Lost Corner Letters

Some thoughts on life and living

The things our world cannot steal, the things that will last, are your integrity, your purpose and, for me, a richly woven inner tapestry that values a worn-down old place in Chatham County as highly as the biggest, finest American home.
Mitzi Viola, “At Home“

Essays, etc.

Derailed {Where the railroad ends}

There’s this place nearby where the railroad ends. It’s four miles from my house as the crow flies. If you take this rural road due west toward another, then a sharp right on Swing Road to a hard left on a long, winding stretch of farm-dotted blacktop, it reveals itself just before Catsburg. You can’t…
Boston remix

This post was written in April after the Boston Marathon bombing. It is offered today in honor of a girl who looked evil in the eye armed only with the weapon of truth. It is also a tribute to her classmates, including two who were injured during the attempted assassination, and for girls and people…
How to make an exit and other things I learned from my dog

That was to be the title of this piece. I thought of it a few months before she died, and I began compiling notes. I prepared for her death as though I knew how it would all go down. While it’s a really great title, the manner of her going was as unplanned as her…
It all comes down to love

“The holiest of all the spots on Earth is where an ancient hatred has become a present love.” This line from A Course in Miracles is a stand-out from a cursory glance at a Cliff’s Notes version of the text I have scanned several times in the last two weeks. If that doesn’t seem to…
Durham, tune up and tune in

Off Key It’s an odd thing about music that a chord or note just a half step off from its intended key can sound the most dissonant. Alternatively, a chord you miss by a long shot that is clearly a mistake can ring less troublesome to the senses. My beloved hometown missed in a big…
A healing

Journey The open highway is an incubator for soul journeys. Most days we use life’s roadways for travel – the practical act of moving from here to there. Other times we use that endless black ribbon to run from fear or discomfort. When we’re willing, however, the precious time spent driving can serve to deliver…

some thoughts on writing a life…

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I am a nonprofit development officer and student of life. For me, writing offers new ways of seeing ordinary things. I write to promote the common good and decrease the distances between people. Thanks so much for reading.
Mitzi