Month: November 2015

Writing can be a pretty desperate endeavor, because it is about some of our deepest needs: our need to be visible, to be heard, our need to make sense of our lives, to wake up and grow and belong. It is no wonder if we sometimes take ourselves perhaps a bit too seriously.

• Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

This is my desperate endeavor to be heard above the cacophony of post-Thanksgiving excess. People were out on the trail this afternoon with dogs and children running in t-shirts. I met up with an old friend walking with her family as I walked in the opposite direction with mine. It was wonderful to happen on a chance encounter. I find that these events occur on a regular basis: when I am thinking intensively about someone from my past, he or she just appears out of nowhere and we make plans to see each other soon. I will write more about this in the future.

I am still finding my voice.

It’s appropriate that my first post is on a Monday morning as I get ready to rush out the door. The life of a high school teacher begins well before dawn. I started this blog because I have a lot to say. I hope some of it will be interesting to some people and that those people will find me and comment.

Here’s a quote (paraphrased) that appeals to me:

“The first step is to get quiet and to listen to our souls. If we can learn to listen, we can hear an invitation to meaning and purpose.”

– from Marjory Bankson, The call to the Soul