by D.B. Smyth | @DB_Smyth | May 8, 2012 | Beautiful Things, Courage, TED Talks
I needed a little piece of happy today so I turned to TED.com for inspiration, and WOW did I find it! Amy Purdy became a professional snowboarder despite losing both her legs to meningitis. She encourages us to take control of our lives, and our limits. “If your...
by D.B. Smyth | @DB_Smyth | May 7, 2012 | Beautiful Things, When Life Hurts
Friday a friend said an interesting thing to me. I sat on her couch tracing the designs of a throw pillow as I shared the frustration I felt in re-evaluating my life and the rules I allow to govern it. I couldn’t seem to reconcile my childhood rules with the choices...
by D.B. Smyth | @DB_Smyth | Feb 21, 2012 | Beautiful Things, Broken Pieces, When Life Hurts
During a group therapy session for people with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), I was asked to respond to the following poem: “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost. Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one...
by D.B. Smyth | @DB_Smyth | Oct 11, 2011 | Beautiful Things, TED Talks
As I’m on my way to a medical procedure this morning (yay for mysterious internal issues!), I’m going to keep this short. (Sorry if you were hoping for me to drone on and on regarding what you’re about to see, lol.) JK Rowling says it better anyway...
by D.B. Smyth | @DB_Smyth | Sep 20, 2011 | Beautiful Things, TED Talks, The Writing Life
Writing is work. Hard work. Mentally draining, emotionally exhausting, and physically demanding (the last because we often forget to eat, sleep, and exercise as we craft our stories). We give all we have to the creative process as we “breathe air into the lungs...
by D.B. Smyth | @DB_Smyth | Jul 20, 2011 | Beautiful Things, When Life Hurts
It’s going to happen. A crit partner is going to offend you. An agent is going to reject your query. A publisher is going to pass on your story. A reviewer is going to HATE what you wrote. And the nay-sayers in your life are going to shake their heads and give...
