Monday’s Pen to Paper: Sun or Moon?
Do you wake early with arms stretched open wide to the sun, or are you like a barn owl, a bat, a bush rat, or a possum perhaps, who prefers the light of the moon?
Before I was married I used to binge clean and work on projects into the early morning hours. Rearrange my living room, organize a closet, work on a photo album, read a book, paint the kitchen. When I first started writing my book I had young kids so I would carve out minutes throughout the day to write, but when my husband would go play basketball at night with his men’s team, as much as it would bug me that I couldn’t play with them I relished the night alone to stay up late and write. His team would go for drinks after the game so he would be out until the bars closed. And on his return I would be up in my office plugging away at my computer and howling at the moon.
These days my husband doesn’t have many 2:00am arrivals, which is good because with that comes worry, but it also means I don’t often get the long uninterrupted silence of the night. If I stay up after my husband goes to bed, he can’t get to sleep. This is not good for either of us. So now I sit in the middle, I go to bed around 11:00pm and get up around 7:00am (give or take an hour or two on any given day).
I think we are born a certain way, preferring morning or night, however with some training we can find a happy medium, a rhythm that works for us and our family and our writing. I still prefer the silence of the night when […]
PeaceLoveBasketball Friday: Because You Can
I drained my first three ten foot jumpers in my first game back on the court last week. Sometimes I have beginner’s luck when I’ve been away from the game for a while, but it had been months since I last played, so I was anxious, not to mention a bit out of shape. I ended the game (a last second comeback win) with ten points, a sore left arch, a tender Achilles tendon, an achy back and a smile.
I went to bed nervous that when I woke up my shoulder might be frozen again, back to what had become an ongoing cycle of pain over the last nine months. Night being the worst with both a bad shoulder and bad wrist, rolling over had been nearly impossible and sleep was always in question. But when I woke the next morning, my shoulder worked and even though I could barely walk when I stepped out of bed, I was still smiling.
I’m not sure what I’ll do when I can’t play this game anymore, probably shoot around and do dribbling drills like I do every time I’m hurt, but somehow that is never the same. I like it, but there is something about running the full court with a bunch of players that makes playing (game or scrimmage) a huge step up from skill work.
Why am I telling you this besides the fact that playing again makes basketball on the forefront of my mind? I’m telling you this because I’m urging you to enjoy the game. When you have bad game, be thankful that you are playing at all and try to reminder that you will have good days and bad days on the court, and in life for that matter.
My husband’s new saying, […]
Monday’s Pen to Paper: Quiet
When I was six months pregnant with my son, I drove 2000 miles to southern California and back in my 1989 Volkswagon Vanagon with my two year-old daughter and my boxer dog in tow. I did this all with no stereo, no phone, and no electronics and I loved every minute of it.
Recently I read the book Quiet by Susan Cain. The book hit home for me. Quiet, The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, reminded me that I’m just fine the way I am. Introverted. Of course I know that I’m okay, but in a world full of extroverts, a world that praises extroverted qualities and living with two extroverts (now that my daughter and fellow introvert is away at college), life can be trying and often I feel awkward and guilty about wanting to be lone.
To those who meet me on the street I may not seem like an introvert. But I am. Being introverted does not necessarily mean you live in a hovel warded off from the world, it means that you recharge by being alone. When I was young I never really thought about being extroverted or introverted, I was shy but enjoyed my friends and my teammates. I was active and social but over a majority of my life I lived alone or occasionally with one roommate who was in and out of the apartment, so I always had time to myself. It was not until I got married, got dogs, had kids and then had my husband start working out of the home that my need for alone time increased and the anxious feeling in my gut started following me around.
I first discovered I was an introvert when my […]
Monday’s Pen to Paper: Home Sweet Poem
My daughter was home for spring break and we made a point to write together. She is a Creative Writing major in college so there is nothing sweeter than sitting down at my computer and looking across from me to see her poised at her Mac ready to write. We usually start with some prompts (she has a page on Pinterest gathered specifically for this purpose), and then move on to our blogs or other writing that we’re working on.
On one of our prompts we decided to write a poem. She wrote a poem recently for her college class that really moved me. It’s a poem directly addressing America as a person. I find her work so powerful, but poetry scares me. The last time I learned anything about poetry was during my grade school English class, I’m 50 now, it’s been a few years.
Oh, and I love Dr. Suess, if that counts.
Still the other day, with my daughter close by, I dove in, as one must with writing, fighting against my inner critique, and gave poetry my best shot. Our prompt was to write a poem about the texture of hope. This is what I came up with in our self allotted five minutes.
The texture of hope
Fine. Slender. Forgotten.
Tendrils from a descending spider.
Fat. Round. Open.
The heart of a lion.
Poison and passion and periwinkle
The color of dreams.
Woven through time.
Now there it is, in print for the world to see and hear, and for me to cringe a little before reminding myself that this is why I’m here. To live, to write and follow the color of my dreams, and part of that means practice. Find time to practice your writing. And don’t be afraid to try new things, perhaps […]
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
LIFE INSPIRED FITNESS: Listen To Your Body
My husband has bad knees. He played football in college and has had many knee surgeries so he no longer has much cartilage. He’s had to adjust his workouts over the years and eventually cut out a few things. He waited a long time to cut out competitive basketball. Probably ten years later than he should have, but he really enjoyed playing, so it wasn’t easy to quit, but the pain became too much, so he had no other choice.
He’s never loved to walk, unlike me, and he likes speed. So a few years ago he turned to biking. It took him a while to jump on the biking bandwagon, but now he loves it. When he first started riding he trained for the STP (Seattle to Portland) with a group of guys and had a blast, and it actually helped his knees. Then a year later he started mountain […]
LIFE INSPIRED FITNESS: Push Yourself
I like to run, sort of. I don’t like running long distance (too many miles on my body that I’d rather use pounding the hardwoods), but I do like shorter distances, less than three miles. When I do a running workout, I usually just jog/run to a spot, pick a couple of trees or telephone poles that are maybe 50-80 meters apart and then do a little sprint workout.
Well, I’m using the word sprint very loosely here because my emphasis is on not pulling a muscle, so what I do is more like a fast jog, but that, to me, is better than ten miles at a slow jog. Which is not to say ten miles is bad, it’s just not what I like. Find what you like, and then even push yourself a little.
Last year, I decided to run in a track meet, as a “fun” way to stay […]
LIFE INSPIRED FITNESS: Dog Gone Good Exercise
I like to walk, which is good, because I have a dog and he needs to go on walks. Walking your dog is a great way to get some exercise and keep your body fit. I walk at a pretty good clip, but just getting out there and moving your body does the trick to burn some calories, not to mention getting you some fresh air.
For me it’s also a good time to think. Whether I’m deciding what groceries to buy or coming up with a new blog idea, walking clears my mind. And just think of how good it is for Fido. So get out there and take your dog for a walk, it’s a win-win.
What do you like best about walking with your dog? Or maybe you walk a different pet. I’d love to hear about it.
Follow me for more ideas on living a happy and healthy life […]
Follow Sonya