Victoria Writer's Blog

I used to think I was here, you know that spot, the one where people stop and lean for a bit to make decisions. The line where the glass is half full and half empty. The region where there is not defined clarity and where no strong opinion is declared...THE GREY AREA.   I often felt that I clearly understood the term "black and white" thinking, with it's all or nothing savoir faire; the correct term being, dichotomous thinking . THE GREY AREA is where I thought I was. I felt sure I was able to interpret anything correctly; that I saw their definitive lines on spectrum and was sure I was in between them and making rational decisions. I WASN'T. I'M STILL NOT. I AM BLACK. I AM WHITE. It was brought to my attention that I almost always strongly place myself on one side or the other. I totally miss the ease and flow of THE GREY AREA. Not exactly sure why this is, but I am damn sure I know now that I need to change my of thinking. I see how it has shaped me an...

For the past year, I have been referring to the time after I stop working, as my "afterlife".  I have not only been planning financially, but career-wise as well. What will I do? I have ideas. It seems I have been forever a busy-body...it's just my nature. I never sit down and I never stop doing, working, or thinking about something . This is not some form of hyperactivity; my gears are just always turning in my mind. Even when I sit quietly, my mind is anything but that! I love to learn new things and especially take risks. Albeit, the "risk thing" is relatively new. I have made slow changes over the years and pushed myself to the point that I'm at now. I do something out of my comfort zone on a daily basis. This is why I am most excited about where I am now and what I am doing presently with my life. It was not until recently, when I met a new acquaintance, a fellow teacher with a warm personality that I instantly took to. She was an ocean-lover li...

I have an old friend who has always referred to his children as "urchins". I found this to be quite odd; a misplaced referral of sorts. But it grew on me and I soon started calling my own children (not anyone else's) urchins. It became such a natural term for me. I began using it in public forums and I found people got a chuckle out it. I think it conjures up an image of actual sea urchins, all small and colorful and spiny and such, being clustered and scattered along the ocean floor. Maybe, just maybe, this is what people found funny. Whatever it was, I liked using the term and it has stuck with me for now close to nine years. My urchins are adults now, yet I still continue to think of them as little sea urchins. As life changes, situations change, as do focuses and life's goals. It hit me the other day (my inspiration for this blog) that I have been recently drawn to the ocean, as my previous blogs have referenced. It calms and comforts me. It engages me and pu...

There is something to be said about being able to empty your thoughts on to a blank page. Whether it be with pencil or pen in hand, or with your fingertips gliding swiftly over a smooth keyboard, writing brings me to a place of complete sereneness; it calms me just as if it were a form of meditation.  Writing offers me up two things I love, expressing myself in written form and editing my own writing to the point of where a tiny smile of satisfaction crosses my face. I call this the cool side of the pillow effect.  When you lay your head down at the end of the day, perhaps there is a loved one there with you, or at least on your mind. You may have accomplished a lot during the day, or made real progress toward your goals. Regardless, you are content .   I get this feeling when I'm writing: it's soothing. Words begin pouring effortlessly from my mind. It reminds me of when at the end of a long day I finally have a chance to collapse into my lair and recline. The ...