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About This Author
My name is Joy, and I love to write.
Why poetry, here? Because poetry uplifts its writer, and if she is lucky enough, her readers, too. Around us, so many objects abound to write about. Once a poet starts with a smallest, most trivial object, he shall discover that his pen will spill out what is most delicate or most majestic hidden inside him. Since the classics sometimes dealt with lofty subjects with a lofty language, a person with poetry in his soul may incline to emulate that. That is understandable. Poetry does that to a person: it enlarges the soul and gives it wings. Yet, to really soar, a poet needs to take off from the ground.
 
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Everyday Canvas
"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.
Previous ... - 1- 2 ... Next
January 31, 2015 at 1:20am January 31, 2015 at 1:20am
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Prompt: Do you remember the thrill of meeting the person you thought was right for you? Do you think your story stands the test of time or are the circumstances locked in the moment when it happened? Was there ultimate joy or sadness with this experience?
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I was never the silly romantic female who dreamt of a dreamboat of a guy like most young girls of my time. That is why there was neither ultimate joy nor sadness, but just a grand surprise and shock at myself at how quickly I changed my plans for my life, for him, and he his, for me.
I wasn’t looking to be married soon, as I was doing a thesis and was planning to be involved with the academia; all the wheels were set in motion, or so I had thought. Then, when I saw him, the instinct grabbed me, although I didn’t know him at all. I just felt comfortable at first sight, and I knew it. I knew my heart would be safe with him.
Later, I still did what I wanted to do in other areas, to a degree, but everything else took second place after we met. Then, despite my mother’s strong opposition, which I totally ignored, I married him five months after our first meeting. And yes, our relationship has stood the test of time. As of ten days ago, we celebrated our 49th wedding anniversary.
I don’t know how to explain that first sight thing. Many people explain it in many ways; one of them is knowing each other in other lives. I think, it is as good as any, but then, who knows?
I came across this quote, although I haven’t read the book it is from. I guess it says well enough what happened to us.
“Falling in love is very real, but I used to shake my head when people talked about soul mates, poor deluded individuals grasping at some supernatural ideal not intended for mortals but sounded pretty in a poetry book. Then, we met, and everything changed, the cynic has become the converted, the sceptic, an ardent zealot.”
E.A. Bucchianeri, Brushstrokes of a Gadfly
This or whatever it was, it wasn’t the looks, wealth, jobs, school or even the thought of love that counted. We were actually there for each other. We showed up, even without any intent before our first meeting. Otherwise, it would have been rarely enough to know deep down, I loved and wanted someone and he loved and wanted me. We managed to actually show up for each other, immediately. Coincidence or synchronicity? More like the latter, I think.
As Pascal said, “The heart has its reasons which reason knows not.”
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January 30, 2015 at 6:12pm January 30, 2015 at 6:12pm
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Prompt: I've asked you before about being stranded on a desert island, but what I've not asked you...
Would you thrive in solitude or would you focus all your time on returning civilization?
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I never really lived alone, except for several times in my life, two-three months at a time. I find I can thrive in solitude perfectly in some ways and terribly in other ways. If we are talking about absolute solitude, as Henry David Thoreau did, I would be miserable because as much as l love nature and animals, I love people, too, as I consider people to be part of nature, also. If we are talking about me occupying a residence alone in a city or a town and seeing other people when I want, that kind of solitude is most welcome.
As to living with other people in the same house, I loved living in a family with my children and husband, dogs and cats, and with their quirks, plus my own quirks. I now live with my husband, seeing whoever we wish to see, and occasionally our sons and daughter-in-law. In such a case, I find solitude in writing, reading, enjoying works of art, photography, music, and such. Then I find companionship in other people because I love them, even the people I don’t know, those who pass me by on the street or those strangers with whom I exchange a polite word or two. Besides, I believe one can be with people while holding on to his or her solitude, as well
Still, for argument’s sake, let’s say I am stranded on a desert island. Yes, I would do all I can to return to civilization, for the sake of people first, then books, computers, internet, my creature comforts…and so on and so forth. There is a certain delight for me in watching people and adapting to their special behaviors and needs, and in addition, figuring out how I can manage my life best, which also demands a partial solitude that my personality requires.
Yet, where solitude is concerned, I love this poem by William Wordsworth. By the way, the poems of this eighteenth century poet usually reflect his views of Man, Nature, and Society, and for the most part of his life, except for the times he went alone on walking tours and trekking, William Wordsworth related to other people quite well. 
I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
---Now, whose heart wouldn't love to dance with the daffodils?
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January 29, 2015 at 1:34pm January 29, 2015 at 1:34pm
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Prompt: "Ideologies separate us. Dreams and anguish bring us together." Eugene Ianesco. Playwright How do you feel about this?
