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Hello, everyone --

I live in the Land of Best-Laid Plans. As in "the best-laid plans of mice and men often go astray."

The saying originated in Robert Burns' poem "To a Mouse," in which he consoles (in strong Scottish dialect) a mouse whose nest he ran over with his plough.

Until I started reading up on the phrase, I didn't realize its connotation was that the plans in question had gone poorly. I thought it referenced plans that had gone ... well ... differently. Because isn't that what plans generally do?
  • I planned to go to Germany and ended up in Japan.
  • I was a biology major in college, and my career has been in writing.
  • I studied to be a journalist -- and was a reporter for nearly four years -- before getting drafted into public relations, where I spent at least four times as long.
You've probably heard this joke: Q: How do you make God laugh? A: Tell Him your plans. Ha ha.

My latest Best-Laid Plan was to offer writing classes online. I'd been thinking and plotting for months and offered my first two four-session courses in January -- one privately and one through a Gresham, Oregon, retirement community (thanks to the marvels of Zoom!). I loved it. 

Then came February ... and demand for my class slowed. I'm retooling it a bit, and we'll see what comes in March. (If you're interested, we'll begin meeting Tuesday, March 9.)

But here's the cool thing. Interest emerged in the area of coaching, so I've been working one-on-one with people who have stories they want to get on paper. And it turns out I love this too!

Meanwhile, the retirement community asked if I'd teach another course, so I am designing a three-week haiku writing class for March. (You're invited -- more info here.) I can hardly wait!
So, yes, my Best-Laid plans are going astray, but this happens with such regularity, that I actually take it to mean that life is going according to ... um ... plan.

Here's to your plans, and to reality!

Take good care,
Sarah

About that chai obsession ...

I mentioned last week that I've been planning to share my love of masala chai. Here's the short version:

I first encountered masala chai in India as a college student. About eighteen years later I began obsessing over making it, hoping I could steep the walls of our house in its spicy aromas as we prepared to welcome our son home from India.

Click here to read more and find my recipe.

Need a writing prompt?

A friend recently introduced me to the writer Suleika Jaouad, a young writer who fought to overcome cancer and wrote what appears to be a very compelling memoir about it (Between Two Kingdoms -- it just came out). 

Jaouad also founded "The Isolation Journals," an online platform that, among other things, offers free weekly writing prompts from well-known artists, writers and leaders. 

You can find it here.

(Let me know if you read her book and how you like it!) 

Thank you for your support!

I'm tickled to share that The Same Moon now has 50 ratings on Amazon. Thank you to all of you for your help! Here's one of the latest ... thanks, Gleenobly! 

Bella speaks 


Ahem. It has been brought to my attention that The Dog has been monopolizing this e-newsletter, not to mention Sarah's blog. To be clear, I have been the family cat since 2007 and continue to be served in this capacity. That is all. Thank you.
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