A couple years back we were having one of our weekly conversation-turned-emotional-rants and you dropped a line that stuck with me, "Produce more than you consume." I believe it stemmed from a tweet you posted about how passive and unproductive watching television is. And it is. A cornerstone of our culture has become constant consumption. Most people take more than they put in.
A few weeks ago, I listened to a segment on NPR titled "The Town Where Everyone Talks about Death.” I’ve seen a few fellow NPR nerds discussing the piece on social media and am delighted to see it has generated quite a bit of buzz. The story focuses on La Crosse, Wisconsin, population of just over 50,000, and their unified focus on the importance of advance directives and meaningful conversations about death.
Last Monday evening I found myself in a creative crisis. I was attempting to write my first piece of fiction in fifteen years. For those keeping track, that was fifth grade. In hopes of challenging myself creatively, I set my sights on a short story contest at the local, independent bookstore. The only requirements were to stay under 1200 words and include some element of a non-traditional family. Easy, right?
