Writing prompt #3: He who hurries cannot walk with dignity

I have fibromyalgia. Some people may turn their nose up at the word and not believe it is a “real” thing, but I’ve lived with it since before they had a word for it and it’s very real to me. Fortunately, my case is much milder than most. I have regular everyday pain like others, but then I have pain that reminds me I have fibromyalgia. It usually hits hard when the weather changes, like it’s doing now. We’ve had several days of wet rainy weather. Cold. Gray. Pain. I woke up this morning feeling like I’d been used for a karate punching back. Medicine helps. I’m just waiting for it to kick in (pun intended? Happy accident).

I found it kind of funny pulling this quote out of the bunch this morning, because I can in no way hurry today. Every step is going to take effort and time, and my slow pace will not look dignified. I do like the quote though, because contradictions make you stop and think. I’m not sure if the hurried are less dignified than the slow and steady, but they are going so fast you can’t tell one way or another. I do know if you hurry you miss out on the little things, and it’s the little things that make life worthwhile. However, you can spin it and say those who wait around will miss the bus (not a fortune cookie quote, but it would work for one, wouldn’t it?). You can be too slow and miss out on something important, and there’s no dignity there either.

So, the moral for today is balance is the key. If you have to hurry, don’t forget to slow down later and watch the sunset. If you are stuck at a standstill, pick up your feet and start moving. Just remember to do both with dignity.

Writing Prompt #2: Only the educated are free.

So, I keep all of these fortune cookie quotes in a pocket of my billfold. I decided to just pull them out randomly and run with it. WOW did I get a doozy today. If there is something I believe in, I believe in the freedom of education. I’m not talking higher education, like college, masters, and P.H.D.’s, which are all fine in their place. I’m talking about learning anything and everything. Knowing how to read. Learning how to write. Understanding what is going on around you because you pay attention. Having a voice. Using that voice. Fighting for the underdog. Knowing who the real underdog is. Not blindly following the masses. Carving your own path. Trying new things even if they frighten you. Learning more today than you knew yesterday.

Reading is the key to the world.

All you have to do is Google the phrase “literacy statistics” to find groups and organization with plenty of numbers and consequences to a society without the skills to read. Everything from prison, to welfare, to teen pregnancy. Not saying that illiteracy is the cause of all of those things, but it is directly linked in a high majority of cases. Reading is the first step to a successful society. Keeping if from anyone, should be a crime.

There have been plenty of times throughout history where it was against the law to teach certain groups how to read. I hate to admit it, but I know it still goes on today, maybe even closer to home than I would like to believe. Why?

Reading is power.

If you don’t like where you are in life, start reading. Anything and everything. If you don’t like what you are reading, put it down and find something else. Newspapers, magazines, books, blogs {wink wink}, even the Bible.

Only the educated are free.

Writing prompt #1: Love mankind, trust the majority, and never owe anyone.

For me, this fortune cookie isn’t very interesting. Three very different statements pieced together to sound like a proverb of some sort, but it is one I don’t agree with fully.

Love mankind gets no argument from me. I strive to love mankind everyday, even those who don’t love it at all. They love their family, and what friends they have. They have their favorite sports or movie stars, but as a whole they don’t love mankind. What has mankind ever done for them? My question is, what have they done for mankind? Both answers can be “nothing”. I have to confess there are plenty of memories, where I wish I had done more to help out in a situation on a bigger scale. I’m good at helping out in the little situations, sort of that “pay it forward” kind of thing. But I do love mankind. I know there is a lot of evil and darkness in the world, but there is also light, and I want to be part of that light.

Trust the majority get’s a Ha! from me. When has the majority ever proved to be trustworthy? There is oldie but goodie that everyone should keep in mind no matter what they do. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. The sad thing about it is there are a lot of potentially great leaders out there (don’t get me wrong, some current leaders are doing the best with what they have), but they get sucked into the majority and lose that tenacity that made them great. They feel forced to compromise their beliefs all for the benefit of the greater good. Ha! again. I’m all for compromise when there needs to be, but I’m also for standing your ground when necessary, and very rarely does the majority like that.

