Everyday Canvas

Revising and Loneliness

For "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise" 

Prompt: When you revise a piece, what are the steps you take, and where do you stop? Do you stop when you think you are making things worse instead of improving them or when you are sick of working on the piece or when you think you’ve done the best and this is it?

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Not that I do many revisions, but when I do, I first read the whole piece over to check for plot loopholes, and if it is a poem, to check for unneeded repetitions and for the unity of the ideas and form. Funny thing is, I am never done, not really. At the moment when I stop, I may say, “okay, this is it,” but the next day or the next time I read, I see probably ten other mishaps, even those my reviewers don’t catch or may think are acceptable. So, I am never done, and that is where I flunk.

An identical problem is, I have about ten novels, all in first draft; well, maybe with a few surface edits, but the novels are not done, and I’m afraid will never be done. So, possibly to appease myself, I say, “It doesn’t matter! I had fun writing the first draft!”

Maybe in another lifetime…?

For: "Space Blog Group" 
Prompt: From Koyel~writing again ’s "Down the Memory Lane" 
"I am absolutely alone in this world with no one to empathize my sorrow."
--She said she is battling an incurable illness. As a therapist and chaplain by profession, my heart goes out to her. Can we give her some love?--says Chris Breva
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This is so touching! We live in a world where we value communication more than anything. Yet, probably all of us have experienced isolation at one time or another when the entire world seemed to stay behind a fence that became impossible to cross.

A few people like me may value a bit of isolation to get in touch with ourselves. Yet, we all fear feeling alone and forgotten deep inside ourselves, permanently. This may be because in our world, extroverted behaviors and tribalism or the idea of belonging with a certain group has become the accepted norm.

This line from a poem, which otherwise also reflects happier moments from the past, shows the importance of social and human contact. Otherwise, the sense of defeat and helplessness form a vicious cycle and aggravate the ills of both the body and the mind.

On the positive side, writing poetry about our feelings connects us to others, as this poet has connected to those of us who have read her poem.