Greetings from Alison Wiley here in Portland, Oregon. I'm a writer/doer/thinker who lives happily by putting people, nature and God ahead of accumulating more stuff. Read more →
Where do you find joy in your life, as opposed to fun? Fun is defined as pleasure or amusement, while joy is defined as intense or exultant happiness. This isn’t a trick question; it’s designed to help us prepare for the holidays, with the long Thanksgiving weekend starting in a few days. Speaking for myself, I like [...]
Tags: football games·happiness·joy·TV·writing
What are your favorite and least favorite choices you’ve made in your life? How do you deal with disenchantment over a choice you’ve made? We constantly have to choose one thing over other things in our complex modern lives. We choose what town and neighborhood to live in, what colleges to attend (or not) and [...]
Tags: blogging·legacy·novels·PDX writers·writing
I know. You think I’ve degenerated into being a slacker. No, a frigging slacker. You picture me lounging around in coffee shops in torn clothing, pink-streaked hair and freshly inked tatoos. You see me reading subversive literature and debating land use in heated, holier-than-thou tones (you possibly watch Portlandia). Well, I can own there’s been [...]
Tags: Erick Mertz·love·New Years resolutions·Portlandia·Revelle·slacker·writing
That is what writer Lidia Yuknavitch spontaneously asked me when we met at the Willamette Writers Conference earlier this month. Her face was warm and radiant and she had long, wavy blond hair. I replied I didn’t think our creature-paths had yet crossed, but I so much liked her way of expressing the uncanny sense [...]
Tags: Boardman Oregon·business writing·Columbia River·Lidia Yuknavitch·Lidia Yuknovitch·Mount Hood Community College·writing
Winter has really set in here in Portland — coldness, darkness, incessant rain - so much so that it’s hard to believe we’re still three weeks away from the shortest day of the year (the winter solstice). I’m looking forward to my brother Mick visiting for Christmas. He’s a laughter-inducing
Tags: Burgerville·newts·solstice·writing
Blythe traipsed in late yesterday afternoon to our writing group’s opening session here at Opal Creek, living up to her name, towing with her a forest treasure that startled me into a double take. I’d never seen a cauliflower mushroom before. It was huger than a Halloween pumpkin but formed of air and a fawn-colored, [...]
by Alison Wiley Diamond-Cut Life embraces community and lots of different voices and perspectives. I am wide open to guest post on topics related to sustainability and/or living happily while treading lightly on the earth. Diamond-Cut Life has gotten 20,000 web-hits in its first year of publication. So you’ll get read! The only thing I [...]
Tags: blogging·global warming·green living·guest post·happiness·Oregon·writing
I’m snuggled in a cabin with my husband, looking out at Opal Creek Ancient Forest as torrents of rain come down. Perfect writing weather, and in fact the writing workshop I’m enrolled in will start in an hour or so. My topic today is optimism, inspired by fellow blogger Sara at On Simplicity. While her [...]
Tags: global warming·happiness·life·Opal Creek·optimism·social change·writing
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