I love to read. Books always, some newspapers, but more magazines. For years, I've particularly noticed magazine articles about women, women of all ages, some still in their teens, this woman here, that woman there, all across the country, who have started meaningful programs, impactful programs, inspiring programs, programs that make the world a better place.

I was envious of these women. I wanted to be one of them, a woman with a worthwhile idea who envisions a way to implement her idea and then does it. But how? I would wonder if I was not philanthropic enough, motivated enough, clever enough, or just too enmeshed in my life and that of my family's to make space for something else, maybe something beyond my immediate scope, something maybe even just a little bit great. Over time, I realized that beating myself up over this failure to develop such a program was noth helping any cause. So I began to tell myself, if the time is right, when the time is right, and the idea is right, something will take shape.

The time is finally right. I am now one of these women. And this is how it happened. No huge thunderclaps. No big drum roll. Just a quiet lightening flash that sparked me originating in a short email from Rosie's Place, a woman's shelter and advocacy center in Boston, MA. This notice, sent to me because my family and I had helped serve Thanksgiving dinner one year, invited proposals for a fellowship award.

I am a writer for lots of reasons, I think, but perhaps the most important reason is that I believe in communication. I believe that imparting what we think and feel to each other is critical to life. The written word enriches every aspect of my life, and I cannot imagine how impoverished my existence would be without the ability to navigate the world of the written word.

As a culture, in general, our ability to formulate our thoughts and create quality communicate through the written word is devolving. I know this because I've been teaching writing to all ages in all kinds of venues for over 20 years. We now communicate in short missives in great quantity, thanks to technology, but this flash-in-the-pan process runs quite counter to the old-fashioned process of creating a piece of lasting writing. Plenty of programs and classes exist that teach writing, and yet plenty of people do not discover writing success through any of these venues. Obviously, many people do not learn effectively or easily within traditional education structures. I do not believe this is necessarily a reflection of innate intellectual ability, merely a window into the different ways people learn.

Born on the Day of the Nonconformist, I love to explore, imagine, design, what could happen outside the box, any box. So now I imagine a forum that doesn't feel like a class. A space where there isn't a standard to reach, a test to pass, a grade to receive, a tuition to pay. A place where fear of failure is not only kicked out the door, but never welcomed in in the first place. A coming together of women to experiment with writing, experience the possibilities, feel even a little more confident about putting their thoughts into words, an opportunity to believe that what they have to say is worth listening to.

So I begin to travel the journey with Rosie's Place, a trip that lasts over a year. I am accompanied by my fellow blog mate and writing professor Erin McCormack. From the first information meeting, to all the ground work to find a location and support network, to writing and submitting the mini-proposal, to receiving an invitation to submit a full proposal, to moving on to the semi-finals, to another informational meeting, to the finals and the finals interviews, to, finally, hearing I've been chosen to receive a Kip Tiernan Social Justice Fellowship Award for my project!

In seven weeks, Erin and I will begin sharing the joys, the magic, and the simple mechanics of communicating through writing. SPARC, Support, Partnership, and Real-Time Communication begins September 28, 2011 at the Adult Learning Center in Nashua, New Hampshire. [www.sparcforwomen.org] 

This was a leap of faith on the grandest scale. I've never written a grant proposal. I know nothing about the world of social services. And I am super allergic to spending time that may not produce an obvious product or result. Yet somehow, this time, the right time, through all the months and all the work, I never considered not going the distance. Erin has been right with me, as have more Nashua, NH, social service professionals than I could have EVER imagined in my wildest best case scenario.

Those collections of smooth engraved stones decorating gift stores are not cliched trinkets, a dime a dozen, for me anymore. For me, they now contain the simple most powerful truths. Dream. Faith. Love. Hope. Believe. Truly! Then leap...