Sonya Elliott – Page 44 – Back on the Court

Monday’s Pen to Paper: Big Magic

Last week I had the pleasure of seeing Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear, speak at Benaroya Hall. It is alway helpful to hear that I’m not alone when it comes to the struggles of getting work done and when this information is followed up with thoughts on how to move forward in the writing journey, I am inspired and itching for my pen.

Ms. Gilbert’s idea of creativity and fear being a package deal makes sense. I have written a book and I know I can do it, but there is always this little something that works to drag me down in the process of writing another one, this fear perhaps that it can’t possibly happen again. It takes a lot of work to pull thousands of words together in a way that makes sense and that meets one’s fancy. So knowing that fear is common place, a part of the deal, helps to remind me that it is normal and that I can simply move along, and in time, with work, my new book will come together.

I can’t wait to dive into Big Magic and read other tidbits that can help me to bring my story together, although I know that nothing can do that better than sitting my butt in a chair, grabbing my pen, and getting to work. Write on!

WRITING PROMPT#1: What are you afraid of?

WRITING PROMPT#2:Candice bent low, ducked her head and entered the darkness…

PeaceLoveBasketball Friday: Get Ready for Basketball Season!

Basketball season is around the corner and for the first time in a long while I’m not preparing to coach, but instead preparing to watch. Simply watching is bound to keep me busy as I will be supporting my son and the boys basketball team, and of course I will be cheering on the high school girls team that I used to coach, and though I will miss being a part of their season as their coach, not coaching will also allow me to travel and watch my daughter who is playing basketball in college. I can’t wait!

If you’re a fan, parent, coach, or a player, here are some great basketball books to get you pumped up and ready for the season!

In These Girls, Hope is a Muscle (Memoir) by Madeleine Blais

Brief Garland (Memoir) by Harold Keith

Back on the Court : a young woman’s triumphant return to life, love & basketball (Memoir) by Sonya G. Elliott

Counting Coup: A True Story of Basketball and Honor on the Little Big Horn by Larry Colton (Memoir)

Standing Tall: A Memoir of Tragedy and Triumph (Memoir/Coaching) by C. Vivian Stringer

Sacred Hoops: Spiritual Lessons of a Hardwood Warrior (Memoir/Coaching) by Phil Jackson

They Call Me Coach (Coaching) by John Wooden

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Monday’s Pen to Paper: Guns – Know More. No More! – Be Heard

I was fortunate that my husband told me about the Umpqua College shootings last week (my daughter goes to college in Oregon), he saved me the moment of panic that he went through when he first got word that there had been another massacre at a college campus. What is happening in this country? Can we not see that loosing so many lives in this way is crazy?

The United States has more gun murders than other developed countries.

The United States has the highest rate of gun murders in a developed country and has had more mass shootings than days in 2015. These are frightening statistics. Of course I understand that there are many pieces of the puzzle, many issues involved when a person chooses to take another human beings life, let alone several, but the biggest piece of that damn puzzle has a gun on it, and it needs to be put in place. Controlled.

I normally stay away from ranting and raving and politics, yet at the same time isn’t that the reason that writer’s put words on paper, is for their opinions to be heard? Well, this is one of those moments. We as a nation have to make a change. Does there have to be such a line between Democrat and Republican? Can’t we come together and say LET’S SAVE LIVES? My Facebook newsfeed has been blowing up. And there are definitely two strong opinions out there but in the end how can we not agree that there are too many guns out in this world. Too many lives being lost.

I worry about my husband when he rides his motorcycle and a worry about my son when he plays football, but […]

PeaceLoveBasketball Friday: Peace

Yesterday my yoga instructor invited the class to choose an Intention for the day. I breathed in, my body and mind was tight, it has seemed that way for some time. Into my mind came the word PEACE. I thought, “How corny. Really? Peace is what you come up with Sonya?” But I closed my eyes, and again it was Peace that resonated for me. Peace that I needed.

As we all know, life is busy. I don’t think my life is any busier than anyone else’s, but I haven’t been able to find the peace and calm that is so important to me, especially in the midst of chaos. I write, model, chauffeur kids (well, now down to one), fix and manage rental houses and over the past twenty plus years I’ve been coaching as well. And during my last few years as a head coach, not only did amazing things happen, but a lot of negative energy was thrown in my direction by a group of parents and it made finding peace a little more difficult.

This part of my time coaching is not something I write about very often because I do my best to keep out the bad energy, but it comes up for me from time to time since I live in the neighborhood, and attend events at the high school where I coached, so I often see these parents. It’s not easy to forgive and forget.

The old sticks and stones will break my bones but words can never hurt me, is only partially true. The recent Mindful Magazine article The Stickiness of Misinformation, explains that once a lie has been told, it sticks in the mind, and if continually repeated is seen as […]