About Me & My Blog

Wordchick On The Go

I was an English professor for 25 years. Hence the moniker Wordchick. I also was a writer/photographer for the New Catholic Explorer, the newspaper for the Joliet (Illinois) diocese and a correspondent for The Daily Journal in Kankakee, Illinois, through most of the '90s.

Originally from Newfoundland, I chose "on the go" because it's a common Newfoundland idiom suggesting being up to a certain amount of mischief, as in "Yes, b'y, she's right on the go, that one." (b'y = boy, a gender neutral reference used much the way we Midwesterners use "you guys.")

I also feel life is meant to be experienced. I mean just totally soaked up. Feeling all of the world with all of your senses all of the time. Life's not meant to be lived in one place. That famous prescription to seek out new places applies both physically and mentally.

I started this blog many years ago as a project with my students when I taught Introduction to Volunteerism. Since then, at times I have abandoned the blog for long periods and more than once thought of deleting it altogether. I am glad I didn't because now I look back through the archives and see something that took me half my life to realize: that all along my dharma has been closely related to sustainability. I know that sounds broad, but sustainability in some way has been interwoven in about every post on this blog, the essential thread throughout the entire history of Wordchick On The Go: care for Mother Nature, the impact it has on us/me, and my own quest to find physical and mental nourishment. My body and soul are fed through so much of the miracle of what the earth offers up to sustain us humans. As I run, bike, walk outdoors, my body embraces the physical benefits and additionally my mind opens up to the mental benefits. And as I choose fresh, nutritious food with care and cook and eat with intention, I am further appreciating the gifts provided by the earth. The earth provides us with grounding in more ways than simply being a place where we stand.

Often I have thought my blog lacked focus. Now I see that my focus has been my journey to live a well-balanced, healthy life. I know, a "well-balanced healthy life" means different things to different people. For me, it means--bottom line--strengthening the body through  physical activity and healthy food, strengthening the mind with knowledge, and deepening the soul through living life with passion.

I read somewhere recently (Barbara De Angelis's Soul Shifts, perhaps?) that to figure out your passion ask yourself what you have always loved doing. What is it you hear yourself saying when stating "I have always loved to __________"?

Myself, I have always loved to write.

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