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I totally agree. Around the election time, throw a political idea into the conversation of a group of good friends and you’ll see how many of them will get annoyed and begin to squabble. The thinking is, I know better, and if you are not with me, you are against me. The same goes for religions. I don’t have to show any examples for religious disputes. They are out there and have been so for centuries. More violence has been committed, and more wars have been fought over religion than any other cause.
Unfortunately for us, as societies evolved, people created a limitless list of ideologies. Not only we are left to deal with what we have inherited, but also, we need to handle our present-day misgivings. As a result, we add on more ideologies into the mix.
On top of it all, usually within an ideology, specific doctrines take form. Take a political party like the Republicans, for example, and count the divisions inside it. Even within the same ideology, differing points of view are frequently expressed with a lot of venom. If so, then just imagine what happens among different ideologies.
Even when separated by our ideologies, there are times when we can put them aside and come together, such as when we have a hurricane (where I live). At a time like that, everyone become tightknit with each other regardless of race, wealth, political party, religion, or anything else. Everyone is out to help each other with the goal of rescue, retrieve, rebuild and heal. The same goes during a wedding; at least most of the time and in my experience. Both the bride’s and the groom’s sides are agreeable and happy with each other, no matter the differences in most major aspects of their lives.
I really don’t need anguish to bring me closer to anyone, but I’ll take pleasant dreams anytime. As to ideologies separating us, this happens only if we allow them. To live in peace, we must make the choice to have the ability to see beyond our differences, to celebrate and respect those differences, and to find a common ground in which to come together. My dream is for all of us on earth to live our lives fully and lovingly and to allow others to do the same.
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January 28, 2015 at 1:45pm January 28, 2015 at 1:45pm
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Prompt: The sky glows with a strange lavender light. This is no ordinary winter sunset. What happens next?
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Lavender sky in many parts of the northern US happens in winter when the sky has too many dust particles in it, as if a volcano has erupted and left its memories behind.
Where I live, in the south, we get all kinds of splendid sunsets but they don’t linger like they do up north. Half the time, I miss them, because by the time I grab my camera and run out, they’re gone. Where I am, during any season, after the sky turns lavender, the night sets in. Then, I hear the night birds and night crawlers, and it isn’t a good time to be loitering on the lawn or in the nature preserve if I am wearing sandals, and I always wear sandals. It is a given that something or other will take a bite of my toes or crawl upward my leg.
Thus, in their own inimitable fashion, our gorgeous sunsets tell us to go inside and stay there through the night. You never know what lurks in the dark on its hunches waiting to haunt you forever.
Lavender sky,
sinking sun,
languid moon.
Magical whispers
through palm fronds
and depths of your eyes.
Believing
I am where I belong,
my hand blends with yours.
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January 27, 2015 at 11:40am January 27, 2015 at 11:40am
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Prompt: Do you think wishful thinking, dreams, and illusions for what’s to come might spoil future happiness? Or, on the other hand, is it the dreams and positivity that ensure future happiness?
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This is a double-edged sword, and I am of two minds with it. As much as I think I am more left-brained, I value greatly our powers of imagination, dreams, and wishes. All these things make life worth living, whether they come true or not.
What doesn’t work is--not the dreams and wishes but--having false illusions and strongly believing in them that they will come true, believing they are bound to come true because we believe in them so strongly. I find such strong beliefs to happen to humans more often while they are in their twenties, although they may come up in later ages, also.
Truth is, nothing ensures future happiness. There are so many facets of life that change and renew themselves that, at times, it seems we are little in control. What we can control, however, is how we handle anything.
I might believe in a dream but with leeway for the changeable in circumstances. In addition, we build our dreams on what-we-know, without letting in the possibility of what-we-don’t-know altering them. Blind Willow says in Sleeping Woman, “Dreams come from the past, not from the future. Dreams shouldn’t control you -- you should control them."
The idea of who we are is a transient concept because we change all the time, but not only that, the circumstances change, also. This idea of constant change so shakes our stability that, most of the time, we ignore the concept and try to take control of our future happiness. There is nothing wrong in planning for or dreaming about the future. In fact, it makes for an easier if not a happier life, but we should also be ready, to face the changes on the way and take things with calm, if nothing turns out the way we once wanted it to be.
Believing too strongly in our illusions and wishful thinking for the future is an attachment that may well hinder our future happiness. After all, our thoughts and attachments of this-moment may be of no importance or concern to our future selves. Still, the romantic in me says,"Dream on," and the logical in me adds, "But keep your feet strongly planted on the ground."
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January 26, 2015 at 3:22pm January 26, 2015 at 3:22pm
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Prompt: What do you think of water? What are the impressions it brings to your mind?
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Water is like the drama masks with two faces, a laughing and a crying one.
On the happy side, water is the constructive creator of life. Water means energy, as it constitutes 71% of the earth’s surface and 65% of the human body and other animals. It is for all life to use, drink, swim in, or bathe.
It is the sap rising in plants, and it looks so magical, as it shimmers like a fairy’s wand when viewed from space. Down on our planet, water sometimes acts as a mirror, which in prehistory, probably made people and other living things see their own images for the first time.
