A Happy Write Year Ahead

 

On New Year's Eve many sing a Scottish folk song written by Robert Burns. They sing, “we’ll take a cup o’ kindness yet, for auld lang syne" at Hogmanay, the Scottish New Year’s Eve. Hogmanay derives from a French word for a gift given at the New Year.

Just after midnight, someone scrambles into the house of a neighbor or friend with gifts. This is called "first footing" or becoming the first person to bring good fortune for the new year. The first-footer is a tall dark-haired male.

Customs vary by region within Scotland and include, decorated herrings, fireballs, pipe bands, fruit cakes, song and whiskey.

Have a safe New Year's Eve. Get to sleep early,  Then you will have a clear head to write your way into the New Year on January 1, 2023.

When you awaken in 2023 give yourself a gift. Stay under the covers a few minutes to think about your writing.

Place a sheet of paper where you'll see it every day. Over the next weeks, make notes of what you expect to play with, discover and accomplish in your 2023 writing.  Add wild expectations.

Along the way, add in several daring goals to push yourself beyond limits.

In the last two weeks of January, lock in your goals and determine three actions for each. 

l. What you will do (specifically) to accomplish your goals given your current writing climate and resources.
2. Who might be able to help you. Contact that person with specific requests. 
3. Write a scene of what to expect when you meet your goal. 

Happy Write Year begins tomorrow.

Get Your Mind Ready for 2023

Place your fussy mind in a top drawer. Hear the closing click.

Hang a fun and weighty item. You don't need a key.

Listen for the jostling and grumbling inside. Say, "Stay."

Put on your happy shoes and saunter out the door.

Let nature intrigue with its winter delights.

Trees will have shed their leaves but evergreens prevail.

Feel grateful release from tendrils of mind.

Go into your heart to flee into sensory experiences.

Discover your neighborhood: fireplace smoke,

a lingering rose, fresh earth, a gush of wind.

Breathe a drift of lavender. Hear a phoebe or crow's call.

Wander until you have forgotten your mind.

Just take your time. No need to rush.

Energize the spirit and play.

When you return, open the drawer

to a renewal of friendship.

"The greatest meditation is a mind that lets go." - Atisa Dipa

A 2023 Write Revolution

 

Have you started thinking about your 2023 Resolutions? 

                                     Consider a Revolution of Ideas instead.

Timothy Pychyl, a professor of psychology at Carleton University in Canada, describes resolutions as an effort to reinvent oneself. People make resolutions as a way of motivating themselves, he says. Pychyl argues that people aren't ready to change their habits, particularly bad habits, and that accounts for the high failure rate of resolutions. Another reason for the high failure rate involves unrealistic goals and expectations.

Stop the resolutions!  Let the Revolution of Writing Begin. Change your approach.

Edward Bulwer-Lytton etched eternal, “The pen is mightier than the sword,” in his play Richelieu; Or the Conspiracy. When he played The Joker in Batman, Jack Nicholson threw a poison quill into someone’s neck. The powerful pen concept has seen constant use in communicating the force of language.

We face beasts. They wear a variety of costumes. Often we have to discover how to conquer them in ways beyond disciplining ourselves.

"It's always just beginning. Everything is always just beginning." - Jakuso Kwong

Move into a write flight pattern:

Write in moments. Make each feel fresh and full of surprises. Strike from all sides of the subject. Revolutionize with positivity.

Plan every day to focus on an aspect of writing in the moment. No matter how mundane the words appear, let them flow, flee and fly on the page or screen.

Celebrate your success of making the moments happen. If you write today; you're a writer today. Applaud yourself.

Be mindful. Get playful. 

Stay physically, emotionally and mentally aware of your inner state as you write moment by moment, rather than living in the past or future.

Don't take yourself so seriously. Have fun and laugh when you feel cranky and don't want to write.  Write about cranky.  Write even more.

Fire up the pen, flap those wings, and take on the moments of 2023 in words.

Find your Write Revolution.

Happy Doodle Day

Do you remember when you used colored pencils or crayons to fill in the swirls and patterns of a coloring book?

Clinical psychologist, Dr. Scott M. Bea, finds that while coloring the focused attention elicits pleasure and calm. Bea says, “Adult coloring requires modest attention focused outside of self-awareness. It is a simple activity that takes us outside ourselves. In the same way, cutting the lawn, knitting, or taking a Sunday drive can all be relaxing.”

