Discover Where Writing Leads

All your yesterdays are buried deep. Passed years seem safe ones, vanquished ones, while the future lives in a cloud formidable from a distance.  The cloud clears as you enter smooth as silence; rough as glass.
                                 - from West with the Night by Beryl Markam.

Life involves a push and pull of forces. It becomes a strain for something; often against a resistance.  

We grow to appreciate the little things. When life wears us down, we learn problem solving, creative choices and acceptance. Writing about the stresses and strains clears our vision.  It permits possibities to appear. 

Creative action:

Create two columns where you list five favorite and five disappointing yesterdays.

Include those that have become "buried deep." Add achievements,  celebrations, and friendships on one side.  On the other side post fragile times of loss, failure and frustration. 

Pair one from each column and write to the pair for fifteen minutes.

Consider what the joys, stresses and strains create when interwoven.  To distance yourself, write in third person.  

Notice where the writing leads.

Hir a Thoddaid - Write a Welsh Poem

The Thoddaid (TOE-thy'd) is a Welsh poetry form. It includes a combination of end rhymes and internal rhyming.

Rules:

- Six lines
- Lines one through four and six have nine syllables and share the same end rhyme.
- Fifth Line has 10 syllables.
- There is a "B" rhyme somewhere near the end of the fifth line and beginning the sixth line.


Beyond the breakers there forms a glow
where a pause in the waves looks like snow
as a sunbeam marks shadows for show
along its stream feathers move below
then flapping soars an osprey way up high
captures sky wonder for a wild blue show.

Write a nature Thoddaid. Mention a flower or bird. Or use them in a title and do not mention them in the poem.

Find the Flow

 

"It is better to be a hopeful person than a cynical, grumpy one, because you have to live in the same world either way, and if you're hopeful, you have more fun." 

- Barbara Kingsolver

Kingsolver also wrote, "Don't try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you want to say. It's the one and only thing you have to offer."

Identify where energy needs release for creativity.

Enhance the flow.


Relax the tweaks, unravel snarls.

Cut through the nets where the art of wonder tangles. 

Flap into fantasies with diligence, zeal, and purpose. 

It takes effort to progress past the quagmire of life's onslaughts.

Find and follow the flow with a suggestion from Lao Tzu  to enjoy your greatest treasures: simplicity, patience and compassion.

Discover a Doorway into Thanks

 

It doesn't have to be

the blue iris, it could be

weeds in a vacant lot or a few

small stones; just

pay attention, then patch

a few words together and don't try

to make them elaborate, this isn't

a contest but the doorway

into thanks, and a silence in which

another voice may speak

                  - Mary Oliver

Discover the simple today. Take a wander around the area. 

Notice what summer brings. Turn a stone over and find creatures that wriggle.

Listen to birdsong and neighborhood sounds. Which scents arrive on the breeze? Become aware of silence.

Turn a corner.

Do you find a "silence in which another voice may speak." Find the doorway into thanks.

Discover Possibilities

 

The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience." 

                             —Eleanor Roosevelt

What does it take for self-mastery?  Life provides opportunities for self-discoveries through errors made. Insights move into moments of enlightenment. Miles Davis says, "Do not fear mistakes. There aren't any. Only lessons."  

If we pay attention to our choices, we can make different mistakes and learn new skills. Life can be compared to a pencil with a point and an eraser. We're meant to use the eraser but not to let it erase so far down we forget to use the point.

It takes a lifetime to learn about ourselves as we commit experience.  We use and discard mental patterns and habits. Often we intercept choices before they turn into misfortunes. We learn to solve problems.

To evolve with self-mastery, we need to let go of what does not serve us and discover possibilities.

Tickle for a Laughter-noon

"There was never yet an uninteresting life. 

Such a thing is an impossibility. 

Inside of the dullest exterior 

there is a drama , a comedy, and a tragedy.” - Mark Twain 

Life's too short to write its drama and tragedy. Write your life as a comedy. During the day, alter events to evoke laughter and silliness. 

Go for the fun. Write words that spell lightness, playfulness and joy. Smile until your cheeks ache. 

Write about the mysteries that delight. 

Feel chuckles tickle your knuckles for a laughter-noon.

 

Who Remembers Baby Boomer Time?

 

Launched after World War ll, we became the first wave of baby boomers.

Born to win and teased by change, we searched for identities, questioned authority, and marched for freedom.

We expected the Best in our American dream and share a mosaic of memories.

Here are a few:

"I remember Mama . . . and the day when Dagmar put her elbows on the table," the television program began.

Lucky Strike meant fine tobacco. A boy dressed in a red coat and a box hat called for Phillip Moraaaace.

Gloreous George glorified wrestling, loved by grandmothers.

Russians sent Sputnik into the skies.

We went into orbit with Alan Shepherd and John Glenn.

A father knew Best. Ozzie and Harriet defined values and behavior for American families.

