PEACELOVEBASKETBALL: Make The Little Things Count
The number one thing to do is to stay in shape. You can do basic home exercise: sit-ups, push-ups, burpies, etc. on your own, or there are a lot of workout routines online to help you stay motivated. If you’re lucky, you may have a basement or room where you can dribble a ball and work on ball handling skills. (My kids dribbled balls and played catch in our house, but that was never allowed in my childhood home, so this may not be an option for you.) But, even if you can’t dribble in the house, there are a few things that you can do to help your ball handling.
One is to use your non-dominant hand to do things around the house. If you’re right handed use your left hand, and visa versa. Do this when you brush your teeth, drink your water, open a door. Everything that you can possibly do with your non-dominant hand, do it. This can help your ball handing by developing strength and coordination in your weaker arm. I know from experience. I spent months with my broken right arm in a sling and my left hand took over and grew much stronger. Adding some hand, wrist and forearm exercises can help too.
So if you’re stuck inside this winter (keeping you and others in your community safe) control the things that you can control, and work on your game in little ways. Use your non-dominant hand around the house and after you finish your schoolwork (or work), or during a break, do a basic workout and add some hand strengthing exercises to your routine. (links below) Even if you can’t play basketball right now, doing a few little things will pay off for you when you get back on the court.
What suggestions do you […]
PEN TO PAPER: Mining Memories
When I was working on my memoir Back On The Court: A Young Woman’s Triumphant Return To Life, Love & Basketball, parts of my life that I had forgotten, came back to me while I was writing. For example, while writing a scene that took place in my roof top studio apartment near Green Lake, I was transported back to that time and place, and then remembered talking to my mom about getting engaged that day. I had totally forgotten about the conversation, but the memory just moved through my fingers and onto the page.
It’s interesting how the mind works. How it store memories, good and sometimes a little scary, in its nooks and crannies. Below are a few simple writing prompts to work from, to see what you might discover. Fiction or nonfiction, let your mind have some fun.
WRITING PROMPT 1: I don’t remember when…
WRITING PROMPT 2: I forgot…
WRITING PROMPT 3: Tanner relaxed on the bed, closed his eyes and let his mind wander until…
LIFE INSPIRED FITNESS: Wonder Walk
With shorter days, inclement weather, and a pandemic, sometimes it’s hard to find inspiration (and a place), to workout. I walk my dog, which gets me out moving, but he’s older and his walks are shorter, so they don’t do a whole lot for me. So recently, I decided to take a second walk each day, and it’s been awesome.
You might not think that walking is a workout, and granted it’s not like playing a game of basketball. But it is something that most of us can do, even if we need to get some snowshoes to do it. It’s helped me feel more fit, and just getting out of the house for some fresh air, has been good for my mental health.
According to the Mayo Clinic, a brisk walk can help you live a healthier life. It can help you to maintain a healthy weight, prevent or manage conditions like heart disease, high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes, help strengthen your bones and muscles, and improve your balance, coordination and mood.
A 2014 Stanford study, Give Your Ideas Some Legs, found that walking increased creative output by an average of 60 percent. They found that, “walking opens up the free flow of ideas, and it is a simple and robust solution to the goals of increasing creativity and increasing physical activity.”
Who can’t use a little more creativity? I know I sure can.
So on those days when you don’t feel like doing a “workout”. Give yourself a break, go for a walk and let your mind wander. You’ll actually be getting a workout and who knows what wondrous idea you’ll come up with.
PEN TO PAPER: Plotter vs Pantser
Have you heard of Plotters and Pantsers? Well, I’m a Pantser, with a touch of Plotter. A Pantser is a writer who flies by the seat of their pants, just sits down and writes without much detailed planning. A Plotter is a writer who plans out their novel before they start writing it. Most people fit more into one category, but really both processes take place during the writing of a novel.
For example if you’re a Pantser, you normally have at least a vague idea of where you’re going before you start. With my current novel, I was driving home from a writing conference when the concept came to me. I imagined the storyline, and made a storyboard with pictures that I cut from magazines and pasted along a timeline, to help me see where the story was going. So you might call this some minimal planning, but when I started the novel, I just sat down and wrote, unsure of where it would take me.
