Welcome to my new visitors:

Welcome to my new blog! If this is the first time you have ever visited me, I especially want to welcome you as I begin a new chapter in my writing life. I’d like to share a bit of background knowledge with those of you whom may visiting me for the first time.

Strands of Silver is not my first blog.  Nearly ten years ago, during the summer when I officially retired, I began a new venture: blogging.  I named the blog Retired English Teacher because that was the only name I could stumble upon.  I was a retired English teacher, and I guess I was having identity issues at the time.

I had no clear direction for the blog, I just began writing blog posts and sending my writing off into the blogosphere not even knowing exactly what the blogosphere was.  In time, I began to gather a few readers, and I also began to read other blogs.  Through reading and writing in the world of the blogosphere, connections were made.  Those connections led to friendships.  Those friendships supported me and my writing through some of the darkest days of my life, and these blogging friends rejoiced with me during the days which brought joy and healing.  In time, my blogging experience changed, and I nearly let it all fall away, but I knew wasn’t done with writing.  I finally decided that what I needed and wanted was a change in my approach to blogging. That led to the creation of a new website, and new platform from which to write.

*Note: Blog posts from my old blog have been transferred over to this site. If you go back and read any of them, please realize that many may need formatting due to the transfer from one platform to another.

Welcome to my loyal readers:

For those of you whom are moving over to my new website from my old website hosted by Blogger, I want to welcome you also! It means so much to me to have you visit me in my new “home” in the blogosphere. Along with a new “home address,” I have also changed the name of my blog to Strands of Silver.

About my new blog:

I am a writer. Every writer needs a place where readers can find his or her writing. Strands of Silver will be where I publish my writing.

I am a storyteller. I like to tell stories that invite my readers to join me as I seek meaning in all of the vicissitudes of life.  Heraclitus, an ancient Greek philosopher, said “change is the only constant in life.” We all know this is true, but I think can also all agree that there is change, and then there is change. In other words, for me some changes are harder to process than others. When change is hard, I write about it. Sharing that writing helps me feel less alone.

Writing also helps me pay closer attention to the subtle and not so subtle changes in the seasons of life and in the phases in each season. My life is not that different from others in that we all have our ups and downs. My ups and my downs probably are different from your ups and downs, or they may be the same. You, dear reader, may identify with the stories I write, or possibly, you might read stories here where you will be thankful not to find yourself at all.  Even if you are mostly grateful that you can’t relate to some of my stories, some of my experiences, I do hope that you will find stories here that will help you on your own journey through life.  One never knows when one’s life’s fortunes will have a major reversal, nor does one ever really foresee when one day an event happens that changes everything. If that day comes, I hope that readers will remember that they are not alone.

Strands of Silver was birthed out of loss.  The stories that became strands of silver may initially have been considered as detrital, that which should have been tossed aside into the ash heap of life’s experiences which are better forgotten, left behind, cast aside, yet as those experiences were lived out, the dross was burned away and Strands of Silver in the form of stories remained after the writer had gone through the refiner’s fire. 

This is the place where stories from the past, stories of what is being lived in the here and now,  and stories of hopes for the future are woven together to create silver strands of truth, of wisdom, of love, of restoration, of loss, of joy, of longing, of new understandings, and of old memories. 

When life seems as if it is all in shatters, when all seems broken, destroyed, beyond repair, when it seems like life is fragmented into pieces of a puzzle that will never fit together to create a whole picture, there is the place where stories are told that construct new meanings, new understandings, new beginnings. 

Strands of Silver, were once fragments, threads, remnants, all that remained after a cutting back, a shredding, a shearing.  They were also that which remained after a time of rejoicing, of celebration, or a time of growth.  These fragments, which are really stories, when collected and placed side by side take on new meaning and become beautiful strands of silver which in turn can be plaited or twisted together to create a beautiful design which gives a picture of completeness and wholeness. 

Strands of Silver seeks an integration of all things that life throws at us:  the good, the bad, the brokenness, the mending, the losses, the restorations, the lack of faith, and finding of new faith that is stronger than it was before one had to struggle to believe. 

If nothing else, I do hope that you, the reader, will find a place you will find connection, rest, peace, and a sense of calm and joy that gives you the strength and the courage to sort through your broken parts of life and decide if there is any wisdom to be gleaned from the experience.  I have learned that wisdom does not come from experience alone.  I believe that it is only as we look at the experiences of life through the lens of God’s word that we can begin to gain the wisdom that each experience has to teach us. 

Even as I have reached my seventies, and even as it could be said that I should have silver strands of hair that speak of my wisdom, I would be telling you an untruth if I said that was true. Truth is of paramount importance to me . I always try to live my life and write about my life with authenticity. I certainly don’t have all the answers to the problems of life, but I keep on asking questions and seeking answers.  I am no sage on the stage. I am a writer. I write about the vicissitudes of life. That means that this blog will be where readers can find stories that faithfully recount the struggles that are a normal part of my life.  Hopefully, there might even be a few victories along the way. 

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