With the key from around our necks, we unfastened our metal skates and nailed them to a long board, with one set of wheels at each end.

At school sirens tested our air raid skills forcing us under desks until the all clear. Parents wearing gas masks marched in front of the schools to protest the arrivial of "smog" created by automobiles.

We sang, "Brusha Brusha Brusha with Bucky Beaver.

Paying $3 per car at the drive in movies, we paired or double dated, fogging the car windows.

Car hops rushed on roller skates at drive-ins for food, delivering burgers and double thick chocolate malts. 

We wriggled on seats at corner soda fountains sipping cherry cokes.

Nehis and hog dogs, Pez candy, and Bosco added to our diets.

Doris Day and Rock Husdon romanced from twin beds.

The Mouseketeers amused with Annette.

We sang the Monster Mash with the Purple People Eater and danced the mashed potato, the twist, and the swim.

Ed Sullivan celebrated Elvis and the Beatles.

See you later alligator.  In a while crocodile.

Joan Baez strummed in coffee houses and sparked our souls to peace.

Beatniks arose. Then we had hippies.

Madras and tie-dye.  Lava lamps.
       Sonny and Sher made the beat go on.

Nehru jackets, bell bottoms and huge daisies sprouted.  VW buses went on the road to Woodstock and free love.

We glorified flower power wearing love beads of mellow yellow and jolly green.
Then rushed to "feel he warm" with McKuen and read, The Profit by Gibran. 

Aretha. Mic and the Stones.

Hendrix sent us into a purple haze as our world flashed in strobe, black light nd psychedelia.

Lucy in the Sky and Along Comes Mary sent cryptic messages.

Ban the bomb.

Feelin' groovy or burning bras.

Some protested war fought in a far jungle. Others left for Canada or Mexico.

Too many heroes died. So many returned in pain.
        Too many heroes came home to rejrection.
               Hello darkness my old friend.

Simon and Garfunkle promised a bridge over troubled waters.

Watts erupted ro remind us of our differences. Kent State fueled our angst.

Gas sold for 25 cents a gallon.

We watched the moon landing with victory leaps for humanity.

We mourned the loss of JFK, Bobby, and Martin.

Beyond our confusion, we created true freedom, discovered the Best within ourselves.

We became the Best and our Best goes on.

What do you recall?

Try Unexpected Incongruity

  

During a time that feels empty or dry, we need to discover ways to freshen our thoughts.  

Soren Kierkegaard believed in the rotation method to keep the mind fresh. He indicated that a farmer can't grow wheat year after year. They must replenish the soil by sowing beans one year. It also may need to remain fallow.

Albert Einstein used "combinatory play."  Imagining he traveled on a beam of light and glancing back at a clock created breakthroughs for him. He visualized letting go of a coin in a free-falling elevator.

Any changes in thinking and perception jostle the mind. Distractions help to reset thoughts from focus on a single task and its implications, concerns and consequences. It helps us move into to a new venue where creativity blossoms.

Try, "See the Kite" approach.  If you want to divert someone in conversation, point to the sky and say, "What a Kite." An individual will look up and stop speaking, thinking or doing.

Use the distraction to accomplish whatever you need.  Divert an unpleasant situation, steal a bite of someone's dessert. . . or even a kiss.  

Adapt this idea.

Use unexpected incongruity when feeling frustrated. Consider these examples:

What do eagles, Robinhood and pencils have in common?

How do baboons, Monterey and chocolate reveal their differences?

Combine kittens, cranberries and the Pacific ocean for a play day.

What skitters in and out of the hole below change?

Intuition ticklers, absurd thoughts, and humor intrigue the mind and provide unexpected insights. 

Use the kite approach and search the sky for ideas when frustrated..Try three unrelated items, extend to more. Freshen and free your spirit.

Locate Inspiration

 

Wolfgang Pauli and Niels Bohr, Nobel prize-winners, presented many counterintuitive theories. Once while Pauli presented his ideas about a radical new hypothesis, Bohr came out of the audience to the stage and interrupted his colleague. 

Bohr said, "We all agree that your theory is crazy. What divides us is whether it has a chance to be correct. My own feeling is that it is not crazy enough."

Consider your ideas and possibilities. Could they be crazy enough to be true?  Go on an unpredictable quest to free trapped vitality.  

Try an experiment to awaken sluggish magic.

Look into nature for nurture. Try combining creative ideas to develop music, literature, and another art form.

Synthesize and coordinate all aspects of life you do the best. 

Express yourself with a flourish.

Notice with renewed awareness areas of life you take for granted.

Look.

      Listen.

Locate

      inspiration through

              imagination.

Find the Joy

 

"Authentic joy is not a euphoric state or a feeling of being high. 

Rather is it a state of appreciation that slows us to participate fully in our lives." 

- Pema Chödrön 

Equanimity involves mental composure. Moving into a difficult situation with calm brings balance. "In the moment we come to abide with the energy instead of acting it out, we are training in equanimity," says Pema Chödrön. 