Many religions use water for cleansing rituals to restore or maintain a state of purity. For example, the lotus-stream of the Buddha (Boddhisattva) rises up from the waters of the soul, in the same way the spirit, illumined by knowledge, frees itself from passive existence. In China, water is believed to be the source of all life and the den of the dragon. Aphrodite is born from the sea. In India, the sacred River Ganges embodies the water of life for the Hindus, for it is the river that flows into the realm of Nirvana. As to water’s cryptic uses, seers use sometimes a bowl of water for seeing the truth and the future. Although in mere science water is only an inorganic compound through which chemical processes happen, the holistic view sees it as the connection of all life and holds it in special respect.
Water is dynamic. While the sun gives life-sustaining energy, water makes it function with its motion. When water becomes motionless, it stagnates.
On the negative side, water can be unstable and unpredictable. Sometimes, this restlessness of it causes floods, tsunamis, and death and destruction. Left to human carelessness, water can also spread illness and disease. It is the River Styx in Dante's Inferno, and the marsh and other four rivers in Hades of Greeks, sometimes called the Underworld, and other times, Hell.
I consider water as having a quality of consciousness with integrity, independence, mercy, cohesion, passion, but when crossed and its boundaries not respected, as having tremendous rage that can kill and destroy. I love the ocean, lakes, ponds, rivers, rain, and even our pool in the back of the house, not to wade or swim in but to watch and ponder about how the water helps our brains to think, to play hooky from our daily worries.
Water brings to my mind Handel’s Water Music, Water Lilies by Claude Monet, Gene Kelly in Singing in the Rain, and many other works of art that sing to the human soul. As such, here is a poem by Mary Oliver.
At Blackwater Pond
At Blackwater Pond the tossed waters have
settled
after a night of rain.
I dip my cupped hands. I drink
a long time. It tastes
like stone, leaves, fire. It falls cold
into my body, waking the bones. I hear them
deep inside me, whispering
oh what is that beautiful thing
that just happened?
And I’ll drink to that, a fresh, cool cup of pure spring water. 
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January 25, 2015 at 3:55pm January 25, 2015 at 3:55pm
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I can declare my love for all other beloveds, but it is difficult for me to do so to Writing, because this relationship is, as the movie title says: It’s Complicated! But then, most lasting loves twist and turn in an upward spiral and prosper through their complications.
Although I can't voice what I feel well enough, I find whispers of my love in other writer’s declarations. So, here are a few quotes and sections from those lovers who view writing similar to the way I feel about it.
“I can shake off everything as I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn.”
Anne Frank
“Writing is making love under a crescent moon: I see shadows of what’s to come, and it’s enough; I have faith in what I can’t see and it’s substantiated by a beginning, a climax, an ending. And if it’s an epic novel in hand, I watch the sunrise amid the twigs and dewing grass; the wordplay is what matters.
Simply put, I’m in love, and any inconvenience is merely an afterthought.
The sun tips the horizon; the manuscript is complete. The author, full of profound exhaustion, lays his stylus aside. His labor of love stretches before him, beautiful, content, sleeping, until the next crescent moon stars the evening sky.”
Chila Woychik, On Being a Rat and Other Observations
“…I still encourage anyone who feels at all compelled to write to do so. I just try to warn people who hope to get published that publication is not all that it is cracked up to be. But writing is. Writing has so much to give, so much to teach, so many surprises. That thing you had to force yourself to do—the actual act of writing—turns out to be the best part. It’s like discovering that while you thought you needed the tea ceremony for the caffeine, what really needed was the tea ceremony. The act of writing turns out to be its own reward….
…So now I teach. This just sort of happened. Someone offered me a gig teaching a writing workshop about ten years ago, and I’ve been teaching writing classes ever since. “But you can’t teach writing,” people tell me. And I say, ”Who the hell are you, God’s dean of admissions?”
Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird
“When I say work I only mean writing. Everything else is just odd jobs.”
Margaret Laurence
“Love. Fall in love and stay in love. Write only what you love, and love what you write. The key word is love. You have to get up in the morning and write something you love, something to live for.”
Ray Bradbury
“We write for the same reason that we walk, talk, climb mountains or swim the oceans - because we can. We have some impulse within us that makes us want to explain ourselves to other human beings. That's why we paint, that's why we dare to love someone - because we have the impulse to explain who we are.”
Maya Angelou
“No man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring two pence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.”
CS Lewis
"Take away the art of writing from this world, and you will probably take away its glory."
Chateaubriand
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January 24, 2015 at 12:54pm January 24, 2015 at 12:54pm
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Prompt: Let's talk about those lovely ellipsis points. Do you think they suggest faltered or fragmented speech? Should they be saved for confusion, distress or the big reveal. Do you use them when you write? How about with dialogue, are they best used when one speaker interrupts another?
