Choose to be a Work In Progress

Posted on August 26, 2026 by Joanne Guidoccio

On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

A long-time fan of bestselling authors and coaches Marc and Angel Chernoff, I look forward to reading their emails and blog posts. Here’s an excerpt from a recent post:

I don’t entirely approve of some of the things I’ve done in my life, but I am who I am. And I would not be me if I hadn’t learned along the way. The same is true for you. We are all works in progress! So don’t be ashamed of who you had to be to get to where you are today. Forgive yourself for those times when you lacked clarity, for those foolish decisions you made that caused needless stress. Forgive yourself for being human, young, and reckless. Your journey has many vital lessons. What matters most now is your willingness to grow from them.

And isn’t it wild how we often outgrow what we once thought we couldn’t live without, and then we fall in love with what we didn’t even know we wanted? Life keeps leading us down worthwhile paths we would never travel if it were up to us. Don’t be afraid. Have faith — trust the journey. Continue to be a work in progress, and celebrate the fact that you are!

The trick I have found is to embrace life today. Be right where you are. That’s where your power is. There’s a time and place for everything, and every step is necessary. Just keep doing your best, and don’t force what’s not yet supposed to fit into your life. When it’s meant to be, it will be. You’ve come a long way already, and you’re still learning and growing.

Note: I highly recommend subscribing to Marc & Angel’s website.

Now You Do

Posted on August 19, 2026 by Joanne Guidoccio

Here’s a thought-provoking poem from Donna Ashworth:

Now You Do

You don’t have to defend the old you
you didn’t know then
now you do
you did what you could
with what you had
at the time

and as with all things in life
you evolved
you’ve grown

if you find yourself
trying in vain to defend the old you
to argue on her behalf
please stop
you don’t have to do that

she was someone
you parted ways with
gracefully
but after much suffering

if anyone in your life
cannot do the same
that’s their issue

it’s their job to catch up
not your job to go back

you don’t have to defend the old you
you didn’t know then
now you do.

Sameness Is Not Sustainability

Posted on August 12, 2026 by Joanne Guidoccio

In a recent post on the Writer Unboxed blog, writer/photographer Kelsey Allagood shared the following insights:

We writers talk a lot about sustainability. About how to not burn out, how to protect the work, how to make space for our creative selves while also having to pay rent and answer emails. We talk less about how dynamic that process actually is. Sometimes I catch myself thinking that sustainability is a state I can achieve, or an end goal, like once I’ve figured out my morning routine or my word count goal or my relationship to social media, I can then stay there. I will have achieved it: the State of Balance™.

Unfortunately, the writing life (mine, at least) has never been still. We get jobs. We lose jobs. A family member moves in. A season shifts. Our relationship to the work shifts—sometimes we’re deep inside it and sometimes we’re circling it from the outside like maybe we’ve forgotten what it’s for. And maybe the balance we worked so hard to build a year ago might not even be the right balance for who we are now.

What I’ve had to learn, repeatedly, is that the adjustments themselves are the practice. Noticing that the work has gone quiet and turning toward it again without self-recrimination (personally, this is the hardest). Or noticing that I’ve been in production mode for so long that I’ve stopped reading, stopped dreaming, stopped absorbing anything, and choosing to open a window. Noticing that I’ve been waiting for inspiration and actually what I need to do is just sit down. These are micro-corrections. They’re so small that sometimes I don’t recognize them as acts of craft.

But they are. They’re the same intelligence that keeps us upright on one leg.

I don’t think we master balance in our writing lives any more than we can master tree pose. I certainly haven’t mastered either. What I’ve gotten better at—slowly, inconsistently, much like my yoga practice—is recognizing when I’m starting to tip. Making the adjustment a little faster. Stopping expecting the stillness to last and starting to trust that I can find it again, not because I’m stable, but because I’ve practiced returning.

I keep coming back to yoga the way I keep coming back to writing. Not because I’ve gotten good at it. Because every time I come back, I remember what it feels like to be in the body I actually have, in the life I’m actually living, making the small corrections that keep me here.

Source: Writer Unboxed

The Uniqueness of You

Posted on August 5, 2026 by Joanne Guidoccio

Here’s a thought-provoking reflection from international speaker and bestselling author Joyce Meyer:

Nothing good comes from comparing yourself to someone else—trying to imitate, compete with, or outdo others. The more you compare your life to that of those around you, the less you’ll enjoy the life God has given you.

God didn’t create you to be like someone else. He created you to be unique and special, so why would you try to be anything other than who you are?

You are handcrafted—fearfully and wonderfully made. God has specially and uniquely qualified you to do something no one else can do. Stay encouraged. God has something special planned for your future. Resist the temptation to compare yourself to other people. Trust God and allow Him to use you in ways that are unique to you.

