Wild Animals

I enjoy writing about the mysterious happenstances that come about from wild animals. Could have something to do with watching Aesop’s fables over and over on VHS for months straight as a kid. I also love Narnia. We finished book one with my youngest. We went to books with less words so she’s able to be more involved with the reading experience but to return to the point, animal happenstances.

Animals have a funny way of showing us that there could be more to this world than we realize. Birds falling from the sky. Cats and dogs saving babies. Bucks standing majestically in the fog on a writers journey through the mountains. Wild animals add life to the messages being shared with us.

Have you had a divine intervention with a wild animal (or pet) ?

Prompt and Artist Date

WordPress Promp

Share five things you’re good at

  1. Words of Affirmation- I got a lot of practice while I was learning to love myself.
  2. Sleeping- I love sleep. I love naps. I love feeling energized. and I very much love dreams.
  3. Writing- Thanks for reading 😀
  4. Walking- I reaching here lol
  5. Blogging- wahoo 5 things! After 3 things it was tough to figure out anymore.

I did my artist date today!! I’m still in there!! How many weeks left? Have you joined me? Make sure you record your artist dates. You need reminders about why they are so important!!

I don’t like to do artist dates after work because I’d rather spend time with my family. But I wanted to hold my end of the bargain. I wandered around a few stores and ended at a bookstore and sat on the floor by the bookshelf and read my time away. It was nice. Got to have a quiet car ride home. Why was today’s artist date important? I kept a commitment with myself even when I was tired and wanted to go home. Now my inner artist can trust me a little bit more than she did before.

Show, Don’t Tell

We hear it all the time as writers. For those who are reading this post that aren’t writers, let me explain. Show, don’t tell is when you’re writing a about a character, instead of telling us things about the character like “He was mad,” you’d say something to the affect of “He swiftly picked up the video game console and threw it at his brand new, flat-screen tv. Then, he stormed out of the room using language only a sailor would use.”

I just wanted to take a moment to appreciate how easily this transfers over to real life. First we must make clear that in this life, we, as in ourselves, are the only characters that we get to create. We cannot write someone else’s story for them. There’s far too many variables. But what we can do, is create our own character within our own story. Now to the part I appreciate.

We can, as our own creators, instead of telling the world that we are compassionate, show the world that we care about the well-being of those around us. I love this. A lot of us do this already. I just wanted to take a moment to appreciate it.

“The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the greatest intention.”

Kahlil Gibran

Good Morning Life

I’m a night person that’s reached a point where I’m able to get up in the morning. In the past, it was very hard for me to get up in the mornings. It was that way for a very long time. I’m not sure exactly when mornings became easier for me. But for the sake of blogging, I’m going to credit both liking what I do as a job and my routine.

My morning routine includes having a hot beverage, my clothes already picked out, and having three healthy meals a day. I skipped a lot of meals for too long, so my energy was always super low. Destroyed my digestion. Destroyed my moods. It wasn’t healthy. Point being, a lot goes into having that good morning life. So now that I eat regularly, appreciate my hot drinks, and prepare ahead mornings are not such a torture anymore. (yay!)

A dream is what makes people love life even when it is painful.

Theodore Zeldin

Something about a hot beverage in the morning feels so right.

What’s your morning look like? Something hot part of your routine?

Artistic Research

Today I listened to an interesting lecture by Adrian Piper titled What, exactly, is the Idea of Artistic Research? She brought up a lot of interesting points. one point that I found interesting was how classes can be so rigid it doesn’t allow artists to truly dig into their art in the same way great artists did in the past. If an art class doesn’t allow enough space for the artist to expand outside of expectation, the artist will miss out on their own artistic investigation. I think using credible research in our exploration process is important as well as implementing some rigidity. On the contrary, these are not so important that an artist should lose their voice in the process. Sometimes the best option is to push the boundaries to be heard or even push them to reach some semblance of satisfaction with the project.

I feel we can take this with us anywhere we go. We should always allow enough space within our disciplines to explore, experiment, and wander in ways that may look aimless to others.

Top Two Favorite Things to Wear

WordPress has prompts now. I love this idea!

Today’s question is what are my two favorite things to wear?

Number one favorite thing to wear is a cardigan. I wear one everyday. I have a few colors and styles. I like em all oversized, thick, thin, athletic, all of them.

Number two favorite thing to wear is a thick scarf. The big thick ones. Not the little skinny ones you just throw on as an accessory with no added value besides aesthetic. I like the scarves that basically double as a light lap blanket. Hahaha

Creative Fire

I love the way creatives look when they’re fully immersed in their work.

Creative exploration is full of fun and games, at the same time it gets us out of bed in the middle of the night and in the morning. It’s love, the relationship we creatives have with our work. Just like marriage, creative pursuits take daily dedication, shifting our perspectives, hardcore commitment, and a ton of real honest conversations. But we get up and we do it over and over again. The only time we stop is- well, I honestly don’t know. The only writer I’ve followed that stopped writing was Arthur Rimbaud and he was tormented on his deathbed, so I’m gunna go ahead and keep writing.

With all that being said, seeing a creative this close to losing their sh*t, is the closest thing to love you’ll ever get to witness. They are on the brink of being one step closer to their vision, even if for them it feels like they’re taking ten steps back. It’s a whole process, this creative life. And this applies to all creatives, no matter what the medium is: writing, technology, leadership, entrepreneurship, parenting, all of the above. You look like heaven doing what you love. Keep going.

One of my most favorite mantras is

You’re doing better than you think.

**Quick reminder**
Don’t forget to mind your solitude.

Here’s Some Writer’s Love

Success is not built on success. It’s built on failure. It’s built on frustration. Sometimes its built on catastrophe.

Sumner Redstone

There’s a lot of days where I’d happily throw my computer across the room if I knew I could get a new one. I’d rather avoid the discomfort that comes with all this. I’d happily write in notebooks where nobody would ever see my writing until they put me in the grave. Alas, there’s no growth keeping all your thoughts and lessons to yourself. Sharing is caring. Sharing helps people to relate to you and even more so to themselves.

So evenings like tonight, I have to remember my why. I have to remember how far I’ve come in the writing game. And that all this isn’t about approval or validation. It’s about reflection, it’s about staying connected with my writing, and most importantly it’s about adding to my life in a positive way.

I want to live while I write. I don’t want to be stuffed in a room all day pumping out books. On the flip side, I do thrive writing by myself for large amounts of hours a day. I guess I want it all. I want love and laughter and intimacy. I want to face different challenges alongside my fellow creatives, and I want to challenge myself in solitude.

These are thoughts and ideas that help me stay focused.

Imagine this:
Someone feeling the positive impact on what you thought was one of your worst writing days.

Eat Sleep Die

The three basics to living.

We all do it day in and day out. I like to think we’re here for more than that. I like to bring purpose and meaning into my life. I don’t want to just eat, sleep, and die. I want to do significantly more than that. So that’s what I do. I’m not going to work jobs I hate. I’m not going to entertain people who make me feel bad about myself. I’m going to find joy within myself. I’m going to seek out and appreciate environments I thrive in. And then I’m going to allow myself to grow and learn as I journey toward my grave.

To live is to suffer, to survive is to find some meaning in the suffering.

Friedrich Nietzsche