Tweet Lately, everything seems to be coming to the forefront. We can no longer stay silent and hidden, sweeping our historical systemic racism under the rug. There are people in power triggering all of our old wounds, inciting violence, but also causing us to reflect and revisit the ways we’ve been hurting each other. Racism is a fact of life. The pandemic is a reality of our new life. Writing is a tool that can be used to make changes. But how do we write and create when everything in the world is overwhelming right now? I listened to an…
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Tweet Do you know the mirage? The place that looks like a gorgeous lake, but is really a glorified puddle? This is everything we post on social media-the fancy writer gig, our new book, and all the writer activities we’re apart of. It’s all nice and sparkling. Everyone watching wants to jump right in. The problem with mirages is that they’re not real. Perhaps, all of that is true. But it puts observers on the outside, it separates us, and makes us feel alone. If you pan out from the image, you’d see that we’re all watching the mirage-that vast…
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Tweet Hi there. It’s been months. I’m not sure if anyone is still reading this, but if you are, welcome. I got my graduate degree in counseling psychology years ago. But for the last decade, I’ve been working as a writer. The more I wrote, the more writing seemed to circle back to the same themes of health, wellness and spirituality. My tagline once was I used to be a therapist now I counsel others on the written word. That’s what I want to do here. Offer advice for writers looking for help dealing with all the negative emotions that…
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Tweet Guest post by: Tara Mandarano I’m staring at the stain-glass tower on the church outside my bedroom window when my five-year-old daughter bursts in. It’s after school, post after care, and I am exactly where she so often finds me: lying in bed, curled up with pillows, painkillers and my rose-gold computer, writing. She is my muse and my teacher, challenging and charming at the same time, and I have been chronicling our lives together for over three years now. It’s not easy putting your private life out there for public consumption, but there is no better way for…
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Tweet I’m going to confess something I’ve never told another soul, except my husband. My entrance into being a columnist for The Writer magazine happened in a weird, kind of embarrassing and surprising way. My gateway wasn’t my writing. It was through cartooning. I’m not a cartoonist, as you can see in the cartoon I submitted below. Here are a few reasons why I think I wasn’t jilted for my lack of obvious talent. The editor at the time was kind and open to receiving cartoon submission from a non-illustrator. I was persistent. In fact, I didn’t stop at that first…
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Tweet The deeper you get into your work, the harder it is to separate your self from what you’re working on. You’ll notice that the more passionate, the more involved you are, the more the deep dark stuff of your unconscious seeps out. It’s easier to live life on the surface. That way when rejection happens, it doesn’t hurt as much. You failed, but you didn’t care anyway. But what happens when what you’re failing at means the world to you? It hits at your core, purpose, and sense of self-worth. If you’re writing about a company, it stings a…
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Tweet I had an amazing week at Miraval spa for my birthday. I got everything I wanted and more. One of the surprising gifts I left with, however, was a unplanned, unintentional lesson in marketing. During one of the lovely event dinners, I was introduced to two memorable people. One was the host, and the other was a fellow guest. While the topic was communication in digital world, I was most intrigued by their marketing styles. Both were clearly successful and accomplished. Both shared relevant information that was helpful for everyone at the table. But I left with a desire…
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Tweet If you’re suffering through a field of rejections, keep reading… It took awhile, but eventually I found a pace, my zone, an ability to actually push through my anxiety and create articles I was proud of. But more importantly, got paid for. That was a great feeling, but I didn’t sit in my laurels for long before I had a desire to venture outside my comfort zone and towards the writing I dreamed of creating. Writing for children. Writing personal essays. But in the slog of writing green, I’m gaining a ton of rejections, which can be demoralizing to say the…
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Tweet I often tell friends it’s harder and better than people say. I was talking about parenting, but it also applies to writing. Last night, my two-year old son was up multiple times with a nervously high fever. When your baby’s sick, everything else goes out the window. But on a day to day basis, there’s teething, tantrums and toddler troublemaking. There’s always reasons to not write especially when you have a child pulling at your pants. And real, understandable, legitimate reasons too. Like sleep. I caught this post on Writing & Parenting in my Twitter feed today, and it…
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Tweet I had it again. It’s a reoccurring dream where I’m still in high school. The dream haunts me because I’m stuck there, unable to take the necessary courses and get the required grades to move on. Although the situation is different, the emotion is the same. FEAR. It’s the emotion that prevents me from taking the next step. This year embarks a new journey for me. I’m still writing, but I decided to reach outside of my comfort zone and teach workshops. Teaching stress management workshops has been my dream for almost as long as I’ve wanted to be a…