The Sunrise Story

Thank you to Stacey, Betsy, Dana, Tara, Beth, Anna, Kathleen & Deb for this amazing platform to write and share writing! What a wonderful community you've created! I'm honored to be part of it. Join us at  Two Writing Teachers .  My last day of work for the 2014-2015 school year was June 17th. I presented at a conference on June 19th. I left for a week long writing retreat, or unworkshop, on June 22nd. I had company upon my return. My summer begins today. I am a creature of habit and I do well with routine. The week long writing retreat instilled in me some good routines that I plan on implementing this summer...beginning today. Wake up. No alarm. I'm naturally an early riser, so this shouldn't be a problem. Shower. Breakfast. Walk the dog. Gather my things and off to write. I am going to write every morning for a couple of hours. I'm serious about writing a book and I'm hopeful that by setting a deliberate writing routine, this will help...

Thank you to  Ruth Ayres  for the opportunity to focus on celebrations every week!  I celebrate writing. I just reread my celebration post from last week  and I'm grateful to be a writer, especially a blogger. I can look back and see such change and growth.  I celebrate risks. This past week I spent in a new place, meeting new people, and finally believing in my heart that I am a writer. Being surrounded by brilliant and supportive writers and being counted one of them, BY them has inspired me so much. It's changed me.  I celebrate the act of writing. Sitting down. Butt in chair. I celebrate the moments of despair and the moments of clarity that often follow the despair. I celebrate the work...the journey.  I celebrate the friends I made at this retreat. I can't say enough about these strong, smart, funny, inspiring women!  I celebrate a new goal. Writing a book. I've begun. It's at the very beginning...page 1, even befo...

Written Thursday at The Highlights Foundation Tomorrow I will go home. Tonight I think about what my goals were for this retreat... Go. Show up. Write. Meet some people. I did. I achieved all of these goals and much, much more. Go. I am here. This place is magical. Everyone is kind and helpful and supportive.  The food is delicious and nutritious. The weather has been comfortable. Show up. I introduced myself to people. I met new people. I listened. I learned. I asked questions. I shared. Write. Oh did I write. I wrote a lot. I flushed out ideas for two possible possible books. I wrote four blog posts. I wrote pages and pages in my notebook. I wrote a lot. Meet some people. I thought I'd meet people. I didn't expect to meet a dog and a bear too.  Back to the people...I didn't expect to make real connections. I didn't expect to leave here with friends. New friends and old friends... Writer friends. Also... I laugh...

Written Wednesday at the  Highlights Foundation ... I slept through yoga. It was a wonderful, restful, and relaxing sleep. Breakfast was powerful. The food is yummy...always yummy (I eat so quickly that I always seem to forget to take a picture!) This morning the group at the breakfast table got into such a powerful discussion about...life, race, gender, relationships, writing...you name it we discussed it. It reminded me of the conversations I used to have in college that lasted for hours. We had to cut it short, but it stayed with me.  We walked back to the lodge...the four of us. Making plans to keep in touch as Dana was leaving today. I'm so grateful we stopped and took this picture of the four of us... Dana, Lori, Stacey, Michelle Now, down to the writing today. Something about writing is tiring. At the end of the day, it feels like a day well spent. There was lots of writing today. We took a walk after lunch and that helped my afternoon productivity.  ...

Blog written Tuesday at the Highlights Foundation ... Here are some things I learned today. It's 2:22 in the afternoon and I need a brain break...so I'm blogging. Starting the day with yoga is perfect. The stretches felt good...down to my soul. I discovered that I'm asymmetrical and it's ok. We relaxed...right down to our brains.  I have to walk down to the Barn for yoga and all of the meals. It's a short, beautiful walk. Take a look at my scenery as I meander down to the barn a few times each day... Cabins Writing is hard and tiring and exciting and fun and hard again. It requires focus and concentration and a healthy dose of faith! The support from the people here inspires me. I've met people yesterday and we are already sharing ideas and encouraging words. We are listening to our stories and sharing our struggles and our successes. Yummy food. Doesn't food always taste better when someone else makes it? Imagine writing for three hours and sh...

Thank you to Stacey, Betsy, Dana, Tara, Beth, & Anna for this amazing platform to write and share writing! What a wonderful community you've created! I'm honored to be part of it. Join us at  Two Writing Teachers .  I love road trips! Long drives! There's something about them...I feel free.  I blast music and sing loudly...or I listen to an audiobook. I stop whenever I want. There are only two things that potentially ruin road trips. Getting lost and traffic. Don't get me wrong, I love the poetic idea of getting lost and discovering myself and the world around me...I just don't want to do it after I've been in the car for five or more hours. Traffic bums me out too! I prefer to leave at times when I know the roads will be empty. I ran into both problems yesterday, but it didn't matter because the destination is so worth the trouble. I am at a writing retreat...with writers. (Shhh, they don't know I'm not a writer.) That's how...

Thank you to Ruth Ayres for the opportunity to focus on celebrations every week!  Life is messy. There is pain. There is joy. It's all messy and confusing. It's hard. I struggle to write a post of celebration because of the world today. I hesitate because of the suffering. I hesitate because of the hurt. I don't know what to do. Everywhere you look, people insist that everyone MUST...change, talk about it, protest, speak up, be quiet...and on and on. I don't know what to do. I sit here frozen. I know that there are nine families and a church family dealing with unimaginable pain today. I don't understand. I don't pretend to understand. The only thing I know to do is to listen and learn and work to be better. Today, I will push on and celebrate as best as I can. I celebrate talking on the phone this morning with my family. I celebrate the quiet Saturday morning with no grading or planning hanging over my head. I celebrate ending the school yea...