Writing. What is it good for? Absolutely Nothing! ...Well, except everything.

Writing helps us feel connected.

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

One day I hope to look back on this post and be embarrassed. Cringing at my writing skills.

It’s Easter weekend. A holiday founded in lies and magic. The bunny version that is. I think the lies are worth the magic.

Kids are amazing in so many ways. They force us to play. To be lost in silly if we allow ourselves. To live in a world of imagination.

The Treasure of Underconsuming

We’re a quirky hybrid family. We’re not mass consumers. If we do shop it’s usually at the thrift store. Not because we can’t afford it. But we don’t need all that shiny hip stuff. And besides, thrifting feels like Easter Egg hunting. It’s such a treasure-finding adventure.

Our daughter’s closet, full of these second-hand finds, is her artist pallet. She has so many strange one-of-a-kind pieces to work with. I love to see what she puts together to wear each day. Like any great creative, it’s never the same thing twice.

We don’t watch TV. We don’t have Netflix or Hulu or whatever else is out there. I wouldn’t even know. I’ve never seen an episode of Game of Thrones. I’m sure I would love it and it would suck me in like nobody’s business.

Our kids go to public school and bring their lunch with seaweed and feel left out that they don’t have phones.

Yesterday we were packing for our Easter trip to Washington DC and the Blue Ridge Parkway. A little bit a city, a little bit a country. It was a storm. When you don’t all escape into screens it can make for some heated emotions. We took a whole day off to pack and it felt like trudging through mud.

But we made it and we’re off to our adventures today. I’m sure we’ll have our usual ups and downs. When it’s good, it’s very very good. When it’s bad, it can feel awful.

My husband and I have chosen to raise our kids without screens being the center of our world. It has not been an easy choice.

We feel like we’re passing the torch to our kids. This planet needs our attention. The planet and the people.

Writing fixes everything

I love to write and have messed around with it for a long time. The only real “posting” I’ve done is one-liners in a sleepy little t-shirt shop.

I’m a multi-passionate creative. I can not draw or paint like the masters. My gift is my creative juices working to make connections. Sometimes simple. I can throw together a healthy dinner of embellished leftovers in less than 10 minutes. 8 days a week.

The connections that flow through my head are sometimes bizarre. Maybe I’ll share some later.

I’m a nurse. I also have a product design degree. I joke with our kids, either I’m really smart or really stupid.

So I get these crazy ideas about how to fix some problems I see in the world. And my audience (usually family) says, “Great Mom! How you gonna do that?” My answer is always, “I don’t know that. I leave that to the engineers.'“ They love us designers.

Writing seems to be the perfect outlet for creativity. Just pen to paper or fingers to keyboard. No laborious product prototypes involved.

Sharing to understand is self perpetuating.

I’m on a mad study of some genius writers I’ve stumbled on to help me hone my writing skills. Boring you is not my goal. I don’t want to put you to sleep. That’s the opposite of what we need here.

We need to be helping each other wake the freak up! Our Joy depends on it. The state of the planet depends on it.

Visiting Washington DC was our son's request. We’ll see lots of amazing free (tax paid) sites. We’ll be sending love out to the bridge tragedy near there.

We’re not a church going family. But we talk God all the time. Mastering the God flow and teaching the kids this magical, hopefully life consuming skill, is my Olympic sport.

I wish you a holiday full of connection and rejuvenation. And if you have kids, get lost in their Joy of the egg hunt.