Never owe anyone is a good idea, if you’re talking debt. But debt is everywhere, always has been, always will. The less debt you have, the better, obviously, BUT what about owing someone a favor? Not the bury a dead body kind of favor, but the hey, you got lunch last time, it’s my treat today. There are  plenty of things you can owe someone, or anyone, and make your life   (and theirs, hopefully) better for it.

Fortune Cookie Writing Prompts

Fortune Cookie Writing Prompts.

There’s no place like Oz

I just spent two days in the Land of Oz, and I didn’t want to come back to Kansas!

I went to Oklahoma Writer’s Federation Inc. (OWFI) annual writer’s conference this past weekend. There’s nothing better than a good conference to get the writer juices flowing. I met old friends and made some new ones… a couple of which would fit right in the Land of Oz—but all writers are a bit of crazy, aren’t we? How else could we survive doing what we love?

I was very fortunate to have a budget this year (yea tax refund!). I got to go out to eat and buy lots of BOOKS! I even had a couple of them signed. (Score!)

I have to say the craziest part was helping a friend get dressed for the costume contest. I have a new appreciation for people who dress in steampunk attire. That’s hard work!

The icing on the cake… winning 3^rd honorable mention in the Short Story category!

I zoomed on a writing high for two days straight and floated through Sunday on the remnant fumes of that high… but it is Monday again, and time to go back to Kansas (reality). Sigh… I have survived reality, but only just. I want to close my eyes, click my heels, and say,

There’s no place like Oz…

There’s no place like Oz…

Procrastinations Evil Little Brother

I don’t suffer from procrastination, but paralysis–mind numbing paralysis. Maybe it’s the same difference, maybe not. All I know is I planned on writing after my show was over. Plenty of time before bed. Instead I wasted almost 15 minutes surfing channels. We don’t have cable. It doesn’t take that long to surf. You can just imagine how many times I went through the list. 2nd to the last round that little voice in the back of my head said, “You know, you only have to write for 20 minutes, like the book says. What’s the big deal?”

I’m almost finished reading the book, “Secrets from A Creativity Coach” by Romney Oualline Nesbitt. I’ve talked about it before, and I WILL be talking about it again.

So, I spent a few more minutes (still surfing), trying to figure out “what’s the big deal”.

I couldn’t think of anything.

I just felt paralyzed.

But paralyzed isn’t going to get my manuscript finished before the conference (in 10 days…no pressure). One more turn around the channels and I turned the TV off. I took one unsteady step and I turned on the computer. I took another wobbling step and set my stop watch for 21 minutes (I like odd numbers) and I kept walking a stiff and halted gate, cranking out 321 words and the beginnings of a new scene.

Will I be able to do it again tomorrow, or will the paralysis return… until next time…

Epiphany Strikes Again

When an epiphany strikes, it’s usually when I’m in the car all by myself, or in the shower… mostly in the shower. I’ve had some AMAZING epiphanies in the shower… I have figured how to kill people, how to rescue people…all sorts of stuff. Well, I need to kidnap someone, and haven’t been able to figure out who it should be… I didn’t want it to be my protagonist, because the story is from her point of view and she’ll miss out on all the excitement. I decided I didn’t want it to be her friend, because her friend has a small roll, and I didn’t want her to be any bigger.

Then this morning…it hit me… I discovered who, I figured out how, and I KNEW WHY!!!!!

E—PIPH—A—NY (gotta sing it to get the full effect)

I share moments like this with a fellow artist at work, but she recently moved to a new cubicle further away and I just hadn’t had the chance to go by and give her the exciting news. So, I decided to text her. She gave me her cell phone number a while ago, but this was the first time I ever used it.

