Coastal shorelines change and shift with the tides and storms, but some things manage to stay the same –  with a little help from their friends. A black mailbox staked in the dunes on the North Carolina side of Little River Inlet has withstood the assaults of Nature for over 38 years while it continued…

It may seem like a long-shot to think that creating characters, poetry and narrative writing would heal persistent PTSD, but Recon Mission, an innovative program for Viet Nam War era veterans, succeeded. Recon Mission’s guiding principles were to provide containment and recognition, both crucial to helping defuse PTSD.  The use of familiar military language also…

Something is very gently, invisibly, silently, pulling at me – a thread or net of threads finer than cobweb …. … not fear but a stirring of wonder makes me catch my breath when I feel the tug of it when I thought it had loosened itself and gone. The Thread by Denise Levertov All…

You can’t always plan for it.  While struggling to find the right words, some writers hope a stroke of genius will arrive in the nick of time – a flash of insight to save the day.   When it comes, you slap your forehead and say, “why didn’t I think of this before?” at the same…

Lullabies and rhymes heard in childhood provided our first experiences of poetry.  Think back.  Can you recall a song, a book or poem you heard countless times, or a favorite bedtime story?  “The mother speaking to the child is also a poem,”  according to poet Naomi Shihab Ney.” My good friend Jane Dorn has kept…

Writing in a personal journal isn’t new or unusual.  Keeping a journal may be one of the oldest forms of writing in the world.  In early America, most journals or diaries were kept by men, many as almanacs or logs of their experience in public life.  However, far fewer women in the past had the…

Blessing one another comes naturally to all of us here in the South.  Who hasn’t heard, “Well, bless your heart” spoken to another person or “Bless you” when someone sneezes? Offering blessings to another is also a powerful way to share your hard-earned wisdom, truest values and best wishes with others – family, friends, acquaintances,…

At the beginning of each new year we have the proverbial clean slate – a blank page to continue our story or to revise it –  another chance to “get it right” – to live up to our evolving resolutions once again. It’s not too late to begin 2017 with pen in hand or fingers…

It’s that time of year when we transition from the Old to the New Year, a tradition that transcends time itself.  Many take this opportunity to access where we’ve been and where we’re headed. An ancient reminder of this two-directional point-of-view is Janus, the Roman god of the door.  The image engraved on copper coins…

Whether it’s cooking the turkey, tuning into football, spending time outdoors, or unpacking and displaying festive decorations, these holiday rituals remind us of cherished memories, loved ones, and why we celebrate. Rituals connect us to the past and carry our values into the future. As we gather with family and friends Thanksgiving we’re just beginning…