Discover Your Biggest Failing
“Which do you need to learn most: patience, compassion, gratitude, strength or vulnerability?” Oh no: what if I occasionally fail at all of these and occasionally master all of these? Does that mean I am master of nothing? Let me give you a peek into moments of failure and moments of mastery in a few of these realms. Maybe you’ll see yourself in some of these vignettes. Patience Fail // My children are Montessorians. They both attend Montessori schools and one of the many beautiful pieces of education encouraged in their environments is… Read More
Yourself OR Others // Which Will It Be?
Here’s the question: Is your highest duty to yourself or to others? As a writer, as a mother, as a woman, as a follower of The Way, as a neighbor, as a sister, my answer is usually the same. Answering as a writer: myself or my audience? As a writer I am not just holed up in a corner of a hut journaling in a book I plan to burn before the ink dries–I’m out there, I’m blogging, I’m submitting articles, I’m pitching books to literary agents, I’m guest posting, I’m thinking about… Read More
7 Ways to Say No
I love saying yes. I love being asked to do some awesome project or task or job because it lets me know the asker thinks I’m fit and capable for the work. That feels great. It is like unsolicited back pats or like a virtual coronation ceremony. And here’s what I discovered…I can feel all those things and NOT do the work simply by saying…wait for it…: No. Are you catching on? Part of what I’m really saying yes to is the compliments, the affirmation. Instead, when I say “no” it means I… Read More
Srsly With the Email Subject Lines
I love what I do. I love language, I love discussing word usage and origins and debating the Oxford Comma (I’m against it, in case you’re wondering). Much of my work time is invested in communications of the virtual variety. That’s right: emails. How wild and different the world was before email. I sometimes think back to when my parents were working and how sometimes my dad would drive 30 miles into the city for a meeting that was canceled at the last minute. This is all pre-mobile phones, pre-internet, pre-email. I don’t… Read More
Claire DeBerg // Writer 