqG7CCV-cnk2zYevM1pr-di3UvgIIoXKBymLMCgPdojKBk1BthPAcp8BY-MGnzPtYT5TOrUy6wnkX0jUf-kkDQJc-uwi6RKhKCurWdYM_CVw-h-N8k/s1600/Happy+writer.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">www.missourireview.com</td></tr>
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...but, nothing happens. Disappointment reigns. All that preparation. All that anticipation. For naught.</div>
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Nevertheless, I'm optimistic that sometime this winter, snow will arrive. With a little luck, we could even have a white Christmas. Oh, all right...it will take <i><b>a lot</b></i> of luck. Still, I'm confident that the shovels and the Quik-melt will be put to good use sooner or later.</div>
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Likewise, with a little luck--or<i><b> a lot</b></i> of it--it's still possible that my novel will find a publisher...and all that work, all that preparation will pay off, too.</div>
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Are you ready for winter? Are you prepared for Christmas? Are you ready for success?</div>
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*</div>
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"Always be prepared<br />
for something amazing to happen."<br />
~Melanie Perkins~<br />
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Have an amazing week!</div>
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jan</div>
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<br />janhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00034650034053143388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6821700232330605316.post-70538490460071216852015-12-09T16:03:00.000-08:002015-12-09T16:03:57.284-08:00it's never too early<a class="irc_mutl i3597" data-noload="" data-ved="0ahUKEwj6qL_z2c3JAhWG0h4KHfsEA2IQjRwIBw" href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwj6qL_z2c3JAhWG0h4KHfsEA2IQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.vogue.com%2F13350534%2Felizabeth-gilbert-interview-big-magic%2F&psig=AFQjCNEb6yU2a_UdblYvAzfVymby0fyKTw&ust=1449713515266299" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>As Christmas approaches, many of us--avid readers and writers--will wander around bookstores and scroll through Amazon searching for books to give as gifts. With luck, we will have read something that entertained us, or taught us, or amazed us, and is the perfect present for someone we know.<br />
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My problem is that I have eclectic interests in what I read that might not appeal to most people. I like to read about the interface between science and spirituality. I read a lot about the art and craft of writing, and every so often I need a good inspirational book on creativity. I enjoy memoir. I also read quite a bit about self-improvement and simply how to get through the day. Not so much mysteries or thrillers. Not sci-fi or fantasy. Not romance or history...<br />
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...so giving books as gifts can be a problem for me. I'm not all that into best sellers.<br />
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Still, if I had to recommend a great book that offers a revolutionary perspective on our understanding of the existence and nature of God, it would be "A God That Could Be Real" by Nancy Ellen Abrams.<br />
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<a data-ved="0ahUKEwixh5G32M3JAhUEbB4KHULJB7sQjRwIBw" href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwixh5G32M3JAhUEbB4KHULJB7sQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FGod-That-Could-Real-Spirituality%2Fdp%2F0807073393&psig=AFQjCNFWWKgA-DWIKLuxrlsr6St9cMq7HA&ust=1449713119862498" id="irc_mil" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk;irc.il;" style="border-image: none; border: 0px currentColor;"><img src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51--nzy0%2B6L._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" height="320" id="irc_mi" style="margin-top: 24px;" width="214" /></a></div>
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My first choice for creative inspiration is Elizabeth Gilbert's September release, "Big Magic-Creative Living Beyond Fear."<br />
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<a data-ved="0ahUKEwjy062m_c_JAhWGWD4KHSMsAkgQjRwIBw" href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjy062m_c_JAhWGWD4KHSMsAkgQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FBig-Magic-Creative-Living-Beyond-ebook%2Fdp%2FB00S52M350&psig=AFQjCNGwP-cTBulqc02FqGbWMqsNfxU-2A&ust=1449791752533889" id="irc_mil" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk;irc.il;" style="border-image: none; border: 0px currentColor;"><img height="320" id="irc_mi" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/91%2BCPKVK80L.jpg" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="210" /></a></div>
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And, when it comes to self-improvement, I learned a lot from "Workaholics--The Respectable Addicts" by Barbara Killinger, PhD. Not exactly gift-giving material...but a real eye-opener.<br />
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<a data-ved="0ahUKEwiIxbXq283JAhVMqh4KHTaDCFsQjRwIBw" href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiIxbXq283JAhVMqh4KHTaDCFsQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FWorkaholics-Respectable-Addicts-Family-Survival%2Fdp%2F1552635856&bvm=bv.109332125,d.dmo&psig=AFQjCNFQkyRK6vO5u5y-2bIK17eUOc-GEA&ust=1449714047102916" id="irc_mil" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk;irc.il;" style="border-image: none; border: 0px currentColor;"><img src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51YARH9XQPL._SX305_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" height="320" id="irc_mi" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="207" /></a></div>
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If you know someone who is trying to break out of other habits and destructive patterns, Pema Chodron's "Taking the Leap--Freeing Ourselves from Old Habits and Fears" is a good place to start.<br />
