writing life

Over the course of my life, the lyrics to one of Kenny Rogers’s hit songs, “The Gambler,” often pops into my mind when challenges arise. And, lately, the chorus to that song has played on repeat in my head: “You got to know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em, know when to walk away, know when to run.” Walking away isn’t always easy. It’s downright freakin’ hard. But when you do what’s right, it can change your life. [Read more…] about Do What’s Right

It isn’t always clear…getting to the heart of your why. Because maybe it isn’t even your why. Unbeknownst to you (or perhaps you do realize), you’re still trying to live up to other people’s expectations. Voluntarily or not, you’ve let go of your dreams, your ambitions, your raison d’être. And now it feels like you’re living in the shadows—you’re living everybody else’s life but your own. Welcome to my world. [Read more…] about Why

Sometimes the grey, wintry days, like today, drain my energy. Left feeling lethargic and somewhat foggy, the fight for motivation is on. Because doing any focused task is hard. And that’s the moment when I know I must just hold on. [Read more…] about Just Hold On

It was ‘late’ when I realized I wanted to be a writer, and then it took more time to act on that realization. Because it wasn’t that I didn’t know what it meant to be a writer. I didn’t know what it took to be a writer. And when I imagined what a writing life looked like, I immediately thought about Stephen King, Maya Angelou, Margaret Atwood, and Iris Murdoch (among others). These writers defined writing because they were successful. It took me a while to understand what they gave to reach the pinnacle of their careers: commitment. [Read more…] about Commitment

When I think about becoming relentless, a lot of different things come to mind. And when I look for a definition, I often find myself returning to Tim Grover’s book, Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable. In it, he asks this question: “What would it feel like to just let go of all the external pressure and expectations and just be yourself?¹  [Read more…] about Be Yourself

1. Grover, T. (2013). Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable, New York, Scribner, p. 78–79. [↩]