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 |   Second blog -- answers to an ocean of prompts |
 "Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself." CHARLIE CHAPLIN  Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet confinement of your aloneness to learn anything or anyone that does not bring you alive is too small for you. David Whyte        This is my supplementary blog in which I will post entries written for prompts. |
| Prompt: "My imagination is a twisted place." Taylor Swift Write about this quote in your Blog entry today. -------- She would say that, wouldn't she! I believe she said it in jest. Although she might be exaggerating, there might be several ways an imagination can be twisted. That sort of a twist can come from addiction to fantasy and compulsive anything else. Dark fantasies would do it very well, if the imagination can come up with disturbing or violent scenarios or the macabre. I know this happens because I used to help a mental health professional write up his reports on his patients. The problem with twisted imaginations are that they magnify the already existing paranoia, fear, and delusions, so much so that a blurred line takes shape between reality and fantasy. Such a person possibly dwells on past events or future scenarios, and putting so much mental effort to such things can lead to distorted memories. Then, even an innocent thing like daydreaming can be against a person when it becomes excessive. As such, anything excessive may have a negative effect on productivity and social relationships. In that way, it hinders personal growth for it leads a person into a world of fantasy and not a pleasant one, either. In short, imagination is a powerful tool for creative people, but if twisted and misused, it has very bad effects on mental health and well-being of a person. |
| Prompt: What was the best part of your week? What was the worst part of your week? Write about this in your Blog entry today. ------ As a general (personal) rule, I try to avoid thinking about about the worst part of anything, unless that thing needs extra and instant attention. Having said that, however, the worst part could have been this morning when I had a scheduled blood test. The problem is, the nowadays-doctors want us to fast before a blood-test, whereas the best doctor I ever had never asked for fasting. In fact, he took the blood samples himself and came to his conclusions on the results of the tests that the lab produced. Yet, he decided not to stay in the area anymore and thus, I ended with all the MDs who want me fasting when blood tests are done. Why am I so against fasting, you might ask. Easy! It is because I am afraid of getting into a car accident because I have to drive to the lab with nothing in my stomach early in the morning and without my caffeine fix. Granted, the lab is not far away, but I want my head screwed on tight and in its right place when I drive. Then, I got lucky! This morning, my son offered to drive me. Now, if this isn't a worst and the best part thrown together, I don't know what is. We're back home, now, and all went very well. I'm so glad what felt like a worst turned into a best. Plus, I did enjoy the passenger seat much more than I ever did the driver's seat. Lucky me! |
| Prompt: How are you making the world a better place for those that come after you? Write about this in your Blog entry today. ------- Truthfully speaking, I'm doing no such thing, at least consciously, at this time in my life. But I'm careful with my environment, the waste I produce, and how I handle my family and other people. I do use environment-friendly products when and if I can. I also tried to help some things that had to do with local environmental concerns when I was younger, but not anymore. From another angle, I think I'm okay because I don't rule a country and I don't start wars and I don't commit genocide. I even minimize my personal scuffles and conflicts, which means if I can't help, at least, I don't hurt. Yet, the question of how to make the world a better place remains hanging in the air, doesn't it! The first thing that comes to my mind is education. I think access to quality education should be for everyone. A good education helps reduce poverty and inequality and it empowers people with skills needed to improve their lives, which means lifelong learning. Lifelong learning has been my motto anyway. Next idea is the social justice, be it for gender or race. Then comes promoting healthful living. Come to think of it, who in the world would want the opposite! I mean we all care about our health, don't we! Promoting mental health is another area, someone very close to me used to work in; however, even he knew that one can't dictate mental health or even butt in other people's ways much. We have to be respectful of each individual's choices. Encouraging peace and supporting the ease of conflicts inside a social group, town, or country, on the other hand, could be a good step toward making the world a better place, also. There are, of course, global issues a dime a dozen; yet, I'm of the belief that one should clean her own house first before finding fault or trying to make other people clean their houses. This applies to the countries and the globe. Plus, making the world a better place has to be a collective effort and everyone should be working together and people should be in agreement with what that "better place" is for the world. |
