Sometimes, you wander around reading things and bump into exactly what you needed to hear.

A poem by Mark Nepo

Breaking Surface

Let no one keep you from your journey,
no rabbi or priest, no mother
who wants you to dig for treasures
she misplaced, no father
who won’t let one life be enough,
no lover who measures their worth
by what you might give up,
no voice that tells you in the night
it can’t be done.

Let nothing dissuade you
from seeing what you see
or feeling the winds that make you
want to dance alone
or go where no one
has yet to go.

You are the only explorer.
Your heart, the unreadable compass.
Your soul, the shore of a promise
too great to be ignored.

Bored? Go read a book (as my dad used to say)

Something is missing here on my nightstand.  There’s an alarm clock, a lamp, a pair of old lady glasses, a glass of water, a kitten, but no book. So, what are you reading?

Birch Trees

While I’ve been working on the newest novel, not yet named, and “Light in Darkest Days” is with the publisher for fine tuning, there is still this gem out there, Birch Trees at the Old House.

While I wish it was written from a place like this:

most of it was written from an attic office during my years in law school, and while studying for the bar.  I still think I would have aced that damn test if not for my muse whispering these poems to me all day long.  Somehow these writings actually got me through the lonely and discouraging process of studying and then studying some more.  I continued to write poetry after these were compiled, and there is another short book of poems just not quite yet born yet.  I am happy to re-introduce this bit of writing to the world.  I invite you to read it and tell me what you think.

Why it matters

This blog has changed.  While it used to be a place for writings, poetry, and thoughts of the world, it’s evolved into a place to talk exclusively about writing, the muse that inspires us, and the resistance that stops us.

Life is too short, relationships are too important, and our self-image is too fragile to say things that don’t matter.  In “The Four Agreements” author Don Miguel Ruiz outlines four very basic principles to achieve love and happiness in our lives. One of the four agreements we should make in this life is to be impeccable with our word.  To say things only in the spirit of truth and love is no small task, but one worthwhile and a challenge to which we should all rise.  I have not achieved success in this agreement, no doubt, but throughout my day I try to stop before I speak and ask the question, “Is this moving toward a place of truth?  Does it matter?”

In writing, and in the process of editing, we read each sentence to see if it matters, if anything is being moved, or if plot is advancing.  Dialogue has to be believable and pertinent. Movies that get slow do so because the things happening just don’t matter.  Books, television, music, and media that makes me shake my head and wonder does so because it just doesn’t move me to anything greater, it doesn’t matter.

I have published a book of poetry, Birch Trees at the Old House. Though I think it said lots of things that mattered, I only gave it to family and close friends, and didn’t try to tell more people what mattered.  I encourage you to click above, check out the book, and frankly, to buy it.  It is a collection of things that matter to me, and I feel strongly that it’s full of things that matter to everyone.  Family, love, parenthood, loss, and grief.  The human experience, in its rawness, sorrow, and triumph should be discussed, compared, and talked about.  Reading about someone’s own humanity makes us feel less alone, less crazy, and less freaked out about waking up every damn morning.

I am in the process of publishing my first novel.  A story about what it means to be good, and what it means to be wrong and intrinsically bad, I believe it touches on the human experience in a new and different way.  The story challenges us to question the rules we’ve made about protagonist and antagonist.  I hope the reader falls in love with the “bad guy” and feels a bit of resentment towards the “good guy,” so that boundaries are pushed and what matters is scrutinized.

This blog will talk about poetry, the upcoming book, and the project I am working on now.  I hope blog readers will anticipate the upcoming writings, share thoughts on their own creative process, and give me more insight and challenges on what I haven’t yet thought about in the process of saying what matters.