Write with TLC

Let's talk about golf... I first attempted to learn to play golf many years ago. It didn't go well. Every time I went I left feeling more frustrated than the last time. I compared myself to everyone else and worried about what everyone else was thinking about my attempts. It wasn't fun. In fact, I hated every minute of it yet something about it also intrigued me. Several years later, I was writing a character who played golf in a book as yet unfinished. I went to write a scene and realized I didn't know enough about the game to write it, so I signed up for golf lessons. I blogged about those lessons on a different version of this blog. The lessons were empowering and invigorating. I decided I enjoyed hitting the ball. That was something, right? Eventually, I took those lessons onto a golf course, starting with a 3 par course and playing it until it started to feel too easy. Then I started playing on a 4 par course. That feels about right. It still challenges m...

The view as I return home from a walk. I love to take a walk! Getting outside, feeling the sun, the wind, even the rain on my face lifts my spirits almost every single time. I try to take a walk, even if it's only 10 minutes, at least twice a week. Walking is a simple activity that can do so much for us. There are multiple reasons I take a walk and none of them have a single thing to do with my weight or my appearance. Clear my head. Sometimes when I've been working for hours on multiple projects, a quick walk helps to clear my thoughts. It feels almost like a moving meditation that also gets my heart pumping and my limbs moving. When I'm feeling overwhelmed by everything I need to do in a day, a quick walk often makes that task list seem much less daunting. When I clear my head, it's easier to get back to work. Spend time with a friend. I walk with a friend one day a week, almost every week. After those walks I always feel more connected and more focus...

I first tried yoga in 1998 after watching Madonna discuss her yoga practice with Oprah while promoting her awesome album, Ray of Light . I was intrigued, so I bought a couple of VHS tapes of yoga routines and tried it. I struggled at first but felt drawn back to the routines time and again.  At first I only practiced once a week. Then I added a second yoga practice each week. Before long, I started looking forward to yoga days because I loved the way I felt after I finished. Today I mostly practice routines on Do Yoga with Me , but I still own a DVD of the first yoga routine that hooked me, Ali McGraw: Mind &Body , which remains one of my all-time favorite routines. Eventually, yoga became my primary form of exercise.  I still love the way I feel when I finish a yoga routine and have grown to enjoy the practice itself - well, at least most days. I love it when I push past that last edge to move into a pose I've never been able to do. As much as I enjoy dancing an...

Today I'm guest blogging on Fifty Authors from Fifty States. I wrote a bit about hiking in Oregon. This summer we spent several Saturdays hiking places within a couple hours drive from our house. I touched on a few of them as well as on how the hikes reminded me how much I used to enjoy being in the woods... Check it out at Fifty Authors from Fifty States .

Veil I use for belly dance class - made by Jani K. Fisher This week my belly dance class reminded me of the importance of dancing to life's rhythm. I went to dance class after a day that didn't go particularly well. I wasn't in a good mood. Most of my day just hadn't gone to plan and that ended up affecting not only my day but my husband's adding stress to both of our days. I felt guilty for leaving him to clean up my mistake while I went to dance. I also thought I needed to be placing my attention on several other projects that needed work. My day got completely sidetracked by the aforementioned mistake that I tried to fix myself. I ended up almost in tears before asking for my husband's help with it. I was pushing against my life all day long instead of embracing it. That just created more problems. I wanted to be "better" than I was being. I wanted to accomplish what I wasn't accomplishing. I wanted my attention on too many thin...

Recently, I posted the following on Writers on the Move as my workout "status" for the day: Yoga felt really great this morning!! Really great!! My focus was on target, and I even felt some negativity I didn't even know I was holding inside drain away.... And I thought I'd already dealt with those hurt feelings!! Wow!! I really didn't think much about it until Jackie Dishner , one of the other membersof the group, commented: I've not experienced that kind of power yet. But I'd like to. I responded: You will, Jackie! This isn't my first experience with it. My first experience with it is kind of hard to put into words. It was incredibly powerful and changed my life or at least my perspective on life because it changed the way I viewed m yself and also those around me. BUT, and this is important, it can't be forced. That power comes when you need it and you're ready for it and not a minute before. Just be patient with yourself and with y...

Confession: I hate workout groups. There I said it. I don't particularly like to work out in front of other people. I don't do classes. I don't go to the gym. I don't find groups of strangers to work out with. I guess I don't want other people to see me hot and sweaty and stumbling and messing up. I'm not athletic. Never have been. Working out with other people makes me keenly aware of this to the point of becoming self conscious. I don't like being accountable to other people for my workouts. I fear judgment if I slack off. I fear criticism that I'm not doing the "right" workout or the exercises the "right" way. I've tried many different workouts. I hate running. Let me make sure you understand. I despise running. You can't make me do it. Not today. Not tomorrow. Not ever. Don't even go there. Now, for those who enjoy running, more power to you. Keep at it and enjoy. I know many people who enjoy it. Don't try to c...