Greetings HaQ readers! This is coming to you late on a Sunday because it’s been a busy weekend and this is a Special Day. Today marks the sixth month anniversary of this blog, what I’ve been calling my Blog-i-versary. It seems fitting that it should come at the start of the week of Thanksgiving, that holiday known for food, family, and, at its roots, gratitude.

There is something wonderful about a holiday that brings people together to share a table and a meal, even if they can’t agree on onions in the gravy, or marshmallows on the sweet potatoes, or apple or pumpkin, or whether that tie is hideous, or what person should hold any particular political office. None of that matters when you grasp the warm hands on either side of you and say, in whatever way you say it, I am grateful for good and I am grateful to share it with you. Sweet beyond measure.

As a writer, I have any number of things to be grateful for: The good folks at the Office of Letters and Light who created Camp NaNoWriMo and provided me with the impetus to write a series of reflections that became this blog. The dear friends in my writing group and beyond who encouraged me to “use my outside voice” for a change. The platform at Wordpress that made the whole process accessible to the web-wary. The friends and experiences that inspire me to share something new each week and keep me reaching for more.

And most of all, I am grateful for you – for readers who show up each week to see what I’ve done; readers who leave generous comments; readers who have become part of a circle of friendship wider than I ever imagined. Grateful seems hardly big enough a word.

Sending you many, many thanks, dear readers. And wishing you a warm, wonderful Thanksgiving.

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NaNoWriMo update: Day 19 – 28,060 words. Still a bit behind, but finding a rhythm. We’ll see how this week goes!

Stay tuned for more on the Here’s a Quarter blog next week! As always, your thoughts and comments are always welcome – they are moderated (I know – adulting again), so they may take a little while to appear, but I read them all and appreciate that you were here. Thank you!

Hello HaQ readers – here we are in mid-November. Wow. The last week was a roller coaster for a lot of good folks. Some liked where the coaster ended up. Some didn’t. That’s not always a good feeling.

Where do you turn when the coaster turns you upside down? For me, it’s the arts. The words and images and music that lift my heart are always such a gift. So I’m letting go of “what if” in favor of what is. I’m celebrating the gifts beyond measure that others have already given and will continue to give.

Let me share with you:  We lost him this week, but the incomparable Leonard Cohen gave us music and poetry. Ever the artist, he released a new album (titled “You Want it Darker” – so perfect) only three weeks before his passing at age 82. It’s gorgeous – a poetic growl of love and life and even some regret. It reaches into the sore spots and gives them light. He believed in that. One of his most quoted lyrics is from Anthem: “Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.” I just love that.

He also wrote “Hallelujah”, a song covered by dozens of artists, including Jeff Buckley. I heard it for the first time performed live by k.d. lang. She stood on stage in bare feet and tilted back her head and her amazing voice took the beauty of the music and made it transcendent. I still get chills thinking about that moment. What a gift.

Because I’m a photographer, I also love nature photography and it’s been lovely to see all the beautiful images posted on social media this week. Birds and butterflies and landscapes from all over the world. It’s a sweet reminder that this a beautiful planet in many ways, large and small. It’s always ours to appreciate.

So here’s my question for you: What is out there that makes you think, “Oh, that’s so beautiful”? Give yourself the gift of enjoying it. Listen to your favorite music. Go to a gallery and look at your favorite painting. Take a walk and enjoy the trees on a trail, or the beautiful buildings in your city. Time spent in appreciation is never wasted.

Wishing you beauty.

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NaNoWriMo update: Day 13, currently at 15,091 words. That’s a bit behind. Looking to hit it hard over the next few days.

Stay tuned for more on the Here’s a Quarter blog next week! As always, your thoughts and comments are always welcome – they are moderated (I know – adulting again), so they may take a little while to appear, but I read them all and appreciate that you were here. Thank you!

Hello, HaQ readers – The sun and the calendar have turned another click, it’s November. You might be thinking of frost and falling leaves and baking and the start of holiday shopping. Those of you who know me know what time it really is. It’s National Novel Writing Month. Otherwise known as NaNoWriMo. Oh my. This is my eighth year. (Yes, eighth – I am a writer and I’m stubborn.)

For those who have not encountered this yet. Every November, thousands of aspiring writers from across the globe spend thirty days in the sincere effort to write 50,000 words of a new story. Some of us make it, some of us don’t. We all write. There is more art in the world when we ended than when we started. More funny ideas. More crazy ideas. More beautiful thoughts and phrases. More people putting energy into something that feeds their creativity. And doesn’t it need feeding?

