If I Were a Peony was the first of my analogical musings. During a Sunday afternoon meandering the South Carolina Botanical Gardens with Mama Sue, some flora is worth further consideration further, and so is some counsel that was not your garden variety.
Inspired by Nature
Words Aren’t Wasted on Tragedy
Tragedy. It’s not just the play genre of Julius Caesar that my students are studying in English class. There are three children in Nashville who will never read Shakespeare after a senseless shooting at a Christian school. We may prefer the comedies, but what do we do when life’s writing tragedies all around us? Cry? Pray? Question? Read, write, talk about it? Grief is unique...
Confessions of an ENFJ
It’s nights like these, cozied up on my writing perch, that peace radiates from within. The twilight dawns, evening rises, and the paved streets are silent. I stop, and everything else stops. I can’t see my reflection in the laptop screen, but I’m outlining my frame in words nevertheless. For an extrovert, it strikes off … Continue reading Confessions of an ENFJ
An Hourglass Minute
My magnolia trees will bloom soon. In fact, a few impatient buds are already crawling out of their casing, begging for light. It will be my second spring in this rented bungalow. Now, I know to expect magnolias. That they’ll be cotton candy pink. That they’ll bloom for only a few weeks. That they’ll shade … Continue reading An Hourglass Minute
The Beauty in Weakness
I was right about my garden. It bounced back. Daily nurturing is essential to any profession of care giving. Water the soil, provide sufficient supplements, weed the earth, and positive growth occurs. Ask any teacher how they finally “got through” to a troubled youth and the answer will be an outgrowth of a relationship that … Continue reading The Beauty in Weakness
Finding Therapy in Writing and Gardening
It’s the same night each week. A different love seat, but the same night. A different city, but the same night. Maybe even a different me, but the same night. Twenty nights here on this white wicker loveseat in Hampton, VA writing my way to revelation, but more than eighty Tuesday nights I spent on … Continue reading Finding Therapy in Writing and Gardening
From Dead Oak to New Life
I understand why Dorothy exclaimed, “There’s no place like home.” On writing night, this white wicker love seat beckons me. The crickets soothe me. The red wine relaxes me. Ever a creature of habit, I plan my day such that when I pull in the driveway at this white house with the red door, nothing … Continue reading From Dead Oak to New Life
Analogies Don’t Take a Vacation
Tonight, I couldn’t begin to name half the plants that surround me as I recline poolside in a lawn chair overlooking Lake Minnehaha in Uncle Paul’s back yard in Maitland. Florida’s greenery hosts many foreign breeds to this novice gardener. Nevertheless, a day trip to Bok Tower Gardens nearly an hour and a half southwest … Continue reading Analogies Don’t Take a Vacation
Compromises, Coleus Plants, and Climbing Vines
Compromise. We internalize this term with both positive and negative connotations as little children. Compromise is a common strategy at my brother’s dinner table. My nephew J.J. announces that he is full and ready for dessert. My sister-in-law explains that if he has room for dessert, he is not full, and therefore needs to finish … Continue reading Compromises, Coleus Plants, and Climbing Vines
A Garden Make-Over: Seeds of Hope
My wind chimes are silent, but there’s a chorus in calls of the birds accompanied by the syncopated rain drops dipping from the trees and the roof. When my father visited recently, he identified the call of a male cardinal. As I type to the irregular beat, seven unique squawks and whistles sing with me … Continue reading A Garden Make-Over: Seeds of Hope
Writer's Growth 