Some of you have heard me say that it was pregnancy that inspired me to write The Wisdom to Know the Difference. That's mostly true, but the other thing that got me thinking about the Serenity Prayer was a 60 Minutes episode about Richard Leakey. This deleted bit of the book is one of the first [...]
I didn’t blog while on a family vacation, and now that it’s my first work-day in over three weeks, I’m not sure where to start. I’m in a mood to tie up loose ends, cross things off my to-do list, and simplify. The Wisdom to Know the Difference is coming out in paperback in less [...]
I have two schools of thought when it comes to work and money. One is that I am called to do certain work and how much money I make at it is irrelevant. I don’t buy the belief that our value equals our net worth. I don’t buy the belief that well-paid work is inherently [...]
A few nights ago, I joined a group of Friends interested in learning how teleseminars and webinars could aid their work. First, Sarah O’Doherty showed us the kind of online classes she offers in her healing practice. Then, Ginny Christensen shared how Friends Council on Education is bringing those involved with Quaker schools together from all over the country [...]
Quakers have a practice of writing questions (called queries) designed to prompt self-reflection. Since I have been reflecting on my own attempts to publicize a book using social networking (and have been getting annoyed with other people’s attempts to publicize their stuff on these same networks), I offer these 10 queries to all of us. [...]
Last night I had my first book signing, with a lovely, intimate audience of women. One remarked on their gender at the end and asked if I thought it was a coincidence. I didn’t, though I wasn’t quite sure how to explain it, either. Several were from the same book group, and book groups tend [...]
After ten years of writing around my children’s schedules, I have a book coming out soon, and friends have been asking what they can do to support me. I’ve been touched by their offers and yet reticent to ask too much, especially of busy people in a tough economy. At the same time, the online [...]
I have two brand new books to plug. The first is Who's Your Mama?: The Unsung Voices of Women and Mothers As the press release describes, it is a book of “Narratives by a racially and economically diverse group of women, who broaden the traditional notion of motherhood in the United States by discussing their [...]
When I was in my twenties, looking for a spiritual home, one of the things that attracted me to the Religious Society of Friends was its history of peace and social justice work. Quakers advocated the abolition of slavery, worked on the Underground Railroad, and supported women’s right to vote. Coming from secular activists circles, [...]
The other day in the library, a title caught my eye The Writing Diet by Julia Cameron. Those of you who read my pamphlet on parenting may remember that I have a conflicted relationship with Cameron’s work. I appreciated much of her bestseller The Artist's Way, but felt that her put-your-creativity-above-everything-else message did not jive [...]