During the coloring process, when moved away from our self-focus, attention shifts from thoughts from the past or worries of the future.

The brain working on a simple activity tends to relax without judgment getting in the way. Individuals remain in the present moment as a meditative exercise.

The outcome of coloring is predictable and can't be done "wrong." It does not test capability.



Writing with a doodle type of spontaneity may also accomplish a similar focus of energy.

Learn to doodle as a moving meditation.  

Find Nature's Moments

 

"If you study Japanese art, you see a man who is undoubtedly wise, philosophic and intelligent, who spends his time how? In studying the distance between the earth and the moon? No. In studying the policy of Bismark? No. He studies a single blade of grass. This blade of grass leads him to draw every plant and then the seasons, the wide aspects of the countryside, then animals, then the human figure." - Vincent van Gogh

Find moments in nature to explore.

Dip into the shapes and colors of petals.

Notice amusements.








Find your wings for flight.

Gains From Unwanted Gifts

"People come into our lives without our bidding, and stay without our invitation. They give us knowledge we do not seek; gifts we do not want. But we need them all the same." 

- said by Mrs. Sparrow in The Stockholm Octavo
by Karen Engelman

With a holiday completed, unwanted gifts create the possibility for story. Did you receive packages, relatives, acquaintances or friends that fit that category?  Are these gifts of self-knowledge?

Examine gifts brought to you in a variety of ways. Include negative influences that caused positive results. Gifts can include knowledge gained of yourself through the tribulations of a relationship's needs.

People change and needs change. How have you met changes and needs?

Detail the gains from unwanted gifts. Discover a treasure or two and the gift of self-knowledge.

Christmas Memories

‎"One Christmas was so much like another, in those years around the sea-town corner now and out of all sound except the distant speaking of the voices I sometimes hear a moment before sleep, that I can never remember whether it snowed for six days and six nights when I was twelve or whether it snowed for twelve days and twelve nights when I was six." 

              ~ A Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas*

The season stimulates memories in the form of anecdotes, conversations, and relationships.  

Events turn over and over in the heart and mind. 

Will the memory fulfill itself in the events of the moment? Will those who have left return home to celebrate?

Will you enjoy the return of a lost relative for the day?  Will you return to a childlike self for the festivities?  Do you require a day of youthful pleasures?  Do you recall when someone told you about Santa Claus? 

How might you transport yourself in words over the miles and years?  

Bring memories to the fireside and remember moments.

 

Happy Jólabókaflóð

 

Iceland publishes more books per capita than any other country in the world. The Nordic island with a population of 329,000, loves to read and write. They publish five titles for every 1,000 Icelanders. That means one in 10 Icelanders will publish. The majority of books are sold from late September to early December. 

On Christmas Eve, Icelanders exchange books during, jólabókaflóð, the "Christmas Book Flood."

Iceland's literary history dates to medieval times. Landmarks of world literature, including the Sagas of the Icelanders and the Poetic Edda, are still read and translated.

Designated a UNESCO City of Literature, Reykjavík has a population of 200,000 people. Within that small group, the city's library's book loans total 1.2 million in a year. A popular TV show in Iceland, Kiljan, is devoted entirely to books.

According to Baldur Bjarnason, a researcher who has written on the Icelandic book industry, "If you look at book sales distribution in the U.K. and the States, most book sales actually come from a minority of people. Very few people buy lots of books. Everybody else buys one book a year if you're lucky. It's much more widespread in Iceland. Most people buy several books a year.

"

Bjarnason continues, "The book in Iceland is such an enormous gift, you give a physical book. You don't give e-books here."

On Christmas Eve enjoy the power of the book flood. 

Take time to cuddle with chocolate and a fun book.

 

Mistletoe Moments

 

The mystical power of mistletoe and the tradition of kissing under this plant originated with the legend of Goddess Frigga, the Goddess of Love and her son Balder, God of the Summer Sun. 

Balder dreamed about his death. Frightened, he told his mother of the dream. Frigga felt concern for her son and also for the life on earth. She knew that without Balder, life on earth would come to an end. Frigga appealed to every being in air, water, fire, and earth to promise her that they would never harm her son. Every animal and plant under and above the earth promised to keep her son safe.

Loki, the God of Evil, an enemy of Balder, knew that Frigga had overlooked one plant in her appeal. Known as mistletoe, it grew on apple and oak trees.

