Show Notes: Ep1 Why Plotting Possibility?

"You see the world glittering with possibility."  --Once More, The Sayen Falls Series: Novel 1 

Glittering with possibility. This is a quote from my first full length novel, Once More. It's a little phrase I love because I used to be that way. I used to notice the sparkle in everyday things. I suppose adulthood and struggles eroded the glitter right out of my eyesight.

But I believe it's possible to learn to see the world glitter with possibility again. To see potential and magic and wonder, to imagine what could be or what once was. It's a work of the heart as well as the mind to have this type of second sight. But why bother? What's the value in it?

 It can't be measured or quantified. No one pays you to notice how hundreds of fireflies in a cornfield make it look like someone has put glitter in the crop-duster...or that perhaps fairies have come out in the twilight. Instead, we talk of imagination as a thing that's nice if you have the time, but who has time here in the 21st century? We're all SO busy!

However, the more I think on it, I listen to experts, and read beautiful books, I'm sure that imagination and creativity and wonder aren't optional add-on accessories for the modern life. They're essentials. It's not like power windows and bluetooth capability. It's more like the gas pedal. You gotta have it or you're not getting anywhere.

I spent many hours mulling over names for my brand before I finally alighted on Plotting Possibility. I liked the alteration of it, and it seemed easy enough to remember. And I absolutely adored what it means to me.

As a writer, I work in plots and possibilities. But there's so much more here to unpack. To go on a journey, one plots a course. A farmer works a plot of land. There's intention for the journeyer and space for the cultivator. We're all writers and journeyers and farmers, whether or not we know it. Each of us has a story to tell. Each of us has to chart our course through life. Each of us has to choose what to sow so we can truly bloom where we're planted.

The possibilities in your life are rich and vibrant. Glittering possibility doesn't require a big paycheck or trips around the world or being well-connected. It requires the self-discipline to pull out of the social media hamster wheel and the economic rat race to actually enjoy life. It requires lovely thoughts, as our magical friend Peter Pan tells us, if we want to fly. It's all to do with imagination, wonder, and noticing beautiful things in the world all around.

It's my intention for  Plotting Possibility to be a space where imagination reigns supreme. Hope is in the very air we breathe here in this space. Wonder, enthusiasm, passion....all those lovelies that can't be measured....that's what we're trafficking in. This isn't reserved for the "artsy" types or those "creatives". Possibility and wonder are for us all; the right brained and the left brained; the Type As and the Type Bs; the Marilla Cuthberts and the Anne Shirleys. After all, God created the wonders of the world for all to enjoy. He designed each of us with intentional purpose and made us in His image so we can imagine, create, and plan. There isn't one personality type that isn't fit for His grace and love and Kingdom cause. We're all welcome to the table of His goodness. So, all are welcome here.

In future episodes, we'll talk about books, movies, music, the arts, mental health, friendship, and anything else that celebrates wonder and light. The possibilities are endless and I hope you'll join me for the journey!

Gather the Good

It's time to Gather the Good. 

I'll try to end every episode with a few good things I'm enjoying currently. I have to tell you, the phrase Gather the Good isn't my brainchild. I'm adopting it from the Irish band We Banjo 3. Its the name of one of their albums and I've always loved it. And it's exactly what I want to do for you. I want to gather up good things to share and enjoy together. [In the show notes I will provide links to the artist's website, Spotify albums, Good Reads pages, and links to stream or purchase as I can.]

So let's get started. 

I've been reading books by the English author Elizabeth Goudge lately. She warrants an entire episode once I wrap my head around all I want to say. But for now, let me recommend to you the novels City of Bells, The Scent of Water, and The Dean's Watch. Goudge writes with a passion for beauty but with honesty that being a human is hard. I find myself in each of her books, and walk away much encouraged. [Added note: Check your local library for Goudge's books. Some are out of print here in the US, but I found a good number of them through my library.]

If you want the perfect music to accompany your reading, listen to Joel Clarkson's instrumental albums Midwinter Carol's volumes one and two. These are also perfect for adding to your holiday playlists. And paired with Elizabeth Goudge, pure beauty for your senses! 

I'm still working my way through my favorite Christmas movies. Is it just me or has this December been moving at warp speed? Anyway, it's absolutely not Christmas if I don't get to see Muppets Christmas Carol and White Christmas. If you've never seen them, stop whatever you're doing and change that now. You'll be glad you did. Two other favorites of mine that are less well known are Never Say Goodbye which is a hilarious comedy with Errol Flynn, The Man Who Came To Dinner another laugh out loud comedy with Monty Wooly and Bette Davis. And last but not least, It's A Wonderful Life. I started it with my husband the other night and we had to stop it just as George Bailey starts to get desperate. I've been a huge Jimmy Stewart fan all my life, but last year was the first time this movie made me cry. It was the one-two punch, when Harry Bailey toasts his big brother as the richest man in town and Clarence the angel leaves George the note which reads "remember, no man is a failure who has friends." [Again, check your local library for titles particularly if you don't subscribe to streaming services]

So grab a couple friends, and gather the good!

