Sidetracked Stories

"Are you truly committed to what you want or are you just enjoying that it is a possibility?" --Brooke Castillo (The Life Coach School) Judy and I talk about Life Coaching. We get into what a life coach does and why you may want one...whether you're a writer or not. Now some people may be confused about the difference between a life coach and a therapist--we get into that too. Watch...

"Our dilemma is that we hate change and love it at the same time; what we really want is for things to remain the same but get better." -Sydney J. Harris Judy and I are so excited for today's episode. We have a BIG announcement...you see, the Sidetracked Sisters are very familiar with change. I think it comes with the territory of being "sidetracked". That said, today we wa...

"An unexamined life isn't worth living." -Socrates "An examined life is no picnic." -Robert Fulghum Judy and I love to write! We write by ourselves and with our Sidetracked Sisters. We like to do legacy writing and come up with blog posts. We also do a lot of journal writing. In our conversation, we discuss a variety of reasons why journal writing is so valuable. But perhap...

"Clean and nourish your brain wisely every day. It can easily become a garbage bin." --Philip Arnold Today, Judy and I talk about why we like to write first thing in the morning. We get into the fact that I am a "morning person" and she is definitely NOT. This doesn't change the fact that morning writing is so important. It doesn't matter what you call your morning writ...

“Why doesn’t constant trampling defeat the dandelion? The key to its strength is its long and sturdy root, which extends deep into the earth. The same principle applies to people. The true victors in life are those who, enduring repeated challenges and setbacks, have sent the roots of their being to such a depth that nothing can shake them.”  ―   Daisaku Ikeda Welcome to the "Sidetracked Lega...

"Writing helps open you up. It is peeling the onion. We always get deeply into other layers as we pull the one from the outside off. We even get tears sometimes when we do that." --Judy Goodson I thought Judy was speaking such words of wisdom when she said that. Later, I found out that others agreed with her comparison...Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, Carl Sandberg is quoted saying, "...

"Whether you're keeping a journal or writing a meditation, it's the same thing. What's important is that you're having a relationship with your mind." --Natalie Goldberg Today Judy and I got together and discussed making time to write. Thinking about the quote by Natalie Goldberg, I can't help but recognize the importance of TIME when you are building a relationship....

“I must write it all out, at any cost. Writing is thinking. It is more than living, for it is being conscious of living.” -Anne Morrow Lindbergh Today Judy and I talked about how writers use writing to become more thoughtful and aware of life. Judy uses the analogy of living life as a swimmer diving under the surface to explore the depths when we write about our lives. We also briefly talk about u...

"It's a human need to be told stories. The more we're governed by idiots and have no control over our destinies, the more we need to tell stories to each other about who we are, why we are here, where we come from, and what might be possible." -Alan Rickman This quote seemingly came out of nowhere when I surfed on social media the other day. When it did, I was speechless and knew...

"Memory takes a lot of poetic license. It omits some details; others are exaggerated, according to the emotional value of the articles it touches, for memory is seated predominantly in the heart." --Tennessee Williams Today Judy and I talk about sharing our legacy writing by telling our stories. We use poetic license to share in a way that feels true and elevates a story in a way that ma...

“When you write your truth, it is a love offering to the world because it helps us feel braver and less alone.” -Glennon Doyle Today Judy and I talked about the need to be truthful in our writing. We want others to recognize that any piece of writing is really a snapshot in time. We talk about how every family has their sh*t and this event, situation, or story just happens to be ours. We also brie...

“To be truly seen and heard, to be truly known, is a deep human need. Our hunger for it is so omnipresent, so much a part of our experience of life, that we no more know what it is we are missing than a fish knows it is wet.” -Charles Einstein (American author and podcaster) Today Judy and I talk about the desire we have to be seen and heard, and known through our writing We give our thoughts and...

"Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on." --Louis L'Mour In this episode, Judy and I discuss the exciting task of beginning writing or starting a new journal. We both, however, have a collection of journals and notebooks that we've used to keep our thoughts or record progress toward a goal. Some of them are finished and have no blank...

