Inspired By.

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flowers from jane flanagan
It’s Friday. [And the peasants rejoiced!] I’m feeling a little wilted, unlike the photo above. This week has been out of sorts with an undecided, in-transition, what’s-going-on, how-do-we-do-this office move at work, a bee infestation in my apartment bedroom window that forced my husband and I to set up camp in the middle of our living room so as not to find ourselves exterminated, and a car that’s on it’s last life and my last nerve. To add to it, my mom is still in the hospital [since Tuesday, August 16] and doctors are still trying to figure out the best way to, well… make it possible for her to be healthy outside of it? It’s hard and painful to explain.
Needless to say, I’m tired. I find life exhausting at the moment. Might explain the dream I had Wednesday night and the lack of personal writing and posting around here recently. My head [and my heart] can’t decide if now is the best time to write [time? what time?] or if I am understandably excused from adding that to my to-do list [if not now, then when?].
My soul is surviving on small increments of rest, grace and joy, wherever I can find them. Tomorrow, a group of my favorite girls and I are going to enjoy a day in Southern Michigan tasting wine at local vineyards, snatching up local produce, and surveying what promises to another beautiful sunset like this one.
I know that this is another week of the last several where I’ve complained about “my lot” in life. I’m well aware that I am blessed, that I am healthy, that I am capable, and that many many many other people in the world are not for a variety of reasons. But on the other hand, this space is not an escape for me. It’s a place where I can express my thoughts and feelings and opinions and experiences freely like I can’t anywhere else. So if you’re feeling a little wilted or trampled, or you have been but are now feeling rejuvenated, feel free to share your thoughts. The company is welcome.
Until then, here are a few delightful posts from around the interwebs:
Mandy wrote an encouraging post for me this week about the importance of traveling and finding a job you’re passionate about. That alone is inspiring, but she emailed me today to tell me: she got the job she mentioned in the post writing for a travel magazine! Congrats, Mandy!
Nothing could ruffle her, and that’s why we loved her.
How do you relate? Paintings versus photographs versus blogs versus life.
I really love this blog. Decadent photos and beautiful words.
Eight secrets writers won’t tell you.
Image found here. The flowers are gorgeous, but of course, I’m loving the bookshelves behind it, too.
And finally, this girl is going to share her snark, wit and good grammar with us next week. I’m excited! She started a new series this week, Fat Tuesday, that I’m already addicted to.
What are your plans for the weekend? I hope it’s a good one, friends.

Inspired By.

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It’s the weekend friends, and I’m pretty darn happy about it since I feel like I haven’t really had one in weeks. I’m about to head out for dinner and a movie with one of my besties, and tomorrow I’m going to a 40′s in the 40′s Party complete with pearls, t-strap heels, fellas in fedoras and 40oz Mickey’s for all. Theme : Keep Calm and Carry On, which is exactly what I’m aiming for right now.
Here are some sweet links from around the web this week:
Inspired by Sam’s book arrangement plus these other clever shelves, I rearranged my own collection the other night, and I’ll be posting photos of it next week in my bookish series!
Another encouraging post for bloggers on common misconceptions and ways to deal with them. Note: the comments are as good as the post itself!
Margaret Atwood’s 10 Rules of Writing. My favorite is rule number 8 :

“You can never read your own book with the innocent anticipation that comes with that first delicious page of a new book, because you wrote the thing. You’ve been backstage. You’ve seen how the rabbits were smuggled into the hat. Therefore ask a reading friend or two to look at it before you give it to anyone in the publishing business. This friend should not be someone with whom you have a ­romantic relationship, unless you want to break up.”

After a post from Jess early in July, I joined her email intervention program and it has really helped scale back my stress during my down time. Now, she’s doing another one for August, and I highly recommend you join the ranks of those that are keeping the office at the office, and home at home.
I’m a firm believer in the Oxford Comma, which is why I absolutely loved this post.
A really interesting [and true to my life] post about Why Our Generation is Afraid to Commit.
Doubt and Devotion? Creativity and Life? It’s All About Balance.
It seems like everyone has their spinoffs of the poster above these days, but this rendition from my friend Kat is my favorite.
And finally, I found this post really interesting, and it has prompted me to ask: how can I serve you better? What would you like to see more of on She Writes and Rights? Guest posts from other writers? More or less of my personal experience? More or less of my poetry? Thoughts on the process of writing poetry? My bookish posts: do you find them interesting or fluffy? Your thoughts are welcome here.
P.S. Looking for a guest posts from fellow writers and creative for the upcoming weeks. I’d love to have you; email me at shewritesandwrites[at]gmail[dot]com.
So keep calm and have a good weekend, friends.

Inspired By.

