According to Malcolm Gladwell, behind the genius of high-achievers that leaves us awestruck is really just 10,000 hours of practice. Let’s see what this might look like for you as a drummer, Tennyson: You’ve put in at least 500 hours thus far. 1 hour of practice a day, 35 free days in a year –>… Read More Genius
What color is make-believe, you ask? It is the color of time that never runs out, the sun streaming over a land where children are kings and queens, It is the heart of Middle-earth The color of Cinderella’s tears, the color of beauty who loved the beast Pinocchio’s lies and the virtue of knights, the… Read More The Color of Make-Believe
Crack open time Poetry sifts the moment The lyric of dreams aborted hope hearth of pain Poetry is the space between the noise outside and my voice Poetry reasons is intention question assurance a luscious joy Jealous for beauty Poetry, watercolor memory surfaces to clear lines, light Poetry … Read More On Poetry
I got to do the fun stuff with my students when I taught the Gifted and Talented in the 90s. The elementary school kids in the program left their classroom and came to me bright-eyed, bushy-taled. Grounded in the basics, they were ready for a session of poetry or creative writing. Here are some activities… Read More Young Writers in Their Dreaming
In extension of The Writing Process: Sensory Details, Part 4, I share a handful of poems a few private students produced years back. The wording fell into place once the ideas came to life in the brainstorm of senses (explained in Part 4). Tip of the day: quotes wake up poems with the element of… Read More The Writing Process, Part 5: Keep Painting
I’ve taught writing in both public schools and private settings. Years after their last lesson with me, I asked two very bright sisters (with diametric learning styles) what they remembered from their long season with me. Both answered, “Save spit.” Turned out, the pithy injunction had velcroed itself on their brain and conducted the papers… Read More The Writing Process, Part 2: Save Spit
I noticed something recently about the colors of the words that have streamed from my head these few months. The versicolor spectrum has many lighter, brighter hues than my writing has seen over the years. The lacuna of the last ten years where I was entirely occupied in the life of a wife and mother… Read More The Writing Process, Part 1: Color
Will kids accustomed to virtual magic tricks readily invite self-discipline, the handmaid of hard work? We express ourself through the click of likes and flurry of fingers on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram (not saying I object to your liking this post). The breeziness with which kids are talking online from a progressively younger age will wear… Read More Technology: The Dark Side of Efficiency, Part 4
Music Music is heaven-borne. Was God’s idea. God’s people sung their prayers through the Old Testament, though they did not have to. And they sang a new song before the throne…Revelation 14:3. Music will crown the triumph of restoration, vindication, renewal in heaven. Color Imagine there were no such thing. So we couldn’t even paint.… Read More 20 Things I Consider Sacred: Part 4
My husband, Pedro in the Brazilian world of music, teaches Samba drumming to a group of Samba dancers. A month ago, his class from Julie Simon’s World to Dance studio participated for the second time in The Inland Empire Dancing with the Stars competition, an annual fundraiser for the Janet Goeske Foundation. Every year five… Read More Dancing With the Stars – in Riverside, CA
A Holistic Journey 