Source: Quiet Times with God by Joyce Meyer

On Letting Go

Posted on July 29, 2026 by Joanne Guidoccio

A long-time fan of bestselling authors and coaches Marc and Angel Chernoff, I look forward to reading their emails and blog posts. Here’s an excerpt from a recent post:

A big part of practicing letting go is gradually renewing your own faith in yourself. This “renewed faith” means finding the willingness to live with uncertainty, to feel your way through each day, to let your intuition guide you like a flashlight in the dark. It’s about standing firmly on your own two legs in the present, without the crutches you’ve been holding on to, and gradually taking small steps forward.

You are strong enough to take those steps!

You’ve got this!

So what if, for today, you choose to believe that you have enough and you are enough in each and every moment? What if, for today, you choose to believe that you are strong enough to move forward one step at a time? What if, for today, you choose to accept people exactly as they are, and life exactly as it is? What if, as the sun sets on today, you choose to let go and celebrate your daily progress? And what if, tomorrow, you choose to do it all over again?

Practice making those choices…

Practice letting go and renewing the faith you once had in both yourself and the world around you.

Note: I highly recommend subscribing to Marc & Angel’s website.

Anything is Possible

Posted on July 22, 2026 by Joanne Guidoccio

Award-winning author Greer Macallister shared the following inspirational post on the Writer Unboxed blog:

You can do anything. You can write a book. You can get an agent, if that’s what you want, a real powerhouse. You can get a great advance. You can click with your editor in a life-changing way. You can emerge from the editing process with a beautiful book, a wonderful book, a book readers will love. You can write a bestseller. Then you can write another one, a second book that readers embrace just as warmly as the first. You can do this over and over. You can be a career writer for the rest of your life.

Is it hard to believe statements like this? Impossible? Well, in some cases, of course it is. Things like selling thousands of copies aren’t truly within our control. When I say “anything is possible,” I don’t mean it literally.

But I want you to believe it, for yourself, just for a while.

Writers seeking publication go through so many tough times. The “query trenches” can be so disheartening, so full of rejection. Once you’ve published a book, things aren’t much better: you still spend so much time worrying about whether your book will be well-received, and even if it is, the chance for disappointment with your second book is right around the corner.

The world will tell you that you can’t have the dream you want. Writing your book will be demoralizing, slow, rocky, or worse. Life will get in the way. Agents will reject you. You will have disappointing experiences with editors or other people important to your process. Your life’s work may be met with either a sea of negative reviews or resounding silence. Copies of your book will sit unpurchased. The odds are against you at the beginning, in the middle, the whole way through.

More than likely, you will hear, over and over, that what you want is impossible.

So, for a while, don’t listen.

Try the exercise. Tune out the voices saying that you can’t and tune in to your own voice telling you that you can.

Believe that you can make it happen. Believe that your mind is capable of a masterpiece. Believe that your book will find a grateful waiting audience. Believe that rejection is temporary, because it is. Believe that no one can stop you but you. Believe that your work deserves publication as much as anyone else’s. Believe that your idea will rise above the fray. Believe that a world is waiting for you, a community of writers, that will welcome and celebrate you as one of their own. Believe that no matter what obstacles life throws your way, you will persevere, pushing forward again and again to pursue your ultimate goal.

Believe that anything is possible.

How does that feel?

Source: Writer Unboxed

The Sprinter and the Long-Distance Runner

Posted on July 15, 2026 by Joanne Guidoccio

Here’s a thought-provoking essay from Chellie Campbell’s book, The Wealthy Spirit.

The sprinter runs at top speed, with an all-out burst of energy, heart pounding and legs pumping to beat the wind to the finish line. Exhausted, lungs bursting at the end, the racer collapses and rests. He will sprint again. Later.

The long-distance runner cannot sprint—the course is too long. He must learn a different set of skills; he must know how to pace himself, to select those moments in which to push harder and faster, when to ease into the regular run for maintenance.

Life is not a sprint. It is a long-distance race.

Too many people are pushing themselves at top sprinting speed every day, every week, year after year. They don’t pace themselves. They don’t take a break to recover after a big push to meet a deadline—instead a new deadline takes its place and a new sprint begins. The project gets finished but another project stands urgently behind that one. And another. And another. The sales quota, when met, gets raised. Like a meal rushed to its conclusion, the achievement is gulped untasted. Burnout of mind and body arrives after too many sprints in a row.

When was your last vacation? When was your last three-day weekend? What day of the week is your “Do Nothing Day”?

Are you trying to sprint long distance?

Source: The Wealthy Spirit, p. 251.

