Category: Published by Amelia
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You may not think your own life story is all that interesting. But, what matters most in storytelling is how your story is told. It’s not so much the content, but rather the presentation. The point of view is also key. Both biographical and autobiographical stories are told with some inherent bias or deficiency on…
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Once, I wandered a crooked path through the twilight of mediocrity. It wasn’t a choice I made myself, but seemingly one that I inherited as a member of a lower middle-class family. My station in life seemed signed, sealed, and delivered, then neatly folded into a filing cabinet beside the birth certificate that called me…
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It’s been said many times that the blank page is like a canvas. Frankly, a blank page is much more like a desert. It can be the most dreaded thing for any writer to face, being vast, empty, and seemingly infinite. Ironically, it’s what a writer faces all the time. When you set yourself to…
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Today’s educational paradigm of oversimplification has caused intellectuals such as me a great deal of grief. The lure of simplicity is the crux upon which knowledge today is distilled down to a palatable elixir. But to take simplification to the extent of pacifying the lowest common denominator is a panacea we guzzle down without pausing…
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I grew up in the golden age of blogging, that glorious time when you could scribble a few thoughts on the internet, hit ‘publish,’ and suddenly find yourself the authority on just about anything you please. Yeah, I remember those days fondly. Back then, the most intense competition was between you and that one overly…
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Every so often, we find ourselves at moments of sudden clarity. Unfortunately, most of us dismiss them either out of being distracted by things of the moment, or as inconvenient truths we would prefer to ignore. For whatever reason, I find these moments come at almost regular intervals. I believe this is only because I…
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Everything looks different in the dark, and because of that, you think differently, too. It’s why for many years night drives became my primary source of inspiration. Many night drives made up much of my time that I lived in the state of Colorado. Naturally, it’s a beautiful place; generally, the people aren’t that bad,…
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Every once in a while, I need to renew my dedication to writing. It’s a curious ritual that I find myself performing every year, a self-imposed checkpoint in my writing journey. I’m sure many writers do this, perhaps with varying frequency or intensity. For me, I find that about every year, I need to refocus…
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Many of my memories are filtered by the bittersweet hues of “almost.”For many years, the word “finally” was elusive as the wisp of a cloud on a bright summer day. From the earlier moments I remember of my youth, I’ve embarked on a surreal adventure of nearly-there’s and not-quite’s. I’ve skimmed the surface of greatness,…
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A symbol of sugar and sustenance, the Juice Box is the embodiment of childhood dreams and lunchtime ecstasy. It’s the unspoken hero of many of our childhoods. In the cafeteria and on the playground, the Juice Box watered parched throats and quenched weary souls. With its trusty straw-sword, it could pierce the hearts of thirst.…