Growing despite deep wounds...
Morning Miles: Natureland County Park 5.15.13
Yesterday I woke with a stiff back and sore knee. The 5 miles I walked the day before for the beginning of my Morning Miles weren't kind to my body. If I just keep moving, though, I know I'll work out the muscle cramps and sore joints. Staying sedentary only seems to make things worse. I also realize I should have prepared myself a little more--but really, I thought I was ready. I've been sporadically walking approximately 2 miles every other day before officially starting this project.
Determined to push through the pain, […]
With each step I clear the chaos in my mind, reconnect to my body, and come back to myself...
Compelled Towards the Bridge : Photo taken by Darcey Rojas 5-14-13
Morning Miles
I’ll just keep walking, regardless of my “obligations” because this is what I need to do today to come back to myself.
(from my journal - August 2011)
Sometimes that is all I can do.
I wake up, and once the kids are off to school or I have a moment to slip away from everything that is begging for my attention—I walk.
I put one foot in front of the other until I feel strong enough to keep going. I breathe in the fresh air, […]
The moment when we decide to make a dramatic shift with our lives...
Zicatela Beach, Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, Mexico - December 2010
Have You Had Your Harajuku Moment?
“Harajuku Moment = the moment when we decide to make a dramatic shift with our lives to improve our health, diet, fitness goals and mental stability.”
~ Tim Ferriss, author of The 4 Hour Work Week
When I first read this quote, I thought, “I’ve had several of those!” But for some reason, the decision to change never really stuck until my body broke. It wasn’t until I was lying in bed with a herniated disc, unable to walk, sit, or stand—consumed by depression […]
Reflecting on Mother's Day and the gift of forgiveness...
My mother and I on a Florida vacation in 1995, a year before I "divorced" her.
After writing my last post about the complicated layers of Mother’s Day, I felt compelled to write another that talked about forgiveness. I even intended to post that article this weekend as a gift in honor of my deceased mother this Mother’s Day. But I couldn’t do it. Something bothered me after writing it and sending it off for feedback to my writing coach, Linda Joy Myers.
It’s just not as simple as that, I thought to myself. While I do feel forgiveness towards […]
My struggle to navigate the complicated emotions that surface on Mother's Day
My Mother: Laura Redner 1956 - 2004
For those of us who have had tumultuous relationships with our mothers over the years, the date on the calendar marked Mother’s Day can be an occasion filled with complicated emotions. It may bring up feelings of resentment and guilt, loss and abandonment, countermarked with the greeting card industry’s idea that you should be overflowing with love and gratitude for all your “mother” has done to bring you into this world—because of course without her—you wouldn’t be here.
Add on the probability that you may be a mother by now as well—and you […]
Putting myself out there, openly receiving feedback, and moving forward!
photo courtesy of tripadvisor.com
On Friday, April 12th, I attended the 24th Annual Writers Institute at the Concourse Hotel in beautiful downtown Madison, Wisconsin. A month prior to that, I paid my registration fees, and signed up to pitch my memoir to two different agents: Gordon Warnock and Marilyn Atlas. I then proceeded to have minor panic attacks up until the very moment I pitched on Friday at 3:24 pm, even though everyone assured me that I had nothing to worry about. Each time I panicked, I was told my story is timely, it deals with current events, it’s […]
Okay, so much for my "goals" that I shared with you last month.
It has been busy. And I have been living life in the interim: there was my son’s birthday, my 6th anniversary with my husband, a funeral, school shopping, garden harvesting and preserving, the county fair, our town’s small festival, getting the groundwork for my husband’s business going, and the adjustment of settling into a new work, fitness, school, and life schedule.
So I have no doubt that I have truly been busy…
And, I am grateful that I have been fully present in each moment of this […]
Do you find that you excel at procrastination? Are you prolific with ideas, but terrible with the follow through? Do you find yourself indulging in not so healthy behaviors rather than facing difficult emotions?
If you answered yes, then you may be sabotaging your success by repeatedly getting in your own way!
Yep, that's me. I just described exactly what I have been doing for the last two weeks.
I've hit that point in my writing where I have to face the truth, and it's not pretty. In fact, it's extremely upsetting. Rather than push forward to reach the place […]
Believing in myself and my first opportunity to participate in the Iowa Summer Writing Festival!
Believe that you have the power to manifest your dreams!
Allow yourself to do what you love...what sets you on fire!
