Laura Smith Writer

Finding my Name

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I have asked for help! I could begin and end with that sentence, as it is a tiny miracle (or a small marvel). Lately I have been gathering material, ideas, and bits of writing to release into the world of the ever expanding internet. Where do I post? What style of writing should I focus on? How can I use my neurodiverse brain for good rather than living in a pile of random post-its and half-filled journals? So I contacted a high school classmate (Lance Brown) who currently has a business (The Internet Sherpa) helping people create organized websites and master the internet. We are currently working together to make this site user friendly. While discussing my future goals, I decided that a name change for the blog portion (Some Daily Grace) would be appropriate. After all, I do not post daily, and the name sounds as if it might be a Christian leaning site (which it is not). The word “grace” is one I gravitate towards; my late maternal grandmother’s name was Grace, and my first husky (long story for a different day) was named Grace. 

Names have meaning and words hold vast amounts of power. Dante Alighieri (1265 – 1321) author of The Divine Comedy (as well as countless other works) was a statesman who knew the power of words and utilized them for spiritual, creative, and political purposes. Dante, in Vita Nuova  played with this idea when he spoke of the embodiment of Love: “…the name of Love is so sweet to hear that it seems impossible that in most instances its own operations can be other than sweet, for names are consequent upon the things named, just as it is written…”(Alighieri 13:4). I know that words are powerful, they mold our understanding of the world. So changing the name of a blog I have been writing since 2008 is a monumental task. How do I represent the diversity of ideas and genres that I have gathered here? What words work together? Will it be alliteration? Words I love, metaphors? My idea of an interesting title is sometimes confusing, and I tend to place words together that usually do not belong together (synesthesia anyone?). So after much alliterating and trying titles out (Serendipity, Tasting Wonder, Memorable Moments, The Sacred Pause…you get the picture) I decided on Moon Penny Musings. What do you think? 

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● About Me

I wrote and published my first blog post on May 26, 2009. I was about to turn 36 and had been accepted to Mount Holyoke College as a non-traditional student, on my way to completing a Bachelor of Arts in English with a minor in Medieval Studies. I had managed, finally, to know what general direction I was traveling. As a self proclaimed voracious reader I knew that I needed a vocation that would allow me to engage daily with words: reading words, writing words, and hearing words. I also needed to eat, so I navigated my way to a teaching position and I began to fine tune my craft. I love to teach and I love my students, but I also needed to continue to hone my own literary technique, voice, and style. I continued my education in order to delve deeper into literature, making connections, and most definitely, writing. I gained more confidence as a reader as well as a writer of both creative and analytical text. That first blog post in 2009 is short, the writing average, and the topic mundane, but as I continued to learn from other writers I began to understand that to become a better writer I needed to write more. Each time I write and release a poem, a post, or a story, I hone my skills. I invite you along for the ride, for this journey of mine as I attempt to wrangle a wealth of ideas and competing directions into an organized freshly paved path to publication. I might get distracted along the way, but sometimes those detours lead us to amazing views and new friends. 

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