Curtiss Ann Matlock's Blog, page 28

Letters Count

So this morning I have spent and hour answering the many delightful “Happy Birthday” messages, and did not get one word written on either of my two current writing projects. That is not supposed to happen.

Now, I could spend energy and time berating myself for lack of focus and discipline, or I could be happy for all the writing I did in my reply messages. I’ve given thanks, connected with old friends, encouraged a couple of people, and been encouraged. And I’ve written hundreds and hundreds...

Writing My Way to Sanity

I came to my office dormer nook, computer on the lap, cup of tea at hand, ceiling fan revolving peacefully. I had just opened the post when I heard the doorbell below. Down I go to attend to the nurse visiting my bed-ridden mother, confer with the nurse for half an hour, during which time I make necessary decisions and also greet the arrival of the housekeeper. See the nurse out the door and confer with the housekeeper. Forty minutes after I first open the post, and after turning my head from...

I Confess I’ve Never Read Tolstoy, but…

I want to do so now. I came across this quote by Leo Tolstoy:

“A quiet secluded life in the country, with the possibility of being useful to people to whom it is easy to do good, and who are not accustomed to have it done to them; then work which one hopes may be of some use; then rest, nature, books, music, love for one’s neighbor — such is my idea of happiness.”

―Leo Tolstoy,Family Happiness

That is my idea of happiness, too. In fact, I’ve written it a number of times over the years, in my jou...

Packing Sand; Pretend You’re Good At It

Today I made order in my office. For the first time since my husband’s death a year ago, I cleaned my desks. This comes after many times in the past year attempting to press myself forward. My attempts at living are very much like my process of beginning a writing project. I write a paragraph, stop and look at it, think, edit, delete, start again. It is what the author Dixie Browning used to term ‘packing sand’.

When you get your car tires stuck in the sand at the beach, you go forward, back u...

Getting Going Again, Over and Over

Catherine Marshall wrote of writing: “I always found it harder to get started on a Monday morning. After a vacation longer than Friday to Monday, it would sometimes take me days to get underway again.”

I have found the same principle at work with anything I do–writing, house cleaning, driving, and even Facebook. Gives fresh meaning to that television commercial that states, “A body in motion stays in motion.” Same for mind, hands, intentions.

My friend Kathleen prodded me and said a most lovely...

Being Present

Cold and crisp here in the deep South. In my office, and my hands are like icicles. I imagine how the men feel who are working this minute putting on my new roof. Please hold them in prayer.

I can hear the presence of the workmen above me. What a blessing that presence is, giving me the roof I need. They would likely be surprised to know of my warm sentiment. So would the clerks at the Dollar Store. I just love our Dollar Store. Sometimes I get hugs from the clerks, and always a smile and frie...

Managing My Day

So I open my email this morning and find a book recommendation: Manage Your Day-toDay: Build Your Routine, Find Your Focus, and Sharpen Your Creative Mind.

That, dear ones, is the definition of heaven on earth. It’s a Shangri-La. Who would not want to buy the book? Goes to show the power of titling. I mean, I’ve already downloaded the sample to my Kindle for iPad. I really don’t believe book titles any more, but just in case…

Now, I’m off to manage my day as long as I can, before it starts mana...

The Right to Write

It is incredibly warm and raining. It is coming down in great deluges and there was an episode of wind that had rain hitting the front windows far back on the porch, threw cushions out of the chairs. I opened the door and Punk, our old grey tabby, came to the door, but no amount of coaxing could get him to come inside. He’s determinedly an outdoor cat.

I have not gone into the attic to check the still-leaky roof. I refuse. So far it is not coming through the ceiling into the living room, where...

On the 3rd Day of the New Year

Brrr! Winter has landed, or rather sweeping in with wind. Roaring fire in the fireplace, and when I stepped outside for wood this morning, I heard the wintery sound of a hoot owl.

Since this is only the 3rd day of the year, my word for the year–Hope– is fresh in my mind. Very often I forget these good intentions over night, but this time I have not. This is fortunate, because when the boatload of regrets from failures of last year tried to hang on me, the word hope popped into my mind. It came...

Hope is the Word

Like many others of you, some years ago I gave up making New Year’s resolutions. I never was able to stick to any of them for more than a few weeks, at the most two months. I like to choose instead a word to help me through the year. This year’s word came instantly, when I heard a man on a television interview–don’t even recall for what or when or anything else he said, beyond, ”When you have hope, you can go on.”

The statement jumped out at me, and I thought: Isn’t that the truth? It truly is...