My To Do list for today has 32 items on it. This is ridiculous. I know there is no way all 32 items will get done today. I also know that I will spend an unreasonable amount of time fretting about the items that will not get done today.
If I really power through and don’t lose my focus too often, I might get 12 of those items done. Maybe. But many days I spend more energy figuring out HOW I will get things done, more energy stressing about getting things done, than actually getting things done.
Worrying plays a big role in the amount of stress I carry around. I worry about whether the cancer will come back, I worry about the well being of my child, I worry about how we will pay the rent. But worrying only increases the amount of stress that I carry, and it does nothing to help solve the problem. Sometimes I think I’m just worried and stressed because I have become accustomed to being worried and stressed. (more…)
Every once in a while I get the opportunity to do my work at a coffee shop, my favorite place to settle in and get some writing done.
My wallet on the table? That is strategically placed. It’s holding the cord into the computer. That one spot seems to be the first thing to fail on laptop computers. Raise your hand if you’ve ever had to MacGuyver a powercord fix on your laptop.
Coffee shops aren’t just for getting work done; they are wonderful places to do some people watching. The diversity on Capitol Hill makes it one of my favorite places for people watching. I just watched two girls who, from such different outward appearances, looked like they might never otherwise interact come together to rescue a baby bird that fell from it’s nest.
And don’t forget the coffee. That’s really why I’m here.
As always, all thoughts and opinions are entirely my own.
I had braces as a kid, and it wasn’t pretty. As if being twelve wasn’t awkward enough, I had braces for years, and they came with headgear.
My dad used to joke about using me to improve the TV’s reception.
Up until the point my braces were installed, I was flourishing as a novice clarinetist. I was in fifth grade, but had worked my way up to second chair in the sixth grade band. Then after my braces were installed, the orthodontist told my mom I would have to stop playing the clarinet. I was not happy.
To make things worse, all those wires and brackets ripped the insides of my cheeks to shreds, and the headgear gave me tear-inducing headaches. (more…)
I’ve been struggling with writers’ block lately, and it’s maddening. It’s time to do something about it, so I did a round up of some of my favorite sources for blog prompts.
Kristen Kalp’s blog Brand Camp is full of brilliant and uplifting advice for bloggers and other social media professionals. Her post how to get out of a blogging rut was just what I needed to read. It includes 10 post ideas as well as other steps to recharging the blog, and reclaiming that spark.
That’s more than 1048 prompts right there, although I imagine there might be a few repeats among those lists. If that wasn’t enough, Melissa Culbertson from Blog Clarity (you might remember that as momcomm) serves up the secret to a gazillion blog post ideas. It’s hard to argue with a gazillion.
And last but not least, one of my favorite stops for blogging inspiration is the writing prompts database at Mama’s Losin’ It.
The app serves up the prompts one at a time. If you don’t like the one displayed, click the inspiration button and it will serve up another. You could sit and click that button all day and not run out of inspiration.
Kathy takes the challenge up a notch by hosting a weekly writing workshop at Mama’s Losin It. She provides 5 prompts for the week. Pick one, write up a post on your blog, and on Thursday, link it up to share and read what others wrote.
No more excuses. It’s time to get writing.
Feel free to share your favorite writing prompts in the comments below.
My Cancer Story is a collection of my blog posts and articles about my cancer experience over the years. I decided to pull them all together into one place to make them easy to find.
This turned out to be a much bigger projected than I expected. I’ve cataloged more than thirty here so far, and there are many more to add.
This is a work in progress. I will continue adding the posts already completed as well as the new posts to come, so check back from time to time. Tags are coming soon to allow for searching by topic.
It has been an eye opening exercise to go back through these posts and see how my attitude, perspective, writing style, and my life in general have all evolved over time.
My hope is that these pieces will provide someone with cancer some measure of hope, comfort, and useful information to help them along this difficult road. Even if you don’t have cancer, you just might find this story interesting.
We hold on to each other, we revel in memories, and we pop a bottle of champagne to toast your memory while flipping cancer the bird. We embrace those who are still with us, and carry forward the memories of those who have gone before us.
I look forward to the Ultimate Blog Party every year. I love making new connections, and I make a few new friends each time around.
I started my first blog in 2001, and this one has been going since 2004. That’s a decade. It’s hard, at times, not to compare myself to the celebrity bloggers, and wonder why I haven’t hit the big time. But their stories are not mine, and my story is not theirs.
So, what is my story?
The answer to that question is continuously evolving. Right now, I am the mother of a 5 year old, wife of a 38 year old, former cancer patient in the midst of reconstruction, and a full-time college student who will, if everything goes right and I actually pass these classes, graduate in 6 weeks with a Bachelors degree in social sciences.
Blogging hasn’t been my top priority lately.
But I love blogging. I cherish the friendships I made through this medium. I cherish the product, this collection of stories, that resulted from these years at this blog. I didn’t start out with this intent, but when the reality of my own mortality was shoved in my face, I was comforted with the knowledge that I had at least something of myself to leave behind for my then infant daughter. I don’t plan on dying any time soon, but that idea stays with me as I write. So in the 4 years since my cancer diagnosis, this blog has become something more. It is a love letter, to my daughter, to my husband, my friends, the world, to life itself.
Want to know more?
Here are a few posts to get you started:
Cancerversary – thoughts on the anniversary of my cancer diagnosis, and my life right now.
Living in the Gap – “We don’t get practice time, and then go out and live our lives after we’ve perfected ourselves. We go out and try things, see if they work, we fall down, we get up, we embarrass ourselves, we don’t die of embarrassment – but we don’t get to practice life without an audience.”
Just Breathe – “As long as you have breath, you have this moment.”
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