Stars, Snowflakes, and Word Adventures

Begin doing what you want to do now.

We are not living in eternity.

We have only this moment,

sparkling like a star in our hand

and melting like a snowflake.

Let us use it before it is too late.
-Marie Beyon Ray

This is my favorite picture. My favorite picture of me ever. I was... what?... eight, maybe? We lived in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, where it actually snowed in the winter and our mothers dressed us like Ralphie in A Christmas Story. I was such a mess... even then. So ready to take on the world. So eager to see what lay just beyond that picket fence. I wanted, at first, to be a librarian. Then a fabric cutter. Then a horse roper. Then a singer. A famous singer. I had every intention of inventing the world's smallest piano... not a keyboard, but a real, live piano... to take with me on the road. You'd hold it like an accordion, only it would sound like a baby grand.

Inevitably, as these stories go, I grew older and my dreams swayed and shifted and switched names. Now I think I want to be a writer. I want to get up, each morning, and play amongst words. I like their rolling rhythm. Their pull. Their power. I like the way they look, all lined up and neat. I like the way they sound, all varied and free. They suit me. I like them.


So we're off. Off on our adventure. Our word adventure. I've said goodbye to those I could and "sorry" to those I couldn't. (Like my childhood friend Amber, who yelled into the phone when I had to cancel our last-minute lunch. Sorry again, Ams. And my partner-in-crime JoAnne, who said she threw down her tea and stomped out in the middle of our blog tea party on Wednesday.) But I did wave a few goodbyes. My friend Shelley gave me a hug and a copy of What Smart Women Know. My favorite person Sondra made me the most amazing lunch ever, and afterward leaned back in her chair and advised me to "put a band-aid on your heart... and GO".

Gosh. We have so few moments... sparkling like stars and melting like snowflakes. Let's do what we want and be who we are... before it's too late. What do you say?

Ready? Still don't have many details to share at this point. All I can say for sure is we're bunking down in Colorado. Long haul, huh? Don't worry... I have Tristan Prettyman's The Story in the CD player, and plenty of magazines in the floorboard. Oh... and my lucky pen. It says: Let's go find some boys to beat up.

Okay. I'm ready. I've found that eight-year-old girl again. That arms-thrown-open, laugh-at-the-world, bring-it-on girl. She's ready to go. We're not, after all, living in eternity. Let's go find new words and see new places and sparkle our stars and melt our snowflakes and use our moments. And if we find some boys to beat up, all the better. :)

Can't wait to see what this brings! See you all in Colorado....