Throughout this year, several bloggers will engage in a conversation here and on their blogs — asking questions of each other and responding. Others are absolutely welcome to join the conversation, as well. Learn more about the ladies of Blogversation 2012. I did not grow up in a musical family. My parents didn’t sing or play an instrument, and didn’t…
Throughout this year, several bloggers will engage in a conversation here and on their blogs — asking questions of each other and responding. Others are absolutely welcome to join the conversation, as well. Learn more about the ladies of Blogversation 2012. I’m a journalist by training so I feel like I’m always gathering stories ideas, whether I want to or…
Throughout this year, several bloggers will engage in a conversation here and on their blogs — asking questions of each other and responding. Learn more about the ladies of Blogversation 2012. I first started blogging in 2006 with a limited goal: We were going to spend a month subletting a New York City apartment, giving us a chance to test…
In the three years I’ve been blogging here, I’ve been grateful for the opportunity to write regularly and to get to know topics and people that inspire me. Even more so, I’ve loved the chance to engage in conversations about those topics and people. Ages ago, when I was a young newspaper reporter, writing was mostly a one-way process. Occasionally…
If you’re looking for a little reading material today — maybe the Sunday paper isn’t doing it for you, maybe you’re a bit hung over from ringing in the new year, maybe you’re killing time ’til a college bowl game — I’m here to help. According to my WordPress stats, these were my 10 most-visited posts in 2011: Why the…
I launched this blog Jan. 1, 2009 in what I might describe in retrospect as pre-midlife crisis. I’d spent five years in Michigan’s evening MBA program, focused on graduating and getting a new job in New York. Then having made that move, I enjoyed my new career for three years before beginning to ask “What’s next?” I’ve always been a…
If you know nothing else about the late mythologist Joseph Campbell, it might be his oft-quoted call to follow your bliss. About a year ago, career coach Kim Curtin gave me advice I hadn’t expected: watch Campbell’s interviews with Bill Moyers and see what inspiration comes about following your bliss. Then Kim started talking about the recent premiere of Finding…
In spite of my unabashed adoration of George Clooney, this is not just a thinly veiled excuse to get his handsome face on my blog. Parade magazine recently featured Clooney on its cover, then ran a related Q&A on its website. The article, headlined What Drives George Clooney, included this snippet that’s a perfect fit for Newvine Growing: You’ve talked…
Earlier this week I shared advice Ira Glass gave to beginning storytellers. Here’s a follow up from my Brooklyn pal, Amanda Hirsch, who wrote a tongue-in-cheek 10-step plan to being an artist. You get the idea when you read Step 1: Refuse to do the work. Avoid it at all costs. If you want to write, you should instead check…
Ira Glass, host of This American Life, offers some great advice in this five-minute video below. He says it better — he is, after all, a professional storyteller — but the moral is that you start doing something because you appreciate that thing and those who do it well, but when you start out, your rookie ability will be nowhere…
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
After a year of piano lessons, I’m getting closer to sitting down with a new piece of music and coaxing the song out of the notes on the page. I have a long way to go but I’ve played “Lil Liza Jane” and “Careless Love” and my ear recognizes the tunes. That got me thinking about the nature of creativity.…
I kept seeing people post this photo on Facebook but only recently stopped to read the poster. I encourage you to do likewise — it’ll just take a minute and with luck, it’ll make your heart feel good like it did for me. Mission for this week: ask the next person you see what their passion is and share your…
Some of the decisions I have made this year — choosing a part-time job over full time so I could launch my own business in a tough economy, spending two months in New Orleans when we have a cozy place in a great Brooklyn neighborhood — don’t make sense to some people. Ditto our choice not to have children, not…
Picture someone you really look up to — someone who goes beyond an important mentor, someone you idolize as very talented or successful in your field, perhaps the person you wish you could grow up to be. Got someone in mind? Now imagine getting an opportunity to have a one-on-one conversation with that person. Not just an “I love your…
Today’s installment in the “Things I Have Learned” series comes from a colleague at my first job after college, where I worked as a reporter at the Alpena News. If you’ve never heard of Alpena, think cold. It’s five hours north of Detroit, and in addition to learning a tremendous amount about real-life newspapers, I learned such things as how…
A recent Harvard Business Review suggested the best way to achieve your goals is to not demand too much of yourself. That’s not to say set your goals low — but if you want to reach a goal, don’t make it harder than it needs to be to get there. In a post headlined “The Only Way to Get Important…
