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On Writing and Life

Tag Archives: Finding Passion

Whence Comes Inspiration

10 Wednesday Feb 2016

Posted by Sandie Tillery in Reflections on Life, Writing

≈ 4 Comments

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Finding Passion, Writers Groups, Writing Process

A recent writer’s group meeting challenged my big picture view of the craft and processes of writing for publication. The presenters spoke about specific tools and techniques (text formatting and setting goals for completing projects), while  conversation around the topics rolled around those and more personal ideas (building platforms through blogs). I appreciate those whose personal efforts and advice reflect discipline and determination as they set and pursue goals. They have published books and articles (and received some rejection slips) to show for their hard work.

Rose-colored glasses have been set aside as I plunge in to do the hard work of putting thoughts down, following the outline, writing and revising. Progress seems slow… the end far, far away. Each month the adrenaline injection from meeting with other writers entrenched in their own processes energizes me and pushes me forward again. They have given me permission with their encouragement to follow a tangent, to write a related article as a break from the larger project. Part of creating credibility as a professional writer requires submitting writing for a broad audience. After all, what good is writing if not to be read?

Long ago the publisher of my high school yearbook for which I was a co-editor inspired us with pithy sayings. One has stuck in my head ever since: “If you want to be remembered, do something worth writing about or write something worth reading about.” I am aiming for the latter.

Honing my skills gives me courage to keep writing with an end in sight. As other writers have acknowledged, we never know it all. Humility comes naturally for those of us who in our later years are FINALLY doing what we said we would do in our prideful and starry-eyed youth. I have a book in process, articles scheduled and writing to be done. The time has come and now is…

 

The Road Taken

20 Tuesday Oct 2015

Posted by Sandie Tillery in Writing

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Finding Passion, Writing Process

Decades of writing experience only define me as a writer, not an expert at writing. I have been blessed. Opportunities have come to me. I have not been a ravenous, desperate journalist needing to make my name and my way. Although very good college instructors and early experiences as a student writer and stringer for local news outlets allowed me to research, investigate, soar and plummet, I never developed that Geraldo Rivera passion to “get the dirt” or pursue the story behind the story.

A woman who came of age in the late ’60s and early ’70s, I confess I ran the sidelines of the big issues of the times. It was a good place for a reporter, not a popular place from the point of view of the radicals who loudly and passionately wanted everyone to jump onto their bandwagons, especially on college and university campuses.  My liberal upbringing, laced with good moral values, taught me to love people more than their causes. Hard-hitting investigative reporters can’t be too compassionate. I was…too compassionate, loving everyone, reluctant to press too hard, uneasy writing about the worst in our society.

I did get my degree with high grades in journalism from a state college fomenting with controversy in 1972, a hotbed of radical thought and actions. I had married a wonderful conservative man who must have been dazzled by my blond beauty. We were so very different, he in his three-piece suit traveling to the business district downtown while I put on my clogs and shawl for the bus trip uptown where we student journalists were being sent out to cover the challenging times in front of us.

My husband and I shared one great passion…hurting children. So, from suits and shawls to hiking boots and flannel shirts, we began a journey in which our educations became tools to rescue and help children in ways we never dreamed. That is a story for another time. Let this be the summation of my writer’s tale to date: I write passionately, but more from a place of victory than from defeat. I have contributed for many years to a magazine entitled “Enjoy!” It is all about the best of the region in the world where I live. It sums up the place I have come to as a writer.

There is much to celebrate in this world. I choose to pursue the best in people, write about solutions, not problems, explore the goodness of God, and try to bring a word of hope to the hopeless. I am still learning how to write so my words make a difference, not waves; how to say something that will being clarity and transformation to others’ lives in the midst of confusion and chaos, to choose a better road to travel.

Joy is a Choice

13 Tuesday Oct 2015

Posted by Sandie Tillery in Reflections on Life

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Finding Passion, Good Choices

Coffee on my back patio sets the stage for most days. A joyous, raucous concert of rising and falling bird song delights me. Squirrels travel and chatter along the overhead highway of interlaced oak branches that bracket a view of the western mountains. I meditate and reflect in those moments trying to block out the list of “to-dos” that attempt to squander away my morning peace. It is in those precious always too brief moments that my spirit revels in the beauty of life, the fullness of the my blessings and the treasure of family and friends.

Life inevitably unwinds us into busyness. Those early moments when I claim joy as my halo, my crown of identity, allow me to walk through the day with a sense of transcendence, a calm sense of sanctuary even when assaulted with trials and unforeseen challenges. As one who tends to live passionately, establishing joy as my framework early in the day keeps me in balance, prevents breakdowns or emotional faceplants. I’m choosing to create a place of peace about me…in my home, in my car, in the space that surrounds me. It is very difficult to be unhappy, unsettled, overwhelmed when peace and joy have settled into my whole being.

Grey clouds of depression and discouragement inevitably will threaten. I wish I could say that I have perfected the morning routine of claiming joy, brushing away the insidious thoughts that steal away my peace. It is like so many things in life that require discipline. It requires purposeful practice. On cold and rainy days, a cozy place on my living room sofa with my Bible open on my lap offers the same opportunity to choose joy rather than fussing, peace rather than fretting. I sometimes forget, rush into the day full charge ahead. Danger looms. Sometimes I can muscle through on my own strength. It is exhausting.

Then comes another morning fresh and new…another day to choose. I choose JOY.

Autumn Leaves Must Fall

02 Wednesday Sep 2015

Posted by Sandie Tillery in Reflections on Life

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Finding Passion, Seasons, Writing Process

I am glad for autumn. Glad for the breezes that cleanse the smoke from the sky. Glad to enjoy cooler mornings on the back patio with my coffee. I am so glad the fires that clouded our summer skies are burning out and the firefighters will soon mop up and go home to their families. I am glad that school has resumed and the grandchildren have launched into another year of learning and growing, making friends and discovering new interests and passions. I love autumn most of all the seasons.

Autumn is a time of shedding leaves and the malaise of summer, of harvesting and putting up, of changing direction and letting fresh ideas whisper life into slumbering daydreams. It is a time to prepare for winter’s challenges and darker days. I love the changing colors of autumn that herald the soon coming of my favorite holidays and the promise of cozy evenings in front of the fire. Autumn’s colors are my colors…orange and amber, bronze and brown, red and yellow.

When the last autumn leaves have fallen and the barrenness of winter descends, newly written thoughts will be pondered and polished. Autumn’s colors having birthed inspiration and pleasure in the putting down of thoughts on this screen and into my stories, will have done their job. And as I write through the winter months, I pray for my words to have meaning that offers help, hope and joy to others.

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Recent Posts

  • Jazmyn’s Journal
  • A Slice of Life
  • Old Dog, New Tricks
  • Whence Comes Inspiration
  • “Live Well for the Master”

Recent Comments

Barbara Bryant on A Slice of Life
Sandie Tillery on A Slice of Life
Thonie Hevron on A Slice of Life
tea4katie on Whence Comes Inspiration
Sandie Tillery on Whence Comes Inspiration

Archives

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Categories

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  • Reflections on Life
  • Writing

Meta

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