Find Your Buoyancy

 

Imagine a day when gravity pulls extra hard.  

If you find yourself in a experiencing a challenging situation, stop for a breath or four. Slow down and become observant. 

When caught up in a tense or negative situation, diffuse the energy with a hearty laugh.  In the middle of the chaos, just start laughing. It will energize the brain, provide relief to you and others near you.

If frustrated, count your Gratitudes.

Accentuate the Positive. Think of all of the good times you have enjoyed. Let the sadness offer a different perspective to write about.

Avoid Judgment. Your thoughts plus your choices affect your life.  If you have overreacted, try not to place blame elsewhere.  

Keep a strong awareness about how you feel in situations.  Allow yourself to control how you react through self-realization. Stop and walk outside yourself for a view.

Choose what you want for an outcome, not what happened to you. 

When confronted with what does not work, look at what works. Bolster self-esteem by remembering how far you have come to get to the situation.

Check your track record. You've sailed through adversity before.  

Find your buoyancy.

Write with Musicality

There are moments in our lives, there are moments in a day, when we seem to see beyond the usual — become clairvoyant. We reach then into reality. Such are the moments of our greatest happiness. Such are the moments of our greatest vision. - Robert Henri

Henri called these levels the “song from within.”  We have a tune inside that catches our attention and fluffs us with wonder. Learning to listen takes moving into a space of marvel. Our rational mind often steps in and grabs us to return to the ordinary. 

Select three types of your favorite music. Choose one for lyrics, another for melody, and the third for a variety of rhythm and changes.

Begin writing to the first selection by adding color: magenta, lavendar, azure. Let words arrive where colors and sounds blend. 

For the second choice, write into flavors or scents: cinnamon and vanilla yogurt, apples, toast, leaves in autumn, grass, gardenias.

Shift again to writing out sounds to the music: bump, rattle, sizzle, clack.

Discover where listening to music and combining imagery leads. Let the words flow with the notes in an in experience writing with musicality. 

Child's Mind and Words

 

Do you recall your childhood association with words? Did you create names for animals and plants? Did you tell stories?

Where’s your child’s mind today? Do you still have a loving relationship with words? 

Frederick Smock, a teacher of creative writing, learns daily from his students to think with a child's mind. 

One student astonished him with her words when she wrote from the point of view of a coconut. “I never have to go on vacation because I carry the waves inside of me.”

Today, expose yourself to possibilities and let your words scurry around corners and under bushes. Look into the sky to capture connections. Consider all your areas of knowledge: animals, insects, gardening, travel, economics, and relationships.

Communicate the awareness that makes your days and nights glitter. Let your words flee and flourish. Delight in metaphors to tell your stories