LET’S GET SERIOUS
I’m not one to talk politics, but because our nation’s response to the worldwide pandemic is affecting our nation’s health, I can’t help myself. I’ve been tweeting my views and yes, now, because I care about my friends, family and my community, I’m publishing this blog, one that took me a month to edit while I worked to soothe the fire that’s been burning in my blood. I am frustrated and angry, not only because we are in a global pandemic, but because the United States of America hasn’t had a consistent, united response to COVID-19, which has made things even worse.
There are a lot of confusing facts out there, but one fact that can’t be denied is that the United States is doing a terrible job with controlling the spread of the virus. And as the virus continues to spread across the nation, hundreds of thousands of people are dying. As of today, September 4th, 2020, over 187,000 Americans have died. Imagine if one of those deaths were your mother, your father, your sister, your brother, or your best friend.
My message today is please, for your health, the health of your friends and family, and the health of our nation as a whole, please, please, social distance and wear a mask. It’s not that difficult, and it’s exactly what other nations are doing so that they can live a new normal life.
The fact that the president of the United States doesn’t scream this message just baffles me. It’s like we are living in a dystopian world here in the USA. I don’t understand Trump’s response to COVID-19 (or lack there of), just like I don’t understand how it’s okay for him, the president of the United States, to bully-tweet and lie, to encourage white supremacy, to attack honored Veterans, […]
PEN TO PAPER: World Health
Before we write each Thursday, my friend Jenny and I meditate. Even now, with Covid-19 Stay-at-Home orders, we write and meditate together. We connect via video chat, set our timers and breathe. It grounds us before we dive into writing. I’ve been working to integrate meditation into my daily life as it brings me a sense of calm. I’m not always great at doing it, but if ever there was a time I needed it, it’s right now. Not only are there life’s normal stresses, we are all dealing with a pandemic.
A World Wide Pandemic.
When I write it out like that, it seems f’ing crazy. A thing of novels, and movies, and maybe the distant future, but not life in real time. But it is life in real time, and unfortunately, it is the world’s new reality for a while. The thought of it is unsettling and scary, but when all is said and done, for our sanity, we have to make the best of this new reality we’re living.
My family is healthy and my husband has a job, and we have food on the table, so it might be easier for me to say, than for others. But we all worry. And I think especially us moms. Being the caregivers, we want to keep everyone safe, and with the coronavirus, this foreign invader, we aren’t quiet sure how to do it. My daughter lives on the other side of the world, where I’m not allowed travel because I’m a US citizen. What if she needs her mom? My husband and I have older parents with health issues. How long until we can really be with them again, be by their sides, giving them hugs and kisses? How will we pay the mortgages on our rental houses if our tenants […]
PEN TO PAPER: Life
I write every Thurday with my friend Jenny. We used to always start with a freewrite, where we would choose a prompt and then write continuously for a few minutes, not worrying about spelling or grammar or content, just simply writing what ever came through our fingers and onto the page. Last week, after a few minutes of meditation (a more recent addition to our Thursdays), we decided to re-introduce the freewrite. We opted for “Life” in poetry, and started writing. When we were done, we read to one another and breathed…we needed that.
The freewrite has been added back into our writing routine.
If you’re a writer, maybe it’s time to try another freewrite. If you’re not a writer, give it a shot, you never know what will happen. You don’t have to read it to anyone. You can simply keep it to yourself or toss it away, but the process of letting thoughts out, letting them ramble around on a page, whether they make sense or not, can be valuable, if only as a way to vent and find room for your mind to focus.
With my daughter in Asia near the Coronavirus, several deadly shooting in the Seattle area, non-stop rain and the state of our nation, it felt good to bring my feelings together on the page. I’m no poet, but who cares. My poem found it’s way to what’s important, focusing on the good in life.
Life
Grey skies
Fire
Heat
Congressional smoke and mirrors
Maps
Red dots
A virus gone wild
Death
Fallen bodies
Where I once walked the runway
Fear spreads
Is this the Apocalypse?
Breathe
Think outside yourself
Give
Find […]
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 life. Had it not been for my journal, my writing, I may never have found my way.
I had played basketball for the Eastern Washington University Screamin’ Eagles from 1984 to 1988, then after graduating I moved to Seattle where I began working as a fashion model. Not the typical career choice for an athlete and honor student, but I had been a walking contradiction since I was a child, when I sat alone in the tall grass picking clovers and then quietly pushed myself to a stand and began walking for the first time. In high school I was the jock that sang solos in choir and did my homework. (I thought of myself as a well-rounded person, my classmates called me a nerd.) When I met Mark, I was still living a life of contradiction. I’d spend afternoons sashaying […]
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.
Blog
PEN TO PAPER: Fingers To Keys
It’s been a while since I’ve written by hand. I wrote the first draft of my memoir, Back On The Court, by hand. At least a majority of it. I wrote it in journals, the cheap black and white ones that college students get for class notes. It worked great, because as I transferred the writing from the notebooks to my computer, I edited the work. I even felt that I was more creative when I was writing by hand.
Now I write almost exclusively on my computer. Maybe I’m just lazy, or maybe it’s because it’s so hard to keep up with my thoughts when I write by hand. Or it could be that because my writing is so sloppy these days, I can’t read half of what I’ve written. I’m not sure, but even though I do enjoy writing by hand from time to time, other […]
PEN TO PAPER: The Trash Can Is Your Friend
Do you ever think, my writing sucks!
Well, you’re not the only one. I think we all feel that way from time to time, I know I do. And sometimes my writing does suck, and that’s okay. You can’t expect your writing to always be perfect, or even good. It is all part of the process of getting better.
I love the quote, “The Trash Can Is Your Friend,” by Margaret Atwood, author of The Handmaid’s Tale, because it gives you the go ahead to give up. I don’t mean on your writing, I’m the queen of never giving up when it comes to writing and life, but there are times when what we’ve written, is just there to get us better. It’s our practice.
And just like any other practice, (let me use basketball as an example since it’s my other love), it’s not always perfect. There were practice days, […]
PEN TO PAPER: Animal Inspiration
Today’s writing prompt is an easy one. It’s about animals. Do you have a favorite animal? A favorite pet? Maybe you love going to the zoo and watching the giant hippos glide through the water and then plod across the shore, maybe you are inspired by the graceful neck of the giraffe. Maybe you don’t know what you’d do without your pet tabby cat that you rescued when Covid hit or maybe you are attracted to a dog that sheds non-stop, farts more than your husband and slobbers on your pants every time he walks away from his water bowl and sets his jowls on your thigh. Or maybe you are not a fan of animals at all. Whatever the case, animals can be great writing inspiration.
Pick one or more prompts and let your pen and mind get to work. Write on!
WRITING PROMPT 1: Write about your favorite, or least […]
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