Deb Hart and her journals

For three decades, Deb Hart was one of the most recognizable voices in the Lansing area. She was a mainstay at both Q-106.1-FM and 94.9-FM WMMQ, the local rock stations — but surprisingly left the radio industry last year.

Today, she’s a co-host on FOX 47 TV’s “Morning Blend” show, while also teaching yoga. Her new life also allows more time for another passion: writing. That’s where her favorite thing comes in. Here’s what Hart had to say:

I treasure having my journal within reach as much as possible. Usually, it’s tucked into my too-big purse that’s crammed with too much stuff. There’s also one on my nightstand — and a yellow legal pad — under the bed, now that I think about it.

As my purse and I are parked at home during these pandemic days, I have had my current journal pretty close by, especially since the start of April, which is National Poetry Month. My painter-poet bestie and I have vowed to send at least one poem a week to each other in observance.

My friend is the one who, after taking a writers’ workshop, introduced me to the “Strathmore Art Journal,” which is bound, mixed media and unlined 7.75 x 9.75 paper. Her teacher for the workshop encourages aspiring writers to quadrant off a page, list 10 things you see, hear and do each day and then sketch something in the other square. It really helps fuel the creative process and creates more awareness of the world around us.

The stack of journals I’m holding in the photo is from the past several decades of writing down my life. I love to flip one open and be reminded of what was happening then, to see poems started that will one day be finished and to uncover fodder for my future books.

My filled journals, past and current, represent my travels of geography, relationships, therapy, joy, grief, anger, failure and success. They document the unveiling of the person I am trying to become, as well as who I was before.

This cradled stack of paper and words had been stored in a big plastic tote in a closet. They were schlepped around in several moves, until finally, after leaving my 30-year radio career in January of 2019, I unearthed the pile and moved it closer to my desk, where I did begin working on my poems.

In sorting through the pages, I discovered that my writing is better than I thought it was and that I really love some of the work I have created. I realized when the time is right and there’s an interest, I want to share what might resonate with others.

I try to remember to write down the things for which I’m grateful, while also scribbling out the stories I hear from other people. I document the conversations overheard and had. I write down the observances of human interaction from which I often make up my own stories.

In this “time of the virus,” a blank page is a marvelous distraction from the feeling of helplessness, of worry. It’s a space to turn words into images and to make notes about what we do and don’t do. Maybe, it’s also a space to list unexpected gifts from the “new normal.”

(This interview was edited by Rich Tupica. If you have a suggestion for Favorite Things, email rich@lansingcitypulse.com.)