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<a data-ved="0ahUKEwiM57fZ483JAhWB0h4KHbReAZ0QjRwIBw" href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiM57fZ483JAhWB0h4KHbReAZ0QjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FTaking-Leap-Freeing-Ourselves-Habits%2Fdp%2F1590308433&psig=AFQjCNEuMdZ8wn6Ov7bcrh33q1ulpat23Q&ust=1449716121692968" id="irc_mil" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk;irc.il;" style="border-image: none; border: 0px currentColor;"><img src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/412-%2BHAJz0L.jpg" height="320" id="irc_mi" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="206" /></a></div>
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My writing books of choice this year are "Crafting the Personal Essay" by Dinty Moore, a good guide for anyone interested in writing creative non-fiction.<br />
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<a data-ved="0ahUKEwiYjcL-3M3JAhWEkh4KHTBzBr4QjRwIBw" href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiYjcL-3M3JAhWEkh4KHTBzBr4QjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FCrafting-The-Personal-Essay-Non-Fiction%2Fdp%2F1582977968&psig=AFQjCNHl9zFVSuIriLKFd-cLDWIOpK7GjQ&ust=1449714322776373" id="irc_mil" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk;irc.il;" style="border-image: none; border: 0px currentColor;"><img src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51JbNWmfVvL._SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_.jpg" height="293" id="irc_mi" style="margin-top: 50px;" width="192" /></a></div>
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For anyone toying with the idea of writing memoir, my hands down favorite guide is Mary Karr's "The Art of Memoir."<br />
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<a data-ved="0ahUKEwjwrvHk3c3JAhVIqx4KHfPFAnAQjRwIBw" href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjwrvHk3c3JAhVIqx4KHfPFAnAQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2015%2F09%2F15%2F440397728%2Fmary-karr-on-writing-memoirs-no-doubt-ive-gotten-a-million-things-wrong&psig=AFQjCNEcTBUl7RqLr8MQ7mxvkA7VOMYUUg&ust=1449714572771646" id="irc_mil" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk;irc.il;" style="border-image: none; border: 0px currentColor;"><img src="http://media.npr.org/assets/bakertaylor/covers/t/the-art-of-memoir/9780062223067_custom-2c2152a2912a70170ab59fe3ecc845f846a70d43-s300-c85.jpg" height="320" id="irc_mi" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="211" /></a></div>
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Next up on my personal reading list is Elizabeth Gilbert's "The Signature of All Things"...unless, of course, someone gives me something better for Christmas!<br />
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What are you reading? What do you recommend for the rest of us? What books will you be giving this Christmas? What book would you like to receive this Christmas?<br />
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"A book is a gift</div>
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you can open again and again."</div>
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~Garrison Keillor~</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2ZR0_8NTulC-S_jggRbyK52lAY3_mPC7xrDMiHv44UWran_99JXZBc4Lc22tJ1Nh_0kqWGRYD00ukxV0A7HBYrwjqBtCRHNwHxpKaXUiQ5Np1yMVT3fLCddAn4k-yoQMz6xHFixy6JkA/s1600/2015-11-25+17.47.22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2ZR0_8NTulC-S_jggRbyK52lAY3_mPC7xrDMiHv44UWran_99JXZBc4Lc22tJ1Nh_0kqWGRYD00ukxV0A7HBYrwjqBtCRHNwHxpKaXUiQ5Np1yMVT3fLCddAn4k-yoQMz6xHFixy6JkA/s320/2015-11-25+17.47.22.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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It's never too early to start.</div>
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jan</div>
janhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00034650034053143388noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6821700232330605316.post-3607190727105386932015-11-30T06:14:00.000-08:002015-11-30T06:14:03.952-08:00the hardest thing about writingIt's a miracle, actually, that any of us gets anything written around the holidays. Between preparing for company, planning meals, baking cookies, mailing cards (if you're <i>that </i>old fashioned...), decorating indoors and out, and wrapping gifts, it can be a challenge to put two consecutive thoughts together in proper order.<br />
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And, it's not just the holidays that slow us down. Life hands us all kinds of interruptions and distractions. Some are happy events like the birth of a baby, a wedding, or an overdue vacation. You celebrate them with the people you love, and you enjoy doing it even when it puts your work on hold.</div>
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Unfortunately, some are unhappy occasions--a death in the family, the loss of a job, or an illness. Because there is so much to think about and so much to do, writing has to take a back seat for a while. People need your attention and your care. You may not be able to shake off your own sadness, or pain, or fear.</div>
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When life gets in the way, you can't simply ignore it in the battle to make your word count for the day. <span style="text-align: center;">You can't just sneak away, when no one is looking, to hang out with your manuscript.</span></div>
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You may not want to.</div>
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So what will you do when you can't write, or don't want to write? When you don't have the time, or the energy, or the motivation to line up perfect little sentences for someone else to judge?</div>
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Quoting James Baldwin:</div>
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"One writes out of only one thing--one's own experience. </div>
