Love flourishes in serenity
Available on Amazon
A Love Story launch event
For the first six years of my life, I was an only child, so I learned how to be alone. As I grew older, I loved to shut the door to my bedroom and read aloud the poetry in my mother’s high school literature book. One of my favorites was “The Highwayman” by Alfred Noyes. The sound and rhythm of the poem resonated deeply within me. I read it so often—aloud—that I memorized it effortlessly. I also loved “Casey at the Bat” and everything written by Emily Dickinson.
Not surprisingly, eventually I earned a master’s degree in English and taught it in high school. Especially I loved teaching writing and poetry.
Along the way, I kept a blank book to write in as I felt moved.
Life happened, and the children grew up. Eventually I found myself alone in a new city and new career, with time on my hands in the evening. I found the blank book. I decided to enter what was written there into my computer. After I had finished typing the words, I looked at the screen and fell back in astonishment. It was poetry!
With that realization, I began writing more intentionally. As emotion poured out of me, I kept a blank book in my car for poems that came during a stop light or slow traffic. These writings morphed into a manuscript entitled “What I Learned the Year I was Fifty.” But I had a full-time job and ignorance about what to do with a manuscript. Although that book was never published, many of its poems eventually appeared in Women as School Executives: The Complete Picture, by the Texas Council of Women School Executives in 2000.
One morning I picked up what I thought was a blank book for journaling, only to discover it was an address book, with each section headed by a letter of the alphabet. For the next 26 days I opened the book to a different letter, and what fell onto the page became Alphabet Meditations for Teachers, published by Loving Healing Press in 2009.
After I left a salaried job to become an independent leadership/personal/spiritual coach, and after I had been through a 28-day treatment program for codependency and work addiction, I wrote Journey from Head to Heart: Living and Working Authentically, which includes most of the poetry that had not been previously published, as well as my realizations and discoveries from finally releasing emotion that had been locked away for most of my life. I started walking a spiritual path, and Loving Healing Press published the book in 2008.
Following the publication of Journey from Head to Heart, I led retreats that coached people to live more fulfilling lives and work with others more effectively, using the tools and processes that had worked well for me. I promoted the book through speaking engagements. I ended my third career and retired to Sedona, Arizona, continuing to write my weekly blog. Then I realized my fourth career—as a writer—was on the horizon.
Women in my family tend to live long lives. My grandmother died at 101, and her daughter almost made it to 103. Grandma Moses started painting in earnest at the age of 78. So, on the cusp of being 78 myself, I decided it was time to say, “I’m a writer.”
When I was a child, I came home from church one day with a question for my mother. I don’t remember what my question was, but I will never forget her answer. “You’ll hear a lot of things in life that may not be true. If what you hear doesn’t sound right to you, it probably isn’t. Listen to your heart.”
Through my writing, what I truly want to convey is what my heart has found to be true for me. Many people live their lives being ill at ease, if not downright angry and disappointed. Through my own journey, I’ve learned some simple processes that might help. I decided to share them in my book, Simple Serenity. May it contribute to the health, well-being, and happiness of its readers. My goal is peace of mind for all.
About six months after the death of my husband, Harlan, in 2022, I was compelled to write A Love Story: The Transformative Power of the Twelve Steps. This book is a love story, a recovery story, and an account of my grief journey through journaling. It, as well as all of my books, is available through Amazon. Above is a link to a short video of the launch of A Love Story.