Originally published in LLL US Western Division’s Connections #75, January/February 1998
It is a daunting project to move a household. It can feel even more complicated when many containers of precious La Leche League items are also involved. Moving my three sons, my husband, and myself from Nova Scotia to Pennsylvania was one thing. Moving La Leche League was another.
Originally published in LLL US Western Division’s Connections #75, January/February 1998
Many of us agonize over finding just the right topic or expanding an idea into an article for the Area Leaders’ Letter (ALL), a memo, Connections, or another La Leche League publication. Waiting and hoping for inspiration can be illusive and sporadic at best. However, he future article you’re looking for may be in something you’ve already written.
Originally published in LLL US Western Division’s Connections #71, May/June 1997
“She was like clear blue skies in the heaviest fog . . .”
—E. Annie Proulx, praising her editor in the acknowledgments from her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Shipping News
Nova Scotia is famous for its fog. Like many coastal areas in Atlantic Canada, as warmer air spreads over the ocean and the frigid landscape, clouds of wet, gray mist settle along the shore. From my kitchen this time of year I can see Birches Park swathed in ghostlike veils, making the hill on Portland Street disappear and the regal copses of birch trees fade into last year’s summer memory.
Originally published in LLL US Western Division’s Connections #66, July/August 1996
An index is a useful tool for locating material that has been written about a particular subject. But have you considered using an index to generate an idea for a new article? The August 1995 Connections index compiled by Lynne Coates covers Issues #39–#59. As you look through the subjects and issue numbers, the following considerations might help spark a topic for your own article.
Originally published in LLL US Western Division’s Connections #93, January/February 2001
I coordinated the talent shows for the USWD TEAM Meetings in 1998 and 2000. I had never met most of the performers until a few days before the performance, and none of us had ever been in the buildings where the shows would be held, let alone on the stages. How did I do it? Below are some considerations for coordinating your own talent show long distance.
Co-written with Elizabeth White. Originally published in LLL US Western Division’s Connections #96, July/August 2001
Wouldn’t it be great if you could show everyone at an event who was attending and where they’d come from? Photo maps create a positive impression and a feeling of togetherness that warm feeling that sometimes only photographs can elicit. You could expand your photo map to include families, co-Leaders, Group, and departments. Your map could be of a county, a state, several states, a Division, a country, the world! Visualize the event in a concrete way: consider creating a photo map. During the TEAM 2000 gathering at Denver University, we were able to do just that!
With help from Lisa Albright and Amy Crane. Originally published in LLLI’s LEAVEN, April-May 2002
When a Leader relocates, La Leche League often provides welcome continuity in the face of moving upheaval. Not all Leaders are ready to jump into local LLL work immediately upon arrival, however. The following thoughts and experiences from move-in Leaders may help all Leaders be sensitive to the needs and feelings of women who have recently arrived in a new community.
Originally published in LLL US Western Division’s Connections #87, January/February 2000
There is a wealth of creativity, affirmation, and information in past issues of Connections. Older articles (especially those written several years ago) may warrant another look in future issues. When starting to write for LLL publications yourself, orienting an administrator to her job (which may include writing for the ALL, departmental memos, and/or Connections), or introducing a writer to LLL editing and review, you might consider the advantages of using older articles as a starting point.
Originally published in LLL US Western Division’s Connections #93, January/February 2001
I think on my feet, while I wash up a cup, tidy a drawer, drink a cup of tea, but my mind is not on these activities. I find myself in the chair by the machine. I write a sentence . . . will it stand? But never mind, look at it later, just get on with it, get the flow started. And so it goes on. I walk and I prowl, my hands busy with this and that. You’d think I was a paragon of concern for housekeeping if you judged by what you saw.
—Doris Lessing, from her memoir The Roads of London
Originally published in LLL US Western Division’s Connections #84, July/August 1999
As many of you may know, in addition to editing this publication I also produce the “Slice of LLLife” cartoons for LEAVEN and create other pieces of artwork for LLL. You might imagine that I have a large private studio at home with skylights and a locking door, a professional drafting table, art store delivery service, and baskets of magnificent ferns hanging from hand-forged hooks. Wouldn’t that be nice!