Gathering the Good in a Fallow Year

 2019 has been an unusual year for me, personally and writingly. (Hey, Shakespeare made up words and everyone was okay with it). I've felt that this has been somewhat of a fallow year for me. A year of letting the fields go dormant and seeing what wild things grow, what nutrients need restored, and what can bloom in rest. I've picked away at writing here and there, but I've not made significant progress in anything. And that's okay. Believe me--it's taken a lot of work for me to get to the point where I can say that it is okay. When you self-identify as a writer and you stop writing, it's kind of an existential crisis.

Now, however, I want to start blogging again, because in this year I have discovered and cultivated so many beautiful things that bring me joy or catharsis or meaning. I've gobbled up fascinating books and practically brainwashed my family with music on repeat and brewed life-changing cups of tea and even sat awhile in passive entertainment with movies and shows. Off and on, I've thought to myself: I should blog about this! Book lists! Beauty! All the things! But then the words slip off of my fingers, like rings that need sized to fit, and I do not write.

Full disclosure: I'm a little nervous declaring some big return to writing or blogging or whatever. As if it matters terribly much to anyone other than me. But I have one of those personalities that craves all the things and has grand intentions, but then runs off to watch clouds change shape or to pick up another book full of someone else's words. In other words: I'm a creative with ADD.

And yet...it's a wonderful little phrase, isn't it? And yet....There's possibility in it that despite how things are, there may be something else. Ahem, anyway. And yet, I plan to share here some of the very beautiful things I have loved this year. Movies, shows, novels, picture books, non-fiction books, tea blends, music, bands, podcasts....I'm going to gather up this goodness and leave it for you here. So should you ever find yourself in need of something beautiful, or a simple joy, you can find some suggestions. After all, so many of the things I have enjoyed this year came on the recommendation of others. Isn't the internet a marvelous place that way? People I've never met in real life have led me to fountains of loveliness, and perhaps, I can leave a well for others.

One of the most important lessons I have learned in this fallow year is that beauty matters. Oh, it can feel like a waste of time, or that no one in all the world cares, but that simply isn't so. God himself revels in beauty. Look around at this colorful world! Outside my window right now is a tree turning the most remarkable shade of golden yellow. On Sunday I marveled with my children and my nieces at the bright pink of flamingos. And my son and my daughter and myself all have uniquely different shades of green eyes...my daughter's are so dark that the green can only be seen in the right light, my son's are rimmed with gold, and mine are bright like a polished emerald. And who among us has never cried at the intense beauty of a song? Who has never laid aside a book feeling full and satisfied, almost as if it was a feast? Beauty nourishes us! It moves us along and sustains us. And in the darkest times, or in years of existential crisis, beauty gives us purpose.

So, I think it's time that I share this treasure trove I've gathered. In fact, the tag for each of these posts will be: Gather the Good. It's the name of a We Banjo 3 album and I fell in love with the name on contact. And if you somehow still don't know who We Banjo 3 is, I suggest you go back and read this post. Then, hop on Spotify or wherever you listen to music, and listen to the Haven album. Or the song 'Happiness'. You can't go wrong. Trust me.

I will also try to do some stories on Instagram and Facebook with brief snippets of what I'm loving and some goodness for your day. And here on the blog I can provide links where you can buy, download, subscribe, listen, or otherwise enjoy it for yourself.

And please, always feel free to share with me any books, movies, songs, or anything else that has been a particular source of beauty or meaning for you. Or a simple pleasure, like brewing a cup of tea, or I don't know, sketching a wildflower. I'm always on the hunt for more good things to gather.

Kindness Carries the Light

The last few days have been utterly exhausting but God has been in each moment, boldly revealing himself. In family. In friends. In quiet moments. And sometimes in banjos.

Yes, banjos. Let me explain.

Three years ago my childhood best friend, Holly, happened to be watching a morning news program when an Irish band came on to play a couple songs and promote their summer tour. Knowing me and my love for anything Irish, she texted me the name of the band and told me to look them up.

I. Fell. In. Love.

David Howley, Martin Howley, Enda Scahill, and Fergal Scahill

The band is We Banjo 3 and their genre is 'celtgrass' which is

an amazing marriage of American bluegrass with traditional Irish folk music. Two sets of brothers, Martin and David Howley, and Enda and Fergal Scahill, make up this incredible quartet of unparalleled talent and awesomeness.

Last year, in 2018, Holly and I went to see them in concert at the GAR Hall in Peninsula. The GAR Hall was constructed during the Civil War, and as it houses many artifacts from the era, it retains all of its historic charm. It's an intimate little hall that was packed with people--most of whom had seen the band before. Holly and I had no idea what we were in for. A Scottish band, Talisk, opened for them and blew the lid off the old hall. Then We Banjo 3 absolutely blew us away with their talent, passion, storytelling, and kindness. We left that night (in a snow storm) committed to We Banjo 3 for life.

