Author: Lisa

Lisa A. Listwa is a self-employed writer with experience in education, publishing, and the martial arts. Believing there was more to life than punching someone else’s time clock and inspired by the words of Henry David Thoreau, she traded her life as a high school educator for a life as a writer and hasn’t looked back. She is mother to one glorious handful of a daughter, wife to the nicest guy on the planet, and reluctant but devoted owner of three Rotten Cats. You can find her adventures and thoughts on living life deliberately here on the blog.

Six Sentence Stories – Aged

It was never supposed to be permanent; the separation loomed large but would only be temporary. “I’ll be back,” he assured her, the tears welling in his eyes threatening to mirror the flow of the ones already streaming down her own face. “The waiting might feel forever, but we’ll be together again and then it will…

By Lisa November 26, 2015 Off

Having Gratitude for Hardship – A #1000Speak Post

I’ve been thinking for weeks about my post for this month’s 1000 Voices for Compassion link-up. Weeks. My #1000Speak efforts are most often fall under the umbrella of self-compassion – something I know so many of us struggle with and need to remember to practice. For some reason, I just couldn’t marry the gratitude theme…

By Lisa November 26, 2015 Off

TToT – Hope

I’ve been thinking a lot about hope and faith lately. There are so many hardships in the world, so many heartaches close to home and far away. No matter who we are or how we hurt, we all need something to cling to, something to keep us moving forward when it feels like we can’t…

By Lisa November 22, 2015 Off

On Hardship

Let me tell you something about hardship. You are never prepared for it. You can tell yourself that you are. You can tell yourself that you’ve thought through all the possibilities that could befall you and can handle whatever life hurls at you. But no matter how much you think you’re prepared, when that moment comes –…

By Lisa November 21, 2015 Off

Six Sentence Stories – Division

It was difficult to remember the last time their souls collided. It used to be that he spent every possible moment connected to her in even the slightest way. Together they were a blessed confusion of minds, bodies, and souls intertwined and spiraling into a concentrated point of unity where it became difficult to tell if one ended and the other began. The process of…

By Lisa November 18, 2015 Off

TToT – The Unexpected

I am not a fan of surprises. Surprise parties, unannounced visitors, restaurant servers gathered around my table singing an unenthusiastic birthday song while I sit in my seat wearing a sombrero and smiling awkwardly at a cupcake holding a flaming sparkler? Not my thing. But as I get older – and I hope wiser – I’m…

By Lisa November 14, 2015 Off

TToT – Finding My Groove…and Peace

Wow. Just wow. Well, I muddled through OctPoWriMo – sorta. I somehow anticipated having more time, producing more words, posting more posts…then life happened. I even missed a TToT or two which I truly never do. And now, here we are a week into November and NaNoWriMo I’m feeling a bit like I’m trying to climb a very…

By Lisa November 9, 2015 Off

TToT – A Bit of Progress

I skipped the TToT link-up last weekend. I never do that. It wasn’t for lack of intent or even lack of things for which to be thankful. It was simply the result of circumstance. So this week I have plenty to add. Mostly I think I’ve found many ways to acknowledge small bits of progress (remember…

By Lisa October 25, 2015 Off

OctPoWriMo Day 24 – Story Time

My story poem is not inspired by a photo, but rather another story. One of my favorite genres is Arthurian legend. This poem is inspired by the tragic love triangle of King Arthur, his Queen, Guinevere, and their beloved champion, Sir Lancelot. The images are two of my favorites from Edmund Blair Leighton. Guinevere’s Loves…

By Lisa October 24, 2015 Off

OctPoWriMo Day 23 – Water Dance

I’m going rebel. Today’s OctPoWriMo prompt asks us to consider the vastness of the universe, to observe how tiny parts fit together to create a greater whole. I’ll work on that, but it’s not likely to show up here today. One of the sentence prompts on today’s post inspired me more readily, though. I pulled an old…

By Lisa October 23, 2015 Off