writing

who am i

~ onehopefulyear ~ 3 Comments

Who am I today?

Which woman will I be today?

Maybe I’m the woman who faithfully drinks her water, walks the recommended steps, and picks up her book instead of her phone.

Maybe I’m the woman who naps. Or the woman who cries unexpectedly. The woman who loves to bake, aspires to paint watercolors, and reads poetry.

I know I’m the woman who loves deeply, bruises easily, and fears being faulted – for anything – anything at all.

It’s quite likely I’ll be the woman who never quite reaches her goals, who always just misses the mark, who never quite meets the impossibly high expectations she holds for herself.

She often shows up.

But I’ll try not to be the woman who complains. Who criticizes. Who’s impatient.

Instead, I’d like to be the woman who’s grateful. Humble. Hopeful.

And kind.

For sure and certain, today at least, I’m the woman who writes.

catching my breath

~ onehopefulyear ~ 2 Comments

look for me

gathering my thoughts

somewhere on a shore,

under a tree,

resting quietly

after climbing the mountain of this year

you’ll find me out in the garden

watering hope

or plucking it fresh-grown

after nearly a year of dormancy

I’ll not so much measure time, as I’ll breathe it

Inhaling and exhaling my way through summer

catching my breath

holding myself still and

celebrating the feeling of full lungs

I’ll hope for sunshine

and revel in the nourishment of rain

one hopeful day

after another

time is of the essence

~ onehopefulyear ~ 4 Comments
Nana’s watch

spend time. save time. waste time.

time management.

take your time. make time.

me time. free time.

lifetime.

too much time. never enough time. need more time.

time alone.

time flies. time stood still.

on time. just in time. in the nick of time.

daytime. playtime. nighttime. bedtime.

timeframe. timeline. daylight savings time.

springtime!

quiet time.

full time. part time. sometimes. one time. all of the time.

time after time.

pastime. pass the time.

next time.

once upon a time.

Word play. One of my favorite ways to write. This word play was inspired, obviously, by the word TIME. Start with any word. Write with that word as the focus. See where your writing takes you. Play around. Move this. Change that. Add. Delete. Do-si-do one word with another.

Stop when you have nothing more to say.

Enjoy! Or should I say … have a good time!

and so

~ onehopefulyear ~ 2 Comments

I have missed writing.

The scratch of my pen on paper. My cross-outs and do-overs. Arrows moving lines I’ve written up or down. Reading aloud to my husband before I hit publish.

Writing quiets the clamoring, broken, and frightening world around me. Almost and only when writing am I able to hear myself think.

I have only recently connected dreaming with doing. Sometimes doing must be scheduled – in pen – as are doctor appointments, duties, dates, and dusting. Making time for what matters requires its own kind of focus, a conscious relocation from the bottom of the list to the top.

There’s need for determination. Hope. An awareness that what feeds my soul is at least as important as what I feed my body.

And so I’m writing again.

It’s been scheduled.