| Prompt: Moments of Beauty? Was does "moment of beauty" mean to you, and was there ever a moment of unexpected beauty that sent a rush of happiness through you? ==== Moments of beauty stir the emotions and captivate the senses. They are so strong that they leave imprints in our minds and hearts. Surely, the most profound moments of beauty can be in the nature. The suns reds and golds at sunset, the stars and the moon at night, the green on the trees and lawn, and flowers... A moment of beauty can be flash of a sight or a feeling or a painting, a poem, a dance, a movie, a stage play, a sonata, or maybe even acts of kindness. I suppose with some people it can also happen with hearing, reading, a word, or a touch. For me, a moment of beauty is one that has stayed with me all through my life and it has some kind of a human or a living-being connection. In my life, those moments have happened with sight, except for one. Except for a seventh grade occasion. Something I wrote so impressed the lit teacher that she called me to the front of the class and shook my hand. My hand still feels her touch and I still feel sooo embarrassed. The other moments came all through sight, such as:  The smile on my husband's face before we said our first hello and the way his green eyes suddenly sparkled. The sight of my little baby boy on my lap, smiling at me as the milk he had been sucking drizzled down the side of his mouth. My other son, at six years of age, running to me when we went to see him in a play at his school, and saying, "Mommy, you came!" as if it was another wonder on earth. Btw, I always did. I would never miss an occasion like that. The sparkle on my ex-daughter-in-law's face and the joy both I and (I think) she felt when my son brought her over to meet me for the first time. Although they are not together anymore, I'm still in touch with her, for it was the warmest "like" at first sight. The sudden view of my rose garden in early June, 45 years ago, when all bushes decided to greet me with their full blooms one morning. When, during a thunderstorm, our huge Newfoundland dog took refuge in between my legs as I was walking on the hallway. I can still see, in my mind's eye, the back of his head and ears in front of me. It was as if l was riding him like a horse. Then, just a couple of years ago, my cat rushing to me and taking refuge by sticking her head under my arm while she was on the Vet's table getting a shot. These moments, I don't even try to remember. They are always there. They are my happy moments of beauty. |
| Prompt: Overheard Conversations Do you use overheard conversations in your writing? What makes overhearing a conversation so interesting whether a person is a writer or not? -------- Overheard conversations are a source and a rich one. These are snippets of real-life dialogue, captured by chance. Unfortunately, I can't use them as much because at the time I hear them, I usually don't have with me any means to note them, since I'm usually with other people and the place could be a restaurant or a market. This brings to mind my childhood. One of my cousins is also my best friend, and when together, we always came up with sneaky, bright(!) ideas. When we were about nine years old, we used to sit side by side in a corner in the room and write down what the adults talked about in exactly their words. We didn't do it for the sake of writing at the time, since we had no intentions to use it in writing or for anything else, but we thought it was fun to put down what the adults were mispronouncing or giving different accents to words or using a wrong word, let alone gossiping after someone else. Leave it to kids to pick on adults! Finally, my mother who caught on to our giggles, put a stop to it. Where writers are concerned, however, overheard conversations are precious because they let us glimpse raw unfiltered human emotions, speech patterns and behavior. By listening to how people naturally speak, including their cadences, slang, and idiosyncrasies, writers can create characters that sound real to the readers. Above all, dialogue that is genuine can help the readers immerse themselves in a story, especially when the writer is aware of the subtext. Take this clip for example from the opening of the novel, Mr. Paradise, by Elmore Leonard, who is a master of the informal speech. "So forget about it," Chloe said. "He likes us." She brought a Ritz-Carlton ashtray from her coat pocket and placed it on the table, Emily watching. She said, "They're always from a different hotel. I like the one, I think it's from the Sunset Marquis?" "It's one of my favorites," Chloe said. "Next time I'm in L.A. I'll pick up a few more." Emily said, "Cool hats," and left. Kelly watched her moving through the empty tables. "Emily's a little weird." So authentic, isn't it! Many great authors use overheard conversations inside their work. In the same vein, Eudora Welty said, ""Long before I wrote stories, I listened for stories..." As to ethical considerations, revealing identifiable details about anyone is a no no and so is making people uncomfortable by sitting in front of them and writing down what they say like my cousin and I did in our childhood. |
