Voting For Hope

I am a mother. I am a teacher. I am a Christian. Each of these identities, both individually and combined, means that hope is an essential part of who I am as a person. You cannot carry life beneath your heart for nine months and agree to nurture it for the remainder of your life…

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My #OLW for 2019 is Connect

Finding one little word (#OLW) to guide my year is usually a challenge for me. Some years it has been an epic challenge. My life is no less of a mess than previous years (see 2018: Question, 2017: Light, 2016: Cool, and 2015: Simplicity), but recently I have been putting a lot of thought into my Spring Semester teaching plans…

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My #OLW for 2018 is Question

I have made no secret of my love for the one little word (#OLW) concept rather than focusing on a New Year’s Resolution. I find tremendous comfort choosing a focus word to guide me. However, every year I struggle greatly with the choice of the right word. Perhaps because my life is such a mess.…

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Freewriting May Seem Crazy, 2 Reasons You Should Do It Anyway

“Freewriting may seem crazy but actually it makes simple sense,” Peter Elbow notes in Writing Without Teachers. Freewriting does make sense, because every piece of writing advice I have ever received boils down to one simple rule: you need to write to become a better writer. Freewriting is one of the simplest, and yet most…

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The Art and Practice of Flanerie

I am in the midst of preparing my course materials for a writing class I will teach in Scotland next summer through the Cooperative Center for Study Abroad (CCSA). The focus of the class will be the art and practice of flanerie. I believe this is an ideal framework for a group of writers who…

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A Poem A Day

I’ve written before that signing up for the Academy of American Poets Poem-A-Day was one of the best things I could do for myself as someone still working their way to a place where she might be able to call herself a poet (still not there!). The poems themselves are such an eclectic selection of older works and…

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Challenge Yourself

One of the things I constantly stress with my students is to move outside their comfort zone. It is only outside our comfort zones that we learn and grow — evolve if you will. While this is important for students, it is equally important for the rest of us. When was the last time you…

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Self-Healing With Writing Therapy

Life is hard and sometimes it really knocks us down. Hard. So hard we can’t get up. We can’t crawl. All we can do is curl into the fetal position and cry. Sometimes we are so exhausted and beaten we can’t even cry. For some people it is one big thing, one traumatic event or…

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Writers Must Write

If you want to be a writer then you must write. If you want to be a better writer then you must write. If you want to be a more successful writer then you must write. That is the one simple incontrovertible truth of writing. Writers must write. Writing is a habit that must be…

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You need more poetry in your life

You need more poetry in your life. I was sharply reminded of this epic truth this weekend when I was cleaning. I hate cleaning and often listen to NPR podcasts to make unpalatable tasks more bearable. As fate would have it, the podcast I chose was new to me although after this weekend’s binge I…

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3 Reasons For Writing With Others

June was a busy month for me professionally, but I still wrote a fair amount of poetry. This is due, in part, to the fact that my professional responsibilities meant leading the Morehead Writing Project’s Online Summer Institute – so I wrote and shared along with my students. However, it is also due to the…

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The Importance of Creative Play

An online community has been challenging me to play more this summer and it has reminded me how important creative play can be for our mental well-being. I think physical play is important, but there is something about letting our creative juices flow that makes us feel more alive and removes (or at least reduces)…

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