Monday’s Pen to Paper: Forget about the Perfect Word, First Capture your Thoughts
The thesaurus is my friend. Some may not need this crutch of sorts, this slayer of words. But I use mine (all three), a lot. I have one on my computer, as well as big thick hardback book that my husband bought for me years ago and last my husband himself, he is my personal thesaurus. If he is near and I’m searching for a word, I’ll holler out, “What’s another word for dive?” And with amazing consistency, he’ll pause for a second and then reply, “Plunge, plummet, drop…” and more useable words that hit the spot. (I have no idea how he does this, but it seems to work for me more often than not.)
However, he’s not always around, so if I’m writing away and I know what I want to say, but I just can’t pull a specific word up in my mind, I simply do this ( ), and keep typing with the knowledge that I can come back and fill in the blank. When I come back to my blanks, I pull out my thesaurus to help find the right word or edit and rewrite the sentence, or a paragraph or two, to get my thoughts down how I like them.
Finding the perfect word doesn’t always happen immediately, nor should it, writing takes time. Just know that if you have to toss in a ( ) or a _____ to keep your thoughts moving forward, then do it! You can always come back to find the perfect word, what’s important is to capture your thoughts while they are fresh in your mind.
Write on!
WRITING PROMPT: Capture
PeaceLoveBasketball Friday: Giving It Up
I played basketball the other day with my husband and some friends. My husband and I were teamed together, and when we are on the same team I tend to make him do the inside work. He is a good five inches taller than me. But when we were on a fast break he called for that ball earlier than normal and reminded me, “Give up the ball and I’ll get it back to you.” Ah, so true. The basic Give & Go. (If only I could move my 49-year-old body fast enough to fill the break to get it back).
Don’t be afraid to pass the ball to your teammates, in the end you will get more opportunities with the ball. Give and you shall receive. A fundamental part of the game and an important lesson in life.
On the court and in life. Remember to give and you will be sure to receive.
Monday’s Pen to Paper: Growing Hip
Honey 1919-2015
I’m trying to grow hip as I grow older. My husband always tells people that he wants to be like my grandma, Honey, when he is old. “She was HIP,” he explains and then goes on to talk about how she was current with news, sports and of course politics. (She and my grandpa leaned to the left, which I loved.) She stayed relevant with her grand and great-grand kids, up until she was in her late 90’s. Her great-grands loved her, chatted with her, played cards with her (She played a mean hand of Bridge or any card game for that matter) and learned from her until she was gone, and that is cool. HIP.
Honey wasn’t perfect, but she was darn close. She was an amazing grandmother to me, and just one of the things I loved about her was her ability to stay up with the times, and it is one thing I want to emulate and fold into my life. My hip won’t be like Honey’s, but I’ll do my best to live my life to the fullest, try new things, stay current with the world and stay positive despite some of what might be out there in the news. To look for the good and pass on the good to those around me.
Isn’t that something worth striving for as we grow older, to be hip and relevant? I don’t mean dress like a teenager. (Though Honey always looked sharp while being age appropriate) but just staying up with the times. Reading and learning. Being open and living life.
Writing prompt #1: How will you stay hip throughout your lifetime?
Monday’s Pen to Paper: Tidying House & Soul
Bags of stuff to donate
I’m on a mission. Over the past several years my house has gotten cluttered. I can usually keep the main level livable but the rest is getting overtaken with stuff. Anytime we have company, extra things get tossed in my office. I can’t even work in my office anymore, it’s much too crowded. When I write I go to the kitchen, it’s open, has lots of light and is relatively uncluttered, but it would be nice to be able to use my office if I felt like it.
So the daunting task is underway. It started a couple of weeks ago when my kids and I cleared out their rooms. We sent bags of clothes to Goodwill, and then I hit my closet and did the same. This week I focused on my office, the worst room in the house, where now the floor is covered in piles of paperwork. Personal and business bills and invoices to be filed, coaching notebooks and paperwork from the last five seasons and summer camps, miscellaneous books, leftover graduation preparations and photos from my daughters graduation last spring, you name it, this is the spot where every extra thing lands. But not for long.
Because when I started this job of clearing my space, I also decided to listen to a book. And the book that popped out at me, as I was figuring out how to download an audio file to my phone (I was used to checking out CD’s from the library), was The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Condo. It was meant to be.
It was nice to have support and ideas straight from the book to help in my tidying process, because it’s not happening overnight, and though […]
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
PeaceLoveBasketball Friday: Because You Can
Injuries suck. I’ve been babying a bad wrist and knee all summer. These injuries make everything hard to do, the chores and the fun stuff. My daughter has been rehabilitating a knee injury. This morning when we were working out together she said, “I can’t stand doing the elliptical machine, not playing basketball is killing me.” Boy, do I know what she means, there is nothing like playing a game of basketball or doing something that you love to get your workout in. And unfortunately, most people don’t truly understand this until the time comes when they can no longer play.
My husband hasn’t been able to play much basketball for quite some time because he has bad knees, but recently he hurt his back and he couldn’t do anything at all for about three months. Since his recovery, he has been working […]
PeaceLoveBasketball Friday: Blocking Out
Yesterday morning when I was playing basketball a teammate of mine went flying by me to the hoop when a shot went up by the other team. I on the other hand was stepping toward my man to block him out (also known as boxing out). I was taught that it didn’t matter if I got a rebound only that my man should not get it. If everyone on your team has this mentality in the end, someone on your team will get the rebound, because by blocking out, the defense has control and have better position to get to the ball.
Blocking out consistently is not an easy task and not an easy skill to instill in players because the player generally has to move away from the basket and away from the action. It doesn’t seem right, but it can make […]
PeaceLoveBasketball Friday: Court Dreams
Basketball has been a part of my life since I was a kid, and at forty-nine years old, I still can’t seem to get enough. Whether I’m playing, coaching or watching the game, when I’m near a ball, a court, or I hear the squeak of shoes on the hardwood, I feel at home.
The game has given me good times and bad times. It’s kept me in shape, it’s taught me life lessons, and once it even gave me a reason to live (read more about how basketball helped save my life after I lost my fiancé and was nearly killed, in Court Dreams: A Life Worth Living, at the Awesome Sports Project).
Find time to do the things that you love. Enjoy this life, it is truly worth living.
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