So here’s what I’m doing: I’m committing to write every day this month. To get to 50,000 words, I’ll need to average 1667 words per day. Some days it’s easy, some days it’s hard. That doesn’t really matter. What matters is that, since I committed to it, writing gets done. I’ve reached the 50K more than once. I’ve not reached it more than once. But I committed. I wrote. Even though some of it is never seen again, that feels like a gift.

So here’s my challenge to you, dear readers: COMMIT. Do something that engages your creative side. It doesn’t have to be as intense as NaNoWriMo, demanding time every day. It can be once a week, or once a month. Commit to yourself and the world that you’ll cook a meal, or write a poem, or get out your camera, your paints, fabrics, woodworking tools – whatever it is that you create with – and do something. One thing. Even if it’s only for fifteen minutes. Find that fifteen minutes and give yourself to it entirely. And when fifteen minutes isn’t enough, don’t be afraid to give more. It gives back.

And one last thing, after you’ve done this creative work, acknowledge it. Say you did it, tell someone you’re going to and tell them when you did. Put it in your calendar and check it off. Be aware that you have created something. You are creative. Isn’t that amazing?

Go ahead, be amazing. I knew that, anyway. If you want to, tell me what you did in the comments. Even if you don’t, I’ll be here cheering all of you on. Between the word sprints. Check back – since I’ve committed, I’ll let you know how it’s going each week in November.

NaNo progress: Day 6, 8654 words so far.

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For those of you who are curious, this is where to find information on the wonderful group at NaNoWriMo: http://nanowrimo.org/

And this is a TED talk by Elizabeth Gilbert on creativity. It’s funny and sincere and it always gives me a lift: https://www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_gilbert_on_genius

Stay tuned for more on the Here’s a Quarter blog next week! As always, your thoughts and comments are always welcome – they are moderated (I know – adulting again), so they may take a little while to appear, but I read them all and appreciate that you were here. Thank you!

Hello, HaQ readers – Happy Near-Hallow’s Eve! We’re on the cusp of November and it’s the season of pumpkins and candy corn and kids having fun. Trick or treat was a special night when I was growing up – you got to wear a costume and be someone else for a while, a princess, a ghost, a superhero. On all the other days, you were just you.

As a kid, a mask was the stuff of dreams and imagination, a chance to pretend and then pop out from behind, squealing with laughter. Somewhere along the way, things changed. The mask became armor, not just fun. You may have felt this, too. At some point, you start to hide thoughts and feelings you worried would not be acceptable to someone nearby, or someone who might hear of it. You start to be careful of how you express yourself, how you show yourself, whether you show your true thoughts and feelings. Your face became a holder of the acceptable expression. A mask. How exhausting.

It’s not unusual to be circumspect about what you say and who you say it to. That’s part of being an adult and being mindful of how your words affect others. On the other hand, if Continue reading →

Hello, HaQ readers! It’s happened again – August and September have come and gone, the kids are back in school, and days are getting shorter as the nights get cooler. Halloween is around the corner. It’s autumn. I love autumn.

I grew up in the northern midwest. Autumn was a long, beautiful sigh from summer sun to falling leaves to the first hard frost and even the first dusting of snow. We sometimes had our winter coats on under our costumes for trick-or-treat. Warm days, cool nights, football, fresh apple cider and donuts. Sweet, sweet memories.

Today I gave myself the gift of a beautiful fall day. The air was cool, the sky was blue, the sun was bright, and it felt so good to be out. I walked my dogs and, when that just wasn’t enough, I asked a friend to join me at a local park. We walked in the sun, lapping the pond a couple of times, moving with no purpose but to enjoy it.

Every once in a while, it’s nice to enjoy going in circles without a plan, just because it’s a pretty day and the whisper of the wind in the leaves calls you to play outside. Every once in a while, the homework and the housework can wait for a little soul work. And it is that – when you just go out and enjoy the world and your being in it for an hour, or a day, doesn’t it feed something in you? For me, there’s something about being out in the natural world that settles a hot spot that bubbles up. You know that spot – the one that gets all hot and prickly when all the “stuff” starts getting to you. Mine sits right below my breastbone and pokes ugly fingers at my ribs. It is not a pretty spot.

Time outside, time without a plan, time spent giving eyes and ears to what is beautiful – that unplugs the hot spot and replaces it with a lovely cool blue glow. I can re-center, reconnect with what is really important, feed what is real and true, and let go of what I don’t need. That makes a fall day a beautiful thing twice over. It’s worth the hour or two, every time.

Wishing you beautiful things, dear readers. Every time.

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Stay tuned for more on the Here’s a Quarter blog next week! As always, your thoughts and comments are always welcome – they are moderated (I know – adulting again), so they may take a little while to appear, but I read them all and appreciate that you were here. Thank you!

