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Gratitude Journal #10
Apparently, you can train your brain to be happier by keeping a gratitude journal, so I am giving it a go. My goal is post about 100 things I am grateful for over the course of the year. (This should average out to just a little over 2/week.) However, I am going to try and stay away from the standard family/friends/pets. Please know I absolutely am grateful for my family, friends, and pets. I would not have made it through the past couple of year without each of them. But if I am trying to train myself to be happier, then I want to start recognizing the smaller things in…
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The Importance of Story
I found out yesterday that one of my favorite authors, Steven Brust, is helping put together a conference specifically on story this summer. I am super excited about Narrativity, and am working to put all my ducks in a row in order to go. Because story is important. Story is important to all writers, and most creative people out there. Story is not just important in fiction. It is important in non-fiction, including blog posts. It is important in game development, for video games, role playing games, board games. Story is what draws us in and keeps up coming back. Story is how we connect. Way back when I was…
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Gratitude Journal #9
Apparently, you can train your brain to be happier by keeping a gratitude journal, so I am giving it a go. My goal is post about 100 things I am grateful for over the course of the year. (This should average out to just a little over 2/week.) However, I am going to try and stay away from the standard family/friends/pets. Please know I absolutely am grateful for my family, friends, and pets. I would not have made it through the past couple of year without each of them. But if I am trying to train myself to be happier, then I want to start recognizing the smaller things in…
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The Nationwide College Admissions Scam
I work in higher education, so naturally, I have been following the recent bombshell of the indictments in the nationwide college admissions scam. But let me be very clear, the bombshell, at least for me, is that people are actually being indicted and charged. The history of higher education in this country is not a history of meritocracy. It is a history of the haves over the have nots. College education is expensive, and not generally considered part of public education, because it originally was not something that most, or even many, people were expected to get, need, or even want. It was something for the idle rich, someplace for…
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Gratitude Journal #8
Apparently, you can train your brain to be happier by keeping a gratitude journal, so I am giving it a go. My goal is post about 100 things I am grateful for over the course of the year. (This should average out to just a little over 2/week.) However, I am going to try and stay away from the standard family/friends/pets. Please know I absolutely am grateful for my family, friends, and pets. I would not have made it through the past couple of year without each of them. But if I am trying to train myself to be happier, then I want to start recognizing the smaller things in…
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Back at the Beginning – Writing & Accountability
One week ago today, I sat in a coffee shop with a group of friends, and we started an accountability group. This was originally pictured perhaps as a writing group in which accountability was a major factor, but in discussions it changed to simply being about having a group of people to help hold you accountable for the things you need to get done that might otherwise slip by the wayside. People in the group have various goals, from writing so many words (or in my case, blog posts) a week, to downsizing in advance of a move, to losing weight or eating healthier. I am, for now, sticking with…
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Gratitude Journal #7
Apparently, you can train your brain to be happier by keeping a gratitude journal, so I am giving it a go. My goal is post about 100 things I am grateful for over the course of the year. (This should average out to just a little over 2/week.) However, I am going to try and stay away from the standard family/friends/pets. Please know I absolutely am grateful for my family, friends, and pets. I would not have made it through the past couple of year without each of them. But if I am trying to train myself to be happier, then I want to start recognizing the smaller things in…
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100 Word Book Review – The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
A dystopian science fiction fantasy novel where the hero is an adult, an actual, middle-aged adult? Yes please. And not only is our hero a parent, she is a woman, a black woman. In fact, almost all of the characters have skin in varying shades of brown. Though to be honest, since much of The Fifth Season is written in second person, I did envision my middle-aged self in the heroine’s place. I finished the book wanting more. It is a great fantasy book with an intriguing dash of science fiction at the end. Looking forward to the second book.
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100 Word Book Review – Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
I often read books and think “I would love to hear this book read aloud”. With Brown Girl Dreaming, I read the book and thought “I would love to read this book aloud”. Maybe it is because the words on the page clearly indicate the book is a poem, or a series of poems, or maybe just because the language, the pacing, the rhythm was so perfect. I loved this book, and I really wished I had someone to read it to. It is the story of a brown girl and her dreams. Very simple, but also just about perfect.
