Confession Tuesday
Heeeeello Tuesday! Time for your confessions. Unburden yourself. Share a little with us and we promise to do the same.
I'm sitting in Starbucks with an extra hour on my hands before chaperoning my daughter's first grade class through the streets of Salem. Then off to work. Could not have done this in my previous job and work schedule, so I am feeling grateful for a lot of things this morning.
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Yesterday I was listening to Oprah's Soul Series on satellite radio. While she was speaking to her guest, she mentioned that she had a "trust team." These are people she turns to for advice, in a way that goes beyond mentorship. Who's part of Oprah's Trust Team? Maya Angelou, Sidney Poitier, Bill Cosby, and Quincy Jones. You can't go wrong with a trust team like that. But it got me thinking about the idea of a trust team.
We always need mentors; I know I've had a few in various stages of my life. Still do. I also have a terrific circle of friends and, in particular, poet friends, who are just there for me no matter what. But a trust team offers guidance and friendship beyond the mentor-mentee relationship. They tell you the truth from a seasoned perspective. Virtual or in person, I guess I've had a team for a while without actually calling this group of friends a team.
Do you have a trust team in your life? If so, how have they helped you?
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While at dinner before his reading at the Salem Poetry Seminar, Afaa Michael Weaver told me that the "poetry boogeyman is coming to get me." I have no idea what he meant but now I'm freaked out.
Hmmm ....
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Submitted poems yesterday to three publications. Felt good to get those babies out into the world. Like pushing babies out of the nest to see if they will fly.
Of course, I would never do that to real babies ...
****
Kathleen Flenniken's Plume arrived in the mail yesterday. Can't wait to read it. It's a well-made book. I like the cover, the interior pages, and the artwork. I like the way the pages feel. I have no doubt the poems match up to the package.
****
Seriously, this is the only type of boogie man I want knocking on my door.
I'm sitting in Starbucks with an extra hour on my hands before chaperoning my daughter's first grade class through the streets of Salem. Then off to work. Could not have done this in my previous job and work schedule, so I am feeling grateful for a lot of things this morning.
****
Yesterday I was listening to Oprah's Soul Series on satellite radio. While she was speaking to her guest, she mentioned that she had a "trust team." These are people she turns to for advice, in a way that goes beyond mentorship. Who's part of Oprah's Trust Team? Maya Angelou, Sidney Poitier, Bill Cosby, and Quincy Jones. You can't go wrong with a trust team like that. But it got me thinking about the idea of a trust team.
We always need mentors; I know I've had a few in various stages of my life. Still do. I also have a terrific circle of friends and, in particular, poet friends, who are just there for me no matter what. But a trust team offers guidance and friendship beyond the mentor-mentee relationship. They tell you the truth from a seasoned perspective. Virtual or in person, I guess I've had a team for a while without actually calling this group of friends a team.
Do you have a trust team in your life? If so, how have they helped you?
****
While at dinner before his reading at the Salem Poetry Seminar, Afaa Michael Weaver told me that the "poetry boogeyman is coming to get me." I have no idea what he meant but now I'm freaked out.
Hmmm ....
****
Submitted poems yesterday to three publications. Felt good to get those babies out into the world. Like pushing babies out of the nest to see if they will fly.
Of course, I would never do that to real babies ...
****
Kathleen Flenniken's Plume arrived in the mail yesterday. Can't wait to read it. It's a well-made book. I like the cover, the interior pages, and the artwork. I like the way the pages feel. I have no doubt the poems match up to the package.
****
Seriously, this is the only type of boogie man I want knocking on my door.
Comments
I love the notion of a trust team...think I have several in place and just didn't think to name them that...I went to a retreat last summer--my first real escape after about 11 years of motherhood--a treat to get away for so many days and nights in a row (8) and in that group I found a new writing trust team (A Room of Her Own Foundation).
I found support on-line early on at She Writes too--but there's also nothing like a trust team in person or on the other end of the phone line.
I'm also heartened to hear about submissions...She Writes has a submission mission group meant to nurture steady submission. I'm due to submit by the end of this month (poems). May this be a fertile summer for our poems. Thanks for your post.