Being myself, I wrote: “I had another shower Epiphany. :-)”

First thought was, maybe I should let her know who it’s from. Second thought was, Naaaah! She’ll know! When I didn’t get a response back, I started a little panic dance… What if it’s not her number? What if she gave me her husband’s number (in case of emergencies or something)? And on and on it went.

Finally, I got the chance to go by her desk and discovered she had shared in my panic dance. She had read the text and started doing some thinking of her own… Her sister is having a baby, and she is in charge of the baby shower. First thought was: Who is this and do they want to help me with her shower? She called her sister and asked if she might know. When they were still clueless, she worried it might be a prank of an “inappropriate nature”, because she knew it wasn’t from her husband, but who else would be talking about showers and epiphanies? We artistic people tend to have wild imaginations…

Her sister Googled the number and found it belonged to someone named Shelley Pagach (pronouncing it pay-gosh). My friend had her OWN epiphany and we had a fantastic laugh as we swapped stories.

I’m still a little pink the cheeks, but she’s got my name in her phone now, so I can be myself once again!

What I’ve learned about writing

What I’ve learned about writing.

What I’ve learned about writing

If I had to give a date of when I first decided to get “serious” about writing, I would have to say November 2006.  I competed in my first NanoWrimo (National Novel Writer’s Month). The story is still listed in my “Shelved” projects. To see where I was and where I am now makes me proud. I’m not where I want to be yet, but I can see it on the horizon.

I used to never be able to envision me with a FINISH project let alone another waiting to be started. I never saw myself as PUBLISHED. I never saw myself at book signings or conferences or reading out loud to non-family members… okay not even to family members.

I’ve never been a sprinter, not even a long distance runner for that matter, but I have always wanted to finish the race.

I have slowly changed that. I’ve been to 4 writer’s conferences in the last 6 years. I’m going to my 5th on this May (2014). I’ve been in a writing club going on 3 years, holding an office for the last 2.. I have now been in and coordinated a critique group for over a year, which means I read out loud to a group of non-family members at least once a week. I’ve entered 3 contests, 2 of which I’ve placed, 1 I’m still waiting for the outcome. I’ve talked to agents and editors and even sent in a couple of submissions.

I can see myself published in some shape or form. I can see myself at a book signing. I can see myself writing more.

I still deal wit procrastination, distractions, lack of discipline, and the like, but I’m getting better at defeating my self-sabotaging habits. I don’t let writer’s block stop me dead in my tracks. I don’t let disgruntled comments keep me from writing. I don’t hold it against others who get published before me, even though it does plant a seed of doubt. I have to remember that their journey isn’t my journey–their road isn’t my road. I may not be first across the finish line, I might even be the last, but you better believe I will cross it.

Bloom where you are planted

I’ve always felt a little out of place. I understand the world, but it didn’t always understand me. I’ve embraced the proverbial “beat of a different drum”. Not everyone finds that title appealing. Even though they don’t want to conform to certain standards, they believe the phrase is a rebuke not a complement.  I always thought of the story of the Little Drummer Boy. He is one of my heroes. A small boy with nothing to give by his drum, and ending up giving the best gift of all.

I must confess  I hid my drum for a many years like a precious secret no one could know. Then I realized my shell was so thick, nobody had the chance to know me.  I don’t  bang it so loud that people cover their ears and ran screaming from the room, but I tap my drum at my own beat and my own pace. It’s too slow for some, and if you can believe it, too fast for others. I beat my drum whenever I give advice or opinions, which I do both often and sometimes without invitation…

The title of my post is “Bloom where you are planted”, so why am I talking about drums? For me the two ideas go hand and hand. For the longest time, I feared the “bloom” because it threatened to change the world around me — uproot me from my comfort zone.  But I was wrong. It is about changing, but not in the way I feared. It’s about growing as a person and a writer. I realized I can bloom where I’m planted. I can turn my face up and enjoy the sunlight and I don’t have to fear the wind or the rain, for both make me stronger. I can keep beating my drum and bloom from right where I’m at.