• On the Morning of My Catholic Confirmation

    In just hours, I will be confirmed into the Catholic church. The journey here has been a long one, yet there is no doubt that this is the beginning of the greatest journey of my life. I was baptized on April 23, 1965 at St. Margaret’s Episcopalian Church in Parkville. My parents served as my…

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  • Offering The Creative Collective To Artists, Writers, and Creatives

    Yesterday, out of a strong desire to create a “safe space” for creatives to share ideas, prompts, strategies, and inspirations, I created a new Facebook group called The Creative Collective. Here, writers, artists, and all creatives now have the opportunity to share and be inspired to rediscover and strengthen their creativity. Nothing is being sold…

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  • The Woman at the Cross

    The Woman at the Cross

    Earlier today, my lifelong friend Kelly shared the following on Facebook: You know how the Mona Lisa is so intriguing because there are all sorts of ways to interpret her smile? I encountered something this morning that evoked that same feeling in me, making me wish I could have snapped a picture of it: I…

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  • What’s In Your Creative Vision Tile for 2017?

    With the new year quickly approaching, it’s a good time to think ahead to what we really want to focus on for ourselves (I know that I preach selfless acts a lot, but we also need to think about what’s best for us). It’s easy to look back at 2016 and reflect on what we…

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  • Understanding Opportunity

    Yesterday, in my daily email from Church of the Nativity, Evan (the author of the emails) was discussing the plight of John the Baptist, who absolutely believed he was pursuing an opportunity to follow God; instead, he ended up in prison and began to doubt his mission. Evan posed this question toward the end of…

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  • A Walk To The Church

    Yesterday, I touched on my walk in the woods. These walks have always brought me closer to my spirituality. In years’ past, that time spent in the woods was absolutely communal. Now, though, as I sit outside Church of the Nativity after my Catholic studies group, I see my communion in the woods as being…

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  • Taking A Walk In The Woods

    I’m sharing this on the trail here in Gunpowder Falls State Park, where I’ve decided to take a little walk in the woods to reconnect with the Earth. This is my first mobile post here at The Baltimore Writer, an experiment to bring you my experiences more immediately, perhaps a little raw and incomplete.  It’s…

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  • Share More, Think Less

    I spend a lot of time in my head, thinking and thinking and thinking about what to write about. Even though I keep a little Piccadilly notebook with me at all times, capturing little snippets of life that I find interesting, I don’t do enough with them. In those moments, I am happy that I…

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  • Faith, Hope, and Legacy: A Collection of Christmas Reflections

    Sharing with all of my Baltimore Writer followers… Thank you very much for your interest in Faith, Hope, and Legacy: A Collection of Christmas Reflections, featuring “Gretchie’s Gifts,” my latest Christmas story in memory of my dear friend, Gretchen Trageser Smith. This is a 121-page eBook (PDF format) that can be opened on any smartphone…

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  • Understanding and Embracing the Power of Revision

    Many years ago, Sharon Miller, National Writing Project Teacher-Consultant and nationally recognized author and educator in the teaching of writing, asked me to offer my thoughts on the power of revision in the genre of creative nonfiction and how, when we write with intent in the revision process and understand who our audience is, we…

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