Have Your Cake (And Eat It, Too) With Social Media

Have Your Cake (And Eat It, Too) With Social Media

Outside of social media, would you walk up to people you don’t know while grocery shopping and say, “I love your shirt.” Here’s what I ate for breakfast.” I traveled to Paris too!” “I’m reading this book now. What are you reading?” You wouldn’t. And yet that is what you essentially do on social media…. Read more »

Create a Happy and Healthy Writing Life

Create a Happy and Healthy Writing Life

Writer wellness is a journey, not a goal. It is an attainable path for a sustainable writing routine that is built in small ways of taking care of yourself. I teach at an adaptive sports and fitness center. I wake up every day with the purpose of making Tai Chi possible for anyone in any… Read more »

Grow Your Writing with the Wood Energy of Spring

Grow Your Writing with the Wood Energy of Spring

Spring is the season of growth, of buds turning into leaves, of new plants emerging from the frozen ground. The same is true of creativity, according to the Five Element Theory of Chinese Traditional Medicine. After quiet reflection during the water energy of winter, spring is the time to transform the ideas that were nourished… Read more »

Use Water’s Superpower of Creative Flow in Winter

Use Water’s Superpower of Creative Flow in Winter

I am always conflicted at the beginning of a new year. There is a frenetic energy to get moving on goals, set plans in motion, and return to work. This is invigorating for some people. But I want to retreat inward, listen quietly, go where my energy is leading me. At this time of year,… Read more »

Vanquishing Energy Vampires

Vanquishing Energy Vampires

Energy vampires are all around us. Whether we are writing at home or mingling in the outside world, certain people, settings, or practices can zap our mojo. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Here are three common vampires and ways to vanquish them. Casper-the-Friendly-Ghost Kind of Vampire These are well-meaning people who ask… Read more »

The Right Lighting for Your Writing Life

The Right Lighting for Your Writing Life

As I write this article, I am in the company of my two spider plants. They live in a corner where they get some light from the overhead tape LEDs when I work during the day. My office does not have a window for them to receive direct daylight. They are surviving but not necessarily… Read more »

hygge

Bring Coziness to Winter Writing with Hygge

In the winter months, it can be a challenge to find the motivation to write. The landscape in many places has little variation in a monochromatic palette of grays and whites. It is hard to get out of bed before the sun rises to get in some quality writing time. But the joyful practice of… Read more »

team awesome thanksgiving post

Team Awesome Thanksgiving Post

Hey y’all. Lori here. As many of our readers know, today is American Thanksgiving. Many families take a turn going around the table and everyone says what they are thankful for. Fortunately, my family does not do this because I find the answers typical, saccharine, and not very sincere when you compare them to words… Read more »

your mental health

Be Like a Tree for Your Mental Health

What have you done recently to nourish your mental health? In fall, trees slow down in preparation for taking time for rest. They stop producing chlorophyll and drop their leaves, knowing there will not be enough sunlight to create the chemical reactions for the sugars they need. Trees are smarter than we are as humans…. Read more »