The definition of faith contains many layers beyond the word religion. — “With only a 4th-grade education, Grandma Maggie’s world schooled her in the practicalities of life. Hardworking and unshakeable, she harbored neither self-pity nor arrogance for any aspect of her life. No matter what happened around her, she remained grounded. She was not a religious woman, but I would describe her…

Do the younger generations ignore the presence of their elders, or are we making ourselves unseeable to them? A squeak to the right of the bell curve is a modest little dot. That’s me — the minuscule spec of a flawed perfectionist dangling her feet over a mid-life crisis. The…

Society is fractured and it’s my fault. — I am to blame. Society is fractured and it’s my fault. I chipped away at civility one encounter at a time, pointing a finger toward everyone else as I accused society of being meaner than it used to be. Gazing out my window and across my lawn, it occurred to…

Starting over requires moving on. Perspective determines how you shape change, no matter the decade. — One hundred and five pounds of trembling flesh and blood. That was me, in 1982. My skin felt the eyes locked on me. Hundreds of eyes watching with high expectations. Hundreds of ears waiting to hear what I had to say. The red tassel dangling on the right side of…

How to see the silver lining under the heavy coat of rejection. — I have received rejection emails from six literary agents, and your sympathy is not requested. I’m thrilled to have been notified of six agents’ inability to connect with my writing and their complete lack of confidence in being able to sell my manuscript to a publisher. I know my elation…

How my employer and I had a lot to learn about my debilitating illness. Knowledge is worth sharing. — Driving home from work, I knew relief from my migraine medicine was waiting for me inside my house, I just needed to get there. My eyes saw an empty space in the lane to my left, but I knew I was being deceived. …

Understanding the nature of migraine disease. Living life with a chronic illness. — Migraine has traveled with me through life for nearly six decades. I have never thought of migraine as a welcome companion, but it is as much a part of me as the color of my hair and the freckles on my skin. My migraines have seen various behavioral configurations as…

But here’s what you can do to increase your chances — My 46,000-word manuscript contains only one mild curse word, is bursting with uncool grammatical correctness, does not portray me as a victim, and is not littered with name droppings (except for the time I met Colonel Sanders). In short, my book idea is totally effed. After weeks of researching, writing…

A trial-and-error process on the road to writing a book during a slight mid-life crisis. — I’m about to try something that scares the hell out of me. I’m frightened of the potential for failure, and I’m frightened of the possible repercussions of success. With over fifty-plus years of living under my belt, I’m familiar with many proverbial forks in the road. The forks don’t surprise…