The End

I recently published my first edited book,  Labor of Love: A Literary Mama Staff Anthology ,  with  Small Harbor Publishing . It's an anthology of writing from  Literary Mama  staff over the past 20 years. It's a beautiful collection and I am proud of the writers and proud to share the book.  It seems a fitting moment, as I pondered sharing about the book here on the blog, to reflect on my life as a blogger, and acknowledge that it is time to officially end this blog.   I started blogging in about 2007, when my baby was learning to toddle, when I was learning how to be a mother and stepmother, when I was just starting to see my way as a writer. I needed it back then. I craved it. I had a variety of blog iterations--family, art, creativity, writing things I delved into. There's a freedom in blogging, a casualness, an easy familiarity that's lacking (for me anyway) in other kinds of writing. I loved blogging and the words came pouring out.  Over the years since then, some

Balance Wednesday- Consider the Dalai Lama

I have a page-a-day calendar at my desk called Insight from the Dalai Lama. Many thoughts recur in differing compositions: compassion, karma, human suffering, hope. Most pages get stuffed into a drawer for possible rereading later. But every now and then, I rip off a day and find myself sucking in my breath and saying, Oh yeah, that’s it! Those pages end up tacked to my window trim, where I can daily read the reminders and dig down into the wisdom.

The Dalai Lama has been my touchstone for how to live my life for some time. In recent years, some personal troubles faded, while others arose. And more so now than before, I find myself able to look into the face of a very challenging situation and remember the words of the Dalai Lama. Or perhaps I’ll ask myself, What would the Dalai Lama do in this situation? Or I pull out the little paper picture of him I carry around in my wallet, and grab hold of the truth I want to create in my life.

Everyone has their thing, religion, spirituality, connection to whatever they believe. I don’t do religion, but I do do what the Dalai Lama suggests: Think for yourself; believe only the truths that you have experienced yourself; seek understanding within your own mind.

I thought I’d share my favorite insights from the Dalai Lama, while at the same time encouraging you, me, each of us, to seek out the truth resonates for us. These are truths that resonate with me.


  • Whatever actions you do will follow you, just like the shadow of a bird flying in the sky.
  • Each one of us is responsible for all of humankind.
  • Take into account that great love and great achievement involve great risk.
  • Sometimes one makes a dynamic impression by saying something, and sometimes one creates as significant an impression by remaining silent.
  • Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
  • The essence of compassion is the desire to alleviate the suffering of others and to promote their well-being.
  • There is only one important point you must keep in your mind and let it be your guide. No matter what people call you, you are just who you are. Keep to this truth. You must ask yourself how it is you want to live your life. We live and we die, this is the truth that we can only face alone. No one can help us, not even the Buddha. So consider carefully, what prevents you from living the way you want to live your life?
  • All human life is some part failure and some part achievement.

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