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Everything depends on how relentlessly one forces from this experience</div>
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the last drop, sweet or bitter, it can possibly give."</div>
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Whether sweet or bitter, savor or submit to every moment. Don't waste a drop. Because this is what will inform your writing when you do take up your work again. Anticipation, joy, and kinship, deeply felt, have the power to uplift the reader. Likewise, tribulation, well written, connects the reader with his own reality and tempers his own sorrow.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlmkdBcGsJ01zS-Sw01SmNApx9JKQWNlgl0KlfQ4jHw4GA97tWLnZWpBk7KiiE3CdtGL5BViwkwGRUTkYb1VTp2hgGn6KFW3kanDj6f2oNF0SHa9Mj2W2NkHpJ4SrdOOEuAS51V6j743Q/s1600/writing%252C+I+think%252C+is+not+apart+from+living--Catherine+Drinker+Bowenis.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlmkdBcGsJ01zS-Sw01SmNApx9JKQWNlgl0KlfQ4jHw4GA97tWLnZWpBk7KiiE3CdtGL5BViwkwGRUTkYb1VTp2hgGn6KFW3kanDj6f2oNF0SHa9Mj2W2NkHpJ4SrdOOEuAS51V6j743Q/s320/writing%252C+I+think%252C+is+not+apart+from+living--Catherine+Drinker+Bowenis.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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Is it hard for you to maintain your writing practice during the holiday season? Is there something else preventing you from writing?</div>
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"There's a secret that real writers know that wannabe writers don't,</div>
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and the secret is this: </div>
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It's not the writing part that's hard. </div>
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What's hard is sitting down to write."</div>
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~Steven Pressfield~</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
*</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Sit. Stay. Write. Whenever you can...<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
jan</div>
</div>
janhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00034650034053143388noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6821700232330605316.post-49508519577612562542015-11-23T04:54:00.000-08:002015-11-23T04:54:33.666-08:00first world problemsIf your family is anything like mine, we have a lot to be grateful for this Thanksgiving. Most of our issues will revolve around what we call "first world problems." Whether to use a tablecloth or place mats. Whether to serve pumpkin pie or apple. Which grace to recite before we overindulge.<br />
<br />
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<h1 class="page__title title" id="page-title">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Many people are not so fortunate given today's climate of fear, hatred, and intolerance, the scourge of domestic violence, the plight of the poor. The random shooting of unarmed citizens. The threat of terrorism. The refugee crisis.</span></span></h1>
<h1 class="page__title title" id="page-title">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Clearly many can't, or won't be allowed to, enjoy Thanksgiving this year. This, I feel, is a sad thing for a country so full of promise, so full of possibility, and so full of hope for so many.</span></span></h1>
<h1 class="page__title title" id="page-title">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Because the news has been especially dismal lately, I decided to share this poem:</span></span></h1>
<h1 class="page__title title" id="page-title" style="text-align: center;">
Let America Be America Again</h1>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Langston Hughes (1902-1967)</div>
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<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"></span></span></div>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;">Let America be America
again.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Let it be the dream it used to be.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Let it be the pioneer on the plain<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Seeking a home where he himself is free.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> (America never was America to me.)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed—<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Let it be that great strong land of love<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> That any man be crushed by one above.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> (It never was America to me.)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> O, let my land be a land where Liberty<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> But opportunity is real, and life is free,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Equality is in the air we breathe.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> (There’s never been equality for me,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Nor freedom in this “homeland of the free.”)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> ''Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> And who are you that draws your veil across
the stars?''<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> I am the Negro bearing slavery’s scars.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> I am the red man driven from the land,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek—<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> And finding only the same old stupid plan<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> I am the young man, full of strength and hope,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Tangled in that ancient endless chain<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Of profit, power, gain, of grab the land!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Of grab the gold! Of grab the ways of
