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!

2019: Nowhere To Go But Up

"Life's a balloon that tumbles or rises depending on what is inside. Fill it with hope and playful surprises, and oh, deary ducks, then you're in for a ride..." 
--'Nowhere To Go But Up'. Music and Lyrics by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman

For the last three years Hollywood has gifted me beautiful movies that fill me up with inspiration, beauty, and wonder. First, there was the re-imagined Beauty and the Beast, and although I've now seen it five or six times, I still get teary-eyed at the ending. (I've become one of those grown-ups.) Next came, The Greatest Showman which took many of us by storm and filled us up with glitter and dreams and music. Now this year, a kindred friend from childhood has come back--I feel almost like Jane Banks myself when she blurts out: "I thought we'd never see you again!". Yes, of course, I'm speaking of Mary Poppins Returns.

In full disclosure, I was against this film when I first heard of it. There were a lot of grumbles and bah humbugs all the way until Thanksgiving this year. We stumbled upon an ABC special about Mary Poppins Returns and when I heard Dick Van Dyke's ringing endorsement (and learned of his amazing cameo) I finally decided to open my heart up to another installment of Mary Poppins. I'm so glad I did.

(I feel that this is a good spot to warn you that there will most surely be several posts over the next couple of weeks inspired by this movie, and probably the original, and then we'll go tripping and traipsing all over the stories and songs that have taught me the way to see beauty and wonder in a world often too busy, too cold, and too dark to notice. That was actually the vision I'd been dreaming up for this blog anyway. A cozy house blend of inspiration, insight, and imagination all fueled by stories. I've always been a sucker for a good story.)

I promise, no spoilers....although, I should hope that you'd trust Mary Poppins to deliver the Banks family a happy ending. After all, she is Mary Poppins and practically perfect in every way. Spit spot and all that. But I wanted to share some thoughts I had after soaking in the last song in the film.

"The past is the past. It lives on as history and that's an important thing. The future comes fast. Each second a mystery. For nobody knows what tomorrow may bring."

I think most of us would agree that 2018 was a hard year. Many of my friends are walking steep paths marked with loss, grief, and uncertainty. I myself felt heavy pressure and stress in the various roles I play in life--wife, mother, friend, homeschooler, church volunteer, and of course, writer. Rarely it seemed to me that I was measuring up to those mystical standards I felt both externally and internally. With feelings of failure, doubt, and frustration I almost crawled to the finish-line of the holiday season. But in that bleak mid-winter, I started to read books again and listen to podcasts about beauty and hope. As my brain started to drink up this goodness, I could feel the bud of hope peeking up from the soil in my heart. I started to remember what it was like to believe in my dreams, and not just drag them along in a heavy sack. I started to really look forward to the new year. It felt like the turning of a page was coming; that I could mark an end to some of the hardships of 2018, and pick up fresh ink to write on the pages of 2019 with renewed energy. 

It's a matter of coincidence that I saw Mary Poppins Returns on January 1, 2019. Although, maybe, since I do whole-heartedly and stubbornly believe that God is a man of details, perhaps it was providence. Isn't it rather perfect to begin a new year with a good strong dose of imagination and adventure? Isn't it grand to be drawn into a world of possibility and reminded what childlike eyes can see? And, isn't it wonderful to be assured that when life has been grinding and our loads have gotten so heavy we can hardly think straight or see the path ahead of us that there's "nowhere to go but up"? 

Each day is new. When the sun rises, even on the gray dreary days we've been plagued with here in Ohio, it shines on untouched hours. Busyness and commitments do limit some of the possibilities in each day, but there are so many moments unaccounted for in which we can breathe in deep and notice the world around us. There are opportunities to love hard and live well. There's time to play and create. There's room for silliness and laughter. There's space for faith and hope. There's nowhere to go but up. 

Lest you think I've gone completely mad with optimism, I'm sure 2019 will have its ugly bits I'd rather not have to sort out. I've been on this planet long enough now to know that all my lists and resolutions don't really stop the tide of life from crashing hard sometimes. But here I am on the shores of a new year and I'm inviting you to join me. Let's journey together pointing out beauty as we go, searching high and low for magical things, and celebrating the wonder in ordinary days. And in jealousy guarding our faith and hope and discoveries, we may just keep the dark from inching out our joy in another year. Here's to a new year! May we go nowhere but up carried high by hope on steady strings of faith. 

"Let the past take a bow, the forever is now. And there's nowhere to go but up, up!"