| Prompt: "We must be free not because we claim freedom, but because we practice it." –William Faulkner or "Our flag does not fly because the wind moves it. It flies with the last breath of each soldier who died protecting it." –Unknown Let one of these quotes inspire your writing today. ----------- I always liked Faulkner's work, so his quote seems to be the right choice for me. I think Faulkner means, in a nutshell, freedom is dynamic and it requires constant practice and nurturing. It doesn't matter how many times we say we are free. The point is to live in a manner that reflects and sustains that freedom. Practicing freedom means engaging in actions that promote and protect the rights and liberties of oneself and others. Yet, how do we do that? In many parts of our globe, people are still fighting for basic human rights. One may think there is no way we can help, but what about awareness of those issues and responding to them the best we can? Throughout history, as in the American Civil Rights Movement and the fight for Women's Suffrage, we did help, didn't we! Although most world problems of the moment are further away than those, how about respecting and working with and honoring the trade bans, boycotts, and embargos against those countries that crush human freedoms. For example, when the USA boycotts a country's cheaper products due to its disrespect of human rights, why do some of us buy those very goods from Canada and other places? True freedom is not merely a statement of declaration. It is an active ongoing process that requires effort and continuous commitment by all of us. |
| Prompt: Let's have some fun with random words: cat, lecture, snarl, residences, show, stain, purr, and *gold. ----------- Cat on the Floor from most *residences on our street dogs rule with a *snarl and they *lecture my black *cat, while she meows and *purrs in the house, not getting the picture as barks cascade in a bogus *show she stretches out like a movie star on her own *gold spot, the sunlight's *stain on the floor, and dogs now sound too far |
| Prompt: Batman. Did you watch the TV series? Have you watched the Batman movies? Did you watch the last Batman movie The Batman with Robert Pattinson? Write about Batman in your Blog entry today. ----- Hahaha! Batmaaan! That theme song! I can hear my sons' voices in my mind's ears, now. Yes, I did watch the earlier Batman series, however unwillingly, during the 1970s and maybe early 80s when my sons were watching them. I had to watch it with them so they wouldn't fight over an episode about who was wrong or who was right. One day, while they were in their good and quiet behavior and I had dared to leave them alone in the room and go do a chore in the kitchen, one of them came running to me, "Mom, do something. This Robin!" He was so disturbed that an ally and a friend could turn against Batman. It seemed Robin collaborated with the enemy if only for a short time; then, I guess, the episode must have fixed itself or was delayed until the next time, which I can't recall. All I know is that both boys loved to watch Batman, and they seriously disliked Penguin, Batman's archenemy. The younger one used to put my black sweater on his back like a cape and run through the house screaming, "I'm the caped crusader!" I guess there was a batgirl in the picture, too, but I cannot seem to remember her. Anyhow, a few years after those days, by the time my own two caped-crusaders met their own batgirls, we had stopped watching the Batman show. I think. later, the series were also made into cartoons, but my sons and I, all three of us, had graduated from watching TV and cartoons together into doing our own things. And thank God for that. Still, I do thank for the memories, too. Thank you, Batman, the idea, the actors, the producers and the crew! |
| Prompt: Pirates Remember those swashbucklers on the high seas? With what did we replace them in our day? Write about the modern pirates and what you think of them. ======== Hello, Anne Bonny, Blackbeard, and Captain Kidd! Wasn't it better to have lived in the "golden age of piracy" than at other times? Well, I'm glad I wasn't around then. These kinds of guys targeted merchant ships and their cargo of gold, spices, textiles, etc. The Caribbean, the American coast, West Africa, and the Indian Ocean were hotspots, at the time. Of course, this didn't mean other seas were taboo, either. Although pirating can bring to our minds the adventurers of high seas, pirates are criminals in any day or age. Their operations are in recorded history as far back as 1200 BC. Yet, surprisingly, the swashbuckling guys had codes of conduct. Their captains were elected by the crew and the important decision were made collectively. If this wasn't democracy, I don't know what is! Despite the inherent dangers! On the other hand, modern piracy is feared by the international shipping industry as it mostly happens in those areas where political corruption, economic troubles, and weak law enforcement offer a welcome mat to these criminals, who use a variety of methods for their crimes. They can hold up small speedboats or hijack ships, and they use GPS tracking and fancy satellite phones so they can coordinate their attacks, often aiming for ransom payments. An online search says, "Naval patrols by international coalitions, such as NATO’s Operation Ocean Shield and the European Union’s Operation Atalanta, have been deployed in piracy-prone areas...Today, piracy is most prevalent off the coast of Somalia, in the Gulf of Guinea, and in parts of Southeast Asia." The bottomline is pirates are violent, disruptive criminals, and pirating--old or new--should not be offered to kids in cartoon forms or in any other form as a romantic and lovable way of being. Yes, Hanna Barbera and others...Not even Captain Hook and Smee and other pirates of the Neverland, and no cute parrot on any pirate's shoulder, either. You never know what or who a kid would want to emulate, especially those kids who resist growing up. |
