Category Archives: Spiritual Growth

Teach Us to Number Our Days

Posted on January 5, 2022 by Ann C. Averill

January is the month where we begin again, and in doing so inevitably re-evaluate where we’ve been and what we’ve done. Do we want to keep doing it? Does it matter? Is there somewhere else we want to go? Something … Continue reading →

Posted in Spiritual Growth, Writing Process | 4 Comments

Introvert or Extrovert?

Posted on December 10, 2021 by Ann C. Averill

Are you an introvert or an extrovert? What difference does it make if both are fine ways of being in the world? A lot, according to Holley Gerth in her fabulous book, The Powerful Purpose of Introverts: Why the world … Continue reading →

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The Craft of Hope

Posted on November 23, 2021 by Ann C. Averill

A few days before Thanksgiving, I woke up forming a mental list of the things I needed to accomplish before hosting the holiday feast.  Bake a pumpkin dessert Make fresh cranberry relish Press the tablecloth Craft a centerpiece Then I … Continue reading →

Posted in Flash memoir, Spiritual Growth | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Be Real, Be Loved, and Belong

Posted on October 29, 2021 by Ann C. Averill

It seems appropriate that my brother passed away only days before Halloween. As a child, he loved to dress up as someone else, and as an adult, he always hid who he really was, saying what he thought you wanted … Continue reading →

Posted in Flash memoir, Spiritual Growth | 10 Comments

Bittersweet

Posted on September 22, 2021 by Ann C. Averill

All summer the West burned, the South succumbed to hurricanes and Covid, and the East Coast sobbed with rain and flash floods, as if nature itself was manifesting all the emotions whirling through me after my brother was diagnosed with … Continue reading →

Posted in Flash memoir, Spiritual Growth | 10 Comments

First Podcast

Posted on September 8, 2021 by Ann C. Averill

Today I’m so excited to share my first podcast about my book, Teacher Dropout, on Beth Jordahl’s podcast, Beth’s Bookcast. It’s a conversation about the hard realities and high hopes of teaching in an “under-performing” urban school and the spiritual … Continue reading →

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Horrible Gravity

Posted on August 5, 2021 by Ann C. Averill

Laura has a secret power to somehow make you do stuff you don’t really want to do. It’s like she has a dog whistle and you’re the dog. Continue reading →

Posted in Flash memoir, Spiritual Growth | 1 Comment

Carried

Posted on July 29, 2021 by Ann C. Averill

I’ve always known I was adopted. But in 1963, at age ten, headed home from a summer vacation at my grandmother’s farm, I learned, for the first time, I had another name when I was born. Here’s the story. ***************************************************************************** … Continue reading →

Posted in Flash memoir, Spiritual Growth | 4 Comments

Spider Glue

Posted on July 1, 2021 by Ann C. Averill

Is the past gone? Duh, yes. But does it control you? My honest answer, much more than I’d like. As a memoirist this is both a blessing and a curse. I can remember events as if they happened yesterday. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Flash memoir, Spiritual Growth | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

High School Survivor

Posted on June 24, 2021 by Ann C. Averill

This Saturday at four o’clock it will be exactly fifty years since I walked across the stage of The Saratoga Performing Arts center as a high school graduate. And this Saturday at exactly four o’clock, there will be a class … Continue reading →

Posted in Flash memoir, Spiritual Growth | 4 Comments