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What’s Your Name Again?

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The Spinning Pen

Pen Friends, welcome Miss Dana Black, a regular contributor for the Spinning Pen!

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Names. They’re usually the first piece of personal information you learn about a person. And they have so much power. As parents, the names we give our children (real or hypothetical) shape an essential part of who they ultimately become. It could ruin their lives.

Is that a slightly dramatic assessment? Maybe. But I’m a writer. And a theater nerd. Being dramatic is part of my DNA.

I’m serious about the name thing, though. When writing, we have to choose our characters’ names with care. Now, I’m not saying you have to scour every name source out there, or come up with a zillion options before making a choice, but some thought should certainly go into the process.

Sometimes, names just come to us. When this happens, stop for a second before you decide to name every character…

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We are…Reframing!

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Hi there!

If you’re just stopping by for the first time, Welcome! I’m so glad you’re here! If you’ve been hanging around for a while, thanks for being patient during my hiatus. Exciting things are happening, and I’m looking forward to sharing them with you!

Please check back again soon, because I am preparing a relaunch for this little space, and I’d love for you to be a part of it. 

This week, I’m off to Pioneer Nation, so in the meantime, I invite you to visit these other cool places that I find inspiring. 

Storyline

The Art of Non-Conformity

Squam Art Workshops

 

See you soon, I hope!

xo, me

Hiatus and Transitions

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Wow, I can’t believe it’s almost three full months into this “new” year. Where have I been? Oh, here and there. Observing. Contemplating. Reframing, considering, and then reframing some more. Paradigm shifts have sort of become my bread and butter in this new season.

But I’m back now, and I will be working on developing this little love project of mine into something a little more tangible. The idea of Reframing Wonder has been rolling around in my head for some time now, and I have decided to turn it into my whole outlook on life. There is so much wonder and beauty around us every day, and I feel like we miss so much when we fail to see all of it.

I’ve got some ideas percolating, and I’ll be back soon to start rolling them out.

Thanks for hanging out with me in the meantime!

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Fighting Perfectionism

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I am a perfectionist.

There, I’ve admitted it. It’s kind of freeing, in a way, to just let those words float there and be able to look at them and realize the absurdity of my reality. Why do we stretch for perfection in a world where it cannot ever be fully achieved? For some, it is an encouragement; a reason to keep pushing, pursuing a path of the best outcome possible.

But for me, my perfectionism is crippling much more than it is empowering. If I don’t believe that I can complete something in a manner that matches my ridiculous standards, I am likely to give up on it quickly and pretend that I never started it in the first place, or worse, I won’t ever begin at all. The first response is bad because it is deceitful, both to myself and others. The second is terrible because I’m stopping myself from living life to the full and growing in the process of making mistakes.

So, my current challenge to myself is to let myself make those mistakes, to not be perfect, and to let people know that I’m failing at things and that it’s okay. I’m putting my pride on the shelf. And I’m going to make some messes. And I hope that I’ll learn something excellent from them.

And if I start getting overwhelmed with my compulsive need to get things “just so” immediately, this guy will help remind me not to take life so seriously.

 

“It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all – in which case, you fail by default.” – JK Rowling, 2008 Harvard Commencement Speech

Stuff I Like: The Olympics

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Good morning!

Since today marks the beginning of the London Olympic Games, I thought I would dedicate a post to my love of all things Olympics. If you know me at all, you might remember 2 years ago when I dropped off the face of the planet during the Winter Games in Vancouver. I spent more time watching sports in those two weeks alone than I probably had for most of my previous years combined. I’ve always liked the Olympics, but something really struck me in 2010. And I just could not get enough.

I couldn’t get enough of the athletes’ dedication to their sports, or the drive to represent their countries by doing what they love. I couldn’t get enough of the passion that poured from both Olympians and spectators alike. How for those two weeks, the world came together, and even though we were competing against each other, it didn’t carry the heaviness of conflict. We were all just people, joined together over our love for sport and country. And for Americans, it seemed like no one was concerned with what political affiliation you had or what your views on religion were (or were not) – we had a job to do, and that was to rally behind our team and scream for them until they won or we fell over from our efforts (or both!). We became patriotic once again, unified for a cause, and for those two weeks, we weren’t worried about what our neighbor was doing or who was voting for what candidate. We just loved our country and sports and we were part of a worldwide community that was doing the same thing.

I hope these next two weeks are a sweet reprieve as well. And a darn good sporting competition to boot!

Go USA! (And as the Visa commercial says, Go WORLD!)

Reframing Wonder: A Reboot

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These introductory posts are THE. WORST. I hate them. I truly never know what to say.

But, this is a reboot of my personal blog, which I have held for several years elsewhere. I’ve entered a new chapter in my life called “Post-Grad,” and therefore felt a change would be refreshing.

So, why are we Reframing Wonder? Because it seems like, as adults (for me this especially true) it is FAR too easy to forget what it’s like to take delight in wonder. We no longer marvel at the things around us. It’s always busy, busy, busy, with no time for enjoying what’s right in the here and now. Always we must forge on toward the next item on our checklist, the next career aspiration, the next and newest whatever.

What happened to the gift of today?

That is what I am going to be asking myself in this new season of life. Want to ask it with me?

We might find some fun and maybe even (dare I say it?) JOY.