| Prompt: What does "Dance Like No One is Watching" mean to you? If you need inspiration, listen to Gabby Barrett ---------- Haha! I'm already doing that, and not only dancing. I live like no one is watching, nowadays. It took me a lifetime (more than seven decades), however, to get to here, to this my personal emancipation proclamation. "Dance Like No One is Watching" is so much more than a simple adage or a line from a song. The way I see it, it is a call to live authentically and not fear anyone else's crossed brows and the shaking of those "no, no" fingers. At its core, these words--"Dance Like No One is Watching"-- encourage a sense of freedom for living freely and not being afraid of self-expression or societal judgments, which brings up a question to my mind. Does a group or society have the right to expect too much from any individual? I'll say, no, not too much; however, there are norms we all must adhere to for the preservation of peace. Freedom doesn't mean blasting my music at or after midnight so "I can dance," for example. Yet, as an individual, I have the right to let go of my past inhibitions and embrace my true self and genuine emotions and the right to speak or write what's on my mind. This is also because any fear of judgment can be a significant barrier to self-expression. As writers, this is the first fear we need to overcome and act and write with confidence and vulnerability. When we can foster such an attitude and practice such personal freedoms, without too much inhibition, we find joy and liberation not only in writing but also in all aspects of life. For we have connected to our inner self and we won't be easily swayed by others' opinions. In short, by "dancing like no one is watching" I think I am finding a deeper appreciation for everyday experiences. |
| Prompt: Please use these random words: exile, physics, land, rifle, bald, system and outfit. ----------- Bald Eagle *bald eagle soars from where dreams never end then a *rifle echoes through our foggy *land in *physics of chaos circuits are cut a wave is lost the momentum's shut from past's *exile a complex *system spins not as *outfit of heart but man's crazy sins |
| Prompt: Would you rather be a famous writer, a Rock Star or a Doctor who finds a cure for cancer and why? Write about this in your Blog entry today. ------- None of the above. I am who I am, the way I am, and I studied what I wanted to study. I wouldn't be happy with other things, as imperfect as I am. I hope I don't have a big head and I have never wanted fame. Plus, the voice inside my head, if it lists my flaws, talks only to remind me to fix them. Other than that, I have long ago stopped chasing any idealized version of myself. Let's leave me alone and look at our kind, the people-kind. The only way our kind will be happier, nicer, and more productive in a meaningful way is when we realize we don't have to earn our own self-love. We're okay as we are and we are our own best friend, and not the worst critic. Our quirks and weirdness and our vulnerabilities make us who we are as well as our desirable attributes; this is, as long as we don't hurt others and do bad things to mess up their lives. Life is all about being real and being human, without a mask or a cloak, and without fame. Then, forgiveness, gratitude, and living in the present do help our kind to find peace and hopefully joy, too, in the here and now. Not doable? Maybe not all the time, but it is doable most of the time. Especially if we realize that this moment is all we have. This kind of a mind-set of self-acceptance is a choice. A choice to be real, a choice to embrace ourselves just the way we are. . |
| Prompt: What places in your hometown bring back the best memories? Write about this in your Blog entry today. ------ If I have to be specific, I have to say it is the main street and the community park. As a teen, I was mesmerized by the main street for it was, to me, the main artery for life's heartbeat. It pulsed with activity and humor. The sound of the traffic reminded me of the constant motion of community life. Our main street was lined with shops of all kinds with several of them on the higher floors of the buildings with varying architecture. Also, there were a few boutiques and cafes, some stretching on to the sidewalk with tables and chairs. I remember once, during my early teens, --when my six cousins were visiting-- we were walking on the main street when a sudden rainfall caught us. Instead of taking shelter, we decided to get drenched. We kept lingering under the rain, our laughter echoing off the pavement as we were enjoying one another's company and...getting wet. Maybe in those days, getting drenched together might have been considered the most fun for us, but when we reached home, my mother and other adults didn't think so. In hindsight, I don't blame them as we all were soaked wet to our bones and dripping. They made us stop and stand at the entrance hallway with the stone tiles, so the water flowing from us could pool there for easy cleaning. Then, they came at us with towels and scoldings. Now, many decades later, when I talk to my cousins, we all recall that day. Another beautiful place was our town park. It was on the shore with the view of the sea and the boats, and inside the park, everything was green with tall trees and lawns. Benches near the flower beds were the best places for reading and relaxing. This park didn't have the swings and slides for children or gazebos and such that I had noticed in other towns, but at the far back of our park, was the bus stop. If you walked far enough into the park and looked carefully toward the back of it, you could see the passengers getting on and off the busses. But busses were not my thing. I usually sat with a friend on a bench and talked or just sat there by myself and read a book, momentarily raising my gaze to the shore and the boats and the big beautiful sea. This natural beauty was usually enough to calm a tense and fidgety young person like me. To this day, when I feel a little unnerved, I close my eyes and recall those scenes and I feel comforted by their memories. . |
