When I was a classroom English teacher, the last thing I would often do before I left my desk at the end of the day was scratch advice, encouragement, a humorous quip, or some tough love note on a Post-It and leave it on my keyboard for me to read the next morning.

These handwritten reminders often helped me and encouraged me to not only be a better teacher but to be more tactful when navigating the day’s drama.

A writer now, whose kids are home for the summer, I often have to attend to their questions and requests before I can attend to myself. If you’re a parent I’m sure you understand.

Admittedly, I haven’t written a note to myself in quite awhile. I mean when you’re not employed, it’s easy to take a walk or take a deep breath or even a nap when your patience is also unemployed.

This summer I’m challenging myself to write more notes to myself. Notes for Tomorrow will be an inky reminder that everyday life–like a classroom full of teenagers–is often complicated, noisy, and unforgiving. And from time to time we all need a reminder that we are more than capable of handling the day’s drama.

Be well.

Jay

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Sale Ends Soon–Father’s Day Sale Purchase Link

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One Line, One Love Episode 24: Writer’s Toolbox– Conflicted? Good! Write about it.

Description: It’s easy to think that the biggest challenge for writers is stringing together beautiful and meaningful words. Actually, one of the biggest challenges for writers is to simply find something to write about. In this episode, Gail and Jay give advice on how to do just that. They suggest writing about personal conflicts. No matter your writing genre, if you’re an everyday writer who wants to learn how to discover an internal conflict worth writing about than this 25 minute episode is a must listen!

OLOL is a unique listening and reading experience that will inspire everyday writers, who dream of writing, to pick up their pens and write one line at a time.

This podblog format (a hybrid of a podcast and blog) is for everyday writers who–like me–often need a creative boost, a scrap of encouragement, and practical advice to unleash the writer within. Each episode consists of five wide-ranging, writer-focused questions and a weekly writing prompt.

Please check it out! And please share with any writer friends or anyone in your life who has ever considered picking up the pen.

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Warm greetings to everyone who found me on the University of Pennsylvania’s Ataxia Clinic’s website! Thanks for stopping by. I have ataxia and though I’m not a doctor, I hope my words comfort, encourage, empower, and serve as good company on your journey.

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Jay Armstrong is a speaker and an award-winning author. Despite being diagnosed with a rare neurological disease, that impairs his movement, balance, eyesight, and speech–Jay presses on. The leader of the Philadelphia Ataxia Support Group, he hopes to help you find joy, peace, and meaning in life.