I don’t remember when I last booked a hotel suite, checked in, and focused on my work for an entire weekend. Working in a fantastic location with a commanding view, 24-hour room service, and inspiration galore for a full seven days has never happened. Boy, if I felt self-indulgent, I could entertain my fantasy of directing all my focus, energy, and dedication to a project that was only important to me. Imagine the word count I could accumulate.

It is a dream of many of us artistic types. What masterpieces would we create with a week free from life’s demands, a dedicated space, and zero interruptions? We require a magnificent venue, inspiring music, our favorite pen, a lucky vision board, and a host of other talismans to set the stage. Perhaps if the planets assumed a favorable alignment well, I would exhaust my list of excuses of why I’m not writing. Life is messy. Challenges multiply whenever you decide to attempt something novel, and waiting for perfection before we take action, is a delay tactic.

There is nothing wrong with where you are today, doing what you can to accomplish one small step forward amid your daily pressures. I created my Do Not Disturb sign and hung it for all to see. I have no illusions I will experience countless hours of solitude or needle-moving progress. But with a bit of luck and solid determination, I plan on accomplishing big things. Who knows, I might even write a book.

What are you doing today to move the needle?

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Nothing goes better with Friday than pizza. Friday night pizza is a tradition that goes back longer than I can remember. Everyone has their favorite toppings, crust thicknesses, preferred sauce, and opinions on the best pizza joint in the country. Some concoctions range from bizarre to interesting, while others tip the scale at horrifyingly disgusting. I love watching people dig in and seeing the expressions their first bite of bliss evokes. It always makes me smile.

My tastes run towards the from-scratch, homemade and simple. Forget the bells and whistles, exotic ingredients, and anything other than a fresh tomato sauce. My dough is AP flour, a little yeast, a touch of sugar, a pinch of salt, a drizzle of EVOO, and water. The dough is mixed and pressed into a thin layer. The sauce of tomatoes, seasonings, and a gurgle of more olive oil, I puree in the blender and apply it judiciously to the crust. The next layer is fresh buffalo mozzarella. I add a generous handful of basil and pop it into a hot oven for a few blistering moments.

The house smells amazing, my stomach growls in anticipation, and I can’t wait for it to cool. I can’t see my expression when I can finally get a piece stuffed into my mouth, but I know I look ridiculous.

What are your favorite pizza toppings?

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

February bombarded us with an overabundance of snow, freezing temperatures, pervasive gloom, and enough hardship to make anyone want to cave in, give up, and abandon all hope. Added to bleak despair, we suffered cabin fever under the burden of lockdowns, social distancing, and deprivation of human connections. Yet, when the superfluous is stripped away, we expose interesting hidden discoveries to daylight and sometimes uncomfortable examinations.

It is easy to forget who we really are. We become trapped by the roles we play. The labels we accept as a parent, spouse, dutiful daughter, loving son, friend, employee, entrepreneur, runner, teacher, lifelong learner, breadwinner, cook, philanthropist, reader – they all inflict a specific set of assumptions on us. We allow ourselves to get caught up being who we think we ought to be. We obsess over living up to other’s expectations and trying to achieve the ideal image portrayed by an empty facade. No one thing is a pure reflection of our true selves.

When the only soul left to speak with is you, what do you find? Is it the part of yourself you are afraid to see? Do you fear having to take responsibility for yourself and commit to making the changes you keep promising yourself? Or maybe you hide from the ferocious drooling monster lurking in deep dark recesses of your inner being. You know, the one who sabotages your every effort to connect with the greatness of the real you. Those are genuine possibilities. But you might uncover acceptance, compassion, understanding, and perhaps the forgiveness you have been searching for in all the wrong places. If you are honest with your core and daring enough to stare your demon in the eye, you may be lucky and discover your passion.

In “Reflections on the Art of Living,” Joseph Campbell writes, “Where you stumble, there lies your treasure. The very cave you are afraid to enter turns out to be the source of what you are looking for.”

What lights the fire in your soul?

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Chaos ensues, mayhem reigns, the timid cower beneath their desks, and I alone face the bombardment. Ok, maybe that’s a bit overdramatic, but then again, perhaps not. While we can’t always control what happens, we can determine our response. It is almost amusing when everyone is screaming, yelling, and running around in circles from sheer panic. I choose to step back, access the facts, weigh the gravity of the situation, consider my options, consult my procedures and protocol, make a decision, and act. Or not. I learned long ago, some events will sort themselves out without my involvement, while others demand swift and decisive action.

The necessity of a quick reaction is where planning, list-making, and employing a moment to think through different scenarios to their ultimate consequence comes into play. Moments like this are why I maintain daily schedules, weekly agendas, monthly forecasts, quarterly projections, and annual goals. Working through the process is excellent training for emergencies, and it helps to mitigate the number of catastrophes that occur.

Like Mary, the simple technique of creating a checklist of what needs to be done eases my anxiety and calms my mind. If I relied on my brain to remember every single one of the countless tasks, promises, and commitments I have made, I would become a blithering idiot. I can’t forget what I am supposed to be doing because I wrote it on a piece of paper. Now, where did I put my list?

Do you keep a To-Do list?

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer