Writing / Journaling
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Draw Your Day: An Inspiring Guide to Keeping a Sketch Journal
As a beginning watercolorist, I spend a lot of time scanning Pinterest for inspiration and art tutorials. While doing that early last week, I came upon a nice sketch by Samantha Dion Baker. Clicking on the link to her page, I discovered that she’s the author of a book called, Draw Your Day: An inspiring guide to keeping a sketch journal. She had me at the word “journal.” I’m a big fan of journals, which I’ve mentioned here and here. So I checked it out on Amazon, ordered it, and had it in my hands in two days. Then I sat on the couch and read it cover to cover.…
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How to Write a Gift Journal That Says, “I Love You”
I’ve kept all sorts of journals over the years: bullet journals, a journal of my odd dreams, food journals, art journals, travel journals and regular old “Dear Diary” journals. But by far, my favorite of all is the gift journal I gave my husband one Christmas … the journal that told him in hundreds of ways, “I love you.” The idea to start the journal came to me because of an observation, an overheard conversation, and a message on our answering machine (yes, these were pre-voicemail days). Our church — which we started in our backyard with just a handful of people — was in its third year at this…
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How to Survive a Quarantine Without Losing Your Mind
This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission if you make a purchase using these links. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Because I live just 29 miles from Kirkland, WA, or what the LA Times affectionately calls, ”the U.S. epicenter of COVID-19,” I hear daily speculations about the possibility — and some are saying probability — of a mandated quarantine in the very near future. So what would that look like? How long would it last? And how on earth do you survive a quarantine without losing your mind? I’ve never been forced to stay in my home before, but I’ve…
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Writer Ears
There are joys which long to be ours. God sends ten thousand truths, which come about us like birds seeking inlet; but we are shut up to them, and so they bring us nothing, but sit and sing awhile upon the roof, and then fly away.” ~ Henry Ward Beecher In 1995, with nary a hint or a nudge from me, my husband presented me with an unusual and wonderful gift. On Christmas morning, I found beneath the tree an easel, an empty canvas, a painter’s bucket filled with brushes and paints, and a note telling me when and where my first oil painting class would be held. Such a…
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Writing and Dentistry
Good news: I’m keeping all my teeth. That’s the consensus of my dentist and her assistant, Marie. I had my annual check-up this morning. I walked into the office with heavy steps, carrying all the dread and trepidation that had been percolating since my last visit. Had I not already been flat on my back when she said it, Marie could have sent me there with her verdict: “Everything looks great. Teeth are fine, gums are healthy.” I expected something else. I expected her to say, “I’m sorry, you’ll be losing all your teeth sometime in the next three weeks. Enjoy these last few days of chewing.” I left feeling…
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Writers & Ritual
I’m not a spitter. I don’t keep rotten apples in my desk drawer to sniff for inspiration. I don’t use a specific pen, nor do I wear a lucky writing hat when I sit at my desk. (And on the subject of clothing: I prefer to wear some while I’m composing–but that’s just me. The rest of you do what you like.) I don’t habitually write in the bathtub while eating apples, like Agatha Christie, although I did write in a bubble bath once while eating an apple-based fruit salad, and I regularly jot notes in there while sipping herbal tea. Writers love rituals. Something about habit, pattern and routine…