Hello, HaQ readers! I’m in a contemplative mood today, so I thought I’d share something I’ve been thinking about for a while. It struck me one morning that the one benefit that we all can afford to extend to another is the benefit of the doubt. Yeah. Not exactly common in election season, I know.

What brought it up for me wasn’t politics, but something entirely commonplace: I’d seen my neighbor walking back and forth on the road in front of the house several times, going about her daily tasks. What I found odd was that she never looked up or looked around for me to wave. That seemed very strange. I didn’t really focus on it, but it sat in the back of my mind and I wondered what was going on; usually she does wave or call out a greeting when I’m out with my dogs. We’re fence-post friendly; we’ll chat when we meet, call when some neighborhood business comes up, and wave when we’re both out in the yards. So for her not to say hello was odd

That thought came back to me when she walked by again later carrying some dried teasel stems. This time she did come up to chat for a moment and we talked about hill-holding groundcover and the greenery on one of my shrubs. And then she told me that she’d been suffering from vertigo, that it was a trial, and she was trying hard to get over it. She couldn’t turn her head suddenly because it caused profound dizziness. Hence, the stiff walk and not looking around. Mysterious “snub” explained. Continue reading →

Happy Sunday, HaQ readers – I hope this finds you well. The post will be coming to you a little later than usual today because I’ve been out and about doing a benefit walk – it’s a break in routine, a breath of sweet fall air, a bit of hustle and bustle, and a bit of doing good for a cause near to me. That does a person good, you know?

 

I’m thinking about that sense of being surrounded by a community today. The sense that tells you that you fit, you have a purpose, you have a Place. There’s something very special about that. When I think about the times I have been happiest, it’s when I feel acknowledged, purposeful, and supported.  I feel part of the community around me and important to it. In my Place,  I am connected to others whose thoughts and presence make a difference to me and my presence matters to them as well. It is a special, at-home feeling.

The events that had me thinking about this were both this weekend. One was a small street festival where I the pleasure of reconnecting with friends I hadn’t seen in a while. We talked and laughed and it was as if we had never been apart. When you’re in your Place, the time between disappears. The other event was one of the biggest benefit walks in my community, Colors for a Cure, benefiting cancer research. I still ran into almost a dozen people I know, talking and laughing and walking side by side. This town cares.  These are good, good-hearted people, coming out to support their friends and their families and strangers fighting the same battle, and the healthcare providers who care for them. When everyone focuses on a common cause, all the other stuff melts away. There are no churches, no parties, no politics, no judging. When there’s a need, all lift their hands and hearts, no questions asked. Shared purpose and a smile are enough. It affirms the generosity of the place where I live and the basic decency of most of humanity.

That sense of basic decency is especially important when the news of the day is too often rife with the opposite. So I’m choosing to focus on togetherness and decency, rather than the divisions amplified by a partisan election season. Maybe if we all step back to where our common decency brings us together, those divisions will seem less inevitable and everyone will have a Place. And who knows how far we could go together.

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I don’t usually get political because that’s not my thing, but you’ll see a reminder on here today, asking whether you’re registered to vote. I believe in exercising the rights and privileges of a civil society, and voting is both. Get out there and sing with the voice you have. We may not sing the same song, but it’s all part of the symphony.

Stay tuned for more on the Here’s a Quarter blog next week! As always, your thoughts and comments are always welcome – they are moderated (I know – adulting again), so they may take a little while to appear, but I read them all and appreciate that you were here. Thank you!

Aren’t those lovely words? “Days off” – as in, “I need some”. As in, “I want some”. As in, “I’m taking some”. Oh, yeah.

As in, “I took some”. Oh, yeah!

This wasn’t spur of the moment. I actually planned for it. I knew that I would have eight weeks of crazed, flat-out, dead-run work in the first half of the fall semester. So I blocked out a Friday and a Monday after all that and kept them clear. I stocked up on good food and a bottle of white wine. And I told the folks at work I’d see them on Tuesday. I took my dogs to the place they know as “overnight camp”. I got a massage. I slept enough. I went for leisurely walks. I spoiled my cats with play time and lap time. I did work I’ve been wanting to do in the house. I did whatever I wanted to do. It was so nice.

We all need those spacers, you know? Time to be unscheduled, to read a book without interruption, to separate from “have-to”, to unplug and recharge. To pull back and rest, and then view the things we want to change from a little distance. In fact, I’m going t tell you that this is not a “luxury”, it’s a necessity. It has nothing to do with what you do, or how well you are compensated for it. This is about being able to have a few days or at least a few hours, insulated from constant emails, texts, calls, requests, demands, and just plain noise from the world.  Continue reading →

Good Sunday, HaQ readers! Where I am, the heat of summer is finally moderating, the nights are cooling off and morning air is sweet. Perfect for a Sunday morning walk. As part of a promise to them, I have taken my dogs out for a romp each of the last two Sunday’s. I would like to do more of those. For now – this is enough.

