Personal Growth – Elise Stephens

Be Awkward: An argument for minimizing miscommunication and assumption

“Awkward” Definition a: lacking social grace and assurance b: causing embarrassment Most of us don’t like being awkward. Sometimes we’re just unaware of the awkwardness in a situation and sometimes we mistakenly perceive a situation to be more awkward than it really is. Actually, I’m not sure *any* of us like being awkward. We don’t like saying something that could make others embarrassed or upset, or at the…

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August 15, 2023

Daily Life / Inspiration / Overcoming Obstacles / Personal Growth / Relationships

The Gardener’s Way

I never used to think of myself as a gardener. There’s a patience and a faithfulness that it calls for. And I didn’t possess a lot of patience for most of my life. Until my firstborn came along and then…I just had to learn it. Gardening requires a good deal of foresight and hopefulness. You weed and prune and look forward to that gorgeous season where…

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July 18, 2023

Inspiration / News / Overcoming Obstacles / Personal Growth / Publishing / Relationships

Finding My Agent: A True Story

I’ve wanted/dreamed/struggled for years to find a literary agent. I remember sitting in a quiet corner of the Northgate branch of the Seattle Public Library, hunched over a table with The Sell Your Novel Tool Kit (Elizabeth Lyon) lying open beside me as I tried to painstakingly write out a query letter. Every sentence was agony. It was like learning a new language in which I…

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April 25, 2023

News / Personal Growth / Relationships

My First WorldCon – Chicago style!

It began as a compulsion. I needed more regular infusions of writing nerds in my life and I was really wising up to that fact. Also, I'd discovered that one major preventative for depression symptoms (more about my mental health journey can be found here) is to keep planning good things in my future so that I can look forward to them. At the tail end…

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September 15, 2022

Personal Growth / Relationships

The Mirror Lies: Guest Post from Sam Knight

They say the mirror doesn’t lie. I’m here to tell you that it does. It takes time to realize it, it takes time to even be able to tell, which means many people never see it on their own. So, I will show you. Unless you don’t want to know. In which case, you should turn back now… You were warned. Most people think of mirrors…

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August 6, 2022

Overcoming Obstacles / Personal Growth

It Will Be Well with My Soul

Psychology 101. A course of study dedicated to understanding the complex and fascinating ways that our brains work. Capacity for knowledge, memory, defense mechanisms, trauma, disorders, learning, and deduction (to name a few). This was of my favorites. The only textbook I kept from college was the one from this class. I vividly recall hearing: “Each one of us here is mentally unwell to a greater or…

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January 15, 2022

News / Personal Growth / Publishing / Relationships

Fig tree, Quest, Invincibility: New Short Story!

I'm pleased to present this new short story, "First Leaf" which is available to read online for free as part of FIYAH Literary Magazine's Special Palestine Issue. This story is what I call a feminist fairy tale and, due to its emotional nature and message, it was more challenging for me to write than many of my other stories. This is one that I felt in…

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December 13, 2021

Daily Life / Overcoming Obstacles / Personal Growth

All of Me

All of meWhy not take all of meCan’t you seeI’m no good without you From the song All of Me by Billie Holiday and Lester Young My husband gave me a fancy goal planner for Christmas (Cultivate What Matters brand, if you’re curious or a goal-geek, like I am). And although I confess I’d actually told him I was really interested in this particular planner, I…

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February 5, 2021

Overcoming Obstacles / Personal Growth / Publishing

Magic Trick

I love magic tricks. Card tricks, sleight of hand, people disappearing into boxes and slipping out of chains. I don’t understand any of them, but I love them. Even though the astonishment I experience makes me feel a bit stupid and crazy, I usually I end up laughing because I’m so perplexed by what the illusionist just did right in front of my eyes. Last year,…

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December 10, 2020

Personal Growth / Relationships

Listen

I’ve been thinking a lot about listening recently. There are plenty of examples in popular songs, Disney movies, and motivational speeches that tell us, “listen to your heart.” I’ve particularly struggled with this, in part because the verse Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is deceitful above all things” seems to imply that the heart is something to be ignored because it tells lies. And I’m sure that…

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October 16, 2020