Last week was a close one. Street compliments only won by a few votes. If you want your video to win, your vote matters [...]
22Mar, 2013
I realized recently that I had a refrain of jealousy that was cropping up when I spent time with friends who had what I perceived to be a relatively large amount of leisure or rest time. People who took the time to, say, take care of themselves or work out or rest when they were tired. People who asked for help and took time for themselves. I had a nasty, withering “must be nice!” little twitch that became so common I had to admit it was about me and not about anyone else.
Our jealousy teaches us so much, if we let it. I wasn’t envious of anyone else’s marriage or home or car or even their writing success or speaking opportunities. What I wanted was other people’s ability to care for themselves. I wanted their space and freedom and rest. And so my envy guided me to my own deep need to slow down and care for myself well, instead of pushing so hard and constantly getting frustrated with the people around me who had the audacity to care for themselves instead of wringing themselves out like I had been doing for so long [...]
There are, of course, many differences between an artist and an entertainer, and both words invite subjectivity.
Here’s one from my perspective:
An artist is bold, telling, and levels a clear path. Their canvas is the world and the brush with which they paint on the world is their song or their poem or their painting. They are making the world new and different with their work. An artist knows how they want the world to look, or more likely, they feel a new world inside them they’re trying to make into a reality. An artist is like a prophet in that way.
An entertainer, however, is worried about [...]
I was six when I first met Tom.
Before Tom, the only man I was around was my little league baseball coach. Coach Castle drove an old beater Jeep Cherokee. It had wood paneling and smelled like stale pipe smoke. Sometimes after practice, Coach Castle drove us to Terri’s Hot Dog Stand and bought us fried cherry pies. Coach didn’t talk much. So I just watched him. Squinting. Like I was looking at a lunar eclipse. Men were an anomaly. They rarely came around. Men were elusive creatures, like Snuffleupagus from Sesame Street.
Tom came to our door with a crooked smile and a busty mustache, back when they were cool. I wasn’t sure what to think of him. But the first time we hung out, Tom took me to Baskin Robins and bought me a double scoop of chocolate. I remember it dripping down my fingers onto the table. But it didn’t matter – I had a new friend [...]
19Mar, 2013
I heard some advice for writers once saying we should picture a reader as we write. Some writers have even gone so far as to put a picture of their spouse or their grandmother atop their computers.
I picture God as I write. And here’s why: I am convinced He’s perfectly fine with my senseless ramblings. Of course He gets mad when I cuss or become selfish, but other than that He likes hearing my stories and my opinions and He loves who I am. After all, He had an integral part of bringing me into the world, and an integral part of giving me a mind and a mouth and fingers to tap a keyboard [...]
18Mar, 2013
Occasionally I find myself sitting in an airport across from a little bookstore looking at whatever best sellers are featured in the facing display. I’ve bought more than a few of them, but often find myself wondering what kind of book would be guaranteed to hit the best sellers list.
I started a list of potential titles. I’ll never write any of these because I could never disappoint my family (they’d never say anything, but I would see it in their eyes.)
So, I thought I’d share my top-ten, guaranteed best selling book ideas in the form of their titles. Cultural commentary intended, I suppose [...]
17Mar, 2013
Now that over 10,000 people have gone through the Storyline process, we’re collecting stories from those who have read Storyline 2.0 or have attended one of our conferences. Will you take a minute and share your story with us?
17Mar, 2013
We’re changing the way we approach our Sunday Morning Music posts. For the next month, these posts will be authored by artists so you can get a glimpse into what inspires them. We hope you enjoy today’s post from our friends, Green River Ordinance.
The puppies melted your hearts last week and won the majority vote.
How about this week? Which of these is your favorite? It’s hard for me to choose this week! Vote below in the comments.
15Mar, 2013
We are in the midst of Lent, when the faithful honor Jesus’ forty-day temptation in the wilderness by abstaining from booze, sex, and Facebook; whereas on the day before, Mardi Gras, the unfaithful go to New Orleans to film “Girls Gone Wild” videos.
“Mardi Gras” is French for “Fat Tuesday.” The Anglicans call it “Shrove Tuesday” and celebrate by eating pancakes. I wondered if “shrove” was Anglican for “fat.” After all, pancakes can make you fat; just look at the church’s founder, King Henry VIII. Man, that guy was shrove. He looked like he spent Shrove Tuesday at IHOP, slept through Lent, Ramadan style, then woke up and ate a few Easter hams. Surely “shrove” meant fat. But when I looked up “shrove” in the dictionary, it said it meant “the past participle of ‘shrive’.” Oh, right; how could I forget? Okay, so then I looked up “shrive,” which means to confess and be absolved of guilt. So there it is: pancakes eaten on Shrove Tuesday have been absolved of calories. Everybody wins [...]
