On, in, and Around Mondays: The Power of Being Second

I walk alone today.

To the west is the river, obstructed. Such a beautiful vista this should be, but rooftops and wires, trees with plastic bags somehow caught in their tippy tops spoil the view. Such a vista would be my first choice for photographs, but it is not available to me from where I make my way.

A sewer cap catches my eye, and I bend down to capture it with my lens. I keep walking. Thinking and walking.

Soon I am taking pictures of secondary things. Things under my feet, not at eye level. Shadows of trees instead of trees. Sidewalks instead of the reeds that lean over them.



It strikes me, suddenly, the power of being second. Everybody reaches for first. But it is Second, it is the niche-place, that holds possibility.



I am thinking now of Ann Voskamp, before she was Ann Voskamp. She didn't try to be Beth Moore, she was simply happy with being Ann. Some people didn't think much of this, because they forgot the power of being second (I remember telling an acquisitions editor to take a look at Ann, and the answer I got back was, "A shy farmer from Canada? That's not going to sell, Laura.")

And this is why, if today, anybody is trying to be Ann Voskamp, they should remember to forget that. Ann became *Ann* because she was fine with being second, and because she was Ann.



I am delighted with this idea, as I keep snapping pictures of secondary things. I know I will come home and write about it. I know I will come home and embrace being second. Not out of humility, mind you, but out of a strong sense that good business means we aren't always trying to vie with what's established. We need to find our niche, and live into it.


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On, In and Around Mondays (which partly means you can post any day and still add a link) is an invitation to write from where you are. Tell us what is on, in, around (over, under, near, by...) you. Feel free to write any which way... compose a tight poem or just ramble for a few paragraphs. But we should feel a sense of place. Would you like to try? Write something 'in place' and add your link below.

If you could kindly link back here when you post, it will create a central meeting place. :)

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You Don't Need a Degree to Find Your Voice

This excerpt of Rumors of Water ran at Jane Friedman's. If you don't know Jane, you want to, you just don't know it yet. :)

She was named a Top 10 Woman Entrepreneur by Forbes recently. And, she is a vibrant, knowledgable person in the publishing industry.

Jane gave the Rumors excerpt an intriguing title 'You Don't Need a Degree to Find Your Voice,' and I think it really hit a chord with people. I say that because when I shared it on Facebook, 95 people "liked" the post and 55 people shared it.

Here's the beginning, and if you are curious you can read the rest at Jane's place...

I am opening a jar of green tea from Granada, Spain. It’s an old salsa jar, without its label. The tea is silvery and reminds me of those pictures I’ve seen of the mountain mist in China. There are curls of lavender flowers. Bits of orange peel. I am not surprised about the peels. When we went to Granada, we were told that a nearby city, Sevilla, blooms with orange-scented flowers so strong you can almost smell them in your dreams. When the flowers fall, the oranges come. On every tree-lined street, there is citrus for the taking...

Continue reading at Jane Friedman's

On, in, and Around Mondays: When the Gift Knows What You Need

Every morning I would make tea, in an individual teapot.

Every morning, my older daughter would come by surreptitiously and steal-away with some of the tea.

"Hey, did you take my tea?" I'd say, and laugh, when I'd gone back for more tea and found my teapot wanting.

Then I received a casual teapot for Christmas. Full-sized and cheery, it sat on the counter. Until one day it occurred to me... why, yes, I could make a whole pot of tea every morning, couldn't I.

So I started to do that, and it quickly became a new ritual. And even my younger daughter now has tea every morning.

I started thinking about this phenomenon the other day—how the addition of something we didn't know we wanted or needed can change our lives in the most delightful ways. For my younger daughter, it has been not so much the teapot as her new journal. Every day, she makes clothing designs in it. This has become her new ritual.

I am not sure we can make these things happen. It's as if the gift has to arrive, for the unperceived need to become apparent.

As for me, I accept the serendipity. Especially if it comes with tea.
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On, In and Around Mondays (which partly means you can post any day and still add a link) is an invitation to write from where you are. Tell us what is on, in, around (over, under, near, by...) you. Feel free to write any which way... compose a tight poem or just ramble for a few paragraphs. But we should feel a sense of place. Would you like to try? Write something 'in place' and add your link below.

If you could kindly link back here when you post, it will create a central meeting place. :)

<a href="http://seedlingsinstone.blogspot.com"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5083/5217906589_c7120874ca.jpg" width="308" height="69" alt="On In Around button" />

This post is also shared with Laura Boggess, for...

