Michele Venne's Blog, page 9

The Words

There are times, as a writer, when words are my friend. Other times, I can’t fish the one I want from my brain that will make the sentence or paragraph or scene what I want it to be. I also know that sometimes a slight interruption breaks the chain of words, and I can’t get back the sentence I was writing. Some famous writer has a quote defining writing as putting the right words in the correct…

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So Many Hats

Sometimes I know why I’m tired at the end of the day. If I went for a long trail ride, had lots of clients, squeezed in errands or life tasks, by ten o’clock I’m done. But sometimes it doesn’t seem like I’ve got that many to-dos on my calendar. When I look back, especially at a week like this one, I understand the feeling of being wrung out. All of us fill multiply roles in our lives.

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Knowing When It’s Too Much

Years ago, when my mom moved from her home in AZ to CO, she cleaned out all the boxes she kept in the garage. I visited one day, and she showed me calendars from when I was in high school. Every weekend was a horse show. One night a week was 4-H. I played sports, so I had practice after school and games on Friday. I also worked at two ranches close to the house and at different restaurants in the…

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It All Comes Back

For two weeks, I’ve been joining a local writer’s group in their Zoom write ins. The first day, the treasurer of the group, who leads the write in, asked me what I was working on. I said, “A holiday short story that was supposed to be published December 15.” We all laughed. She said, “Well, the holidays come back around.” Yes, they do. Last year, I convinced some of my newsletter subscribers that…

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Finding Joy

My yoga teacher often said, “Nothing is revealed, except in contrast.” How do we know when it’s dark outside? The sun is absent. How do we know if we’ve healed from an illness or injury? The absence of discomfort or pain. In yoga terms, how do we know we’re in joy? The absence of all that blocks our recognition of our natural state. I’m usually a contented person. I don’t often get mad or…

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A Two-Day Streak

To begin a habit, or to break it, it starts with one. One day to walk around the block, or to read a chapter from a book, or to put the phone in the drawer during dinner, or to compliment someone instead of complain. For some people, that first time is the hardest. For others, the second time is where the struggle comes in. And that’s if everything inside and outside of us is going the way we want…

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Happy New Year!

Made it to the other side! Welcome 2024! It seems like I’ve been planning for the new year for a while. I ordered two dot journals, which arrived on Jan. 3, to try a different way to organize and keep track of the habits I want to create this year. No overhaul of my life or drastic changes. Just adding in a few things to reap some physical and mental health benefits. Would it surprise you to learn…

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Ready, Set… Breathe

I bought my 2024 calendar in September. Since May 2022, I’ve been grappling for balance in my work and writing life. For the last six months, I’ve read books and articles about mindset. I’ve journaled thousands of words. I’ve searched for a way to continue forward when I wasn’t sure what that meant. In November 2022, I was blessed with the best paid work I didn’t know I needed.

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Don’t Ask

Years ago, a friend told me, “Don’t ask if you don’t want to know the answer.” I’ve returned to this advice more than once, especially when I ask someone their opinion on a project or performance, or agree when someone asks if they can give me feedback. There are many reasons why I hold my breath and try not to cringe outwardly when I listen to or read their critique/feedback/opinion.

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Enough Time

Every day this week I thought about when would be the best time to send out the reminder email to my subscribers about the survey. I hinted that I might include a gift for them, but after ten days, I’m not any closer to delivering on that hint. The person who has designed the covers for two of the three projects I wanted to finish this year asked when I would give her the final page count on the…

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