A Work in Progress

I'm writing this for myself as much as I'm writing this for you. Think you didn't get done, or didn't accomplish, or didn't make, or didn't have, or didn't overcome -- fill in the blank, this year? Don't give up. Time is just time. And all things are possible outside of time. For me, the end of year always culminates in me wondering what I wrote, if anything and did I have any of these writing published? Of course, being published doesn't equal success ... and yet, sometimes it does. There's a ton of writing I do that no one will ever see. Not just because I didn't send it out into the world, but because no one wants it. Yep. It isn't the right fit (or it really isn't any good) and I have to keep looking for the right home for the piece. I'm always, always reminding myself I'm in the rejection business. Because it gets old, this whole rejection thing. Yet, if you know it's part of the job, it's manageabl

Like many of you, I am a list-maker. I find them to be one of the most rewarding things I can do in my little life. Well, that and drinking coffee and wearing vintage. But, I digress. List-making really only consists of three things: paper, a pen, and your brain. While there are myriad articles and books on tidying up and minimal living (both of which I fully embrace), living a simple and minimal life can also start just by making a list. So, why should you write a list? Three reasons: it's simple, it's in front of you, and anyone can be master of their world with one. Yes, dare I say master of your universe. Pretty amazing, right? That little list holds your sanity, order and clarity. And those are all we really need. Check out this list I wrote the other day: I listed the errands I had to run (go to post office, then to Salvation Army and Goodwill to find my vintage to sell). I listed the work I had to do (list two items items for sale on my vintage Etsy site,

My neighbors, whom I've not met, just moved in across the street. I've no idea where they're from and was out of town when the moving trucks unloaded their things, and I don't even know if I've seen their cars. I don't know if anyone is there, actually. But yesterday, they (I still didn't see them) set out some things for donation (they just appeared). The kind that is to be picked up by a truck, free of charge, to be resold for "reasonable" prices at a thrift store. So, someone must live there. My new neighbors missed the truck by a half hour. I saw it winding down our street as I left at 7:49 to take my sons to school. And when I got back, a baby walker and a few bags sat by the curb. It was a little sad to see the forlorn baby walker without a baby in it, as though the baby just upped and walked away on his own. It made me want to walk over to my new neighbors and meet them and tell them, "Hey, you're too late! You have to haul