Tag: other writing

Dear Diary: The Interesting Perspective You Gain When You Re-Read Old Journal Entries

October 31, 2022

I’ve been a life long journal, or diary as they were called growing up, keeper from the day I was given a Mickey Mouse diary as a gift from a friend of the family when I was maybe about 10 or 11-years-old. It had a fancy lock clasp and keys to hold all the “secrets” or my most private of thoughts from prying eyes. At least whatever my kid brain thought was well worth keeping tucked away for just me.

The habit of journaling stuck, and it has tracked every stage of my life from adolescence to young adult to now. A book shelf is filled with completed journals of thoughts and memories that mattered most to me at the time. Recently, I decided to take one of those books off the shelf and began thumbing through the pages. What I found within those pages was a girl who was and wasn’t me.

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A Blogging Milestone: simpleek Turns Ten!

November 1, 2021

If someone had told me I’d be blogging for ten years I probably wouldn’t believe it. Not because I don’t think I could maintain a blog for that long. When I’m determined to do something, I don’t quit until I accomplish it, no matter how long or hard the road to get there might be. What I mean is I thought life would eventually make sustaining a blog impossible until I either gave up on it all together, or my posting schedule would be infrequent or non-existent.

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Happy Nine Years Of Blogging simpleek!

November 9, 2020

It probably doesn’t need to be said that 2020 has been a wild ride and not the best kind. Anything terrible or unbelievable that has happened to us personally or to the world at large will almost always be blamed on the year itself. We’re exhausted, frustrated, and maybe less optimistic than we were 10 or 20 years ago. At this point we would be glad to rush the end of 2020 in the hopes things will somehow look up in 2021. Whether or not it will happen remains to be seen, and there is that ever persistent fear nothing will change no matter how hard we try. Despite the turbulent year I do try to find some pockets of sunshine and reasons to celebrate. This month marks the anniversary of the simpleek blog.

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Write More, Read More: Staying On Track With My Goals

January 13, 2020

Everyone comes into a new year with the best intentions to do something different about their lives. Make a change or start fresh. But halfway into a month or two, we either procrastinate on the resolutions we swore we would do or the bit of progress we did make gets abandoned before the year even ends. I am certainly guilty of this, like so many others, but you get to a point in your life where you have to decide if the goal you want to achieve is still something you really want deep down inside. I’ve reached that turning point with my writing.

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Another Year Over: Conclusions And Looking Forward To The New Year

December 30, 2019

There’s always something about finishing one year and entering a new one that makes people reflective about their life and the state of the world thus far. The ending of 2019 is particularly meaningful because it marks the conclusion of one decade as we transition into another. I’m amazed that so much time has passed. I can barely remember all the things that have happened in the last 10 years, but one thing I know for certain is that there have been plenty of highs and lows that have impacted me personally and molded me into the woman I continue becoming.

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Another Year Older: simpleek Turns Eight!

November 11, 2019

November is a month that often creeps up on you. One minute you’re clearing out remnants of candy wrappers leftover from Halloween and suddenly you’re beginning preparations for a turkey meal to feed a family of four or seven for Thanksgiving. Aside from eating a generous amount of mashed potatoes and slices of pumpkin pie, November holds more significance for me that goes way beyond Thanksgiving—it’s the month the simpleek blog was born!

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The Writer’s Process: Maybe This Doesn’t Suck After All?

October 14, 2019

Writing is hard. There are moments when you get sudden sparks of inspiration only for it to fizzle just as quickly. I’ve been slowly undergoing a rediscovery for my writing and feeding my creativity by doing things that will help me create the worlds and characters I’m currently writing about for my long-time, in-the-works fantasy novel. Because the urge to tap back into this side of writing has been strong for me lately, it was a good time as any to go back and read what I did write so far before taking a hiatus (2017 to be exact). What I discovered was maybe what I was writing wasn’t all that bad as I thought it was.

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Wanted: Passion Seeks Motivation

September 9, 2019

What is passion? The dictionary has multiple meanings behind the word, but when it comes to expressing a love for film, music, art, books, video games, sports, and other areas of interest and pursuits, the applicable definition here is “an object of desire or deep interest,” according to Merriam-Webster. When we tell someone what we’re passionate about, there’s almost an all consuming fire that goes along with it. The flames are fanned and continues to burn brighter and faster until there’s nothing but you and your intense devotion to the thing you adore.

I’ve been passionate about writing ever since I discovered my propensity for the written word and storytelling when I was a pre-teen getting ready to enter high school. Stories and potential characters dance around in my head, begging to come alive on the page. But even though there is a boundless and unyielding passion to write, the biggest problem is tying down passion’s other partner—motivation.

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Sail Away: Vacation and Hiatus

May 6, 2019

One of the advantages of being a working adult is having the ability to earn and save enough money to go on vacation. I’m never one to pass up the opportunity to take the vacation days I have and go someplace new and exciting. Whether it’s in the country or outside of it, I’m always anticipating what kind of new memories and stories my next travel destination will give me.

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