Enough. I was thinking about that word. (Yes, I think about stuff like that – call it a professional hazard.) It occurred to me, that in this world where there’s a lot of shouting about making things XXXX-er, sometimes you don’t need xxx-er. You just need enough. And you need just enough.

When I thought about that it made me breathe deep and let it out slow. Isn’t there something awesome about having just enough?

Just enough of a wonderful dinner to feed everyone well and to have a fabulous lunch the next day, and then it’s a lovely memory and you don’t have to clean up after it any more. Just one square of gorgeous chocolate to savor slowly while it gives up its secret flavors, and letting your palate enjoy whatever lingers, for however long it will. When you give yourself fully to the taste and scent of any one food, just enough may be a lot less than you imagined. It’s wonderful to so completely enjoy a meal that gives its everything to you.

There is a beauty and simplicity to “just enough”. As in: One small handful of wild berries gathered on a morning walk, just enough for your cereal. One slow walk with the dogs, just enough time to breathe in the morning air and let out some lingering frustration. Sitting in a quiet, sunny spot for just enough time to enjoy a cup of tea and two biscotti and one chapter of a lovely book on a sunny afternoon. A space. A grace. A wedge of peace in all the busy of your day. It’s not so many cookies that your teeth feel sticky. Not so much tea that all you can think about is finding a rest room. Not so much time that you feel guilty for now having to squeeze in other things you need or want to get done. Just enough. You found loveliness. You enjoyed it. And you carry it with you. Breathe in. Breathe out. Move on.

I hope you find loveliness, HaQ crew. And I hope you find just enough.

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Stay tuned for more on the Here’s a Quarter blog next week! As always, your thoughts and comments are always welcome – they are moderated (I know – adulting again), so they may take a little while to appear, but I read them all and appreciate that you were here. Thank you!

Greetings, HaQ readers – the blog is coming to you late in the day. I’ve had some things on my mind.

Today was a day of rain, and we really needed it. The soft grey day and the blanket of clouds reminded me of those first sweetening days of spring, when the rains wake the earth and a hint of warmth returns. It reminded me of one particular day last spring. It was a morning when I was thinking of a friend.

I was standing on my porch, just enjoying the moment when a song sparrow landed near me. It began scratching and pecking as if I was not there. Song sparrows are common birds, beautiful singers, and not very approachable. This one, however, seemed to be immune to my presence, as was the chipping sparrow that soon joined it. Two small brown birds, going about their business, as if I was a natural part of their world. It was a sweet moment that lingered into the day.

It reminded me of a day, some years ago, that my friend and I spent bird watching in Arizona. We were walking on a path and movement in the leaf litter caught my eye. It was an olive sparrow, shuffling the leaves just a few feet away. We stood and watched it work, unfazed by our presence. Olive sparrows are handsome little fellows, with an olive-brown back and russet crown stripes. Like most sparrows, they are shy and it was a thrill to see one almost at our feet. We tiptoed by, and moved on. The image stayed with me.

That trip to Arizona was wonderful. It was my first time in the desert southwest as an avid birder and it was glorious. I learned a lot, much from my friend. I saw 75 species of birds I’d never seen before. We made several trips with our group over a five-year period. They were all wonderful. He could make me feel safe and adventurous at the same time.

He’d been retired for a few years, enjoying time with his wife and family, and hosting the round-ups after seasonal bird counts. He always gave me the honor of wielding the calculator to total up the compiled numbers for each species. He’d forgotten more about birds than I’ve learned in the first place. His gift was extraordinary, as was his generosity in sharing it.

So I started that day with my friend on my mind. I ended it that way, too. I received word my wonderful birding friend had passed away that day, after declining in health. It was a shock because, while I knew he’d been ill, I didn’t know the severity. Maybe I just wasn’t seeing it. He had not looked well for sometime, but when I looked at him, I always saw my friend. The sense of connection and the sense of loss mingled. I was so sad for myself and for his family.

I miss him. I miss his strong opinions and encyclopedic knowledge, his humor and his edgy twang of an accent, the stories of his travels and his time in the military. He walked with his own peculiar grace in this life. His presence in the world was a gift.

The best way to honor a gift like that is to pass it on. To share a love of something, to nurture new friends in it, to give it time and attention. To hope to keep it going past my time, as he did. Some debts are so large, the only way to pay them back is to pay it forward.

Blessed journey, my friend. You gave me wings.

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Stay tuned for more on the Here’s a Quarter blog next week! As always, your thoughts and comments are always welcome – they are moderated (I know – adulting again), so they may take a little while to appear, but I read them all and appreciate that you were here. Thank you!