Orange:  (+) perseverance: (-) stubbornness, strong willed--Description of the color orange on the Streams Ministries International dream symbols card.

Sometimes I park on the eighth floor of the garage at my worksite and climb up and down the stairs in an attempt to get a little more movement for the day.  That morning my foot hovered on the top stair of floor six, and when I looked down to grab the railing, I saw there on the next step down a perfecly shaped orange.  I was sorely tempted to pick it up and put it in my lunch kit. 

Several years ago I attended a seminar taught by the gifted writer, Sue Monk Kidd. During the two-day conference, she taught freely from her repertoire of writing craft and technique. But more, her foundational message to the artist writer was this: “If you don’t speak your voice, the world will miss a measure of healing.” That comforting and affirming message provided courage for me to begin sounding my own voice—at that time silenced by the censors in my head murmuring, “Why bother?” and “You’re not good enough.” “You work has no value.”

There are myriad and valuable websites offering methods and tools to help people improve their writing. My intent, though, is not so much...