satisfying need!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Of work the men! Of take the pay!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Of owning everything for one’s own greed!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> I am the worker sold to the machine.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> I am the Negro, servant to you all.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> I am the people, humble, hungry, mean—<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Hungry yet today despite the dream.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Beaten yet today—O, Pioneers!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> I am the man who never got ahead,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> The poorest worker bartered through the years.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Yet I’m the one who dreamt our basic dream<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> In the Old World while still a serf of kings,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Who dreamt a dream so strong, so brave, so
true,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> That even yet its mighty daring sings<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> In every brick and stone, in every furrow
turned<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> That’s made America the land it has become.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> O, I’m the man who sailed those early seas<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> In search of what I meant to be my home—<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> For I’m the one who left dark Ireland’s shore,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> And Poland’s plain, and England’s grassy lea,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> And torn from Black Africa’s strand I came<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> To build a “homeland of the free.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> The free?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Who said the free? Not me?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Surely not me?
The millions on relief today?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> The millions shot down when we strike?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> The millions who have nothing for our pay?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> For all the dreams we’ve dreamed<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> And all the songs we’ve sung<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> And all the hopes we’ve held<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> And all the flags we’ve hung,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> The millions who have nothing for our pay—<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Except the dream that’s almost dead today.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> O, let America be America again—<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> The land that never has been yet—<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> And yet must be—the land where ''every'' man
is free.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> The land that’s mine—the poor man’s, Indian’s,
Negro’s, ME—<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Who made America,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the
rain<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Must bring back our mighty dream again.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Sure, call me any ugly name you choose—<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> The steel of freedom does not stain.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> From those who live like leeches on the
people’s lives,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> We must take back our land again,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> America!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> O, yes,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> I say it plain,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> America never was America to me,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> And yet I swear this oath—<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> America will be!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster
death,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and
lies,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> We, the people, must redeem<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> The mountains and the endless plain—<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> All, all the stretch of these great green
states—<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> And make America again.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small; font-weight: normal;">*</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-weight: normal; text-indent: 0in;">Thanksgiving
is such an iconic observance in our country, I can't help but feel a bit
nostalgic </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-weight: normal;">about
it, much the way I feel about the values America was founded on...and much
the way I remember the innocent, if naive, pleasure I took in Thanksgivings long since past.</span><o:p><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-weight: normal;"> </span></o:p><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-weight: normal;">This
week, I give thanks for the promise, possibility and hope that America
symbolizes to the world</span></span></h2>
<h2 style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left; text-indent: 0in;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small; text-indent: 0in;">*</span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;">jan</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;">ps: don't ask me what happened to the formatting of this post...</span></span></div>
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