About Me

“And I don’t want the world to see me, cause I don’t think that they’d understand. When everything’s made to be broken, I just want you to know who I am.”

— Goo Goo Dolls, Iris

This is me in a nutshell. I don’t have one of those fancy stories about loving writing and storytelling since I was five years old, but I don’t know how long I have wanted to write because for so long I was afraid to open up to myself or others, fearing judgement and rejection. It took me this long to fully realize that words are powerful and they are everything to me.

Hi! thanks for stopping by and reading. Feel free to share with family and friends and strangers even.

I am still not an expert at self-promotion, but I hope to get better. After all, what else is an “About” page for, right?

I have been shy, but writing requires a lot of self-absorption if you stop and think about it. I write a lot of memoir, which is basically writing about my life and those I love and whom I interact with.

I write fiction and I love how you can say something and it can come from real life, complete creation, or a wild combination of the two and people can only guess. I won’t ever give up the dream of having a book I wrote sitting proudly on the shelf in a bookstore. Possible or not, this fantastic dream keeps me moving forward and never giving up.

If you enjoy book, movie, or concert reviews then this blog is for you.

I also love to share the stories of other people who have something they want to say. I know how to ask the right questions to find out what makes someone tick, what they are passionate about, and what is truly important. I firmly believe everyone has a story to tell and we could all stand to learn a thing or two from someone’s perspective other than our own.

I hope to never offend anyone and am open to hearing your thoughts if you find yourself included here somewhere and don’t like what I may have said. Please don’t hesitate to comment somewhere.

My initial push to start this blog was on approaching turning thirty. I made a birthday resolution, instead of a New Years one, that I wasn’t going to be so afraid and letting the fear rule my life.

My childhood was happy and stable and I am thankful for that. My teen years were greatly interrupted. My twenties were full of fear and I spent much of them stuck in something that felt like quicksand, unable to neither move forward nor go back. However, I learned a lot about love, letting go, and moving on in the process.

So now here I am embarking on a brand new decade and my future both excites and terrifies me. The title of this blog came easily to me and I hope it intrigues and clarifies all I am about, all at the same time:

Bucket List

The words are inside me somewhere. It builds like a volcano until it all must come out.

I love books and literature and I will harvest that love and let it enhance my life as long as possible. Writers and authors are my inspirations and my idols. Words are my salvation.

Robert Frost’s

The Road Not Taken;

This is my life story. Do you know that one? If you do not then I suggest you click on the above link and check it out. I have never gone the traditional route in life and I doubt I ever will.

I started my thirty things to do before turning sixty list on this blog and now I have started a travel website: The Insightful Wanderer. On that site I will be writing about the things I have been lucky to cross off my bucket list (WanderList).

I love the ocean and everything in it. I can no more explain when or why I grew to love the ocean than I can writing, but my passion runs deep and strong. I am a long way away from a Green Peace environmentalist but I care deeply and will learn and write about the natural world as much as I can. The sound of the waves washing on the shore and the gulls crying is my ultimate peace.

I love vanilla and chocolate in equal measure. I believe in balance. Although doctors would not approve, milk chocolate is better than dark.

That’s right…I said it!

These things keep me sane, along with the writing, and that is worth it to me.

I love music that’s passionate and sexy, hauntingly nostalgic, contagiously upbeat, or achingly sad and touching. I love travel, words, and music, in equal measure.

I am a daughter, a sister, a friend and a good listener. I love intensely, laugh a lot, and am fiercely loyal. The best thing in my life has been to become an auntie and to see my niece and nephews grow and learn.

I am a blind woman and I speak up on causes of equality and equal rights. I will never stop speaking and writing about the causes important to me: organ donation, infertility, mental health, and chronic pain.

My memories of the vision I once had will never leave me and my other senses fill my writing. The three most fascinating themes I like to explore are: birth, love, and death. They are what makes up everything we are about and they bring both great joy and deep sorrow to us all, a universal connection we all share.

For more on all of this and so much else I invite you, as my personal guest, to stay and read and to return as often as you like.

Real life is like a story to me. My life is still in progress and it’s a double-edged sword to not know what will happen and to anticipate the unexpected with great relish. I probably spend too much time on self-reflection and on analyzing what has happened. I am my own worst nightmare shrink, but this blog is my therapy.

Natasha Bedingfield says it best

I am an open book of stories to tell of my life: past, present, and future. This is the song of my soul:

Unwritten

This song gives me goosebumps every single time. the rest of my life is unwritten and I will make every moment count. Won’t you join me?

I could go on forever because I am “About” so much, but that’s what the rest of this blog is for.

Thanks for reading if you’ve made it this far. What do you think? Tell me in the comments.