Vision Board, Thoughts on Aging as a Woman, Faith, and Writing
Vision Board, Thoughts, News, and a Poll
Vision Board for 2024
The reason I create a vision board for each year is I like the visual representation of my goals and current thoughts. Each of these images means something to me and what I am praying for and working for in the new year ahead. This vision board only partially changed from last year, but it feels current to me.
Images “explained”:
Courage is a main theme for me and it’s time for me to recognize it and showcase it.
The bridge is about making connections and having courage to cross deep chasms.
The “healing” rocks image is about my quest for natural healing alongside medical help.
The “exploding” book is about writing imaginative works that create space, refuge, and wonder for readers.
The head-to-chalk drawing is about trusting myself as an artist.
The Bible and prayer images is about staying in God’s word and keeping my faith alive.
The collage/design table is about trusting my artistic side, but also seeking out other artists to work with or alongside.
The compass is about seeing every day as an adventure/quest into life, and about traveling.
The arms out in the woods image is there to remind me to get outside and praise God.
Thoughts on Aging as a Woman, Faith, and Writing
2023 was a year of familial change. We had a wedding, and it was beautiful, but also slightly terrifying if I’m being honest.
I am officially a mother-in-law. I’ve been a great-aunt for ten years now. It’s weird. I think of those as some of those “dread” words of older age for women, like hag, crone, wicked witch who lives in the dark woods in a gingerbread house, “karen” and other modern takes on what it means for women to age into their midlife and beyond.
Yet, I like who I am right now more than I liked who I was in the past. I stand up for myself more these days. I say something when someone makes a rude remark about women in general or about me in particular. Does that make me a “karen,” or a hag, or a crone, or a wicked witch? Or does it make me a woman who knows her own mind, has a full relationship with God based on knowledge found in scripture and experience, and a woman who knows she needs to own her responsibilities - the failings and the triumphs both?
I think it make me the latter, and if I get called the former, I will say something. But I also might start cooking up some gingerbread… jking. Maybe. :)
Seeing my daughters work in male-dominated fields has made me more aware of sexism in the workplace and the world in general. I have a teaching degree, which means I have worked in a female-dominated field for most of my life. My older daughter is an engineer working for a place with 85% male employees; she gets called “girlie/missy” at work and sometimes she is questioned about her knowledge more often than her male co-workers. My younger daughter works as an electrician; she’s dealt with far worse words and far worse interactions - to the point that I have feared for her safety at some job sites and companies - thankfully, not her current one.
I have always been a Christian feminist, which I know is a phrase that can cause confusion, so I don’t use it often. I love God. I don’t adhere to either political party. I believe the actions and words of Jesus show how women are equal in God’s sight. I have tried to portray this in my writing - in the fantasy and sci-fi worlds I create, women fight alongside men, or work alongside them.
All these thoughts have been on my mind lately due to conversations with my daughters and one of their friends, and some of the things I have seen/heard in the media lately. I am praying for how I might portray stronger female characters in my current and future writing, and how I can continue to stand up for women within the Christian faith based on the actions and words of Jesus in scripture. I love God. I know God calls me to love, but what is love if it does not include boundaries of justice, decency, and respect? That’s something I’ll be praying about and tackling more in my writing in 2024.
NEWS
I'm excited to share the New Year's Indie Book Blitz 2023-2024 coming soon on Katherine D. Graham's Youtube Channel! I will be part of the Middle-Grade/YA Fantasy Panel with Brendan Noble, Catherine Kopf, C.H. Smith, and Darrah Steffen. Our panel is on the morning of the 30th at 9:15 Central Time, 7:15 AM Pacific Time. See you there!
Champion in Flight (Book 2 of The Champion Trilogy) is in the Sword & Sorcery Bookfunnel Promo through January 1.
A Jumble of 500+ Writing Prompts is in The Craft of Writing Bookfunnel Promo through December 2nd.
I will be uploading new episodes for my Youtube Channel The Truth About Storytelling in 2024.
Poll
I will be varying my post-newsletters from long to short throughout the year so not everything will be this lengthy, I promise.
Your vision board is a clever idea. I can identify with many of your thoughts. I smiled when you said you were a Christian feminist. Yes, if like to read a story with a Christian feminist as the main character!