Thanks and joy

I've been reading this book about gratitude called One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. It talks a lot about thankfulness as a key to living more fully with joy in the difficult now.

I also lost a colleage this week. She'd been ill for a year and I know near the end got to hear at last all the gratitude people had for her. And it struck me, why wait until someone's dying to express how you're thankful for them?

So, yesterday I wrote a brief note on Facebook to an old high school buddy, just a quick thanks for one of the many positive influences she had on me. And you know what? That small bit of thanks opened up something. Not only a mutual warmness between my friend and me, but also a whole well of good stuff that I haven't been able to access in a long time. The kooky, fun geek girl I once was started to resurface. Now I realize where that joyful version of me had gone. She'd become imprisoned by ingratitude. The key to unlocking her was merely to say "thanks."

So I challenge you, reader, to tell someone in your life thanks. Be specific: their kind words at the right moment, a book they recommended, some life event you shared that shaped you. Gratitude is light in the darkness, friends. It is a powerful weapon against despair, a powerful creator of joy.

And speaking of joyful things, if you're in the Philly area, you don't want to miss the Harry Potter Festival in Chestnut Hill. Germantown Ave. will become a mini Hogsmeade. A muggle quidditch tournament will be held. Gotta love this awesome promo video!




Who are you thankful for today? Did you tell them? What joy did it unlock for you?

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Writing wish fulfillment

It's the first Friday of a new month, and that means ART, baby! Philadelphia's art galleries in Olde City hold their monthly First Friday event, with new shows opening, later gallery closing times, meet and greets and refreshments. It's a fun, invigorating environment to hop into. Buskers pop up all over the neighborhood and local artisans--especially young students--hawk their wares from rickety card tables or blankets spread on the sidewalks.

The art world is one I love exploring, so of course my MC is an artist. Some of that choice of passion/career aspiration was thematic. She mentally rearranges what she sees so she can draw it the way she wants. But she also uses art to speak truth into the world. It's a gift I admire. One I wish I had.

I've loved drawing since I was quite young and took three years of art in high school. But honestly, I was just a dabbler. I could render a likeness with some competence, but narrating the world in image? I don't have the right kind of brain for it. Not visual enough. I can't follow those Ikea directions that are all pictures--I need words.

So writing Dani is my entree into being something I'm not, but wish I were. Tonight I'll rub elbows with the cool crowd and tell my daughter what's impressive about this technique or that composition. My artist wannabe self will fill up and I'll have more to pour into Dani.

What passion or skill have you given to a character that you wish you had?

Image from Hyatt's concierge.com site

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Plug and unplug

If you're in the Philly area this weekend, there's an interesting FREE symposium going on you might want to check out, especially if you're a foodie, a "locavore" or philosophically-minded.

The Future of Food
a Greater Philadelphia Philosophy Consortium Public Issues Forum
sponsored by the La Salle University Philosophy Department

Saturday, March 27, 2010
1:00 – 5:00 p.m.
Montgomery Auditorium
Parkway Central Library,
Free Library of Philadelphia

David Kaplan, University of North Texas:
“Real Food, Fake Food”

Lisa Heldke, Gustavus Adolphus College:
“Down-Home Global Cooking:
Why Cosmopolitanism versus Localism is a False Dichotomy,
and How Our Food Can Show Us the Way to a Third Option”

Panel Discussion led by Solomon Katz, University of Pennsylvania:
“The Future of Food”


Yeah, this has NOTHING to do with writing. My husband is a member of the sponsoring department and, well, philosophers really stink at PR, so this event hasn't had much press.

So, there you go, hon. A little more web presence for your department-sponsored event. :-)

And my UNPLUG...
I will be offline all weekend, but not by choice. We have no phone or DSL at home. Until Verizon sends a repairman, I won't have Internet access. So please see me as disabled rather than rude when I don't respond to comments.

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Enter today -- contest at Book Dreaming

Shannon over at Book Dreaming is hosting a big book giveaway in honor of reaching 100 blog followers. Stop on over to win one of two prizes--a set of adult fiction and writing books OR middle grade and young adult books.

Good luck!

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Author/ Illustrator night

Thanks to the SEPTA strike, my hubby and I will not be taking a group of his college students via subway to First Friday in Philly's Old City gallery district tonight. Instead, we'll be bringing our cute 7-yo to meet her favorite authors, Judy Schachter and David Weisner, at a fabulous children's lit event in Haverford. I also hope to meet the elusive Jennifer Hubbard, who's part of a children's/YA critique group I started attending in August.

Children's Book World in Haverford hosts this event for Philly-area authors and illustrators each year. If you write for kids or teens, this is a great networking event. Or if you happen to have avid young readers in your home, bring them out to meet real, live creative folks who make their world so much more vibrant.

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