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I use the ellipsis to show stuttering, small pauses, hesitation, mood change, suspense, thoughts trailing off, interruption, and rarely, instead of an exclamation mark when there is no exclamation but the sentence itself can be taken as an exclamation. As with everything else, however, the use of these points should be exercised with reservation. Too much of anything in one piece is just too much.
In addition, ellipses are handy devices to use in quoting a large piece of material when we want to leave a section or sections of the material out. I sometimes use this, too.
Occasionally, if and when the emotional impact is not that great, a semicolon or a comma is used in place of ellipsis, as an ellipsis adds more emotion.
Example: Some schools and a few public libraries ban some books as immoral, to show the public their own shame.
Some schools and a few public libraries ban several books as immoral…to show the public their own shame.
In the old way of using the ellipsis, it was close to taboo to use it in the beginning of a sentence, but nowadays many writers use it when there is an omission, be it in the beginning, middle, or the end of a sentence. So, if an old English teacher berates a student for using the ellipsis in the beginning of the sentence, it is because she was taught that way, and not because the student’s use of it is wrong.
There is a special use for ellipsis in film, as well, especially in scripts. The ellipsis is sometimes used to give the actor time for gestures and acting out the scenes. More often, the ellipses are used in between sections of the narrative, with the idea of omitting those sections that are not absolutely important to the story. This cutting off by using ellipses is sometimes called a match cut, as this is important in avoiding excess, yet necessary when the actors may need to have the cut-out part in mind while acting. This practice agrees more with the origin of the word, which is elleipsis in Latin, meaning to leave out.
There is another use for ellipsis in law, in legal documents, but instead of three dots, the ellipsis takes the form of four dots at the end of a sentence.
Copied from www.kentlaw.edu:
“When placing an ellipsis at the end of a quotation to indicate the omission of material, use four points -- a three-point ellipsis and a period. The ellipsis should follow a blank space.”
Their example:
“The First Amendment provides that "Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech . . . ." U.S. Const. amend.”
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January 23, 2015 at 1:28am January 23, 2015 at 1:28am
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"My story was a complete success. The audience was a failure." ~ Ashleigh Brilliant
Prompt: When you sit down to blog or write a short story do you consider what the audience expectations are? How important are each word, sentence when it comes to your target audience? If not, who are you writing for?
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I am with Ashleigh on that. I write because I want to, and I write first and foremost for me. Selfish, aren't I! 
With my blog, having people read what I write and respond to it and that we exchange ideas is a big plus and an encouragement for me to write every day.
With poetry and short stories, as much as I appreciate reader reaction, I wouldn’t change a thing as to the way I ended a story or put my feelings to words just because someone else likes happy endings or another one likes formal poetry or then another one has a set of beliefs on how a certain character should have behaved because what he did is against the reader’s religion or political position. For the same reason, when I review other people’s work, I don’t question their plots or plot points, except I encourage them to show good reasons for character actions and inject a certain fluency into their storytelling.
On the other hand, audience expectations do matter, if I am writing for an audience; even then, each audience differs, and each member within an audience has varied tastes and expectations. In this area, if I were to write for strict romance-novel readers, I wouldn’t push heavy philosophical concepts on them or end my stories by separating the lovers. Yet, if I were to write for the literary genre readers, I’d focus more on the characters’ psychology and the depth of the plot, and I wouldn’t worry about a dreary ending as it may be much better received than in any other genre.
Since I am writing first for myself and regardless of genre, I appreciate any reader input, but what I write is what I write. I may change a thing or two if I agree with the reader’s comments, after seriously weighing them, but usually my plot is mine, and I won’t change a poem either, if the reader wants to inject a different meaning into it.
By the way, this prompt came up right at the time of the night when I was looking into Stephen King’s 22 points of writing. I am putting them here, in case my blogger friends may find them interesting.
1. Stop watching television. Instead, read as much as possible.
2. Prepare for more failure and criticism than you think you can deal with.
3. Don't waste time trying to please people.
4. Write primarily for yourself.
5. Tackle the things that are hardest to write.
6. When writing, disconnect from the rest of the world.
7. Don't be pretentious. (with overly fancy vocabulary and such)
8. Avoid adverbs and long paragraphs.
9. Don't get overly caught up in grammar
10. Master the art of description. (“ You need to describe things in a way that will cause your reader to prickle with recognition,")
11. Don't give too much background information. (In other words, don’t let research or your vast knowledge on a subject overshadow the story.)
12. Tell stories about what people actually do. ("Bad writing is more than a matter of shit syntax and faulty observation; bad writing usually arises from a stubborn refusal to tell stories about what people actually do — to face the fact, let us say, that murderers sometimes help old ladies cross the street.")
