The Modern Wordist Blog

Feeling tired? Me too.  When I set out to start this blog, I didn't think we would be where we are right now. The battle isn't over. Ugh. But I hope you're feeling optimistic. In this post, I want to share some perspective that, recently, has  been truly helpful to me, both artistically and as a means of sustaining energy throughout the day. I hope it helps you, too. Finding an Internal Lane Over the last couple of weeks, I've been focused on listening to my intuition and not my head.  Whether we're facing a blank page or a genuine crisis, staying grounded in intuition (or spirit, if you welcome that word) can help you accelerate past your inner critic and worry.  Lately, I'm more interested in words, books, and writing than I have been in years. I know that sounds weird because I'm an editor with an English degree who has always loved words. But there's more to it than you know, and I'll share at a future time. Just know it's a good sign 😀 Stay...

 When people think of writing, they often think about being an author – writing books, poetry, or profound essays. But people often forget the importance of clear communication in everyday life. As part of my work, I regularly help people say exactly what they want to say, whether they're communicating with board members, coworkers, customers, or family (in the case of writing up family histories). But I’ve also been thinking about communication and my fellow Americans. One thing that's been on my mind in recent weeks is creating a sort of vision board of the future for our communities and the country. If you've been paying attention to the news, and general conversation, everyone from federal employees to intuitives have said that we need to begin thinking about what we want our future to look like.   This is one area where those of us with writing skills and talent can help people articulate exactly what they want, and what they want to help create. So, when we come out o...

 Is anyone else tired of software? Specifically — software that doesn't work? It's okay to admit it if you are.  Even as someone who works with words all day, tech is integral to what I do.  Every day, I deal with crummy software. Poorly designed websites. And ads that pop up in front of what I'm reading — or just as awesome, ads that move across the web page and stop right at the point in the text I'm reading 🙄 And as of a few minutes ago while writing this, the dictation software I rely on to prevent typing-related RSI isn't working. Hard sigh. I miss IBM ViaVoice . No internet connection required. Yes, it was slow as molasses. But it was accurate. Let me repeat that — it was accurate. Even with my very quiet, sometimes-mumbly-when-tired voice. And I could train it to recognize vocab from other languages so easily it was a source of joy. I used it until my computer and operating system at the time refused to run it.  That was in the waterfall development years. Y...