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Picture 2
Hello, dear readers. The weekend is coming to me a day early again, for some bittersweet reasons. I’m making a trip home to Michigan to visit my dear mama, who has been in the hospital since last Saturday. Your thoughts and prayers are appreciated.
That being said, here is my weekly round-up a day early. [I’ve been trying to consistently post these on Fridays, this and last week not included.]
This lovely lady has been sweet enough to leave a comment or two on my little blog, which led me to find her blog, which put a huge smile on my face from the first click. Whether donating to Oceana on behalf of sharks everywhere, leaving positive notes on random doorsteps, or giving away her clothes, her Days of Deeds Project is super inspiring.
Among the many things I’m trying to become more disciplined about, prayer journaling and making time for spiritual rest are my top priorities. I found this guest post from Mandy Thompson really encouraging.
My blog is an important part of my life and I want to see it grow, so I’m trying to be more intentional with my content, my social media and my interactions with my readers. Oh, you too? Glad I’m not alone. Some interesting, helpful advice for us bloggers from Vandelay Design: 17 Tips to Get More Exposure for Your Blog and 5 Common Blogging Problems and How to Solve Them.
On the other hand… blogging can be bad for your writing soul. It doesn’t mean I won’t be blogging, but it does mean I won’t write just for the sake of posting it on my blog.
An interesting post on how to talk with young girls.
‘You Look Great’ and Other Lies. I loved this NYT article about what to say to someone who is sick.
And finally, the lovely image above is borrowed from this heralding post for August, my favorite month. Question : what is your favorite month and why? Are you excited for the coming fall or are you sad to see summer go?
So hug a loved one, down an ice-cold drink, soak up some rays.
Most importantly, have a good weekend, friends.

Inspired By.

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books and tea

I tear myself away from reading this book to bring you a few inspirational posts from around the interwebs. I’ve been on vacation [glorious vacation!] visiting family in Michigan, celebrating my mom’s birthday, and catching up on rest, relaxation and writing. I’ve worked up some new ideas for the blog, and I implemented a new poetry section here this week.

The following posts, like this time away, have been a breath of fresh air to me this week.

Insecurity kills. “You are worth far more then what you do, so don’t flood the internet with you rantings of what you wish you were.”

What to do when your blog growth plateaus. Guest blogger Adam McLane shares some great tips on keeping up the pace when you begin to feel stagnant. My favorite tip: Read a book.

Sometimes I need this reminder: travel young. It’s important. I know this, because I’ve done it. But sometimes in my nostalgia for good memories, I forget that my hunger to see new places isn’t a misguided need for escape, but rather a yearning for new opportunities to grow. Travel is a necessary discipline.

The best kind of friendship is encouraging, loving and brutally honest. I’m thankful for the friends in my life who share this with me, because like Jon Acuff shared this week, it’s the kind that will help you get better.

Writing a blog: is it about truth, or traffic? It’s easy to get the two confused.

And from Enuma Okoro: For the love of God, Write.

And finally, I’m seeing this movie tonight for the second time in a week… Yes, it’s that good.

Have a good weekend, friends.

The Shrinking Margin.

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Picture 1-1
If only there existed a magic button for my life, one that I could press to give me that time and space my mind needs to feel rested again. Today I find myself feeling cramped and small and crazed, oppressed by my insecurity. Oppressed by my inability to juggle and format and finish the things I need to do. Do you ever feel that way? This is how I’ve felt intermittently for the last few weeks.
Summer is my favorite season, because I feel an exuberance in the warmth of each day, an unquenchable need to celebrate life in all its green and flourishing glory. Each wedding, party, cook out, firework, each slice of watermelon and ice cold beverage wet with condensation is a joy to me. I don’t want it to end.

I don’t want to miss it.
And so I struggle in this paradox: in a season that I should celebrate and relax and enjoy the lengthened days, I find myself so overcommitted and busy that the days feel like they’re flying by without me. My calendar and my mind are so full that I have no space to breathe and enjoy it. I find myself living in the margins of my life, which are shrinking by the second.
It’s no wonder, then, that when I think about writing, I’m too worried about whatever else I should be doing to feel at peace with my creativity. For me, writing is a process of roaming through the recesses of thought and imagination, of exploration and rabbit holes and contemplative ideas. And I haven’t made time or space for that recently. So when I sit down to write, and I turn inward to my thoughts and feelings, what I find is a mess – much like the explosion of laundry that has barricaded the path from bed to my closet. Not an inspiring landscape to live in.
Perhaps a three day weekend to celebrate independence is as close as I will get to that magic time and space button, so long as I don’t try to cram it full of going and doing. I won’t be checking my email. I won’t be looking at the time. And I will try my hardest not to think about the coming work week or what Ithink someone else thinks I should be doing with my time.
It is my time. It is my life. No one else can create it for me.
Time to breathe. Time to think. Time to restore rest and writing for me.
To celebrate, here are a few links from around the www that have inspired me this week:
Why Todd Henry hopes to die empty.
Two recent sources of inspiration and motivation: Jeff Goins and Darrell Vesterfelt. A great quote from Jeff’s talk with Darrell about the inherent narcissism that comes with being a writer:
“Because writing is an internal act, as is any form of art. And the journey of looking inwardly to bring something out can sometimes be hindered. We can look inside ourselves and never get out.”
And after the concert I went to on Monday, I can’t stop listening to The Swell Season again.
For all my single ladies out there, keep believing. We have entered the era of The Return of the Nice Guy. Swoon.
Speaking of nice guys, I married one. Yes, this is a shameless, mushy plug for my music man Matthew Jason. I’m abundantly thankful that I married an artist, someone who understands the roller coaster ride of creativity in all its awkward, crying, mascara-streaked glory. [Obviously, we’re talking about me, here, not Matt. My husband does not wear mascara.] He lives to play his heart out, and he always inspires me to keep going. [Fan him on Facebook or follow him on Twitter. It would mean a lot to both of us.]
[Image found here.]