Last week, I mentioned the anxiety that plagued me during my early years as a newspaper reporter in Northwest Arkansas.
I often dreaded going to work for fear of discovering I had made a mistake in a story or missed something that had happened the day before.
I disliked covering live events. What if I didn’t take notes fast enough or get the quotes right? What if I completely overlooked the main point?
I enjoy hearing inspiring stories about how people chose their professions—how they knew, sometimes at a very young age, what they wanted to be when they grew up. The teacher who used to line up her dolls and instruct them in her childhood bedroom comes to mind, along with the …
I wrote something last February about what it means to be a real writer. That piece— “The Road to Real is Paved with Brokenness”—garnered quite a discussion in these parts, and also uncorked something in me that has been bubbling just under the surface ever since. I had every intention …
I’m a bit late with the Song of the Month for October. Honestly, I’ve been wrestling with whether I should even be doing this anymore. Sure, I love music, and these songs I share with you every four weeks or so are ones that resonate deeply with me. But I’ve …
What would life be like if we hadn’t moved to Kansas 10 years ago? This isn’t a question I ponder much. I’m typically not overly sentimental or prone toward melancholy. I make plenty of mistakes, but I don’t second guess big decisions very often. I like to move on, already. …
When we adopted Lilly—14 years ago last week—she was 9 months old and weighed about 17 pounds. That might not seem like much, but she was a chunk of a little girl—so much so that people we met in elevators and restaurants in China often mistook her for a 2-year-old. …