Finding stories

“Things happen when you leave the house.” Kelly Corrigan, via The Happiness Project blog

I know that. I have said that, even a version of that here in this blog. I have relearned this many times during my life.

...where the deer and antelope play

Once while working seasonally for the Forest Service I was working on a report—in the office. A biologist, who usually occupied a seat near me, came bounding in the office with the news, “I saw a mountain lion today!” Everyone in the office turned to get more of the story, where, when, how.

I would love to see a mountain lion—from a safe distance. I hear about people seeing them all of the time. The thing is these people were out doing things, hiking, hunting, driving, running. The majority of these people, no… that’s not right, ALL of these people were out in woods for another reason, but because they were out where the mountain lions were, they saw a mountain lion and had a story to tell.

And that’s what I keep relearning. Not just that I need to get into the woods to see wildlife, that’s part of it, but also that in order to freshen my mind and open myself to new potential stories I need to step away from the computer. I can look online for neat stories until my hands cramp but I really need to get out there in the real world. That was one of my goals for last year and I didn’t do so well. So I need to try again.


Who knows what will happen?

A new year and a new word

okay, it's an escalator but you get the idea

Last year I took up the practice of adopting a word for the year. You can read about how I first got into this process in the post on January 25, 2011. My first word was “focus.” It turned out to be a great word in my personal and writing life as I focused on what was most important to me and how to advance my writing career. In writing, I continually reminded myself to stay focused on the subject. Of course, I won’t forget to focus as I move on to my new word.

Towards the end of the year I started playing with different words that could be helpful or fun for me to mull over for a year. Choosing a word has actually turned out to be a fun project, a little gift of a word companion to guide me through the year. As I mentioned last year, I pick out two words. The other word will remain private, it is my meditative word—a word for me to contemplate throughout the year. By late December I had picked out my words and had even written them down, but they didn’t feel quite right.

Last night I finished the process of filling in the dates of birthdays and special events in my new day planner. I copied in a quote I had read in Hope C. Clark’s Funds for Writers:

“The elevator to success is out of order. You’ll have to take the stairs… one step at time.”
~ Joe Girard

“Step”—that was one of the words bouncing in my head. That’s how I envision my progress: each contact, each writing assignment, has been on a step. That’s how I see my goals too. This year I will get one step higher. That word, “step,” just fits for this year. So there it is my word for the year. I like it.