Category Archives: inspiration

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You will drink from the brook, and I have ordered the ravens to feed you there. I Kings 17:4

I had a very bad week. It began with taking our seventeen-year-old cat to the vet because she had stopped eating and started hiding in the closet. I hoped the vet would give her medication, and she would soon be back to herself. Instead, after the vet gave her a checkup and felt a “mass,” she recommended an ultrasound. We waited in the exam room for the results. When the vet returned, she spoke words, but all I heard was “cancer.” She showed us the X-rays and explained that our cat would not recover and would only continue to suffer. read more

Goodbye 2025 (don’t let the door hit you on the way out)

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Christmas 2025 is over. But this tree still has a few good years left.

The year 2025 began–well, I can’t recall how the year began—it now seems too long ago. Let’s just say, the year began sometime in January. I remember almost nothing about the month except two things. A sad memorial for my brother, who brought so much joy to me during his life. And a day of celebrating Jerry’s birthday at Olive Garden. “Would you like more soup?” a server asked. Oh, no thank you, I say politely. “Oh, but it’s endless, I’ll bring you more, and more, and how about more breadsticks?” I recall not feeling well after we left. read more

Seven Marketing Tricks That Need To End

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1. So Rich You Look Poor

Who thought to take a pair of jeans, rip gaping holes at the knees with lots of dangling threads and sell the jeans at ridiculous prices? Celebrities, the very rich ones, like to be seen wearing jeans with raggedy holes. I remember a time when people who wore jeans with holes carried tin cups and asked us if we could spare some change. Not anymore. You need to be quite wealthy to wear jeans with ripped holes in the knees. Don’t think you can gash holes in your Kirkland jeans from Costco. You have to have a designer label and have paid well over one-hundred dollars for your holey jeans to be authentic. read more

Serious Writer Anxiety

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In 2008, or maybe 2007, the instructor at a writing workshop I attended, said, “You’re not a serious writer unless you’re on Facebook.” Serious writers, she continued, need to make themselves more visible to potential readers.

I wanted to be serious about writing, so I signed up for Facebook.

On Facebook, people I barely knew wanted to be my friend. Who are you again? Confirm. Friends forever.

My new friends posted their vacation pictures on the sands of Waikiki or hiking in the woods. Pictures of smiling kids with the ocean or beautiful forest in the background lit up the screen. Some friends posted pictures of whatever they had prepared for dinner. read more