“Let a joy keep you. Reach out your hands And take it when it runs by.” Carl Sandburg
Tag: self-worth
Late Bloomer
I have always been a late bloomer. There’s that. DIARY WITH A GOLDEN KEY My first memories of writing and of wanting to be a writer go back to the year 1969 when I was seven years old. I had a pink and white diary with a tiny gold key. I remember sitting on the …
My Narrative is Mine
“A feminist is any woman who tells the truth about her life.” —Virginia Woolf Don’t let someone else interpret your narrative. Recently, another writer told me (my apologies for not remembering who it was) that “writing is a way to get the narrative to be your narrative.” I don’t want anyone else to tell my …
Girl in the Snapshot
Looking at old photographs is not something I do much. I live here, after all, in the present tense. Last week, however, I got a jolt. A friend sent me a few old photographs. I wasn’t expecting them. In fact, I didn’t even know these pictures existed until the moment they popped up in a …
Determined Fig
Sometimes my husband goes a little crazy purchasing plants for our yard. He can be a bit over-zealous shopping at the nursery. When he brings plants home, he has a habit of setting them at the side of the house, between our house and the neighbor’s privacy fence. Sometimes he forgets about them. Several years …
The Re-Invention of Self
Every day is a re-invention of the self. It is a chance to start fresh. Every day is an opportunity to evaluate your beliefs about yourself and the world. In so doing, you can set the standards for the relationships in your life. SETTING STANDARDS What’s important is that you get to set the standards …
Rubber Band
The smell of dust, body odor and overly sweet air freshener permeated the air within the stuffy cab. Cabs always made her want to bathe after even a short ride. The driver watched the road. He didn’t speak. His disinterest in the passenger precluded him from noticing her profound sadness that brought her close but …
On Being Frail and Mowing Grass
March 4, 2012—I started the mower and mowed the grass today. I am empowered. To mow the grass may not sound like much but it is. For me it is a physical and social triumph. I grew up with older brothers. They mowed the lawn, not me. When I was married to a rancher, I …
Ship Island
When I was a child I spent a great deal of time at the beach. We would sail in my grandfather’s boat, the “Dixie Flyer” or my parent’s boat, the “La Moette,” to the islands off the Mississippi coast. Ship Island was where we would go most often. When I need a place to go, …
Fraudulent Activity
“I don’t know how to act anyway, so why am I doing this?” Meryl Streep This is a cold, wet Sunday morning in the hill country. As I lingered in bed reading, I came across a new term. While I tend to steer clear and roll my eyes about anything with the word “syndrome,” this …
Regina M. Allen 