a website & community for women who write & blog
It all started with a hashtag.
Birmingham-based blogger and yoga instructor Melissa Scott posted a photograph of herself practicing yoga wearing only yoga pants and a sports bra and included the hashtag #noshirtnoshoesnoshame and I had to know more about this body positive movement she was striving to forge.
When Kim Lee started learning more about the concept of co-working spaces she quickly realized that Birmingham-area entrepreneurs, business owners, and freelancers needed a place where they could work and collaborate with others without signing a long-term lease. And eventually, Lee realized she should be the person to create such a space.
“My undergrad is in business and I have a master’s in counseling,” Lee says. ” As I studied and researched co-working more, it became clearer to me that my background is actually perfect for this is a business concept.”
And so the Forge was born.
“Qualified.” Megan Beam is not a fan of this word, especially when it’s used to ask questions such as: “What qualifies me to write what I’m writing?” or “What qualifies you to tell anyone else how to write what they’re writing?” or “How does my work qualify for publishing?” When Beam started her Birmingham–based writing workshop series Vive Les Conteurs in January one of her goals was to strip this word of its value.
“I think that there is this sort of romance around creativity that you can’t really approach it unless you’ve been born with some sort of sparkle,” Beam says. “And I’m not saying that that doesn’t exist but I think that creativity in whatever form it is can save people’s lives and give them a reason to get up in the morning and make sense of the chaos.”
Beam says her primary goal with Vive Les Conteurs is simply to give people a safe space to write so they can finally feel like writers.
I had the pleasure of interviewing Beam for my latest column for B-Metro magazine. Read the complete story here.
I have a confession: I am a bit obsessed with goal setting. I get so excited about the first of the month not simply because it’s pay day, but because a new month means a new set of goals.
My goals keep me motivated. It’s because of my goals that I’m able to get up at 4 a.m. every weekday to work on my writing, my blog, and my business before I head out to teach. It’s because of my goals that I’m able to exercise every evening, even after a long day of lecturing.
Despite my drive and determination, however, I don’t always accomplish all of my goals every month. August was such a month. I didn’t accomplish ANY of my August goals. NOT. A. SINGLE. ONE.
So what do I do when I don’t accomplish my goals for the month?
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again — good writers read good writing. But I believe good writers watch good writing too, good writing that comes in the form of good movies. And that’s why every year you’ll find me at the Sidewalk Film Festival. If you’re in the Birmingham area, I hope to see you at this weekend’s festival, August 25-27.
There are always so many films showing at Sidewalk that sometimes I feel overwhelmed when trying to decide which films I’m going to see.
Fortunately, I have a pal to help me out. One of my colleagues at the Alabama School of Fine Arts is also a features programmer for the festival. Corey Craft has written about film since 2009, for five years as the primary film writer for The Tuscaloosa News and now exclusively for the upstart arts and entertainment website artsBHAM.com. He also teaches a history of film class at ASFA and has a degree in telecommunications and film with an emphasis in critical studies from the University of Alabama. So he knows his stuff.
I had a chat with him about the best movies to catch this weekend.