Answering a question about writing processes...

A Colleague of the Pen recently shared her writing process asked on social media about the rest of us writers she’s connected to: ‘What’s yours?’

I didn’t, honestly, think I had one until today. There are a few things I do that are a must for the words to flow out:

Welcome home, sweet Philip!

Sometimes there are things in life that make absolutely zero sense, but we just learn to roll with the punches as they come.  Sometimes, when we least expect it, things happen to take a turn of the completely unexpected.  I'm generally not the type to enjoy surprises, but there are situations where I can't help but feel pleasantly surprised.

This afternoon, a friend of mine and I were talking, and as has been the case frequently as of late, I mentioned I need a dog again.  I miss my girl, of course, but I've been ready for a while now for another dog to be part of my life again.  An hour after I'd made that statement, my friend and I were chatting about some other things happening in our lives and I hear him mention that there was a dog wandering the street, so he pulled over and got out, calling to the dog.  I teased with, 'He's looking for you to bring him here to live with me and let me spoil him forever!'  The dog, whom we've called Philip, came running to my friend, tail wagging and a big grin on his face, tongue hanging out, ears flopping in the wind as he ran.  He was quite friendly and let my friend put him in his truck and drive him to my house.  Philip, I don't know the life you had before you found us, but I promise you, you're going to have the best rest of your life with me!  Thank you for allowing yourself to be rescued, and thank you, to my amazing friend, for finding him!

Te iubesc, bebelus.  Te iubesc!

Maundy Thursday - Mama

Mama, you knew your Son had come to save us all. You knew that you were the mother of our Creator, our Redeemer, Love in its Purest and most Gentle and Precious Form. You knew what you’d signed up for when St Gabriel at the Annunciation had told you what God wanted of you. Your consent to allow yourself to be used for such a Purpose for the entire world, your fiat, you consented to be part of a much, much bigger and sweet plan than the world had ever experienced – and will ever – know.

Your love for the Father and for all was enough for you to, without a second thought, say, ‘Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.’ (Luke 1.38) That simple statement changed the entire fabric of everything, because you didn’t flinch, you stood and said, ‘Yes.’

You knew that you would be a pariah in your community, and you knew that the gossip would flow like a river. But none of that mattered to you, because you knew that God had chosen you for a Special Purpose.

Lockdown thoughts and babblings... and gratitude for the blessing of friendship!

Show of hands, who's having a hard time with this lockdown?

COME ON, DON'T BE SHY, WE'RE ALL COOL HERE. Anyone? I know I am. My main issue is the place I WANT to be, I CANNOT be. I haven't left my flat in ... what's it been now... three days. I normally try to go for walks every day. Just once a day sometimes more. To clear my head. I decided no, I'm staying home and doing some actual work on my writing, and .. well... I will say THIS much for this lockdown: it's done WONDERS for my writing! It's really improved! ^_^ So, silver lining, yes?

So... tonight. Oh, tonight. BLEH. Took a brain break from writing. Had a panic attack. Stupid mental hellhounds, man., barking up a storm in my head! I'm okay now, though, I promise. Cabin fever and I don't get on well, I can tell you with ALL sincerity! Grateful for the amazing friends I have solid connections with for keeping me company throughout the day yesterday (uhh... what day was that? Oh, yeah. Saturday. LOL!) and for the conversations with people tonight that I'm only peripherally connected with, but grateful to have had the company in PM with them as a more than welcome distraction!

Ah, the frustrations faced when wanting to write something beautiful and the words just haven't come yet!

Sometimes, when we ask God something, He'll answer with, 'Wait, My child. Be patient.' Heaven knows, your girl ain't the patient sort. I know, I know, try to contain your surprise. ;) But, it's true. I'm so not. I've been wanting, since Thursday after Mass, to sit and write a meditation about the night Jesus was arrested, but about Mama's side. One of my favourite things to do to feel as close as possible to our Beloved Lord when I read about Him is to put myself in that situation. Imaginative Prayer, it's called. I try to put myself in each scenario I read about, to really try to get as much as I can out of it. Being a writer, this works to my benefit, because of my really vivid imagination! ^_^

Writing isn't unlike the anticipation of a birth, because you're so excited for what's to come, but you have to be patient, let things grow and develop before doing anything with it. It's frustrating, but it's so worth it when you sit back and be patient. I've written about this before in this post.

After Mass Thursday, I got thinking about when our Beloved Lord entered into His Passion willingly. Without argument. Without a second thought. I got thinking, too, about what our Mama must've been feeling, seeing her Precious Son go through all He had for us, and how strong and steadfast she was, letting Him go. She knew what she was getting into when she consented to be our Lord's Mother.

Triduum Thoughts 9 April 2020 - Holy Thursday Night.

Sitting during Mass this evening, I was listening to the Readings, and then Deacon Tim's homily and got to thinking about a lot.  Sometimes my thoughts come at me like drinking from a fire hydrant.  Other times, it's barely trickle of anything out of a frozen tap.

Tonight, I want to share with you something that came to me, and I would love your honest opinion.  It's my hope that this draws you ever-nearer to our Sweet, Beloved Lord and what He has done for us.

A big announcement and a couple other little things I want to share with you all!

A few days ago, I got extended an invitation to be a guest blogger on The Behold Project. The person in charge of the blog asked me if he could see some of my work, so I sent him my website. A few minutes later, he wrote back and told me he liked what I write, and invited me to be a guest blogger! I can’t believe it! I’m still sitting here absolutely stunned by this.

Adopt a Grandparent! (Yeah, it's totally a thing)

As is the case with all of you, I’m certain, I’ve been sitting here trying to wrap my head around this situation with the virus coming to the United States. Trying to wrap my head around the fact that a couple weeks ago, I was able to see my parish family and we could hug each other and spend time together in person… I admit, I shed a lot of tears since the lock-down became a very real reality.

So … A couple weeks ago, when COVID-19 made its presence known here in the United States, it became serious enough for the Bishops to sit up and say, ‘Alright, y’all, no public Mass until this is taken care of, we’ve got to keep our parishioners safe.’ Years ago, I worked in a rest home for the elderly. It wasn’t a job that I enjoyed – let’s face it: nursing homes aren’t the most ideal environments to work in, especially for someone as young as I was (I was 19). It feels like a lifetime ago when I was there, but I remember most of my co-workers by name, and I remember most of my favourite residents’ names, as well.