Pounce for Words

I tried to catch a photograph of the brown pelicans as they sailed over my head during a morning run.  My camera did not adjust in time.  Woosh, they soared beyond my camera's eye. Waves surged and bubbled along the rocks but I only captured blurs.  I kept running and listened to drums of surf and breathed the spindrift. The wind brought scents of muffins. When timing seems off, I move into other senses.

Once in a while I will feel this way when deciding to focus on a piece of writing.  If I chase my subject I might miss the details that surround it. A pull back and patience always help.  I discover a new approach or another subject to consider.

This experience occurred as I noticed a cat posed like a pointer dog.  I could not tell just what it saw. Nothing moved or wriggled ahead of it. I felt its intrigue and my eagerness slowed to match its patience. Five minutes passed as I approached and rustled the camera out of my fanny pack. I could feel a pounce would occur any second.

Then. . . click and miss.  I looked at the photograph on the screen and by chance my camera had taken a second shot. Usually these turn out of my hands and feet.  This second shot captured the pounce. The camera had rewarded my patience.

Take time to become patient with your words today. You may have to wait through your freewrite until some idea takes you in a different direction. Let that happen.

Then pounce for words!

Solitude

Once in a while
I just let time wear on
leaning against a solitary pine
standing speechless,
as does the whole universe.
Ah, who can share
this solitude with me?   Ryokan

On a leafless branch

A crow's settling

autumn nightfall

               - Basho

Basho's Haiku investigates the value of a singular moment. In Japanese, the word sabi describes an alloy of beauty and sadness. Sabishi expresses loneliness and solitude. 

An essence of impermanence pervades his observation.

Nurturing the vitality of the moment and its evanescence, write a paragraph about a solitary experience. 

What does alone feel like?  Notice if sensations of impermanence percolate.  

Define words like loneliness, freedom, or solitude without using them in your essay. 

Develop metaphor and sensory imagery.

Invite the reader into your moment of solitude.

Mind Bandits

"One day you may catch yourself smiling at the voice in your head, as you would smile at the antics of a child.  This means that you no longer take the content of your mind all that seriously, as your sense of self does not depend on it."  -  E Tolle

Ram Dass said, "Oh my personality. I don't take it so seriously anymore - I think of it more as a pet."

Have you ever felt the mind bandits that try to steal your well-being? They take away that childlike joy, wonder, and bliss. 

Sparking cheerfulness and humor during challenging emotions can carry one through a dizzy day. They have the potential to develop patience and calm in both difficult and delightful situations.

Reactivity does not result in anything but frustration. Once we let go of the mind bandits, we can play with a pet mentality and nurture curiosity. 

Find that "pet" to nurture with curiosity. 

Eleanor Roosevelt believed curiosity became a child's most useful gift. For Dorothy Parker curiosity cured boredom. She felt curiosity had no cure - thankfully. Albert Einstein claimed he had no talents. Life turned him "passionately curious."

Curiosity begins in wonder. It travels like sparks once the fire ignites.

Looking up the word in the dictionary will reveal something else along the way. 

Mysteries emerge in areas that we take for granted. While the media conjures negativity; our minds can search for positivity from the ruins.

By snagging a snapshot of attention, ideas leap in. 

Playfulness and imagination extend the image.

Words in response to pictures help reflect and interpret the world. They form a relationship. 

Sentences search a world of paradox and investigate with creativity and positivity.

Find the pirate in
the petals

There's a duck
in a rose.

Defeat the mind bandits with curiosity and playfulness.