Self Rules
I’m not sure exactly where I’m going with this blog site. I haven’t posted much over the last year, but that’s because I am a different person—in a sense—than I was in January 2014. I know I entitled this blog “Hope, Love, and Peace,” and I still believe in those qualities. But I also believe […]
A Good Friday
Around this time of year, I’m invariably reminded of the line Tony Campolo popularized: It’s Friday, but Sunday’s coming. Because Good Friday is the day we remember the Crucifixion; and Easter Sunday, the Resurrection. But this year, it occurs to me that we’ve focused on only part of the story. Easter Sunday isn’t the end […]
Not Giving Up on New Year’s Resolutions
Right about now, you may be feeling that urge, which hits sometime during the first couple of months of every year, the urge to forget the New Year’s resolutions to which you had so daringly committed only weeks ago. After all, you’ve already eaten that cake, skipped that workout session, smoked that cigarette… whatever. You […]
News Flash! This Is NOT a Big Deal
We make life more complicated than it needs to be. In the most vibrant and optimistic time in human history, we live without hope. And I’m including myself in that “we.” Last week, my Beloved and I celebrated our 19’th wedding anniversary. And you might think after 19 years, it’s getting a little old… and […]
Living a Life of Balanced Thoughts
I think my theme for this week is: life is getting better. If you’re a Gilmore Girls fan, you might remember the episode after Rory and Dean had their affair, the one in which Dean’s wife Lindsay discovers Rory’s “heinous letter in Dean’s jacket.” Oy f***in’ vey! See, this is what happens when children grow […]
Why Reading Fiction Is Good for You
I’m a bit of an oddball among writers, because I don’t condemn the television set. On the contrary, I think everyone, and especially serious writers, should watch TV, including TV comedies and dramas, because the audio/visual format provides a perspective on story that you can’t get from reading a novel. This flies in the face […]
The Myth of Depression
As you may remember, after the NOKWID project several years ago, I crashed, hard, spent several months deep in depression. And I just now finally feel like I’ve climbed out of that hole, a hole I had ironically dug for myself. I felt forever tired, forever useless, forever a burden on my family. Nothing gave […]
Dreaming Big: an Interview with GrrlWriter
I’m sitting here in my virtual living room, talking to Jessica Broughton, part-time writer and author of the blog GrrlWriter. Hi, Jessica. Hi, Tim. I really need to update the picture, since I don’t have the pink anymore! Yeah, well, I think that’s probably true of all of us. I know it is of me. […]
Two Women Search for the Meaning of Life
I finally got to see Julie and Julia over the weekend. Unlike many stories, it doesn’t serve as a means of escape. Rather, there is substance and inspiration woven through it. The film compares the stories of Julia Child and Julie Powell. Both faced an impasse in their lives; both set out on a search […]
Faith’n’Fiction Saturday
My hope this new year is to form deeper relationships, to connect with people more closely, and to make greater, positive contributions to their lives. I’d say this post is one of the first big test cases. I introduced these “hopes,” which could have been New Year’s resolutions—though I called them “wishes,” because I didn’t […]