Valentine’s Day conjures up images of mischievous cherubs, decadent chocolates, red roses, candlelit dinners for two, love poems, secret admirers and above all - romance. But how did this holiday get started? Was there really a St. Valentine? And why is it celebrated in February?

Like Easter and Christmas, Valentine’s Day is an amalgam of Pagan and Christian beliefs: Our story begins in third century Rome during the reign of Emperor Claudius II. His penchant for bloody military campaigns earned him the moniker “Claudius the Cruel.” Perhaps he should have been called “Claudius the Dense” because after concluding that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, his solution was to simply ban marriage - as though a decree against such unions would prevent romance from distracting his men.

Meanwhile, a kindly priest named Valentine took pity on young bachelors and Read more »

Does this ever happen to you: no sooner do you start a creative project than the thought of all the chores you need to do starts nipping at your mind like a pack of junkyard dogs? Perhaps it’s your day off and you are torn between paying bills, doing laundry, cleaning house and working on your novel or other fun project.

It’s not fair! Unless you can afford a maid, those chores aren’t going to budge, but if you never take time for creative projects, you’re not going to have much fun. It can be a struggle to balance the creative versus the practical aspects of life, which is why I came up with my own method for dealing with this.

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When someone says, “Are you busy Saturday?” what do you see? Have you ever paid attention to the image that appears in your mind’s eye?

For me, the current week is a flat elliptical plane, rather like a pie chart. In my mind’s eye, I am at its axis. I look out at each day and see if there is anything on that particular slice of pie, like a doctor’s appointment, or lunch with friends. The week starts with Monday and proceeds clockwise through the days.

It took me a while to figure out why, however, Saturday and Sunday are twice as big as the other days in my mental image of the week. Read more »

One day as I was venting to a friend about a job I despised, she interrupted and grandly proclaimed, “I hereby give you permission to quit your job and do what you truly want ”

I had to laugh. Her words made me realize that the only thing keeping me stuck was that I hadn’t given myself permission to do otherwise. So now, whenever one of us is hesitant about the next step in our lives, the other will say, “Would you like a permission slip?” It’s our playful way to remind each other that the only real limitations come from within.

Since then I have made it a habit to write up a “Cosmic Permission Slip” for myself from time to time. Here’s what I do:

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In “What is Free-writing & How to do it” I explained the simple steps you can take to make free-writing part of your daily routine. Now it’s time to talk about why you should even bother!

Here are five ways free-writing can help you:

1. Makes you a better writer - There’s no need to publish every scrap of paper you write, just as there’s no need to record every note a diva sings in rehearsal. Even so, practice and warm-ups are as necessary to writers as warm-ups and rehearsals are necessary to singers, athletes and professionals in any field. Simply put, you won’t get better if you don’t practice, and free-writing is a great way to get that practice.

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