A Writing Life

People often imagine the writing life as long hours spent at a desk, pouring words onto a page while inspiration magically appears. My creative life looks a little different. For me, creativity is woven into the ordinary moments of a Sunday. We usually wake up slowly; I reach for my notebook and write my morning pages. Three pages. No rules. No editing. Just thoughts finding their way onto…

I have always been an observer. I love to people-watch. This is part of my writing life. For the past 27 years, hospitality has given me a front-row seat to humanity. I’ve met thousands of people from every corner of the world. Some arrived celebrating life’s biggest milestones. Others arrived carrying heartbreak, uncertainty, exhaustion, or hope. Most never realized they were teaching me how to…

Last week, I flew to Vancouver to meet up with my bestie writer friend so we could attend the Let Them Theory tour with Mel Robbins. What is this Let Them Theory Tour? It is a rare chance to see Mel Robbins live on stage in a high-energy event that will leave you laughing, moved, and armed with the clarity and tools you need to feel like yourself again. Be inspired to take charge of your time,…

If I could solve one writing problem overnight, it wouldn’t be plot, character development, or even finding the right words. It would be timing. Photo by Alexas Fotos on Pexels.com Or more truthfully, the belief that I need the perfect time to write, or I need more time to write. For years, I told myself the same story: I’ll write when I have a full, uninterrupted hour. I’ll write when my…

Photo by Polina u2800 on Pexels.com There’s something about the first true signs of spring that makes me want to open every window in the house. After a long winter, the air indoors can feel heavy, stale, and a little too familiar. The first warm day arrives, and suddenly the instinct kicks in: throw open the windows, let the breeze move through the rooms, and start fresh. Spring cleaning has…

Farming and sustainability have always been part of my life. It runs through generations of my family; my parents, grandparents, and even great-grandparents. On my father’s side especially, the connection to the land was not just practical. It was a way of life. My father grew up on a farm in Ontario, and as a young girl, those visits became some of the most formative moments of my…

For a long time, I introduced myself as someone who worked in hospitality and wrote on the side. I switched this narrative to I was a writer who worked for a hotel when I was not in management, and even when I moved to middle management, I held this statement true, because I am a writer who works in the hospitality world. Hospitality pays the bills. Writing filled the spaces around it, early…