Words of Redemption

Here I am again.
Starting another empty volume.
Sitting, drinking coffee.
Wondering what will become of my life.
- July 19, 2003

This post is part 2 in a series entitled Symbols of Redemption. For part 1, click here. For part 2, click here.
On July 19, 2003, I began my eleventh journal with the words above.
“Here I am again.”
They were [...]

Ever wonder what I look like while writing for two hours each morning?
No? Well never-mind that. Check it.
A few days ago, Carlos at Ragamuffin Soul posted a time-lapse video of his work-day. Check it out if you haven’t already. He does some great videos.
After seeing the video, I noticed that Carlos used a program called [...]

So I have another post up on the Compassion blog. It’s called Maybe Next Time, a Smile, and you can find it here. An excerpt:

I stood in the courtyard playground of that child development center in Bonao, hours outside of Santo Domingo and less than a day after arriving in the Dominican Republic (DR), and [...]

I have journals. Lots of them. Mostly in a pile on top of the bookcase in my office.
Of course, you already know I have journals. I’m certain I’ve mentioned this before.
But what you don’t know is that none of these journals are full. Except for one. But we’ll get [...]

A little under two weeks ago, I wrote about rejection. Mostly around a rejection notice for a short story I’d received the day before. The real theme of the post, I suppose, was to accept rejection, learn from it, and move on. To not be defined by it.
Looking back on that now as a wiser, [...]

Want this button?

It’s time once again for Pensieve’s Poetic License, a monthly poetry carnival to stretch the mind and hone that poetic voice in all of us. This is my third month of participation and, I must say, I absolutely love that Robin does this. If you don’t already, [...]

So, a little over a month ago, I submitted my first short story for publication. It wasn’t the first thing I’ve ever submitted, but I don’t really count getting a couple of Magnetic Poems1 published in The National Library of Poetry when I was in High School as “real.” If you have ever heard of [...]

“I believe that the so-called “writing block” is a product of some kind of disproportion between your standards and your performance… One should lower his standards until there is no felt threshold to go over in writing. It’s easy to write. You just shouldn’t have standards that inhibit you from writing… I [...]

In my post from yesterday, Heather and L shared their thoughts on why they write. L’s comment in particular inspired me to write this follow-up. She says:
I write to clear my head or work out my mind. I write because I have something that I have to let out of me. I write because I [...]

Is it this?
“Fortune and Glory” – Short Round
I hope not, but I suppose for more than a few people it is one or both of those things. I’ve found myself driven to hope and dream for both before. There’s an oft-referenced statistic that claims 80% of Americans believe that one day they will write a [...]