I am having a bit of trouble with deciding how to end my book and I think I know why. Life is fluid, always changing, and I believe it is good to allow ourselves to change too. Limiting a story- and in the case of a memoir, half a lifetime - to the finite, physical … Continue reading Minimal Monday
writing
Minimal Monday
I must admit, in light of Elon Musk's recent shenanigans, I was happy to have the perfect excuse to ditch Twitter. It's not as though I really needed an excuse, but until the quit-twitter bandwagon, I had been letting inertia keep me there. I was an inactive user (wait, is that an oximoron?) I had … Continue reading Minimal Monday
Minimal Monday
One of my favorite and most challenging areas to simplify is my writing life. My memoir coach, the talented and magnificent Marion Roach Smith, has told me that every scene should move the story forward. (You can find Marion here: https://marionroach.com/) The writing advice that we should kill our darlings, a phrase coined by William … Continue reading Minimal Monday
Minimal Monday
A few weeks ago, I wrote about how a minimalist philosophy is one of subtraction. If you missed that post, you can read it here: https://danalaquidara.com/2022/08/22/minimal-monday-27/ . I am revisiting the topic because I keep bumping up against the truth of it in my every day life, and especially lately in my writing life. Being … Continue reading Minimal Monday
Minimal Monday
Here are four things that having a deadline for finishing my book is teaching me: #1 I should have stopped procrastinating long ago, and taken my creative work more seriously. Now that I have a guarantee of publication, I have to acknowledge all of the time that I could have been working on my book … Continue reading Minimal Monday
Minimal Monday
Summer can be a fun season with all the events, activities, mini-vacations and days in the sun. But for someone like me who lives a healthier, more productive and creative life when I follow a routine, summer can easily throw me off my game. It's not that I want every single day to be the … Continue reading Minimal Monday
Minimal Monday
Recently, I had the opportunity to be interviewed for a podcast about healing. This particular episode was about the ways in which decluttering can be a tool for healing. I can easily talk about simplifying as a means to free up your space, mind, calendar and creativity. I am a fervent proponent of the many … Continue reading Minimal Monday
Minimal Monday
I love the momentum that takes place while decluttering. Clearing off my writing space by putting some books back in a bookshelf led to me organizing the whole bookshelf. A few books got donated and the rest are now properly categorized. I no longer feel the need to keep my desk cluttered with writing books … Continue reading Minimal Monday
Minimal Monday
Somewhere in Germany, a young man named Rahul Yadav, from India, is pursuing his PhD in engineering while his heart is also very much in the social sciences. His new podcast, Q-T.A.L.K.S, is his own project and unique contribution to society. Q-T.A.L.K.S stands for Quest for The Adventure of Learning and Knowing through Stories. I … Continue reading Minimal Monday
Minimal Monday
Several years ago, I worked at a college as an academic coach. My students needed assistance with organizing their workload, breaking down large assignments into logical small steps, making lists and recording important dates in their academic agendas. Sometimes I would help them with assignments such as writing papers, but mostly my job was to … Continue reading Minimal Monday