Hi there! Are you a good listener? Well, for me it’s hit and miss. Ha!

What I mean is that sometimes I have the most difficulty listening to those closest to me, especially my family. (Most especially my husband — sorry honey, you married kind of a difficult lady. Can you see where our girls get those stubborn streaks?)

I knew when I branched out into the writing community that is ROW80 that I’d be commiserating over a deep love of writing, which is what brought us together. Yet I’m seeing far more benefits to this community of writers than I ever expected. Some of the topics that come up as we all work toward our writing goals generate conversations of real value to other areas of my life. Who knew I’d be chatting with other writers about health tips, or tips for forgiving ourselves and moving forward when things don’t go our way?

Writing is what brings this group together, but the specific people involved are such wonderful specimens of humankind! I never expected having a writing community to literally MAKE ME HAPPIER, in all areas of my life. Thank you, writer friends!

And for any writers out there who have not yet heard about ROW80 — if you feel like you’d benefit from knowing other writers (and who wouldn’t?), click that link above and get signed up for Round 2, which will begin April 2, 2012.