DON’T TARGET FIXATE

When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us. – Helen Keller Target fixation is what us motorcyclists call it. Several years ago, while taking a motorcycle class to hone my riding skills, […]

GET BACK UP AND KEEP GOING

What we call failure is not the falling down but the staying down. – Mary Pickford Failure, one of life’s playfellows. There are little everyday failures that we swipe from our minds because they seem inconsequential, like failing to use our turn signal when changing lanes. Even if a fellow driver honks at our blatant […]

BREATHE, PAUSE, AND CONSIDER

No man can think clearly when his fists are clenched. – George Jean Nathan There is evidence to this fact. Studies have shown that we lose the ability to think straight when we are engulfed in anger. Our ability to function at our highest level of cognitive thought diminishes immensely. We are left with reactionary […]

CAN’T MANIFEST A REDO

Sometimes you can do all the right things and not succeed. And that’s a hard lesson of reality. – Donna Tartt How many times have I crossed paths with this well-hidden truth? More than I can count. When we inevitably meet, I’m surprised at the visit, as if I believed we would never meet again. […]

THE PROCESS OF LIVING

There is a process to living that persists whether I want it to or not. This process doesn’t care if I enjoy it or have patience with it. The process of living will commence with or without my approval. Similar to me moving chopped wood from one area of the yard to another. I gather […]

That’s It?

The canvas walls closed off an area fourteen by sixteen feet. The wardens had told me that, bragging it up, making it sound spacious. On the phone, sitting at a college swimming pool, when I’d been accepting this job, it had sounded palatial. – Pete Fromm, Indian Creek Chronicles: A Winter Alone in the Wilderness […]

Where Did You Find Yours?

I’ve discovered writers by reading books left in airplane seats and weird hotels. – Lee Child One of my favorite reads was found in a 7-11 while working the night shift. I scoured the tiny rack of books that was stuffed behind the front doors, looking past the obvious romance novels, and landed on one […]

Always Learning

One of the nice benefits of writing is that you are always learning. Writers are great observers of the world and of people. – Margaret George When I was in my late teens, I researched everything I could about tarot cards, where they originated from, what the cards meant, how they were tied to Kabbalism, […]

Being One of Many

When a man looks at the stars, he grows calm and forgets small things. They answer his questions and show him that his earth is only one of the million worlds. Hold your soul still and look upward often, and you will understand their speech. Never forget the stars. – Frances Hodgson Burnett As a […]

Indentify and Change

Just as you need time to be able to remain the same and be identified as yourself, you also need time to be able to change, which is where your identity suddenly gets less stable. That is why, even as your hair turns gray, you have the same glint in your eye that your mom […]

Magical Magnificence

We all start out knowing magic. We are born with whirlwinds, forest fires, and comets inside us. We are born able to sing to birds and read the clouds and see our destiny in grains of sand. But then we get the magic educated right out of our souls. – Robert McCammon Conversing with a […]

Making Mistakes

I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re doing something. – Neil Gaiman What a great quote […]