13. Take risks; don't play it safe. (“First and foremost, stop using the passive voice. It's the biggest indicator of fear. I'm convinced that fear is at the root of most bad writing,”)
14. Realize that you don't need drugs to be a good writer.
15. Don't try to steal someone else's voice. ("You can't aim a book like a cruise missile. When you try to mimic another writer's style for any reason other than practice, you'll produce nothing but pale imitations."
16. Understand that writing is a form of telepathy.(“ Your job isn't to write words on the page, but rather to transfer the ideas inside your head into the heads of your readers.”)
17. Take your writing seriously. (Your story should strike a nerve in you.)
18. Write every single day.
19. Finish your first draft in three months.
20. When you're finished writing, take a long step back. ( In other words, “recuperate” then revise)
21. Have the guts to cut.
22. Stay married, be healthy, and live a good life. ("The combination of a healthy body and a stable relationship with a self-reliant woman who takes zero shit from me or anyone else has made the continuity of my working life possible It's important to have a strong balance in your life, so writing doesn't consume all of it.”)
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January 22, 2015 at 8:35pm January 22, 2015 at 8:35pm
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Prompt: "Twilight again. Another ending. No matter how perfect the day is, it always has to end." Edward Do you ever wish certain days would never end? Why?
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It is true that there are days that I have wished would never end, but then, there are other days, I can’t wait for them to end. I think this is because we attach feelings to our experiences. It isn’t the day we wish not to end but the feeling it has evoked in us. During such days and with such feelings we learn to live completely in the moment, as past vanishes and future shows no meaning.
Yet feelings are like days. They can’t last forever, as life itself is impermanent. Everything passes and that is partly the reason we think a certain day or moment is beautiful and glue positive feelings to it. Suppose that good day would last forever. Wouldn’t we get bored?
Then, when good times pass, things may get difficult again, but that is fine. Our joy in living, our bravery, is in moving forward, no matter what, which is also fine. As the wheel of time turns, it forms the pattern of our lives.
Seize the day--Carpe diem is a good thought and a fancy saying, but even if we seize the day, we have to let go of it eventually. Still such times when we have seized the day, the memory of them, we cherish in other foggier times, finding out the not-so-great days, too, have given meaning to our lives. It is like Yin and Yang balancing each other.
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January 21, 2015 at 12:24am January 21, 2015 at 12:24am
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Prompt: They say we only use 10% of our brain. If you could unlock the other 90%, what would you do with it?
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Basing on what I have read on the subject, for example on Scientific American, I have to disagree with “they” who say we use only ten percent of our brains.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/do-people-only-use-10-percent-of-their...
Barry Gordon of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine believes we use every part of the brain and most of the brain is active almost all the time.
But let us never mind the truth and succumb to the myth. Let us just forget the facts and true science. For the sake of agreeability and for jest, let us say, I use only the ten percent of my brain and can tell through imagination what I would do, if I could use the rest of that gray matter, although I don't think that matter is only gray.
In this fictional case, first, I am not using my ten percent properly anyhow, and what I operate with is not totally reliable most of the time, either. In addition, lately I have been forgetting names especially those of actors and the characters in films. I mean who would forget George Clooney’s name, especially right after he has won a lifetime achievement award? I did…during a conversation with friends.  Can you imagine!
Yeah, that should settle it; that ninety percent I should use for the names of those handsome and pretty people who dazzle us, doing next to nothing. Yes, I need to remember the names of the actors and their superhuman exploits, plus the incredible IQ increase of a character in the 2014 French sci-fi movie Lucy, whose production aimed to give us the false impression that our brains are not working fully, same as others like it, alongside with the vampires and zombies of the apocalypse that are being served repeatedly to our dulled senses on the screen.
What better way is there than using that ninety percent for storage of all those fleeting, insignificant actor names and movie titles and everything else related to them?
As I said earlier, only in jest...
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January 20, 2015 at 3:51pm January 20, 2015 at 3:51pm
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Prompt: What do you think darkness is and why is it important to understand your own dark side?
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Darkness is ignorance. Darkness is not knowing. I freak out in the dark. Not as if it is a phobia, but close to it. It is the unknown that attaches its claws of fear into me.
This dislike of the dark takes on a strange emotional intricacy and, in time, turns into what we call our shadow or dark side. With the same approach to any other darkness, we fear it, and we try to omit looking into it. Sometimes we even deny it exists and hide the dark side without exploring it. Same as the tools, books and furniture concealed in the darkness of a room before we turn on the light, little do we know that inside our dark sides also reside what we need: our strengths.
Sometimes, our timid maneuvering takes over our lives and replaces the fear of the dark with the fear of becoming exposed. Our fear of our own dark side can be viewed as self-betrayal because by ignoring a serious part of ourselves we are hiding our complete selves. Not only that, but also we are rejecting any healing for our earlier wounds, and letting those wounds fester and inject poison into our behaviors and thinking.
By not facing the dark niches inside us, we introduce and cultivate decay. Jealousy, hatred, anger, hurt, addictions and whatever else is hiding in the darkest corners of our being continuously ask for recognition and will make every effort to show themselves to us any chance they get. So why not deal with the dark side as soon as we can?
