One of my best friends is a phenomenal graphic designer. Recently, she created an entire custom suite of invitation materials for her own wedding: save the date cards, maps, inserts, you name it – and we’re not talking pick a photo and order from Vistaprint here; I mean real, honest, beautiful, unique designs. Throughout the process, she kept sending me drafts asking, “Don’t you think this looks bad? Doesn’t it look so homegrown? It’s so simple it must look dumb – won’t every

Often times, when we lose someone special to us, we feel despondent or distressed. Sometimes the only way to describe this feeling is like there’s a hole left in the universe: you know for certain that this person’s qualities can never be replaced by all the rest of humanity. Never, in any combination, will anyone be able to replicate their personality, or talent, or humor, or faith…or anything about them at all. What they had to offer is gone. I experienced this feeling rece

You can still make beautiful things in imperfect places. I come from a family of green thumbs. My parents keep a greenhouse, two porches, and a room full of indoor/outdoor plants; my Nana’s greenhouse, gardens, and orchards were constantly producing something edible and/or beautiful; and I have foggy toddler memories of wandering through my Great Mama’s flower gardens, which seemed to me like fantasy lands in bloom. Last fall, my Dad gave me an African violet plant he grew fr

Say goodbye to wasted time, shoddy work...and maybe even writer's block! Last week I had a piece of creative writing work to do, but I was just not feeling it. Some of my editing is highly technical and structured, but in other cases I have a lot of creative freedom to rewrite a text. I love this type of work, and it usually ends up being some of my favorite copy! But I need to be in the right frame of mind to complete it; otherwise, I end up either wasting time or doing work

Get ready for the New Year by practicing these writing disciplines now If you’ve set any sort of writing goal for yourself, odds are it has been sitting on the back burner for a while as you’ve been trying to find the time, energy, or commitment to get it done…or even just started. Today I want to offer some quick tips that will help you find all three of these key factors, and give you the motivation to start out strong in 2017! 1. Set Aside Time This one sounds simple, ri