| Prompt: Brain Dump "A brain dump allows you to clear your head and have free space in your mind...writing down ideas with a brain dump is a great way to get the creative juices flowing." From: https://themindfulpage.com/what-is-brain-dump/ In what ways do you "dump" your brain? ------------- Aren't we people so creative! Remember the days when the word "dump" meant a whole lot of other things? I mean, with every new decade, we find new meanings for old words. So here comes the brain dump. I guess, in my tiny ways, I have been dumping my brain just about every hour on the hour. That is, if "brain dump" means the transfer or offload or thoughts, ideas, and info into some external storage. Anyway, journaling and writing is what I have been doing throughout my life. This is my method of voicing out my thoughts and clearing mental clutter. I have to say, sitting down quietly and thinking about things do help, too. Yet, as the link in the prompt and a few Google searches indicate, these are not the only ways a brain can be dumped. Of some of those, I tried mind-mapping, but it wasn't for me. I like drawing only if what I draw shows some kind of a minor artistic talent. Alas! Yet, mind-mapping is something totally different. Mind mapping begins with a central drawing, say a cat or something, then you draw curved lines from it and around it and write or draw what that word suggests, and if what you wrote suggests other things, you draw lines from it, too. In my case, if I seriously did mind-mapping, I'd need a sheet of paper as large as Mount Rushmore. However, for those willing to mind-map, there are even online tools and software for that. Imagine! There is also the voice recording of whatever comes to one's mind, brainstorming sessions with others like they sometimes do in company meetings, and meditation and mindfulness. So many ways for a dump, isn't it! To be fair, I did try meditation during some points in my life, but I had no idea, then, that I was dumping anything. In fact, I thought, at those moments, that I was quieting myself or my mind. How things have changed! Live and learn! . |
| Prompt: "Every choice we make can be a celebration of the world we want.” Frances Moore Lappe Do the choices we make have to comply with the majority to bring about a better future for the world? Or write what you think about the quote. ------ No, I don't think our choices have to comply with the majority to be effective. There are many examples of people who have acted alone at the start, even bringing the wrath of others onto themselves; yet, their influence we still celebrate. Of such people Galileo Galilei comes to mind, who, against all odds that began with the opposition of the Catholic Church, said the sun was at the center rather than the earth. In spite of his persecution at the time, he came up with the basis for modern astronomy and physics. People like him, some close to our time, such as Gandhi, Rosa Parks, Nelson Mandela, Marie Curie, and others mostly started alone, but through hard work and tenacity, they made an impact on the world. You may think that an individual's simple choice would not even touch an ant, but each choice you make has a ripple effect that extends far beyond what you are doing at the moment. Take wasting resources for example. Yes, things like turning off the lights when they are not necessary or bunching up your car trips to stores into only one trip may not mean much in the grand scheme of things, but whatever you do may end up making an impression on a friend who may decide to imitate you, which may also impress others. This is because sometimes a seemingly insignificant action can set off a chain reaction. Just imagine this chain reaction of our choices impressing a broader group of people. Therefore, the companies we support and the causes we advocate may contribute to the society we're in and then, the world, especially today's interconnected world. I have to believe that global issues such as unnecessary wars, humanitarian crises, dirtying of the oceans, and other problems can be solved or, at least, minimized, if people acted responsibly as individuals, approaching each choice with mindfulness. Each one of us has a power we are not aware of. We can influence positive change at least in our communities and possibly far beyond that. Isn't a better, cleaner, and a much more tolerant world something to celebrate about? |
| Prompt: Please use these words in your entry today: Mother, accurate, handy, relevance, reckless, swop, fork, and accountable. ---------- Mother in the Kitchen with *accurate grace, she wields a knife to teach lessons so memories can grow, and her story is told, and tales are unfold, tuning a *fork in time for each bite, she sends a wish, and lines the dish with her *handy touch but no *reckless plays, yet, *relevance and dare, for in mother's care,* swops of spices align with her sweet ways |