Our hesitancy may be due to what is hidden within, the fear that our shadowed side may cause calamity and may push us into complete isolation. That is why we need to meet the dark with open arms in a safe and loving way and in a secure environment.
Embracing who we are completely need not be advertised to the world, but that we have sieved through our insides and worked with what can be worked with would be enough to make us feel complete, even if at the beginning, we don’t exactly know who we are. The dark side or what is hidden from awareness should be ventured into when it is safe because, to deepen our understanding, we have to face, conquer, and reform it.
Any reformation needs exposure and analysis. Trying to find the light in ourselves is fine, but working with the dark side makes us into authentic human beings.
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January 19, 2015 at 11:57am January 19, 2015 at 11:57am
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Prompt: What is silence to you? How many kinds of silence can you name and write about?
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Silence has profound power. We all understand it intuitively. John Cage, the composer said, “Silence is never silent.” As a musician, he should know. The silence mark on the bars have to do with music as much as the actual notes.
Most in-depth communication is done in silence, like the silence between the two lovers when their eyes meet, the silence between a mother and her baby, or the silence of awe when watching a sunset…
There is also that silence when we listen to another person’s words, catching their significance, and re-forming them inside our minds because, if the other person’s speech is reflective and full of meaning, talking back and interrupting would be making noise.
Sometimes, saying nothing speaks louder than words, for silence vocalizes internal hurts, shock, surprise, and sorrow. Sometimes silence is rejected because of fear, the fear of hearing our own thoughts, especially when we are running from ourselves, but if we stand still and listen in silence, we may hear the beauty and wisdom of our internal voice.
Silence is not apathy. It is not omission. If in a conflict, it is the hiatus for allowing the skirmish to settle. Silence here is the refusal to act negatively. Silence is the desire to mend, to glue together what is broken. Silence is the balm.
Thomas Carlyle said, “Silence is the element in which great things fashion themselves.” Poets understand silence. Their creativity peaks while listening to natural sounds, like the flow of water, the rustle of grass, the sound of inner calm… They know the insightful importance of silence through which the universe, its creator, and all that is spoken and unspoken can be heard. Spiritual beings and monks know this, too, and their silence shows their gratitude for all there is.
I believe our center inside is active always, and its voice can be heard through silence. For that we need no psychiatrist’s couch or a monastic education. We only need to listen to the silence within.
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January 18, 2015 at 11:40am January 18, 2015 at 11:40am
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Exaggeration and ridicule are two of the most used elements of jokes, especially when they involve the people or events in the present or very near future. Making a joke about the Romans in the twenty-first century would hardly get a few chuckles unless the comedian attaches it to something or someone involving the here-and-now. Another way to tickle the funny bone is by reversal of expectations.
Suppose using these and other ways, the writer has created a funny section in the story and has to show the readers that the characters have understood the joke of the matter. How will the writer handle this?
Some writers choose onomatopoeia, which is using imitated sounds of laughter. “tee hee” "heh heh" “ha ha ha” etc. But doesn’t this cheapen the writing somewhat?
If not that, what other ways can we show the characters laughing? I guess we can say things like: ”he chuckled” “shook with laughter” “snickered” “roared with laughter” “convulsed with laughter” etc. There are several ways, verbs, and phrases of showing a character laughing. Still, they are limited in number and have already become clichés. So, "he laughed” is enough according to some teachers of the craft.
Thus, “he laughed, she laughed” goes the way of the dialogue tags, the way “he said, she said” has replaced the rest. Still, using other verbs and phrases, however sparingly, should add to the beauty of the prose, I think.
What do you think on this subject? How should we show a character laughing?
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January 17, 2015 at 11:05am January 17, 2015 at 11:05am
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Prompt: What's your favorite type of puzzle to do? Word Search? Suduko? Crossword? Rubic's cube? Jigsaw? Do you do one I didn't name ? Why? Relaxation or mind stimulation.
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None of the above, at the moment; however, I tried all of them at one time or another. Among them, I am most partial to crossword puzzles, but I like doing those on actual paper, when and if we buy a newspaper, since I don’t like the ones in books. The newspapers we’re getting are online, so there’s very little I can do about that.
At this time, for relaxation, I prefer to read a book. If not, for variety, I sometimes play with Mahjong that came with Windows 8. Once in a blue moon, I play Hangman on freedictionary.com. I don’t do these for mind stimulation, but for doing something different, so my mind rests a bit.
Several years ago, I became involved with, or should I say addicted to, FB games. This lasted for about a year and a half. I enjoyed them greatly, but they took so much of my time that I ended up neither reading nor writing as much as I’d like to. With the idea that too much of anything can become poison, I stopped FB games cold turkey.
Puzzles and games are meant to support the brain activities and empower thinking, but in my case, their overuse didn’t make me any smarter. Quite the contrary.