Now that I’m nearing the end of the book, I’m starting to look at what’s missing and am beginning to weave bits and pieces back into the writing. Last week I decided to make changes to the first chapter, so I went back and edited and edited and edited. Now I need to make adjustments throughout the book. It’s the first draft, so it’s simply part of the process. I worked this way when I wrote my memoir too. Of course I had a basic understanding of what was going to happen in the story, it was a memoir after all, but there were a lot of different directions that I could have gone, so it took a lot of writing and editing and reworking to get the story the way I wanted it.
When I’m […]
Meet Sonya
Meet Sonya
Sonya Elliott’s memoir, Back on the Court: A Young Woman’s Triumphant Return to Life, Love & Basketball, is her story of finding hope in the wake of tragedy after she and her fiancé were hit by a train. She blogs about writing, basketball, and life and is currently working on a Young Adult Novel and a Non-Fiction Coaching book. Stories of her career as a fashion model are woven through her memoir, as both the Soloflex and Easy Spirit Shoes commercials were filmed during that time period, and this unique and intriguing business continues to be a part of her life.
Sonya played basketball at Eastern Washington University and was a starter for the Big Sky Champion team that went to the 1987 NCAA tournament. She coached for almost 25 years and was voted Seattle Times Coach of the Year, Seattle Officials Women’s Basketball Association Coach of the Year, and twice voted Metro League Coach of the Year. She loves the game of basketball and is thankful, not only for her husband and kids but for her ability to continue to get back on the court.
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LIFE INSPIRED FITNESS: Chasing Waves with Amy Waeschle
Today’s Life Inspired Fitness guest is author Amy Waeschle. She is a perfect example of a woman who stays healthy and fit by doing what she loves. I first met Amy at the Pacific Northwest Writer’s Conference when she was working on her memoir Chasing Waves: A Surfer’s Tale Of Obsessive Wandering. I was struck by her love of surfing, as it echoed my feelings about basketball. Chasing Waves is a collection of stories based on Amy’s surfing adventures. After traveling from Morocco to Fiji to Canada, Amy’s exposure to diverse cultures and experiences expanded her love of surfing as well as her view of life. Amy published the memoir in 2009 and since then, has written seven more books. She is the author of the #1 Amazon Bestselling mystery series featuring Dr. Cassidy Kincaid and the novels Going Over the Falls and Feeding the Fire. The final book of her […]
PEN TO PAPER: Writing To Save My Life
Several years ago I wrote an article about how writing literally saved my life after my fiancé was killed and I felt as if life wasn’t worth living. I never published the piece, but I hand it out when I speak to grief support groups, hoping that my experience with recovery will inspire others who are struggling. And now, I hope that by sharing it here, it will find it’s way to those in need…
“Writing to Save My Life”
Sonya G. Elliott
I wouldn’t have thought it could happen. Getting hit by a train and losing my fiancé just days before our wedding for one, but actually recovering from such a thing seems altogether unbelievable, even a miracle. And, of course, the fact that I survived was a miracle to my family and friends, but for me it was a death sentence that left me alone and struggling to go on with […]
PEN TO PAPER: Be Specific
Putting down on paper exactly what you want to share, being specific, is an easy way to bring more depth or color to your writing. Instead of tree, tell the reader what kind of tree. Instead of flower, give the reader a rose, a carnation, a lily. The reader will see, and smell and feel the difference. What kind of dog? Boxer, bulldog, jack russel terrier, shar pei or mutt. Show them. Let the reader see the furniture; chaise lounge, broken wooden stool, over-stuffed sofa. There are times when a basic word is all you need, but think about how you are painting a picture for the reader.
Let me show you what I’m talking about. Let’s start with a basic sentence:
The dog ran across the grass to the woman under the tree.
You could make a simple change to:
The beagle sprinted across the grass to Elizabeth who was standing under the […]
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