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Posts tagged ‘writers’ block’

Fun with My Writers’ Group

Every first and third Friday our Madison County Writers’ Group meets in Ennis, Montana. We may have just two participants, or we could have eight or ten. Last February during our third Friday meeting, there were just two of us. I recently came across my notes from that meeting.

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We begin our meeting each time with a prompt we draw from a bag. Anyone can add prompts to the bag at any time. On this particular Friday, Steve drew the prompt, “Writer’s Block.” We had ten or fifteen minutes to write on that prompt and then share with one another what we had written.

I decided to write a Haiku. It ended up as a 5 stanza poem… each stanza a syllabic count of 5-7-5 syllables. What would you have written with the prompt “Writer’s Block”?

Let me share mine with you.

Writer’s Block can trap
You and me in wordless haze
Floating in nothing

Nothingness can hold
You and me in dilemma
Pen in hand stands still

Stillness can reveal
Treasures in the quietness
You just can’t force it

Forcefulness is great
If you adamantly feel
Thoughts begin to swirl

Swirling thoughts spin out
With contemplation and ease
The Block disappears

We had so much fun sharing our ideas on Writer’s Block that we decided to draw another prompt. This one was “Words.” We gave ourselves another ten minutes.

This time since I was on a roll with the Haiku rhythm, I wrote a 3 stanza poem. Sharing it later with my husband, Bob, he asked, “What determines if your Haiku is going to be one stanza or 3 or 5?”

“You write what you have to say,” I told him. “When you have said it, you stop. The thoughts dictate the length.”

Here’s what I wrote to the prompt, WORDS:

When words just fail me,
I sit back and dream awhile.
Dreams don’t have to speak.

When dreams are wordless,
My imagination spins –
Motivating scenes.

Let pictures emerge.
Print them on your mind and soul.
Eventually: WORDS!

These kinds of dreams come to us as writers, but they come to painters and potters and musicians as well. It’s a capacity of the human brain that needs to be cultivated.

A productive life is one that can get beyond writers block, can use words to express inner feelings, and can listen with heart to the unspoken words of those around them.

I hope you are a proponent of the kind of arts education that promotes such critical thinking. Let your curious mind fly free.

Be a wise consumer of words and thoughts and dreams! Do you have a Writers’ Group? If so, tell me about it. If not, think about forming one. It’s such fun to share your creative thoughts with others face to face, not just on WordPress.

See ya tomorrow. Cheers!

Category:

Haiku, Poetry, Sharing, writing

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Bring Love to Tasks

Mountains to climb
Carrying mountains sounds like quite a task!

What are tasks?
Are they unwanted work?
Ask yourself, are all tasks unwanted?

Do we sometimes make tasks out of what could be a pleasant job?

Are some “tasks” welcomed activities?
What makes the difference?
What are tasks?

agriculture backyard blur close up

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Ponder

As I ponder the questions above, I realize my bias! Yes, I think “tasks” are unwanted work. Jobs like cleaning toilets, balancing my checkbook, and weeding are not pleasant activities for me.

For some folks those activities might be joyful, or at least more pleasant than other chores. My mother-in-law used to love being out in her garden on her hands and knees weeding. She had a faulty heart valve replaced with a pig valve. She said that’s why she loved to “root” in her garden. She didn’t need to put it on her To-Do List. She did it as a hobby!

pen calendar to do checklist

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Procrastination Festers

I think I DO make a task out of somethings that could be pleasant. Seldom do I put on my “To-Do List” jobs like “Clean my office” or “Take the garbage to the dump.” Unattended tasks fester and mildew and become the Mountains we Carry instead of just climbing them!

I make the task of doing the dinner dishes more difficult when I  procrastinate and put it off after dinner. I think, “I’m too tired right now. I’ll do them in the morning.” If I had gone to the sink to do them right away, my husband might have joined me and as he washed and I dried, we might have had a very pleasant conversation and they would have been done in half the time it took me to do them the next morning after the food had crusted on the pots and pans! How can I make doing the dishes a hobby? Cooking is!

What makes the difference
between a task (work/job) and a pleasant activity?

  • timing
  • attitude
  • company
  • aptitude
  • necessity
  • love

As the title of this post suggests, a key difference between a task being work or that same task being a pleasant activity is the insertion of LOVE!

In Music of Silence, Benedictine monk, David Steindl-Rast and Shannon Lebell wrote,
“As long as we do work out of love for those whom we love, we do it for a good reason. Love is the best reason for our labors. Love makes what we do … rise like music…”

What are some of your tasks?
Can you make them rise like music?

 

Is writing a task for you?

man with hand on temple looking at laptop

Is your writing
done with love
or is it an activity
you feel compelled to do
on some sort of routine for
some unknown reason?

When Writing is a Chore

Most bloggers love to write, or we would not have a blog! Right? So it’s usually not a chore… not a task… not something we dread. If it were, then we’d know it is time to take a break! Let it go for awhile. Build up our inner enthusiasm!

Writing is easy for me most days. It flows like that river of melting snow that flooded our basement this week. During those few times when I feel blocked, I just set it aside, go for a walk, or I read other bloggers. Sometimes I go up to my Angel Room, pray and read a few devotionals, or I go to the kitchen and cook up something inspiring. I imagine myself having a conversation with the part of me that’s blocked.

“Tell me – what do you need?”

I listen for a response – and discover the places in me that need to be released. I find ways to insert the love that’s needed in order to express myself more clearly. I try to adopt a child-like level of enthusiasm for the ability to express my thoughts on paper or at the computer.

girls on desk looking at notebook

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Bring in the Love and Delight

How might you bring
more love and delight
to all the tasks you are called to do?

How might your perspective change
if you realized the world
NEEDS what you have to offer?

It does, you know!

planet earth

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So set aside those mountains you’re carrying.
Climb them instead!
Bring LOVE to your tasks
and make them “welcomed activities.”

See you tomorrow.

 

 

Category:

blogging, learning, