Tag Archives: The Writing Process

Holy Wisdom Writing Retreat: Meditations & Musings

On Saturday, August 9, I attended a day-long, silent writing retreat with 15 other writers. It was an extremely hot and humid summer day, spent indoors, except for breaks outdoors in the restored prairie, writing silently inside the meditative environs of the Holy Wisdom Monastery.

On Friday, the day before the retreat, it seemed that my registration from two weeks earlier may not have been confirmed. A work colleague, Becca, shared the writing retreat information with me. When I posted my weekly Facebook TGIF Update, I acknowledged that my original plan to attend the retreat wouldn’t happen. I let it go.

Instead, I decided to work at home in the writing alcove of my hideout, a 645 square foot apartment, where I live alone. Gratefully, later in the day, I learned that there were a couple of cancellations, and the retreat facilitator confirmed my attendance. Grateful. Things change! Continue reading

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Procrastination Station: Dysfunction Junction

‘‘You can’t just turn on creativity like a faucet. You have to be in the right mood. 
What mood is that?
Last-minute panic.”
― Bill Watterson (Calvin & Hobbes)

“I never put off till tomorrow what I can possibly do – the day after.” ― Oscar Wilde

Hat Tip to Schoolhouse Rock

First, a brief backstory about the origin of one of my nicknames. We all inherit nicknames, beginning with our families of origin, our classmates in school, friends and coworkers, and endearments (or, not!) from our significant others.  A nickname assigned to me early in my marriage by my husband Frank and his brother Dennis in the early 1970’s was inspired by two things, the first a song from Schoolhouse Rock, a series which aired on ABC from 1973 to 1975 described as, “animated shorts adapting the multiplication tables to songs written by Bob Dorough; Dorough also performed most of the songs.”  Multiplication Rock was soon followed by Grammar Rock. My nickname was Lolly Keebler inspired by the song, Lolly, Lolly, Lolly, Get Your Adverbs Here and my love of cookies and milk. Continue reading

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