joann.ollila

What’s Holding Me Back? I was thumbing through old notebooks the other day and came upon one from 2016. Curious about what was sloshing around in my brain back then, I opened it. The first page was folded in half and said “EVICTION NOTICE!!!” Just like that, with multiple exclamation points, plus a few lines […]

Going on a Bear Hunt Do you remember the childhood story about going on a bear hunt? Its song’s familiar refrain goes, “We’re going on a bear hunt, we’re going on a bear hunt. We’re going to catch a big one, we’re going to catch a big one. I’m not scared, I’m not scared. What […]

Finding the Balance in Newness Since starting Narrativiti and becoming a full-time writer, I get asked, almost daily, some version of one of the following questions:   a) So, how is it going? b) What are you working on? c) Are you enjoying your free time? d) What do your days look like? I understand […]

“Show the world the impossible is possible.” Coming down from the high of the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, which dominated my psyche over the past month, I have thought a lot about what it means to be great; not just better than others but the best you can be at something.   As I […]

The Depths of Vulnerability I lost my mom on January 25th, 2024. It was the day my heart shattered into thousands of tiny pieces. Witnessing the irregular, jagged process of dying helped me understand and appreciate my inner strength, but when the final breath came, I felt like every ounce of strength I had stored […]

Discovering the Meaning of Strength The act of writing a memoir serves as a personal looking glass into the depth of your own soul. The choice to share one’s soul is an act of vulnerability. As a writer working through the lived experiences of my own memoir, I am treading water in a sea of […]

And so, let’s begin… It is humbling – and a little daunting, if I am being honest – to admit that I am at the beginning of my journey as a writer, especially since I have been writing words under the banner of various companies for over two decades.   I have crafted webpages full […]

Fireflies & Crickets When I am unable to write due to life’s other demands, I visualize the ideas that live inside my head as little fireflies – trapped and bumbling around, bumping into the glass jar of my brain.   The inability to unscrew the lid and release them always makes me feel a bit […]