I spent my late 20’s in a third-floor walk-up on Dolores Street in San Francisco. My desk (from which I conducted my newborn copywriting business) looked out over a high school football field from which the secondary sights and sounds of teen spirit mingled with my work and my life. Apartment living compresses community to a 360-degree sensory merger. The … Read More
Are you good at too many things?
When I was in graduate school studying poetry with the world-renowned poet Galway Kinnell, he said something to me that I’d like to say changed my life. But it didn’t. “You know what the problem is with your poetry?” Galway asked, then answered before I could, “You’re good at too many things.” It didn’t seem fair to blame my competence … Read More
Writing into the places they once occupied
A few weekends ago, I drove myself to the beach. No partner. No dog. I walked alone for hours. As I walked, I photographed the beach, full of emptiness and light. Standing at the thrashing eclipse of continent and ocean, I photographed myself smiling at nothing and no one. Until my beloved Machi died eight months ago, I had never … Read More
Are you believing hard enough?
Hello, and happy 2019! It’s good to be with you on the fresh, unwritten page of a new year. At this time when many of us are choosing or recommitting to habits, practices, or projects for our writing lives, I want to help you address a sneaky dynamic could have you spinning your wheels. Here’s what happens. Sometimes, our desires … Read More
What if we’re all swimming in duckweed?
The day after Thanksgiving, my ten-year-old son and I took a walk through the Reed College Canyon, a sacred wild place that is practically in our back yard. I’d told him about my favorite pond full of algae where the ducks like to hang out. As we turned the bend and the small body of water came into view, my … Read More
What are you grateful for?
As Thanksgiving approaches here in the U.S., I’m thinking about how the practice of gratitude has rewired me. I used to think of gratitude as a spontaneous response to good things happening. In recent years, however, I have come to understand that gratitude is much more than an automatic byproduct of positive experience. Gratitude can actually be our emotional and … Read More
Support for you > from Writer’s Digest + me!
As an instructor and coach, I am passionate about your writing practice giving you the results you want—whether that’s income, healing, refined craft, publication, or a platform for giving service. That’s why, in partnership with my publisher, Writer’s Digest, I’m offering two different kinds of support for writers in November! I’d love to accompany you as you take your writing … Read More
He set a goal of 100 rejections
The gap between where we stand and where we want to be is often measured in fear. This fear energy is so elusive and effective at stopping us in our tracks, it’s difficult to diagnose correctly. We call it procrastination. We call it perfectionism. We say we don’t have the time or the energy or the right notebook. We don’t … Read More
NaNoWriMo and facing the blank page together
One of the ongoing debates in my household growing up went something like this: Me: “But Mom, all the other kids are doing it!” My mom: “If all the other kids were jumping off a bridge, would you jump too?” Of course, this is not a question meant to invite an answer–it is intended to interrupt an unreasonable request with … Read More
Your best life is their root system
How’s your budget as the back-to-school expenses come rolling in? Because I’ve been using You Need a Budget for a while, I had the money I needed saved in advance for the first time. A life-enhancement enthusiast, I’ve been delighted to discover that consciously spending and saving is core to my self-care. For my son Theo’s first eight years, I … Read More