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

Learn to silence any voices that say you can't, shouldn't, or never will. I saw an acquaintance at the gym yesterday who asked me how business was going. “I’m swamped!” I vented immediately. “A ton of projects came in right at the new year.” “Wow,” she said flatly, turning to walk away. “Sounds stressful. Good luck!” Later, I revisited the interaction in my head. Instead of having a nice conversation together, I said the first negative thing that came to mind, which shifted t

I hear from writers all the time who say that they’re just waiting for their next big piece of inspiration to come along before they start putting words on paper again. My question back to them is: What is this inspiration going to look like? Do you even know what you’re waiting for, or is this an excuse to not start writing anything, because you’re afraid of what the final product might be? Today I have a list of places to look for writing inspiration, in case you’re one of

Start cultivating a belief that what you have to say is important. Before I became a professional writing coach, I spent some time working as a middle school English teacher. During this time in my career, I realized I definitely had a knack for helping people understand confusing information. I also found out I was a perfectionist. I think I had always known this on some level, but it had never manifested itself as a problem before. In retrospect, I am positive this is becau