“It happens this way” are the opening words from a poem of mine called “A Few Words on Inspiration.” They signal that this blog will share what inspires me to stand up – like poet Galway Kinnell – and say “with as little concealment as possible, what it is for [me] to be on earth at this moment.”
Welcome to the journey!
Remembering 9/11
It happens this way … Twenty years ago today, I settled in the front row of a hotel conference room after delivering a management training presentation to 300 people in ...
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“About Nothing”: An Early Spring Poem for the End of August
It happens this way … When Sarah Law, the editor of the UK-based Amethyst Review, accepted “About Nothing,” I was delighted. But when she told me she scheduled this early ...
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Fifteen Thoughts for the Last Thursday of August
It happens this way … My name is Carolyn and I am a collector of quotations. I have files and files of them that I occasionally re-read for inspiration or ...
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Breaking News: God’s Rewilding Plan Leaked
It happens this way … Not being super tech-savvy, I just discovered last week that I can add audio-recordings to my blog posts. Since some of you told me you ...
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The Catalog of Small Contentments Launched
It happens this way … Yesterday I had the pleasure of reading from my new poetry collection with two fine poets from New York at The Poetry Box’s monthly show ...
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To Each Her Saint
It happens this way … Happy Father’s Day to all our dads –– here and gone. Mine died in 1998 at the age of 80 after quadruple by-pass surgery. John ...
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Memorializing Gratitude
It happens this way … On this Memorial Day Weekend, I’d like to share something that arrived in my inbox a few weeks ago. Two friends had been emailing back ...
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Happy April Fools’ Day
It happens this way … For all you lovers of jokes, pranks, hoaxes, and punks, this is your day to shine – or, according to Merriam-Webster Online, to behave foolishly, ...
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Let’s Celebrate February 2
It Happens This Way … It’s Candlemas Day: the half-way point between the December Solstice and the March Equinox. This day was important to farmers. As an old English song ...
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To resolve or not
It happens this way … I hate New Year’s resolutions. They always seem a set-up for disappointment, guilt, and self-incrimination. Then I came upon this wisdom from Thich Nhat Hanh ...
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The art of feeding birds
It happens this way … One early winter years ago, I felt a twinge of empathy for all the birds scrounging for food around our yard. I hadn’t gotten into ...
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Order Nothing More to Lose
It happens this way… Therese and Carolyn with their preview copies Thanks to all of you who have already pre-ordered Nothing More to Lose, my poetry chapbook based on based ...
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In the Season of Geese
It Happens This Way … Since it’s that time of year when flocks of noisy geese migrate across our skies, I thought I’d reach back to a poem I wrote ...
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Nothing More to Lose
It happens this way … For several years I had been playing with the idea of writing a series of poems based on the journey of a dear friend whose ...
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Permit Me to Scream
It happens this way … The words appeared in the comments section of a Facebook post. The post was a video clip by a black activist who argued brilliantly — ...
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Fresh air, blue skies, and RBG
It happens this way … It’s been months since I opened this page to write a blog. So much has happened since last June — some depressing, some discouraging, some ...
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Calling All Creatives …
It happens this way … Like most of you, I keep searching for ways to stay sane during these challenging times. When I can’t write or garden, I’m out in ...
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Challenges for a Non-Pet Person
It happens this way … My local friends are probably tired hearing about the anxiety I’ve been feeling — not about important issues like the virus or riots — but ...
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Anything Is Possible at 75
It happens this way … I’ve been in love with the dancer/choreographer Twyla Tharp ever since I read her book The Creative Habit, Learn it and Use It for Life ...
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Around the corner
It happens this way … One of the minor disappointments during this time of quarantine is not being able to make my annual pilgrimage to the Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden ...
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A Sunday Thought
It happens this way … Last Sunday at 8:00 a.m. I was standing on a long line of folks waiting to get into Home Depot. Masked and unmasked, we were ...
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An Easter Sunday Memory
It happens this way … In 1970 I was a Sister of Mercy and an English teacher at Camden Catholic High School in Cherry Hill, NJ. When Easter Sunday arrived ...
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Welcome to my new blog site
It happens this way … Why use two sites when one will do? In the name of simplicity and frugality — and with the help of Shawn Aveningo-Sanders, my favorite ...
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Ode to Toilet Paper
It happens this way … Sometimes levity is the best reaction to today’s news. Here’s the lightest of light verse. Ode to Toilet Paper Oh, what enticing names: Angel Soft, ...
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Sharing Sight with Monet
It happens this way … Thanks to Jacinta, Petra, and Aimee for publishing “Eye-minded” in the Spring 2020 issue of their glorious magazine. Snapdragon: a journal of art and healing ...
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Poetry in English and Arabic
It happens this way … Next Saturday, March 7, from 2-4 p.m. the Ledding Library in Milwaukie, Oregon, will host its annual bilingual poetry reading. The event is a collaboration ...
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Maybe You Should Talk to Someone
It happens this way … I just finished reading Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb. Gottlieb is a therapist who not only shares her experiences with challenging patients, ...
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Turn every day into a Valentine!
It happens this way … When little irritations get in the way, I try to remember what I wrote in this poem. Happy Valentine’s Day –– and may you all ...
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