At this point in my life, their only benefit to me is through their ability to reduce stress. On the other hand, I can’t deny that I love puzzles and playing games, but their addiction quotient has proven too high for me.
So far, I have only talked about my relationship to games and puzzles and their effects on me. I am not denying that they may be beneficial to other people in some ways, since huge numbers of people deal with them, and the people in brain research support puzzles and games for mind stimulation and evading Dementia and Alzheimer’s.
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January 16, 2015 at 1:54pm January 16, 2015 at 1:54pm
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I was in the store this afternoon with Vic to get sympathy cards for my friend's children. Maybe, I've been oblivious the past few years but today I really noticed that the Valentine Card aisle is now 3 aisles. It made me wonder do people really buy that many Valentine cards.What do you think, do people really mail that many cards?
Do you do something special for Valentines Day where you live? Tell us about your customs.
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I have a few doubts about the distinctiveness of Valentine’s Day, and I don't think I ever sent Valentine cards to anyone. I didn’t need to. The special one I love has always been near me, and the people I love I carry in my heart wherever they may be.
I also think: Why limit such a wonderful concept as love to one day, especially on a date with such dark background? If the idea was to replace something beautiful with something repulsive, I have no objection to that, but to think that romantic love can be locked up inside one day of the year feels limiting to me.
As to the nasty origins of Valentine’s Day, it is something a lot more difficult to swallow than the gifts of wine and chocolate. History reveals that from Feb. 13 to 15, the Romans celebrated the feast of Lupercalia. The naked and drunk men sacrificed a goat and a dog, then whipped women with the hides of the animals they had just slain. Worse yet, the young women lined up to be hit, as they believed this would enable fertility. Then came a matchmaking ritual, lotto-like, in which each man drew the name of a woman from a jar to have relations with.
The name Valentine comes from the two men both named Valentine and slain by Emperor Claudius II. Later, a fifth century pope combined Lupercalia and the murdered men’s name Valentine, to be honored by the church as one martyr and saint.
Was this pope's action a good deed? Who knows? It feels like whitewashing a dark deed, but I have no problems with love or that pope's action; in fact, I think love should abound and rescue the world from wars and strife. When all is said and done, anything that reminds people to love one another is fine with me.
Do I celebrate Valentine’s day? Not really, but I am fine with others celebrating it. For jest, I usually bake a cake on that day and put messages on my notebook in WdC and on my Facebook page to celebrate everyone’s “love” day. After all, don't the holidays help strengthen the economy?
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January 15, 2015 at 11:47am January 15, 2015 at 11:47am
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Prompt: "Everything with you is a long story." Does this apply to you, people you know or characters in your stories?
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To start with, my life is a long story, but that has more to do with the years than my elongating or chewing the fat on the stories of my life.
Then, from day one that I have been in Writing.com, readers of my scribbles have been telling me to turn what I have into novels. I think they have a point, as I love writing a novel or a long story rather than a too short story. I also like twisted and complicated characters in my stories. Without them, I feel the story is missing its beat. When I come up with such characters, it is natural for them to make any story much longer.
Truth is, I like the whole nine yards in anything with all the details and trimmings. When I was a kid, anytime I was scolded, I began with, “Let me explain…” and went on and on. I was famous for that and for coming up with many a complicated mischief involving lots of twists. It’s a miracle that I lived my adult life in relative calm, other than what events outside of me threw at me, which I can make long stories out of them, too.
In the same vein, I love doing research. Most of my working life was spent in doing research, and any research, no matter how long, doesn’t faze me. That, too, is one long story cut short here.
I also like taking the long way in some mundane tasks, like washing dishes by hand instead of using the dishwasher, which doesn’t mean I don’t like taking shortcuts. I love shortcuts, but even my shortcuts or the disastrous results they offer me tend to become long stories. And you don't even want to know my long stories about my intricate dealings with computers and such, especially when Windows decided to take the number eight after its name. Even, as of last night...Well, let's not disturb that coiled snake now.
So yeah, "Everything with you is a long story" certainly does apply to me.
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January 14, 2015 at 1:14pm January 14, 2015 at 1:14pm
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Prompt: You are transported to the land of Mother Goose and nursery rhymes for the weekend. What happened? Write a story, poem or whatever you want about this.
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I felt as if I were in a Disney movie when I saw this prompt. Another minute or two later, I thought it had the potential of a great children’s movie.
Then, when I looked into it, I found out this had already been done, first in 1933, as an animated black and white film, Mother Goose Land. According to IMBD, “In response to Betty Boop's wish, Mother Goose materializes from a book cover and gives her a tour; she's chased by Miss Muffet's spider, who proves to be amorous, not predatory.”
You can watch this movie, here:
http://fullonlimefreemovie.freewebsite.biz/streaming-free/mother-goose-land-1485...
