Three years ago to the day, I was carting a U-haul to Oklahoma, my would-be home. Not knowing a soul there, apart from the people I’d interviewed with at my new job, I remember setting off into the sunrise and being as excited as I was scared. Up until five weeks previous, when I was … Continue reading Setting Off Toward Home
Hindsight: What I Now See
I discovered this post in my drafts, where it had lingered for three years. It helped me remember the creativity and goodness in God's plans, so I'm sharing it in the hope that it will encourage someone else. I recently caught a view that took my breath away. It was on a hike (I still … Continue reading Hindsight: What I Now See
What Happens When You Go to the Movies Alone
So there I was at the movie theater on a Saturday night...alone. (Yes, I'm one of those people.) Since the theater was lightly occupied, I'd selected a seat smack-dab in the middle of the row. A smattering of couples sat here and there, the nearest being down the row on my right and one three rows down. … Continue reading What Happens When You Go to the Movies Alone
The First/Last Christmas Tree
It was December and I was wearing shorts and sunscreen. There’s something wrong with this picture, I thought. My family and I had just traded hemispheres, and this was our first Christmas Down Under. Only a couple weeks before, my parents, older brother, and I had stepped off the plane from the States onto New … Continue reading The First/Last Christmas Tree
What No One Else Can Hear
Why do we associate silence with loneliness? Perhaps we mistake the blessing of solitude for the curse of loneliness. Crazy as it may sound, I've learned that both solitude and loneliness can be good. In the silence of being alone, the emptiness echoes a truth we don't hear when we have people to turn to and the static … Continue reading What No One Else Can Hear
Along the Back Roads
The woman looking at my paperwork glanced up and verified my hometown. "How'd you get here to South Dakota?" she said, almost in passing. Picturing the miles between where I started and where I ended up, I smiled and said simply, "Via some back roads." Isn't that the case more often than not? How often do we … Continue reading Along the Back Roads
Clash of the Accents: “Here” vs “Hair”
Time for a humorous story! Things have gotten a little heavy around The Empty Inkwell lately, so I thought I dig deep into my abounding arsenal of awkward experiences and serve up some self-deprecation for everyone's amusement. Enjoy a cringe on me. 😉 When I lived Down Under, accents got me in trouble more than once. One … Continue reading Clash of the Accents: “Here” vs “Hair”
If Infinity Is the End
For one moment last month, I thought I was going to die. And now that you probably have a vision of me flipping a car or falling off a roof, I must admit it was nothing so dramatic. I was struggling to breathe, choking on a bite of food I'd hoped would give me the … Continue reading If Infinity Is the End
Rest: Five Things I Learned on Sabbatical
I feel as if I need to reintroduce myself now that I'm back from sabbatical. I hope I've changed since being away, and I know The Empty Inkwell will look a little different from now on too. Check out my last post or the About page for more information about changes. Without further ado, let's get into it: The … Continue reading Rest: Five Things I Learned on Sabbatical
Hard Decisions
Today, I declined an offer I’ve always dreamed of accepting. Two months ago, when I received the email with the writing-related offer, I was flattered and excited, but for various reasons, it was not possible for me to immediately accept. There was a difficult decision before me. It was as if I’d been walking along the writer’s … Continue reading Hard Decisions
Meagan Briggs 