"Man has two great gifts: 'words' to give sound to thoughts, and 'writing' to give thoughts meaning forever." -Gianfranco Iovino (Italian writer/author) Today Judy and I talk about what we use to collect our writing and the writing of others that we've saved over the years. Then we share some of the writing we've actually collected over the years and we get into w...

Today Judy and I get into the final C of our "5 Cs of Legacy Writing" series--CRAFT. In our conversation, we talk about finding and telling interesting stories and whether or not you should worry about using "proper English" when you record your thoughts and ideas. So many people have hangups about grammar, spelling, and punctuation. But we want to encourage you not to let thes...

Today Judy and I get into the 4th C in our "5 Cs of Legacy Writing" series--COMMUNICATION. In this episode, we begin to understand the power that serendipity has in our writing. (That is when you accidentally stumble upon something truly wonderful, especially while looking for something entirely unrelated.) Sometimes we come totally prepared for a writing time together, sometimes not so...

Today Judy Goodson and I discuss the 3rd C in our 5 Cs of Legacy Writing series--COURAGE! In L. Frank Baum's famous story, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz , the wizard encourages the cowardly lion with a potion and says, "You have plenty of courage, I am sure. All you need is confidence in yourself. There is no living thing that is not afraid when it faces danger. The true courage is in facing danger w...

We continue our 5 Cs of Legacy Writing Series with C #2--CONFIDENCE.   Statesman and financier Bernard Boruch once wisely advised, "Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind." Isn't that the truth?!? With this in mind, Judy and Lisa dig into the how-tos of having confidence while writing. We talk about being comfortable in your...

Welcome to SEASON 2 of the podcast! We are starting things out with several episodes of Lisa and Judy sharing thoughts and insights on legacy-making and writing. Last season, so many people enjoyed our discussion about "The 5 Cs of Legacy Writing". So...we figured that we would begin there. We have so much more to share!!! Today we begin with COMMITMENT.  Spiritual Coach and Consultant Arioa...

" Carve your name on hearts, not tombstones. A legacy is etched into the minds of others and the stories they share about you. "   --Shannon Adler (inspirational author and therapist) My husband's Grandpa Matt Hoffman passed away peacefully earlier this week. I had just recently really gotten to know him. Since the middle of July, I had visited him about once a week. Now sometimes I wasn't av...

Leslie Ferguson started writing poetry in college to deal with troubling emotions and traumatic memories from her childhood. In graduate school, she was more courageous, and wrote scenes from memory, trying to recapture the mood of much of her life with a mentally ill parent. During the day, she taught high schoolers about literature; in the evening, she studied and wrote, eventually amassing more...

I'll bet you can relate to this post that my guest shared this week My name is Jelaine Lombardi and I am a writer. There, I said it. For years I have kept these words silent, as I feverishly wrote on. I minimized the importance of my story. I could not even speak of my book without embarrassment clinging to my words. Imposter syndrome. Who am I to think I can write? But I did it. I completed my me...

Maya Angelou once said, "The idea is to write it so that people hear it and it slides through the brain and goes straight to the heart."  Well, I don't think that any of our attempts at writing a poem are going to pierce anyone's heart, but it was interesting, challenging, and dare I say it...FUN!?! Judy is the poet among us Sidetracked Sisters and she can come up with a thought in verse as e...

Okay, everyone, it's catch-up week. With the launch of our Sidetracked Legacies Membership, I've gotten a bit behind in publishing some of the podcasts that we've recorded. So we're going to give you a burst of sidetracked opinions, thoughts, laughter, and snarkiness/ (BTW, if you don't know what I'm talking about when I say "membership", you've got to check out our website to see how YOU can get...

We are so excited to announce the opening of the Sidetracked Legacies Membership!!! As a kickoff, we put together 2 Facebook Lives and a Zoom broadcast to share with our people.  In the first Facebook Live, Lisa gave some history behind the Sidetracked Sisters and laid out the importance of creating a legacy for your family, loved ones, and community. In the second FB Live, all the Sidetracke...