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Elements of surprise
“Expect nothing. Live frugally on surprise.” ~Alice Walker Earlier this month, everyone in my part of Michigan was convinced that spring had arrived early. We were amazed at bright yellow daffodils and forsythia bushes blooming — so early in March! — and even spotted people wearing shorts and sandals outside. But the weather took another turn, and we awoke this morning to fresh snow blanketing the landscape. Today’s quote is from Alice Walker’s poem, “Expect Nothing.” In it, Walker reminds us that keeping our expectations in check is the key to staying happy or content. Life is bound to surprise us. Sometimes those surprises will delight and amaze us, and…
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People pleasing
“I can’t give you a sure-fire formula for success, but I can give you a formula for failure: Try to please everybody all the time.” ~ Herbert Bayard Swope, American journalist One of the gifts of aging is the realization that (1) you can’t please everyone and (2) you shouldn’t try to please everyone. The journalist who’s famous for today’s quote understood that achieving anything of great value often involves taking big risks and subjecting yourself to criticism. More often than not, you’re bound to upset others when you rattle the status quo or defend a point of view. Born in 1882, Herbert Bayard Swope was a famous war correspondent…
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Share your stories with me
“It has always been on the written page that the world has come into focus for me. If I can piece all these bits of memory together with the diaries and letters and the scribbled thoughts that clutter my mind and bookshelves, then maybe I can explain what happened….Maybe I can tell my story in a way that is useful to someone else.” ~ Nancy Horan, Loving Frank What makes a compelling personal story? How do you turn rambling journal entries or blog posts into marketable essays or chapters in a memoir? On April 11, I’ll be leading my favorite workshop at the Royal Oak Public Library. Whether you need inspiration…
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Irish DNA
“We Irish prefer embroideries to plain cloth. To the Irish, memory is a canvas—stretched, primed, and ready for painting on. We love the “story” part of the word “history,” and we love it trimmed out with color and drama, ribbons and bows. Listen to our tunes, observe a Celtic scroll; we always decorate our essence.” ~Frank Delaney I’ve always been a storyteller. And every year on St. Patrick’s Day, I have an uncanny memory of the lyrics to Irish folk tunes. Strangers have walked up to me in shops and asked if I’m Irish. I knew I had “a little Irish” in me, but didn’t realize how much Irish until…
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When you have to improvise
“Just because things hadn’t gone as I’d planned didn’t necessarily mean they’d gone wrong.” ~Ann Patchett When I was younger, I cringed at the old adage, “Everything happens for a reason.” It seemed like a sugar-coated excuse for rotten luck or bad choices. But the more I experienced life, the more I noticed that the most challenging/stressful events — like having surgery on both of my hips — turned out to be incredible periods of growth for me. There was something valuable to learn from every episode of pain and loss I’ve endured. Sometimes the recipes you follow in a cookbook don’t turn out well; sometimes you have to improvise.…