At that concert, they played a couple new songs from the album they went on to release in the summer of 2018. Songs about depression and hope and family and love. Songs that stuck with me for a long time. And when that album dropped, I played it on a loop for weeks. My kids know the words to every song, and I'm good with that. The messages on the Haven album are everything I need to hear and want my kids to internalize. I don't think I've ever heard an album as honest and hopeful as this one. It's a curious blend in this modern age of cynicism and, well, ugly. But it's what we so desperately need. Honest words that life isn't always easy and mental health is a messy business sometimes, yet tempered with the insistent message of hope and light. I've talked before about my obsession with light. At least four songs on Haven talk about light. No wonder this is my jam.

Mental health is a hard thing to talk about. At the risk of this backfiring on me....I've wrestled with depression off and on for over a decade. Probably closer to two decades, though it it wasn't diagnosed until 2008. After my son was born in 2012, I experienced post partum depression which made me afraid that someone was going to take him away from me if I made a mistake, and that anyone but me would be better at raising him. It took about six or eight weeks for that to pass. When my daughter was born in 2016, PPD actually presented as anxiety. I'd never experienced anxiety like that before. I couldn't explain how I felt to anyone. I just knew I wasn't me, and I wasn't right. And talking about it felt impossibly hard at times. This took six to eight months before I got my feet under me again. Over the years, I've endured some dark days and nights that keep me ever yearning for the light. 

The hard things are the things we need to talk about. Or write music about. Or write novels about. My Sayen Falls Series features many characters wrestling with mental health issues for a wide variety of reasons. Most notably are my main characters; Blythe Elwood who is prone to depression and Gracen Hall who battles anxiety daily. As the story progresses into future books, I'll explore other facets of mental health like trauma and PTSD. But there will always be a thread of light and hope to follow. I want to be brave enough to write about the hard things--to write boldly about hard things as Hemingway instructed--and also brave enough to claw for the light.

The first time I listened to the Haven album in its entirety, I was almost in shock. My characters could've written these songs. 'War of Love' is Jesse Beckwith in a three-minute-and-twenty-nine-second song. I mean, it's eerie. And 'Pack It Up' could easily be played by Silas Elwood at an open-mic at The Yellow Bowl. The title song 'Haven' is so fitting for Blythe and for Gracen that I'm starting to wonder if the banjo boys hacked my laptop.

"Lay down your weapons, lay down with me. We will stare at the stars and think what life could be. Island of memories we'll leave them where they lie. Can we make the choice for love and joy? The moon lights a path we can travel down. River runs wild with what has gone before. Cast aside for new and more and more and more and more and more and more. Let me be your haven. Let me be your light. Sail with me across the ocean deep. And find a place for love and joy."

I was supposed to attend the We Banjo 3 concert in Peninsula this past weekend. Then we had a medical emergency. Everything planned was immediately canceled and I shifted all my attention to my husband.

Holly still went to the concert. She sent me some pictures, and told me that Martin compared Peninsula to Narnia or Hogwarts because no one has ever heard of it and you can't find it unless you know about it. I mean, he's not wrong. In fact, I think he's spot-on. 

Then, after the show she sought out David. She told him how our plans were derailed and my husband was in the hospital. The next thing I knew I was on the phone with him. It wasn't riveting conversation on my end because I was rather astonished. (I gave the play by play to my husband and he said it sounded like when he'd call girls in 7th grade. Again, he's not wrong. Pretty spot-on). 

And yet that brief conversation carried the light. Kindness always carries the light, and often small actions can carry more than we'd ever expect. This perhaps is the underlying message in Haven, and it is without a doubt an underlying message of Sayen Falls.

My family has been blessed with so many acts of kindness over the last few days. Our family and friends have been invaluable. I told my mom that I can tell so many people are praying because I can practically see it dripping down the walls. We are saturated in love right now. Even a wee bit of banjo love. And we're all back home under one roof! As I write this, everyone is sleeping soundly except me. As usual and as it should be. I'm heading off to dreamland soon myself. I will likely dream of kindness because I'm just so in awe of the Lord's mercies and the actions of kind souls. 

If We Banjo 3 plays a show anywhere even remotely near you--go. Even if you think celtgrass is not your thing. It will become your thing. It will be fun and entertaining, and it will be hopeful. And if you get to talk to the boys, they will be friendly and kind. And if you can manage to not be tongue-tied like me, they'll even listen to your stories.

And if you can't get to a show, download the album, grab a couple friends, and share your stories. Build community, find your tribe, make connections. As the boys in the band say, "we all need more kindness in this world....we all need more banjos in this world." And trust me, when something comes up and knocks your feet out from under you, having a real community to catch your fall is priceless.