You know, we really need fairytales. We need songs. We need stories and poems and proverbs and other expressions of human creativity and experience. This is not extra – a bit of liberal arts fluff, as many claim with a patronizing smile. No, this is central to the development of what I call a [...]
Hello, friends! Today I'd like to share with you a fun way to create a fairytale-inspired poem-story about YOU. I invented this exercise to use with young poets I'm guiding currently and we've all enjoyed it so much. Here's what you do: Fill in the blanks here: "Once there was a X named Y." For [...]
The real vote Votes shape the future So I propose that the ones who vote against Common sense gun control Should be required by law To report to the school where our children – Our beloved, collective future – Have been most recently slain And be required by law To lift each small [...]
We carry within us many selves and I find it's very much worth asking them questions from time to time. You can talk to the child within you, to the artist, to the happy person, to the king or queen. All that's necessary is to ask a question and listen. I promise that when [...]
Just because someone is unable or unwilling to listen doesn't mean you're not worth listening to. Just because someone else doesn't find it interesting doesn't mean it's not interesting. Just because someone says it should be done this way doesn't mean that's the right way for you. Just because someone overlooks the beauty doesn't [...]
I promise I will tell you how, but first I must share a confession: Sometimes, I don’t. Get things done, that is. Sometimes, I simply obey some inner voice that tells me it’s not time yet. That can be scary because almost daily we are snarled at to “just do it,” or “suck it [...]
Scarlet red ink everywhere. Just moments before, I was enjoying a peaceful time writing in my journal using an old-fashioned dip pen and a bottle of German ink. My desk (one of three!) sits at the front of the house where I can admire the lake in all her moods and changes. The [...]
It may be just late January, it may be the pandemic that drags on and keeps us confined and separate from each other and from so many happy plans and occupations we'd ordinarily pursue, it may just be a chapter of my own story, but lately I've been feeling a bit blue. It's not dreadful. [...]
I wrote this in my journal recently: We can be CREATIVE anytime - as soon as we decide, we CALL IT FORTH. The tap turns ON. Deciding is key. It's easy to dither, to faff about thinking about starting or wondering if it's even possible to do or make the thing. I've done this a [...]
This Halloween I transformed into one of my literary heroes. It didn't take much to make myself over in his familiar image - a deerstalker hat and a pipe purchased online and a wonderful vintage Donegal tweed cloak. The inside, though: that's the real magic. I'm not nearly as smart as Sherlock but I do [...]
