Tag Archives: blog

Literary grandma gets real

Like the velveteen rabbit, I’m becoming more real as I age. This post uses the same photograph as my first one back in 2016. Except I flipped it to display the mirror image. I write with my left hand but posed for the photograph with the pen in my right hand because I didn’t want to appear awkward. How awkward!

If I were to re-enact the scene, you might spot a couple more differences. I have replaced the granny glasses with a jazzier pair, more reflective of my zest for life. I’ve quit trying to use full bangs to hide my cowlick and high forehead.

I’ve faced my truth about my blog, too. Preparing it is a healthy, life-affirming activity for me. It took my contemplating its demise to realize how much I love entertaining people and sharing insights. I’m not ready to hang up my apron.

In the first post, I mused about whether I might become a literary Grandma Moses. Like the photo, this concept embarrasses me now. As long as my writing nourishes me and my readers, I’m happy.

The SoulGuiding program is replenishing my pantry and increasing my willingness to experiment with flavours. Even with my desire to balance my life with other activities, I think it will be feasible to add a new post at least once a month. And not just feasible. Enjoyable!

Basically, I want to keep serving up metaphorical slices of fresh, warm, apple pie.

Fresh. Subjects I deem blog-worthy are recent experiences that made me smile, often with an aha moment. I hope each offering makes you smile and stimulates your own ahas.

Warm. I want to create a welcoming atmosphere, in my blog as in my life.

Apple pie. The Merriam-Webster dictionary says this expression can serve as a metaphor for excellence or wholesomeness. I have perfectionistic traits and try to follow a holistically healthy lifestyle.

The metaphor feels apt.

And I love the guilt-free aspect. This kind of apple pie has zero calories!

Psst. Want some salt?

I laughed from my belly when the saw the urban dictionary definition of apple pie – a slang term for a woman’s vagina. In case anyone is in doubt, that is not what I intend to serve up, fresh and warm, in this forum.

Share

Incubation

I know. It’s been a while. My most recent blog entry date is May 22, 2020. All the babies conceived that day have been born by now.

So, what am I incubating? Before I answer that, I want to thank artist, Kim McCarthy, for allowing me to use her work, “Incubation,” featuring its evocative pregnant seed, to illustrate this post. Here’s a link to the previous entry where I used it.

Incubation

During my nine month sabbatical, I have ruminated about the future of my blog. It has been on a back burner, waiting for me to make up my mind. Should I add fresh ingredients, i.e. more posts, or take it off the stove and preserve it as is?

I decided recently that I needed to make a clean break. New activities, especially frequent projects I am asked to submit as part of the SoulGuiding program with Pacific Jubilee I started last October, excite me and use similar skills. For balance, I need to get off my duff and garden, walk, or get out my vacuum.

Preparing the draft, explaining to my readers why I no longer plan to add to the blog, had the flavour of breaking up with a lover because I was already into a relationship with someone else. I felt like a heel and put the question aside.  

After spending an evening perusing the 90 entries to date, I wondered if the intent, to offer a smile or perhaps a new idea, had become too narrow.

Here’s an excerpt from my second draft. “The body of work reminds me of fresh, warm, apple pie. A wonderful thing. But making variations on the same recipe, year after year, can sap a chef’s creative energy.”

The piece read like a eulogy, celebrating a life well lived but oh-ver. I felt sad and put the question aside, again.

As I let my mind wander in my chiropractor’s waiting room a few days later, ideas started to bubble around how I could extend the blog’s life without draining mine. My sadness gave way to excitement.  

I’m learning the value of patience. Of staying open to different outcomes until I’ve found my truth.

I’m still refining the new ideas.

Stay tuned…

Share

Direction Shift

This week, I revamped my website in sync with the path my love of writing is headed – one that surprises even me.

I created the website initially to give me credibility as a writer in the eyes of editors who were considering my work. It featured a Home page, About Wilda, Stories, Blog, and Contact. I wrote and launched it after I heard that an editor had decided to publish the first personal essay I submitted. Buoyed by this early success, I planned to offer more of my stories to various publications. My Blog started as a way to hone my craft and build a readership while I searched for outlets for my “real” work.

