I started interacting with Kat not long after I started blogging a year ago and I’ve found her presence a charming and calming one.

Her posts are witty, creative and inspiring. She also contributes regularly to Echoes of my neighbourhood blogging challenge.

Kathy shares in her words below, her World, her work and her love for writing, her furry friends and family.

By day I can be found in a corporate cubicle, corresponding with and for executives, creating reports, and planning fabulous events and travel to exotic places for other people!

I live in a century-old historic home in Southwest Virginia, in the shadow of the Blue Ridge Mountains, though my roots can be traced back to Chicago where I was born. Moving from the Midwest to the South was a bit of a culture shock.

Some people in the Southern United States, particularly rural Virginia still believe that the Civil has not been settled and long for a “do-over”.

Before I had children I did a short stint in the Marine Corps, not because I was uber patriotic. I saw it as a way to move out and get paid while training for a career. As you may have guessed, my strengths were assessed in the Administrative field.

Today, my four grown daughters, have presented me with 6 and counting grandchildren (one is due this July making it 7!) and 4 grand pups.

When we all gather for Thanksgiving or Christmas we are 16 in number. I do love having a big family and we are all very close – an added blessing!

These days I am “mom” to a house full of critters, three dogs, three cats, a tortoise and a sun conure. They keep me busy! I also like to post photos of my beautiful garden and the trees in my neighborhood, but gardening is not my thing.

I am very allergic to green stuff, especially in the Spring, Summer and Fall. So I leave getting in the dirt to my partner Traci and take in the view from my library. Which brings me to things I do love…books! Oodles and oodles of books. We dedicated an entire room to books!

I also like to paint, mostly in acrylic and I play the guitar and love to sing. When my kids were younger, we would travel from nursing homes to revivals, and even private family reunions.

I even cut a few albums of original songs back then. I peddled them out of my trunk and gave most of them away. I discovered poetry a few years later and found that I loved it.

Oh and a few more things I love…trees (yes, I’m a tree hugger!), the ocean (any type of moving water really) and faeries.

You can probably tell I am a pretty positive person. I tend to be optimistic and trusting and not a big planner. Change is exciting to me.

One of my favorite sayings is, “I don’t worry about getting lost, I just change where I want to go.”

I have been writing for most of my life. My first poem when I was around 7 was called The Purple Cow: I never saw a purple cow, I never hope to see one, but I can tell you anyhow, I’d rather see than be one!

Fast forward to the 21st century. I had done a bit of creative writing on social media, but I really didn’t feel comfortable pouring my heart out in that platform. I had signed up with WordPress a year before I actually wrote my first post.

I was so nervous about sharing my writing with anyone, inviting only a few close friends who I knew would be encouraging (it’s good to keep a few of those friends around in a pinch).

In a wild moment of abandon, I threw caution to the wind and left the site “open” to the world when I set my preferences up. To be honest, I didn’t really expect much traffic or notice. I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to write or what I wanted this blog to be so it became an online journal more or less.

A place to simmer thoughts, reflections, and perceptions while also sharing a bit of photo art…my new found artistic passion. In the past year, I have discovered Flash Fiction, which I love, and of course my first love, Poetry.

I took the WordPress Blogging 101 class and by joining several challenges I have sought to improve my writing skills. I think the post that sums it all up for me is the one I wrote about my love of writing.

It’s called “A Beautiful Obsession”

Well now, I do hope I don’t bore you to tears! My typical day starts at dawn, or 6 am or so. My first order of business is breakfast for all the animals. And of course outside potty breaks for the dogs.

Then it is a shower, fluff and scoot down the road to my day job. Thank goodness for my floor to ceiling windows. As an executive assistant, I spend the next 9-10 hours at my desk working on schedules, travel, memos, spreadsheets, and communication.

In the winter, I leave after the sun has already slipped below the horizon, but in the Spring, Summer and Fall, I enjoy a ride home in the evenings with the top down on my little red Fiat car.

Then it is supper-time for all the animals, an occasional load of laundry or run to the store and finally, when everyone is taken care of, I settle in to watch an occasional reality show or read and write a bit, or both, until it’s time for bed.

I’m a light sleeper, so it’s not unusual for me to be roused at 3 am. I find that I do some of my best writing at this time. Years ago, I loved writing with fountain pens on thick paper. These days I do a lot of writing on my phone’s notepad.

On the weekends, I do chores, shopping, watch movies, get together with family, and if I’m lucky, on Sunday I catch a nice nap. Like I said…I live a rather boring life. Being artistic is what keeps me going. It helps to see the world through a quirky lens.

My art and writing are the color and life of my existence.

When I started the blog, as I mentioned, I really didn’t have any grand plans. Not much has changed. I am so happy to be here. To write, to interact with readers and to read other blogs.

I have been published in a few online and in print anthologies.* That is always a thrill! Because I am writing more, I do think about publishing a book of poetry or short stories every now and then.

I’m thinking if there is a next step, getting my collection of thoughts between the binding of a book might be a nice thing to leave behind for my children and grandchildren. I will also likely sign up for a few more of the WordPress classes. They are well worth one’s time.

Anthologies in Print:

The Circle Continues: Women Respond to Circle of Stones, Published: August 1, 2001, by Judith Duerk – Poem, “Icons” by Kathleen Hurt (nee Myrman)
Dreams for Our Daughters: A Collection of Dreams, Wishes and Perspectives for Our Collective Daughters, Published: 2000 by Bonnie Allmon Coffey – Poem: “A Mother’s Last Wish for her Daughters” by Kathy Hurt (nee Myrman)

Collections Online:

 The memory of you by Kat Myrman
On Women’s Spiritual Poetry: Women’s Spiritual Poetry Blogspot
When you ask me to pray…this…By Kat Myrman
On Women’s Spiritual Poetry:
A Beautiful Obsession by Kat Myrman
On Women’s Spiritual Poetry: I spend a great deal of time spinning

A thank you rose for you, Kat 🙂

P.S. If you are interested in a guest post or interview, you can contact me.

Below is my first just published Poetry Book “Out of the silent breath” which is available on Amazon and Smashwords.

When you buy my book, you support me in an invaluable manner.