Wordsmatter

Words matter or word smatter? You decide.

The Story

Did I ever tell you about the time my brother gave his car away? I mean, technically someone stole it, but honestly, he might as well have given it away. Wait till you hear this… For more than thirty years, that was the opener to my best party story. I pulled out The...

I haven’t forgotten

Live in peace. React in love. Help whenever you can. Let’s use 9/11 to make us better. We can’t afford to sacrifice our humanity for the sake of our existence. 

Collateral damage

[Warning: this post is way more polite than it deserves to be.] What a mess. What an absolute effing mess. I was horrified when I first heard what had happened in Uvalde. All those children! The horror continued to renew itself as details of the situation emerged,...

Regifting

At every life event, good or bad, my people show up. It may not be everyone each time and it may not look exactly as I imagined, but someone is there. In fact, it's usually a whole lot of people. Some are family, some are friends, but at this point, those lines are...

The power of belief

Several weeks ago I undertook a writing project outside my comfort zone. Truthfully, it didn't amount to much, but it involved my own content--not something I had written on behalf of someone else--and it made me feel vulnerable. I was nervous and unsure, but...

The time I got it wrong

I hate to be wrong. As much as I love to be right (who doesn't?), I hate to be wrong even more. I have lots of reasons for this, but since they revolve around my self-psychoanalysis, I'll spare you the details. Just know that I viscerally hate to be wrong. Imagine,...

Flying blind

A couple of nights ago, something started thump-whumping on my back door. I didn't think anything of it at first; my house often makes creepy noises that flare up and then disappear. This one kept happening, though. It's August, a little late for the giant Junebugs...

Identity crisis

I love food. For most of my life, creating it has been part of my identity. As an adolescent, I baked. When, as a newly minted adult, I called myself a good cook, my dad countered and said I was a good baker--he didn't really know whether I could cook. So I rose to...

Dragon slaying

I'm struggling again with blog writing, as you may have surmised from my absent posts this week. I've started second guessing my ideas: Who would want to read that? I'm worried about my tone: Sheesh! You sound like Pollyanna, always turning things into glib sunshine...

Cut to the chase

Stilfehler / CC BY-SA When I visited my hairdresser the other day, I went armed with an idea. Mind you, for nearly twenty years I've told her, Do whatever you want. Once in a while I tell her to leave the length, thin it a bit, get it out of my face, but the...

En-titled

As a side gig, I write articles for a local magazine. As much as I enjoy it, it's like exercise: the hardest part is getting started. I'll sometimes spend hours--yes, hours--agonizing over the title. The computer screen never looks blanker than when I stare at it...

Silver linings

I've written about some heavy stuff lately, and I need a breather. The past few months have been rough for almost everyone. Still, I can find bright spots and I'm grateful for them. Today I've decided to share some of the silver linings I've discovered in my...

Altered reality

I've said it before and I'll say it again--mostly because it is a lesson I have to keep learning myself. Perception is reality. A couple weeks ago I attended an event that included a panel discussion with people presenting differing viewpoints. One woman came from an...

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