In the sixteen months since that version took shape, I’ve learned what legions of writers have discovered before me. Finding a market for one’s writing is harder for most of us than creating it. I found few publications whose criteria fit what I had written. It was time-consuming to modify my stories in the vain hope of creating something that matched. Not hearing back from editors after I’d done cartwheels to provide what I thought they wanted started to dampen my enthusiasm. At my age, cartwheels are ill-advised.

Meanwhile, I noticed that I come alive while writing my blog. The immediacy of it, both in getting the writing out there and in receiving feedback, feeds my spirit. And the stand-up comedy I’ve started to write and deliver nourishes it even more. The medium is richer. It uses words and also facial expression, tone of voice, and body language. The feedback is instantaneous on the stage.

So bye-bye to trying to impress editors. My writing isn’t about finding public acclaim. It’s about finding my own truth in the process. The joy of sharing finished pieces with folks who enjoy them motivates me to keep going.

In the new format, the Stories are gone and the Blog appears immediately after the new Home page. I’ve added a page for Stand-Up. About Wilda is now presented in interview style — a conversation with a visitor who is curious about what makes me tick.

The Contact section remains unchanged. So does my appreciation of feedback. I’d love to hear yours.

If the past predicts the future, I’ll find more topics to blog about in the new year.

Have a wonderful, blessed, holiday season.

Share

Do I Have Tips for Aspiring Writers?

I had a new experience this week when I checked for reader comments.

“Great blog!

Do you have any tips and hints for aspiring writers?

I’m hoping to start my own site soon, but I’m a little lost on everything. Would you propose starting with a free platform like WordPress or go for a paid option? There are so many choices out there that I’m completely confused…

Any tips? Cheers!”

I’ve given the person a link to the following thoughts.

Your request for advice has prompted some soul-searching. I want my blog to bring a smile and perhaps a new idea to my readers in 400 words or fewer. Where do I draw the line when something crops up outside that self-created mandate?

I am learning in my face-to-face relationships that advice-giving often isn’t the most helpful approach. Listening to the person is. If it feels right, I can offer my own experience in similar situations and trust that the individual will glean anything that may be relevant to them.

I want to apply the same principle online. And I need to ensure that my screen and keyboard don’t consume so much of my time and focus that I lose touch with those closest to me.

This week, I heard your question and had some wiggle room in my schedule, so here goes.

I didn’t research the options when I started my website and blog, and the choices have likely multiplied since then. When I realized in the summer of 2016 that it was time to share my writing beyond my workshop companions and folks who were willing to act as sounding boards, a friend referred me to the web host she uses.

I can relate to the experience of feeling lost in general. I am learning to make friends with that sensation. That’s a good thing because unknowing is a more frequent companion than surety for me. As long as I am searching, I know I’m alive and open to new ideas. That state of mind is a gift for me as a writer. Does it also infuriate me? Yes, at times.

I am beginning to trust that answers will come if I am patient.

Go well, fellow writer and fellow human.

Share

If there’s a blink in my blog

shutterstock_244671724Over time, you may notice that I do not post a new entry each and every week. One reason I decided to start a blog is to motivate myself to keep writing personal stories–to notice what is happening within and around me and reflect on those things.

More than once, I’ve started to draft blog content and put it on ice. Sometimes because the topic was mundane and I thought it would not be of interest to a general audience. Other times because the topic revealed something quite personal and might be too interesting to float out there, in all the places “there” could be.

Other times, I wanted to respect the privacy of people who are part of the story. If the person is still alive, I check their comfortable level with having the anecdote made public. Modesty can keep someone from wanting even a positive story told.

Also, an interesting phenomenon has started to occur. Sometimes, a tale I think will make a good blog topic calls me to delve deeper. A few days or weeks later, I may have created a 1500-word essay. For example, a short rant about technology turned into the introduction for an essay entitled, “A Senior’s Plan to Befriend Technology.” I have pitched it to a magazine for retirees. Many periodicals won’t consider articles that have previously been published, even on my website.

If you don’t hear from me, it could be that the idea I had for that time slot high-jacked me and insisted I take it to a destination other than my blog. In this situation, unexpected detours can add a little spice. I am sure you will understand.

Share