Loki made an arrow and placed a sprig of this plant at its tip. He beguiled Hoder, the blind brother of Balder and the God of Winter, and made him shoot this arrow at Balder. 

Balder immediately died and everybody worried as the earth turned cold and life became dreary. For the next three days, every creature tried to bring Balder back to life. Finally Frigga with the help of mistletoe brought him back to life. Her tears on the plant became pearly white berries and she blessed it so that anyone who stood under the mistletoe would never be harmed. They would instead receive  a kiss as a token of love.

The plant’s ability to remain lush and fruitful throughout the year led to its use as a symbol of fertility. The Greek goddess Artemis wore a crown of mistletoe as an emblem of immortality. The plant also played a role in the Druids’ celebration of the Winter Solstice. With a golden knife they cut it from the oak and made potions to boost procreation.

Mistletoe served as the magical ingredient in the kissing ball or kissing bough in Victorian England. This round frame trimmed with ribbons and ornaments often held a tiny nativity with mistletoe at the bottom. The ball hung from rafters or the ceiling. Guests at holiday parties, weddings and other festive occasions played kissing games beneath the ball. The kiss beneath the decoration was said to bring good luck and lasting friendship. 

Washington Irving, wrote of a tradition in kissing beneath the mistletoe in Old Christmas From the Sketch Book of Washington Irving:

"The mistletoe is still hung up in farm-houses and kitchens at Christmas; and the young men have the privilege of kissing the girls under it, plucking each time a berry from the bush. When the berries are all plucked, the privilege ceases."

The custom of plucking berries for each kiss, and ceasing the bestowal of kisses once the berries are gone, has been left behind.  Still, the hanging of mistletoe and the custom kissing beneath it remains a popular tradition in Christmas celebrations. 

Enjoy a mistletoe moment on Christmas day.

Make Moments Marvelous

"The secret of health is not to mourn the past or worry about the future but to live in the present moment wisely." — Zen Proverb

  

Human beings have such a difficult time just "being."  We are always doing . . . worrying about yesterday, then shuddering about tomorrow.

The natural world has a lot to teach about existing in the marvel of moments. 

When the brain sends out negative thoughts or someone sets you off about events in the past or future, take time to identify with an animal in nature.  

Make time for a walk. Forget about politics, negativity, and even the weather. 

Go for a natural immersion.

Appreciate the feeling of breezes on the arms, a whiff of eucalyptus or a scent in your environment. 

Listen to birdsong and look up to appreciate the miracle of flight.

Let the shimmer on a hummingbird's wings in sunlight activate a peaceful state of mind.

Observe behaviors that fill each moment. 

Enjoy a glorious opportunity to dance, trot, and breathe in, then out.  

Once in a rhythm, you will stop the mind chatter.  

Let laughter stimulate the stomach muscles to tighten.

The magic of minutes in the present will calm your nerves. Find a friend who will remind you to stay in that focus.

In the details you will merge with the Marvel of Moments.

 

Achieve Imperfection

'The saxophone is an imperfect instrument, especially the tenor and soprano, as far as intonation goes. The challenge is to sing on an imperfect instrument that is outside of your body." - Stan Getz

As human beings, we often feel the goal of life involves the race for "perfection."  It sounds like such a great achievement when charging toward quality and excellence serves us better.  

Nature provides beauty as designs with angles, colors, and fragrances. Birds reveal their differences in feathers.

All sport their imperfections.

“I hog the covers, and my second toe is longer than my big one. My hair has its own zip code...You don't love someone because they're perfect. You love them in spite of the fact that they're not.” - Jodi Picoult

Accept your perfect imperfections. 

It takes a good heart to discover the wonder that's hidden within them.

"Life is not always perfect. Like a road, it has many bends, ups and down, but that’s its beauty.” - Amit Ray 

Celebrate Imperfections.

Cloud Play

 

Trungpa Rinpoche advised pausing to look at the sky or stopping to listen intently. He believed in using gaps in life and called it, "poking holes in the clouds."

Take time to notice the space between breaths.

Discover a gap between thoughts.

                  Stay in a moment of awe.

                                  Relish an instant of curiosity.

Pause for creativity to take over.

     Remain present without negativity or judgment.

           Find a pen in the clouds and write into the mystery.

Enjoy cloud play.