Because My Walls Can't Take it Anymore

I love beautiful art. I love Emily Wierenga.

It seemed natural to find ways to bring Emily's beautiful art into my home, without finding more wall space (which I do not have, at all).

This is the result...

The Emily Collection

So.

My girls each got a journal for Valentine's Day. "I can put my designs in this!" Sonia exclaimed. Sara kept turning hers in the light, "I love the colors. So brilliant."

(I forgot to choose "lined paper" when I ordered, so these are probably destined to be art and poetry journals!)






Me? I got a beautiful bag for the myriads of library books I carry each week. I was pleased that the bag turned out to be heavy in construction. And I get to carry Emily with me (instead of some of the less-than-attractive bags I've inherited from conferences)...




Best of all, I am drinking my favorites now with Emily. When I showed this to Sara, she said, "Amazing. Just amazing. It's so beautiful!" And I like the way the cup shines...



I wonder who said that art has to be on the walls. I'm happy to be holding mine (Emily's) now.

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How about you? Check out The Emily Collection

On, in, and Around Mondays: Writer Needs Reflection

I can feel my heart beating too fast. My breath feels shallow. My body, jittery.

It's not caffeine. There's no threat here in the kitchen. It's nothing at all.

Still, the next phone call I take, I walk with it. There's something about walking that drains the barely-perceptible unease that pervades my body. It's as if with each step something falls away. I miss this outer movement that creates inner space.

After my walk, after my call, I sit and just think. What do I really need?

Swaths of time. Time to go deep. Time to stop surfing (oh, I do love to Internet surf, and find great inspiration in it).

I need a book. Something more than a 500-word screen article. Something to hold in my hands, with a cup of tea beside me. So I do it.

In the green wing-back chair, I settle with a stack of books near my feet. I read one half-way through—a book on Branding. My notebook is filling with notes. I drink Red tea and consider my own personal brand. Not my writing and my logos and online images and posts. Just my self. The Brand that is Laura.

I get up and go to my email, write an apology to a friend. An apology for being so outside-my-personal-brand lately. I thank her for her patience with me, then I close up the laptop and return to the comfort of my chair, my books, my pen.

It carries over into my morning today. Before anything, I sit down and study French, drink my green jasmine tea, plan my week, my day. I even take time to smile to no one at all. Just sit and smile in the dining room. This is me. It feels happy.

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On, In and Around Mondays (which partly means you can post any day and still add a link) is an invitation to write from where you are. Tell us what is on, in, around (over, under, near, by...) you. Feel free to write any which way... compose a tight poem or just ramble for a few paragraphs. But we should feel a sense of place. Would you like to try? Write something 'in place' and add your link below.

If you could kindly link back here when you post, it will create a central meeting place. :)

<a href="http://seedlingsinstone.blogspot.com"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5083/5217906589_c7120874ca.jpg" width="308" height="69" alt="On In Around button" />

This post is also shared with Laura Boggess, for...

Favorite Since Bird by Bird

"It’s a beautiful book, easily my favorite book on writing since Bird by Bird..."

continue reading at Kimberlee Conway Ireton's

On, In, and Around Mondays: Delivering Happiness

A sense of control, plus...

A sense of progress, plus...

Connectedness, plus...

Meaning...

Equals: happiness.

Could it be that simple?

Last night it was. The girls and I decided (control) to watch Merlin together. They've been wanting me to see all the episodes. It's like our little secret. A life of story we are building together (meaning).

We pulled the curtains closed. Shut out the night (progress).

We pulled each other close on the couch, where my Littlest leaned into me (connectedness).

The music, the visions of knights and ladies, a cup of life lost, a kingdom overtaken. Together, we watched. It was nothing fancy. It didn't cost us anything but time and decision.

What would it take to deliver just a little happiness like this each day? Can it be that hard?

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On, In and Around Mondays (which partly means you can post any day and still add a link) is an invitation to write from where you are. Tell us what is on, in, around (over, under, near, by...) you. Feel free to write any which way... compose a tight poem or just ramble for a few paragraphs. But we should feel a sense of place. Would you like to try? Write something 'in place' and add your link below.

If you could kindly link back here when you post, it will create a central meeting place. :)

<a href="http://seedlingsinstone.blogspot.com"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5083/5217906589_c7120874ca.jpg" width="308" height="69" alt="On In Around button" />

This post is also shared with Laura Boggess, for...