I often find that when I am feeling numb and don’t want to write, the reason for it is simple. I am afraid of what I will write. All of this falls under the deceptively simple name “writer’s block.” But why would I be afraid; that is, what would I be afraid of? There are…
Category: Another World Within
Pride Means Protest, Now More than Ever
Is this our last Pride celebration? Pride Means Finding a Place where We Belong So, come on baby, dance that danceCome on baby, dance that danceCome on baby, let’s dance tonight… In my twenties, I worked with an organization that provided services for LGBTQ youth. I loved doing this work; it’s part of what propelled…
Expectations (Sunday Summary)
Mental health has always been a priority at 2 Rules of Writing. When we were starting out, we made plans for a website and a community. What we would offer. How we would work with people. How we would build that community. From the beginning, we placed a high priority on awareness of, and caring…
Gifted and Talented (Caturday Questions)
Teachers assigned us labels when we were younger, like “gifted” or “gifted and talented.” Or, in rare cases, “prodigy.” What do these labels mean? Do they help us or hurt us? Can we change them? Can we own them? Some people discover their labels as adults. And then there are those labels on your writing….
Autobiography
When I worked on my exams for high school,my grandmother died —And I thought that was hard. When I prepared for my college entrance,my teacher intoned, “Thy path to paradise begins in hell”.And I thought that was hard. When I started my first job,running around, feeling like a clown,thinking “this is damn hard.” Then in another…
Editor, Writer, Thrower of Wet Spaghetti
Throw a bunch of wet spaghetti at the wall. See what sticks. Who knew that the thing your parents told you not to do as a kid would be vital to your mental stability as an adult? And would be vital to my job as an editor. I have been editing this website for about…
Mental Health Month Starts with a Breakdown
What a way to start off mental health month…with a meltdown, right? But that’s exactly what happened. Although Adam and I have never formally defined our roles, there are certain things we just fell into doing–he has editorial skills and experience that I don’t, I can do things with web pages that he can’t, and…
Celebrate May with us! (Sunday Summary)
“I cannot tell you how it was,But this I know: it came to passUpon a bright and sunny dayWhen May was young; ah, pleasant May!” With only 30 days in April to celebrate poetry, there was no way to include all of the poems or poets we wanted to. And in order to include not…
Pride and Prejudice and Plagiarism (Caturday Questions)
Little Cat was reading his favorite book the other day (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies), and couldn’t help but notice that it was a bit… derivative. It felt somehow as though Little Cat had read this book before. Which of course he had. You reread your favorites all the time, no? But that wasn’t it….
A Poem Fills a Pocket with Something
Instead of our usual Watch/Liste/Read today, we’re celebrating an extra special part of National Poetry Month with Poem in Your Pocket Day. We keep so many things there, literally and metaphorically. Today we’re asked to tuck a poem on a piece of paper into our own pockets. A poem on paper is small. It’s something…