Fresh Start
Hello again! I’m restarting my blog after its three-year hiatus, during which I’ve been doing a lot of quiet writing and non-quiet raising of little kids. (The twins are now five, and we’ve got a new baby who’s nine months old—all girls, and all very loud!) I’ve also been doing a lot of learning and growing up.
I've given my blog a new look and new name, and I've taken down all my previous posts, because it feels like they were written by another person, I've changed so much! (Later: I added back a handful that I still like.) I'm looking forward to reconnecting with you, my long-lost friends and readers, and making new connections too.
In my writing life, I’ve been focusing on my novel, but also dabbling with songs, children’s stories, and a few other things. Because I don’t currently have any other online presence, and because I’ve been thinking about submitting some of my writings for representation/publication, my main and practical purpose for restarting my blog is to create an online home base for myself as a writer.
But my secondary, personal purpose is to enjoy sharing some of the poems I’ve written in my ~daily “free write” practice, when I sit down and basically just write whatever I feel like writing. Most of the time, what comes out are little verses of concepts I’ve been thinking about and trying to learn. It might be that no one but me can appreciate them; but I want to try sharing one per week in case someone else out there enjoys them, and because speaking my truth is one of the things I’m "studying." I intend to keep other words limited (after this post) and just let the poems speak for themselves, because I’m also studying quietness in the sense of less ego-narrative and fewer words. (I may make occasional exceptions to rave about books I've been reading and loving.)
Another main thing I’ve been studying is unconditional acceptance of whatever my reality is, moment by moment. I’ve come to see life as a vast, wild river, in which I can either flail about while trying to steer the way I want to go, or just relax and ride the current. Put a different way, I can either struggle and be tossed about by the churning waters, or I can sit on my rock of impartial awareness and stay still, just watching, whatever the river brings. Hence, my blog’s new name. And here's a first little poem-verse to share, with that in mind.
Note to Stressed-out Self
It’s not about winning,
getting everything done,
meeting everyone’s needs,
or having what I want—
give all of that up.
Just be on the ride,
however it feels,
in the river of life.
