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Why “Don’t Fence Me In?”
Although my favorite choice for music genres isn’t cowboy songs, the first time I heard the song, “Don’t Fence Me In,” I bust a gut laughing. It struck a very deep cord in my soul and I could feel the words expressing one of my deep inner desires. I want to be free, to experience…
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Fiction: Frostbite: A Mafia Family Christmas (pt. 1)
I never imagined my first Christmas back home in fifteen years would come to this. Every swear word in my vocabulary started swirling through my head as I grabbed my sixty-two year old mama tightly with both arms and pulled her away from my great Aunt Urola.
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What I Learned My First Year in NaNoWriMo
This year, I discovered a fascinating way to get motivated to put pen to paper and let the characters out of my head that have been banging on the inside of my skull for the last 14 years. I have wanted to write fiction for a long time and have only dabbled in storytelling as…
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What I am Writing About in NaNoWriMo
R-Evolutionary Nights Alex has always lived a safe life on the corporate track in Chicago following her parents’ dreams for her life. But, she decides to jump off her boring life and pursue writing and international studies at a university in Madison, Wisconsin. Alex meets Jack and falls deeply in love, and their passion for…
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I’m a WriMo in NaNo This Year
Tonight I am getting ready to begin my novel, R-Evolutionary Nights, during National Novel Writing Month. This is a 30-day writing marathon where the participants are challenged to write 50,000 words of fiction during the month of November. You can follow my progress at Anne Tyler Lord, and become my writing buddy if you are a…
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RedFlame DeepWater (pt.6): Pain, Suffering & Resistance
Buddhism 101 says that all is suffering in this world. We know suffering is the cause of our unhappiness and meditation is how we see through this illusion. Can this truth be taken into the worst pain? Or into minor irritations? Can we master the experience of being able to distinguish between pain and suffering…
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Remembering 9/11
9/11 Shock Waves Today I watched the 9/11 memorial, similar to the time I watched 8 years ago, on Good Morning America. I sat with my 9 month old babies, talking on the phone to my husband. I watched at the moment, Charlie Gibson, was getting alarmed at the live sight of planes crashing into…
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RedFlame DeepWater (pt.5): Me, Pain & Suffering
How do we deal pain & suffering in life? The RedFlame from my previous poems is symbolic of events that can enter our lives suddenly, but can also do a slow burn on us each day. Death, trauma, loss are big events. But there are also daily irritations when we are impatient and angry with…
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RedFlame DeepWater (pt. 4): Dark Places: Retreat
My series RedFlame DeepWater continues. After the RedFlame of life events burn through your life in unexpected ways, you have the chance for spiritual growth. Progressing in spiritual practice is not devoid of experiences that send you to dark places, with feelings of depression, fear, anxiety. Often, these experiences are more brief, but can be very…
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RedFlame DeepWater (pt.3): Becoming Invisible
After the RedFlame Initiates Destruction in your life and you Return to the Scene to see if you can rebuild what you had, you may realize that it isn’t possible. On the spiritual path, we are given opportunities to grow in awareness, often through painful experiences. During those times, we have the choice to go…