Guest Post: Your Power Zone

Second guest post by Linda Marks. Given that, the older I get, the more life seems like a balancing act, the below rings very true. When reading it, bear in mind that procrastination and underproductivity are caused by disempowerment. So, we can infer that moving too far along any of the dimensions Cedar identifies can…

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Guest Post: Soul Mates and Wound Mates

Below, one of the best essays I’ve read about relationships anywhere. I hope it’s as meaningful and useful to you as it was to me! It’s the first of two guest posts by Newton, MA-based Linda Marks, MSM, a super-smart and innovative psychotherapist, lifework counselor, and author. Her newsletter is one of the first things…

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Don’t Forget to Check Out My September Online Classes!

Online courses are convenient, cheap, and fun–and you can be located anywhere! My SavvyAuthors class for graduate students, faculty, and other academic writers starts Monday September 16. I’m offering a discounted class/coaching bundle via famed writing community The Loft. All writers, including creative, business, nonprofit writers, welcome. Take a class now and have a productive…

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When Adversity Strikes Be Sure You’re Framing It Properly

New York Times health columnist Jane Brody writes about a new book, The Gift of Adversity: The book’s titular message — that adversity can be a gift — is especially relevant now, as millions of Americans who have lost jobs struggle to reinvent themselves. After 20 productive years as a researcher at the National Institute…

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Live From Kalamazoo: A New Shot at Love

A little over a year ago, I was invited to write a letter to a newborn baby, Toby. In it, I wrote about the benefits of being generous, and in particular generous in love: “I’ve also given away lots of love. Often that love was returned, but sometimes it wasn’t, which was painful. But as…

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Why the Middles of Projects are Tough (Part 3): Middles Have Middles!

I previously wrote about how the middles of projects are tough: *They’re the place where the work seems to get much tougher right at the same moment that your enthusiasm starts to ebb. *They’re a much bigger part of the project than most people realize. (Around 80%!) However, there’s another problem with middles: they have…

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Why the Middles of Projects are Tough (Part 2): Plus, How to Have Fun Revising!

Middles are Tough. Last time I wrote about how the middles of writing and other projects can be difficult, citing Dante’s Inferno, which begins “midway upon the journey of our life,” and John Bunyan’s classic The Pilgrim’s Progress, in which the protagonist, Christian, literally bogs down midway, in the infamous “Slough of Despond.” Middles are…

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Last Call: New England

If you’ve wanted to take my Grub Street Writers class NOW is the time. I am moving to Michigan in September (more on this later!), and August’s class will be the last for a while. It will be held August 12-15 (Monday-Thursday), 10:30am-1:30pm at 162 Boylston Street (2 mins from Boylston Street T; discounted parking…

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