He said:

Pillar we move.

Cloud we stay.

I said:

“What about the sunny days?”

He said, laughing, ever patient:

“Very well.

Pillar we move. 

Cloud we stay.

Sunshine we enjoy.”

I said:

“Ok. I can handle that.”

He said:

“Wait. 

That still means

Don’t move.”

It’s all too much

To lose and gain

In the same space. 

To feel so much

Love and loss.

Open hearts hurt.

Closed hearts rot. 

Pain is useful

To let us know 

We are living. 

In a conversation with writer friends, I got an insight into how I and my writing offer hope to others.

My gift, if you will, my strength, certainly, is being able to sit in the dark with others. I have not had a bad life, but bad things have happened. I am not a stranger to pain, but it has not consumed me. I have survived, and I am willing to reach my arm back into the pit.

If that’s where you’re sitting, you’re not alone.

To celebrate national poetry month, I wanted to play with that form a bit because it’s something I rarely do. It’s outside of my comfort zone to share my faltering attempts with the world, but sometimes that’s just what we need.

Writing poetry for me is reaching for something I cannot grasp. If you’re feeling the same way, I hope this helps:

If
I can
give you one
thing, it is this:
You Are Not Alone.
I am here
for you
Always.

Your darkness
does not
scare me.
Follow me
to the
Light.

You read that write…I mean right.

I’m just crazy enough to pull off an all-day writing stream, this Friday, April 1st, from 10am to 10pm CST. on YouTube

HERE is the link.

It’s the start of CAMP NANOWRIMO, which, if you don’t know by now, is an international writing competition. For this iteration of NaNoWriMo, you can set your own word count goals or work on other projects such as plotting or editing.

I just created my project (my username is linseyte if you want to be my friend!), and I’m ready to start writing. I will start Friday at 10AM and get as much done toward my goal as possible.

I would love for you to join us as we celebrate the start of April. See you there!

xxxlinsey

It’s that time again!

This weekend I have the privilege of hosting one of the productivity sprints of the World Wide Writeathon.

It’s a great time to prep your CAMP NANOWRIMO project, which is what I’ll be doing, or start that shiny new idea you’ve been pondering. This 36-hour writeathon will banish your writing excuses. It’s all on YouTube so it’s easy to access, and there will be participants from all over the world.

Make new friends and get your writing projects done.

Join me Saturday night at 10PM Eastern (9PM central) to 12:30 AM Sunday as we get our writing projects on. I have two wonderful co-hosts that will be joining me, so be sure to give them some love too.

Wondering about the links? Here they are. Can’t wait to see you there!

March 2022 Playlists:
Productivity Streams — https://tinyurl.com/March2022Productivity
Social Streams — https://tinyurl.com/March2022Social

My Stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0Cb5jenix8

xxxlinsey

This is my birthday week and I got an unexpected gift. A little bit of space.

I’m using it to celebrate as much as possible.

I’m celebrating food and drink and time with loved ones.

I’m celebrating change and growth. While they are painful at times, they pave the way for better things. I don’t like shedding my skin, but I am ready for the next phase.

I’m celebrating the freedom to be who I am.

It’s hard to remember to celebrate every day. There often seems nothing so wonderful about an average day. That’s why I’m trying to look at each one as a unique gift I’ve been given and celebrate it accordingly.

I can’t hope to maintain daily celebrations, but I do hope it will change my attitude toward some of the hard things I’m doing right now. I’m practicing “I get to” rather than “I have to” and it has made a difference.

What are you celebrating this month?

Celebrate

That’s the word, the concept, the brick wall I keep bumping into.

I can’t seem to get past it. I’m supposed to celebrate, though I don’t know how or why.
That’s not entirely true.

I have plenty to celebrate, and I’m getting a lot done. I sometimes feel overwhelmed at all I am fielding, but I had to be reminded today that change is good. That’s what we want right now. Still, change can be painful or hard to grasp.

The trick is seeing the joy in the hard parts, and it’s joy that gives us strength for the hard parts.

So I came up with some reasons to celebrate, starting today. Today is the end of Carnival and the beginning of Lent, but it’s also just today. Today is reason enough to celebrate.

If joy gives us strength, then celebration is my new gym membership.

I am trying to make celebration part of every day this month, but at least I will check in every week here.

What are you celebrating this month? I’d love to hear your ideas.

Thank you for the wonderful life I’ve been provided. Help me approach each new day with gratitude and belief. I am beyond blessed and thankful for my blessings.

I am happy where I am, and I want to grow into more. I know growth is painful and learning is uncomfortable, and while I love the life I have, I believe I can handle more. Here are the things I want:

Speak
Teach
Read
Write
Coach
Help
Love

Bring these opportunities to my door and prepare me to see and accept them.

Thanks in love

xxxlinsey

As we celebrate another New Year and new month today, it seems appropriate to also celebrate the things I love. You, my dear, will always be at the top of that list. This will be our tenth year together, and it sometimes seems like yesterday when I first saw you and knew you belonged with me.

We’ve been through three houses, two states, and countless boyfriends over the years, but you are always my number one girl.

I can count on you to be there. To be happy to see me. To show me the unconditional love I often forget to show myself.

Yes! It’s time to announce that LUKE is actually finished…

We’re doing the line-by-line now. Publication is imminent

Curious?

Here’s a blurb:

Luke Lacroix, a once-promising athlete, lives a blissfully mundane life. Content in his solitude, he meets Jenni, a woman who lives a life of boring excess where excitement comes at the expense of others. Jenni and her husband Tim play games with people as their pieces and the world as their board. These two worlds meet in a tragedy of errors and one of them learns a hard lesson. 

Standby for publication details…coming soon!

Thanks, as always, for your support.

xxxlinsey