We achieve freedom by engaging with the energy of the moment rather than reacting. Not an easy activity, it takes discipline and practice to release former behaviors and select others to replace them. 

When sad or glad, we need to widen our circle of understanding and compassion.

Use creativity to change attitudes.

Get out of the way of the ego's control. During a negative experience, project that event as a movie and see it in all its dimensions. Breathe to calm and quiet the emotions that arise. Observe the scene with all senses.

Imagine a musical or comedy evolving from the situation. Sing into silly.

The next anxiety that arrives, use a metaphor from nature. Watch it bloom like a rose. Count the petals, smell the fragrance, feel a touch of breeze. Make positive problem solving choices without judgment.

If an initial reaction to stress is, "Oh sH&^!" find a word to replace the habitual response with a key word.  Say:  Shift. Turn. Flip. Then say the chosen word. Get to the other side of your typical response.

Rainer Maria Rilke said, "This in the end is the only kind of courage that is required of us. The courage to face the strangest most unusual most inexplicable experience that can meet us."

Awareness, creativity, and patience help us dwell in the places that frighten or frustrate. Flexibility in times of uncertainty enables equanimity.

Slow down to savor life's wonders. Find the joy.

Time is Now

 

I am so tired of waiting 

Aren't you 

for the world to become good

and beautiful and kind? 

                  ~ Langston Hughes

Don't wait.

Everyone needs to spend time to learn from nature.

Spread gratitude for the simple joys.
      Bring a smile to troubles.

Let humor translate the ridiculous.
         Take responsibility from the inside out.

Don't wait. Nike says, "Just Do It."

The time is now.

Into the Flow

When a day presents challenges, we have fingers and words that will mesh and flow to keep us in the present moment. 

While you're reading, let each word take the place of an anxious feeling or thought of the future.  Emerson writes a simple truth. We are in charge of our balance and focus on life's benefits. 

Let yourself move from the inside out without distractions of the world you cannot control.

When a situation arises that causes tension and frustration, push past it. Then let humor in to circulate and re-arrange the activity. 

Get a pen or let those fingers tickle the keys. 

Write about the funny. Let silliness dance into wonder.  

Go for an exploration in explanation.  Detail color, sound, and scent across the page.

As you write on, stay focused on the moments in movement.

Move into the Flow.

Animal Word Play

Consider ways to expand an animal word.

Duck - Something you do with your head. Add a Y and have a fun time. Get Ducky.

Bear -  Dan you bear it? Get bare?  Bear down?

Bull - Get into a bull market or a bull session.

Horse - Horse around and have some fun. Laugh until you are hoarse.

Select a few animals and use their characteristics to define meanings.

Could you seagull into your sandwich? Do you hummingbird through tasks?

Why turtle today. Just worm your way. 

Get out and play with animal  words today.

Create Beyond the Abstract

 

What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the winter time; it is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset. - Last words of Crowfoot, Blackfoot Chief

     

Writers discover ways to reveal feelings, thoughts, and conditions. Imagery creates a path to share life experiences beyond abstract words: beauty, love, fear, courage. 

Find your notions about life without mentioning the abstract word. Demonstrate the sounds, scents, textures, and colors of "beauty."  

Create beyond the abstract. Detail your experiences so readers will connect with them.

Mind Travel

As you think, you travel, and as you love, you attract. You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow 

where your thoughts take you.  - James Lane Allen

      

A traveler walked along a road from one village to another. He noticed a man tending to a garden by the sea. 

The man smiled and waved, "Good day" to the traveler. The traveler turned  and said, "Excuse me, I am travelling from a village in the mountains to this village by the sea. What is it like here?


"What was your experience of the village in the mountains?"
 the man asked the traveler.

"Dreadful," replied the traveler, "I am glad to be away from there. I found the people most unwelcoming. When I first arrived I was greeted coldly. I was never made to feel a part of the village no matter how hard I tried. The villagers don't like strangers. What can I expect in the village by the sea?"


"I am sorry to tell you but I think your experience will be much the same here," replied the man.

The traveler hung his head and walked on.


Later another visitor journeyed down the same road and came upon the man gardening.


"I'm going to the village by the sea," said the second visitor, "Do you know what it is like?"


"I do," replied the man "Tell me - from where have you come?"


"I've come from the village in the mountains."


"And how was that?"
 the man asked 

"It was wonderful. I would have stayed but I am committed to travelling on. I felt like a member of the family in the village. The elders gave me much advice, the children laughed and joked with me.  People were generally kind and generous. It will always hold special memories for me. What is the village by the sea like?" he asked again.


"I think you will find it much the same" replied the man, "Good day to you."

"Good day and thank you," the visitor replied, smiled, and journeyed on.
 

Consider how attitude affects your daily journey. Shake out feelings and thoughts to focus on what works in the environment of people and places.  

Avoid providing room for negativity to flow into the mix. Believe goodness will prevail in all your travels.