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Of Grinding Pepper, Banalities, and Seeking That Which We Yet Understand…

Working as both a wife of nearly 29 years, and mother of 3, has prepared me in various ways to accomplish the work of a fiction writer.

Working as a wife and mother requires a lot of what an Islamic Imam described as grinding pepper.

Grinding pepper, from the perspective of the imam encompasses those activities that we here in the west describe as comprising the bane of our existence–mindless tasks, that we view as disrespectful of our intelligence and that devalue our worth as a person.

The world banal implies a lack of uniqueness.

Something that is banal possesses no originality.

It is like the wheel that begs for no reinvention, rather more unique and original ways of bringing a deeper level of presence and attention to the task(s) at hand–tasks that when practiced with a presence of mind and heart sharpen our skills and artistry in all areas of life, yield an original creation, and transform us as individuals.

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Dear John, A Daughter’s Wish and Moments of Awakening…

My daughter recently stated that she hopes that my husband and I live to a ripe old age and that we die together, much like Noah and Allie in the movie based on The Notebook, by Nicholas Sparks. My daughter had just finished reading Spark’s novel, now a movie, Dear John.

That’s the great thing about reading books. They awaken us to parts of ourselves, hopes dreams and wishes, and those held for us by loved ones.

That my daughter, not yet 25, could offer me such a gift I find astounding. Most children, and rightfully so, want their parents alive for as long as possible.

Saying this to my daughter, she responded with, “I can handle my life, take care of myself as long as I know that you and Daddy are together somewhere in the universe, even if I’m not with you.”

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Faith, Our Personal Best and the Work We Do…

But I want to stay with mothers, because so often when we write we, and the world, does not take seriously what we do seriously, particularly if we choose to operate primarily as a mother, and a writer second.

Those of us who choose to place our writing second do so because I think on some level we know that we will never reach our personal best at crafting stories until we have nurtured our children to an adequate point in their and our lives.

This is not the only way to come to writing. This is our way.

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