Discovery of What's Important

To stop rushing around, to sit quietly on the grass, to switch off the world's noise, to al low the eye to see a willow, a bush, a cloud a leaf, is an unforgettable experience.  - adapted from Frederick Franck

To move beyond when dissonance blasts one's ears. 

Retreat to nature's cure. Use breaths, scents, and views

to assuage cares.

As the waves scramble to shore with their persistence and purpose, imagine ways to emulate their process and progress.

Use of Lie andLay

Seals lie in the sun while sunbathers lay their towels on the sand.

Writers become frustrated deciding when to use lie and lay. An easy way to distinguish between them: lie means "to recline"; lay means "to place." As in, "I lay the blanket on the floor, then I lie on it." You may recall the saying: People lie, hens lay.

Trouble begins in past tense. Past tense of lie is lay: I lay on the bed. The past tense of lay is laid: She laid her basket on the ground.

In the English language, we have regular and irregular verbs. With the regular word, play, principal parts include the simple present (play), the simple past (played), and the past participle (played). I play now. I played yesterday. I have played in the past. Both lie and lay are irregular.

Lie: I lie on the beach today. I lay on the beach yesterday. I have lain on that beach with my dog.

Lay: I lay my hands on the keyboard today. I laid my hands on the keyboard yesterday. I have laid my hands on the keyboard many times to write stories.

The English language also contrains transitive and intransitive verbs. A transitive verb transfers the mean from the verb to a direct object. Verbs such as hit and beat almost always take an object. An intransitive verbs takes no object. Lie is intransitive. You have to lay something. You must lay the plate on the table, or the blanket in the closet or the shovel on the sand. Lie takes no object. If the verb takes an object, use some form of the verb to lay. Get it?

Lie means to recline and is intransitive. Lay means to place and takes an object. (Just remember that the past tense of lie happens to be lay.)Prepositions influence Lay: lay about, lay away, lay low, lay aside, lay into, lay off. Idioms include: lay it on thick and lay of the land.

I wouldn't lie about the use of lie and lay.

Write Happy New Year!

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.

Begin 2015 with curiosity and creativity.
Place a sheet of paper where you'll see it every day. Over the next weeks, make notes of  how to play, what to discover and accomplish in your 2015 writing.  

Add wild expectations.

Along the way, add 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!