Sonal’s Questions for me:
What was the first inspiration you got in your life?
My first inspiration came at an early age. I participated as a singer in local talent shows as early as age three, and I wrote my first poem at about the age of five. I had been learning, in Sunday School, of Jesus’ love for us. So, I wrote a poem about Jesus. I do not remember the words, and I no longer have the poem; but I do remember the topic.
From there, I wrote several poems during my teen years with one being published in my High School Newsletter my Junior year. I continued to write sporadically through my children’s growing-up years. My most proficient writing period, though, has been the past ten years. My inspiration comes at all hours, and I have learned to listen and write when it occurs.
Have you ever done any good for anyone?
Yes, I have always tried to do good for others, even from an early age. I was a Sunday School teacher of five students, ages 5-12, when I was only fourteen. I was much more mature than most young people my age, thus I was asked to fill the position.
From that, I became an advocate for children with special needs when my own children were quite young. That developed into advocacy for childhood public education as an officer in my children’s school PTA organization. I also coordinated efforts with the District and State offices of PTA.
I then moved into advocacy for community members with special needs, serving as a volunteer for two-and-a-half years before being paid for part-time hours and volunteering hours to supplement paid time. By then, I had realized my own natural abilities as both social worker and counselor. I pursued an education in the latter.
My greatest hope is: When my time on earth has ended, I will have left a warm spot in more than one person’s heart–because that is what life is all about, I believe. I try to ask myself: “What Would Jesus Do?” and pattern my life after Him.
Do you live to eat or eat to live?
I eat to live. Do not get me wrong, I love to eat–good food–but I daily research my health’s nutritional needs and design my diet accordingly. Health concerns have presented the need for this–in the past decade especially. I have always eaten a healthy diet, but it is now much more prevalent in my planning of what I will eat. There are days when my writing might make me forget to eat, if I did not need to eat nutritionally for my health. So, I do both.
How important do you think modernity is?
It depends upon the person and his or her lifestyle. I believe modernity is important in that many would not know how to live without it. The pandemic, I believe will lead some to learn more of the old ways just to ensure survival, but many will ‘fight’ if you will, to keep the modern ways–and that is ok–because they need the modern ways to be all they can be too.
I grew up old-school, and I know the old ways–live by them to a large degree–but I embrace modernity too. I enjoy learning new tech skills. As my poetry, my novel, my essays, blogs and painting skills grow, I hope to publish and branch out from there. I plan to create an author/artist web page in the near future and would like to be able to do my own upkeep and IT work.
What would you choose from both modernism and traditionalists?
From modernism, as I said above, I want to create a web page for my authorial endeavors and for my painting and sketching. That will involve a lot, so I will need to embrace modern phone technology and continue to grow in other technologies as the need arises.
From traditionalists, there is nothing and no one more important than my children and grandchildren. They are gifts from God, and I treasure them more than they can possibly know.
I also love to garden, preserve my own foods through canning, freezing–and want to begin dehydrating–in order to limit unhealthy additives. I love the process of doing the old crafts of knitting, crocheting, sewing, quilting, etc. There are not enough hours in a day to do all I would like to do–but I try!
by tkbrown 
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