Then there is the Paramount cartoon, Little Audry: Goofy Goofy Gander (1950) from the archives of Film Chest Vintage Cartoons. In this cartoon, “Little Audrey, in the schoolroom, is sent to the corner stool to memorize Mother Goose rhymes. She falls asleep and dreams that she gets a tour of Mother Goose Land by Mother Goose herself. Comic book criminals sneak into Mother Goose Land and attempt to steal the goose who lays golden eggs. Audrey captures them and then wakes up.”
You can now watch this one in YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmPJAHqY4IY
Then the Iowans among us would know of the public Fejervary Park in Davenport, Iowa where the entrance of the park has a huge Mother Goose door. I guess we could call that park a Mother Goose Land, also.
And why all this excitement over Mother Goose? I think because Mother Goose is kind and friendly, and she never lets her young friends down. Be it in the moving pictures or in our imagination, to visit any Mother Goose Land and never meet Mother Goose herself could be a major letdown.
In Wikia, Mother Goose is described as: "Mother Goose was a short, stout elderly woman. She had curly gray hair under a pointed black pilgrim hat that had a silver buckle on the front. She wore a baggy green dress with a white ruffled collar, large boots, and thick aviator goggles around her eyes. She always carried round a hip-flask.
She is also described as being a handful."
Now, there’s an interesting woman for you, with flask and all. Plus, she tells all these rhyming stories. She is an author who’s made it big, not only in her time but for eternity.
Wouldn’t any author of our day, no matter how high-brow he or she is, wish to make it as big as Mother Goose?
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January 13, 2015 at 12:17pm January 13, 2015 at 12:17pm
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Prompt: Can some fiction, TV shows, and movies make us question the reality and life, by expanding our thinking?
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I think what we read and watch have definitely a imagination-expanding aspect to them. Through their wealth of sentiment, fiction, movies, and TV shows amaze and excite us, and make us come in touch with our humanity.
Even some of them deal with questions we are too afraid to think about. They point us toward some new and some hidden ideas, awakening our consciousness. They make us view life and existence more differently than what we were brought up and expected to believe in, by letting us wander through the experiences and moments of their protagonists.
Having been influenced by their stories, we ask ourselves questions such as: What is a dream? What is reality? Is life a continuous flow or is it choppy? Does the energy inside us live forever and incarnate several times? Do the political and historical events keep repeating in some way throughout human history? Do the animals and plants have lives similar to ours? Will intergalactic traveling be possible some day?
While altering our understanding of our lives, these works also show us the intricacies of the human mind and just how everything is relative to each other. Then, sometimes, we come face to face with other questions we (at least I) didn’t think of on our own. Are there aliens from other planets, galaxies, and such places among us? Is there a Void as a place or perception?
It could be that we owe our expanding minds to a certain flamboyance and deep-seated aestheticism in the writers, directors, and producers, but it is certain that we enjoy what we read and become swallowed up by the certain effects of the moving pictures.
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January 12, 2015 at 1:22pm January 12, 2015 at 1:22pm
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Prompt: What do you think “compassion” is? Can one show compassion even for one’s worst enemy?
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I think compassion is the feeling that drives us to try to erase, or if not, ease the suffering of our fellowmen and all living creatures, to remove ourselves from the center of what constitutes our world and put that other living being there, simply because we respect the sacredness of all life. Compassion, also means, to me, to resist the temptation of inflicting pain on others, no matter what, and treating everybody, without exception, with impartiality, justice, and respect.
In this way, compassion becomes a way of relating oneself toward the rest of humanity and all life by transcending self-interest and egoism. This has nothing to do with religion or any other spiritual practices; it has to do with how we are in our own highest esteem, as compassion ennobles. Isn’t it true that we feel enhanced when we meet a truly compassionate person? For the sake of an easy example, imagine yourself in the role of meeting Mother Theresa or someone like Mother Theresa? And who wouldn’t feel uplifted by the actions of this man in this video?
Sometimes, unfortunately, compassion slips away from our hands, and we go after revenge and other negative motives by shielding ourselves with terminology such as closure, justice, right of way, etc. Part of this may be blamed on receding mores and our economy that is competitive and individualistic, but most of it is the result of us not knowing ourselves thoroughly, by minimizing that each one of us has a higher self which demands we live up to its expectations; yet, somehow, we manage to silence that perfect internal voice.
Compassion has to do with our interdependence of humanity and all life; thus, inflicting pain on others or enjoying their pain, be it they are our worst enemy, has to be a denial of our own humanity. I also understand that, in theory, what I have written so far sounds nice and lofty, but putting compassion into action is very difficult and it needs a conscious pulling it out of abstraction on our part.
Can I show compassion for my worst enemy? I don’t truly know. I might be able to forgive a personal affront, but I consider Osama bin Laden my worst enemy and I can’t honestly say that I didn’t feel relief and downright joy when he was killed, because I did. Maybe, I am not as altruistic and compassionate as I would like me to be, at least not just yet.
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