| Prompt: "Volunteers don't get paid, not because they're worthless but because they're priceless." Write about this in your Blog entry today. ----- First, if volunteers were to be paid, what they do wouldn't be called volunteering, would it! It would be paid work. So, the quote negates itself from that point of view. Still, volunteering does a lot of good to a community and to the volunteers themselves. From that angle, yes, volunteers are priceless. Since we already know how much volunteers contribute to society, we can also weigh how much they contribute to themselves. Those benefits could be a sense of fulfillment, community connection, skill development, expanded social connections, personal growth, positive resume additions, possibly improved mental and physical health, and enhanced empathy and feelings of compassion, which already do and should exist within a volunteer. Volunteers are also agents who contribute greatly to improve a society, by showing goodwill and adding their service. Their work can leave a positive influence on a community and the individual lives of people, to create a ripple effect of change for the better. |
| Prompt: "Life takes you to unexpected places. Love brings you home." Melissa McClone Write about this in your Blog entry today. ------ I guess this quote is about the idea that we shouldn't fear life's uncertainties, but rather, we should embrace them as opportunities for growth and transformation. Dreams may be shattered and there may be a mess, but then, love empowers us to pick up the pieces and put them together again and be able to create even more beautiful dreams. If we train ourselves to see through the lens of love, we discover that our scattered pieces are not lost, but rather, they are waiting to be found and embraced. When one of my sons was a baby, he would scatter the kiddie puzzles all over the place and laugh his head off, watching me pick those pieces up. For some reason, this quote reminded me of such moments. In those moments, life, at times, feels like a scattered puzzle as we navigate through its twists and turns and moments of joy, sorrow, victory, and defeat. In these moments of chaos and uncertainty, love appears, emerges, or re-emerges as a guide and gathers the fragments and binds them together again. This may be because life and love are intricately connected, each one shaping and enriching the other in meaningful ways. Whereas life has a mind of its own, love has the power to mend what is broken, to heal what is wounded, and to bring meaning to our scattered lives. . |
| Prompt: When something goes right or wrong, do you ever say or think, "Did I do this to myself?” Or, is it always someone else's goodness or fault? ---- Of course! I am very sure I did that in the past, and possibly, I may be reverting to that kind of a behavior in the present, too, at least inside my thoughts. Blaming others for good or bad is a human defense mechanism. It's easier to put the blame on someone else instead of myself. If I can't do something that I've planned to do, for example, I tend to blame, if not someone else, but something else, such as the weather or an illness or my impression of someone else's words or looks. The possibilities are endless. Then, probably, we all do that, this wrongly blaming or praising of others, for a good reason or not, to protect our own self-image and avoid feelings of guilt and responsibility. I've noticed such behavior in myself and in others. As to giving others the undue credit for one's successes or the good one has done, this may come about because we don't want to be seen as braggards and neither do we like to think of ourselves as braggards. For this type of a behavior, there may be other underlying motivations or the results from one's earlier upbringing and childhood. It is unbelievable how much our upbringing plays a role in our view of the world and our own actions. A child who is always put down ends up feeling guilty for many things that happen, even if those things have nothing to do with that child's actions. On the other hand, a child who is always praised and never corrected can end up with a distorted view of his own reality. Either way, the tendency to shift the blame or the kudos away from oneself unnecessarily can be detrimental to a person's own behavior and social interactions. Accepting responsibility for both successes and failures is essential for cultivating resilience, empathy, and self-awareness. Yet, once we are aware of our own behaviors, then there's hope that we can correct ourselves on our own. That's possibly the reason why we have been given a life of many years.  . |
| Prompt: “Be willing to be a beginner every single morning.” Meister Eckhart Where do you see this quote being most relevant in your life? In your family, home, work, or creativity? ----- Where do I see this quote's relevance to my life? Just about in everything and everywhere and hopefully with everyone close to me. If I didn't take each day on its own value, I would be living in the past, wouldn't I! This doesn't mean I'd throw the past out the window, either. My past or rather my past experiences have had great teaching value and I accept them with gratitude. On the other hand, I try not to dwell on them. This is because the present is the most valuable asset of the moment. Maybe because I'm old, I believe I have learned to live in the present moment, present day, present week. Life has also taught me, at this stage, not to make big future plans. This "not making big future plans" has some comfort in them. It lets me off the hook and avoids tension and worry in my life and each morning becomes a fresh opportunity. As for the fresh opportunity, I may not make long distance plans, but I make a plan or rather a to-do list for the day, which is adaptable should surprises pop up. Each day, then becomes manageable with my morning routine and at the end of the day, I write a list of things I was grateful for that day, which also means I am celebrating my progress. . |
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