Joyce Reid 
Embracing the Unknown: Navigating the Winter of Life, One Day at a Time The winter of life. It sounds a bit daunting, doesn’t it? At 84, I won’t pretend otherwise. I am in the latter chapters of my life’s book, and the future holds more uncertainty than it once did. But I have made a … Read more
Ken Blanchard, author of The One Minute Manager, tells the story of a little boy who desperately wanted to beat his grandmother at Monopoly. He studied. He practiced. He learned. Until one day he finally won and announced it proudly: “I beat you.” She smiled, gathered up the pieces, and put them back in the … Read more
Finding Joy in the Ordinary This morning I sat outside in my swing with a cup of coffee, watching the trees sway in the breeze, their brilliant green splashed against the brightest blue sky I’ve seen anywhere. A gentle cloud floated by. The birds competed for who could make the most beautiful song, their concert … Read more
There comes a time in life when you realize you’ve probably lived more years than you have left. It’s not a gloomy thought. At least it isn’t for me. It’s simply an acknowledgment of where I am on life’s journey. When we were young, life felt endless. We had all the time in the world. … Read more
Experiencing the Magic Somewhere along the way, many of us started believing that magic only happens in big moments. We think it lives in extravagant vacations, surprise parties, grand romantic gestures, or life-changing events that look beautiful on social media. We wait for something huge to happen before we allow ourselves to feel joy, wonder, … Read more
Navigating the Unknown One Day at a Time with Humor and Heart This is one of my more personal reflections — a warm, humorous look at aging, purpose, and embracing the unknown. It’s not my formal biography, but it is a true glimpse into how I see this season of life. Ah, the winter of … Read more
“I hope in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you’re making mistakes, you’re trying new things, pushing yourself, changing yourself and your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before.” Neil Gaiman Every morning when I wake up, I consider it a gift — a fresh start, a chance to pick myself up, … Read more
Quirky Things You May Not Know About Me (or even care to know) During the pandemic, many of us were limited to using the Internet to make contacts with people. And we made a lot of new friends. But you can’t really get to know someone via Zoom, Facebook groups, or other Internet interaction. It’s … Read more
It seems like yesterday, but in actuality it was many, many years ago. The afternoon heat in the deep South drove us to the front porch where there was occasionally a breeze flickering through the leaves of the trees around us. My sister and I worked on the crocheting that our Mother was teaching us … Read more
I’ve enjoyed creative writing ever since my freshman year in college when the professor was a published fiction writer in Saturday Evening Post magazine. He required us to submit one ceative piece each week and I was hooked. As a result, years later, I discovered the Santa Barbara Writer’s Conference. For a whole week each … Read more
When I was in elementary school (many, many years ago), I was assigned to a choir for a school play. When the teacher told me to just mouth the words, I discovered that singing was not my gift. That was confirmed once again in the ninth grade when I tried out for the school glee … Read more
When my two daughters were little, we created corn husk dolls for them to play with. Living in a very isolated Northern Arizona community of Happy Camp while my husband worked for the U.S. Forest Service, there weren’t a lot of activities for them to take part in. Newspapers were brought in several days after … Read more