The Higher You Go, the Clearer You See

Posted on July 8, 2026 by Joanne Guidoccio

Here’s a thought-provoking reflection from international speaker and bestselling author Joyce Meyer:

When hikers get lost and they’re trying to figure out exactly where they are, they look to go higher. A higher vantage point gives them a better perspective.

The same is true for us. Sometimes it’s hard to see where we’re going because we have limited vision. We can become confused by our problems and unsure where to go next because we don’t have the right perspective. In order to get God’s perspective, spend your quiet time with Him going higher.

Hike past ingratitude; climb above doubt and discouragement. If you choose higher expectations and higher hopes, you’ll begin to get a new perspective—a godly perspective. And when that happens, you’re going to be able to see God’s plan for your life clearer than you ever have before.

Source: Quiet Times With God by Joyce Meyer.

Stop Focusing on What’s Wrong

Posted on June 24, 2026 by Joanne Guidoccio

A long-time fan of bestselling authors and coaches Marc and Angel Chernoff, I look forward to reading their emails and blog posts. Here’s an excerpt from a recent post:

The bottom line is that almost every situation imaginable has hidden beauty in it if we are willing to open up to it. For example, in the past, even as Angel and I coped with the death of loved ones, we discovered opportunities for us to appreciate life more, to celebrate the lives of those we’ve lost, and to tune in to the priceless time we’ve had, and still have, with people we love.

We do our best to embody this same mindset in every difficult life situation we encounter. When we get ill, it’s a chance for us to rest. When some unforeseeable event postpones one of our business projects, we spend more time with family. When our adolescent son throws a temper tantrum, we see that he’s expressing himself, asserting his individuality, and being human.

We choose to find what’s right, even when it’s hard to see. And we can all practice this on an average day. Try to use frustration and inconvenience to motivate you rather than annoy you. You are in control of the way you look at life.

Instead of getting angry, find the lesson. In place of envy, feel admiration. In place of worry, take action. In place of doubt, have faith. Remind yourself that your response is always more powerful than your present circumstances. Because while a small part of your life is decided by completely uncontrollable circumstances, the vast majority of your life is decided by your responses. Again, where you ultimately end up is heavily dependent on how you play the hands you’ve been dealt.

Note: I highly recommend subscribing to Marc & Angel’s website

Reasons for Writing

Posted on June 17, 2026 by Joanne Guidoccio

In a recent post on Writers Unboxed, author and coach Kathleen McCleary shared her reasons for writing. Here’s an excerpt from that post:

The answers to the Why do I write? question are as varied as we are, we writers, we joyful, tormented souls. You can find a great compilation of quotes from well-known writers on why they write here. When I really thought through this question for myself, I came up with this list:

I write to process my own feelings. I became a novelist in my forties, when my husband and I made a cross-country move and I had so many intense feelings about leaving behind our home in Oregon—the first house we’d ever owned, the house we’d brought our babies home to, the neighborhood where we’d established deep, life-long friendships—that I didn’t know what to do with it all. So I started writing a story about a woman who had to sell a house she loved because she was getting divorced. I could pour all my sadness about the move, my passion for my house and my hopes for the future into that character. And a side effect of processing your emotions honestly in fiction is that what you write rings true for readers. Crazy as my main character was (a little crazier than me), I found an agent and sold it in a pre-empt very quickly because it had an emotional truth that resonated with people. I can’t tell you how many readers and reviewers wanted to tell me about the houses they’d loved and lost. No matter what feelings you’re processing, you’re not the first or only human to feel that way, and that resonates.

I write to connect. Author Jami Attenberg said “I write because it is the thing I have to offer, the sharpest skill I have. I write to make people—and myself—feel less alone. I write because I want to communicate messages with the world.” It’s deeply gratifying to have readers respond to what I write because it resonates for them, as with all the people who wanted to tell me about their beloved houses, and makes them feel seen and understood. One reader wrote to me: “You managed to describe thoughts and feelings I couldn’t even begin to put into words. I found myself saying to myself, YES. That is exactly how it feels.’” Do I write to elicit that kind of response in readers? Well, hell yeah.

I write stories so I can control my own narrative, give my characters some of the experiences, choices, and emotions I wish I’d lived. We can provide our fictional characters with the deeply empathetic parent we wish we’d had, the lover who “gets” us on a soul-to-soul level, the wild career success we wish we’d enjoyed, the son we wish we’d had—not to mention creating characters with qualities we wish we embodied. George Saunders (Lincoln in the Bardo) says, “The result of [the] laborious and slightly obsessive process [of writing] is a story that is better than I am in ‘real life’ – funnier, kinder, less full of crap, more empathetic, with a clearer sense of virtue, both wiser and more entertaining.”

Read the rest of the post here.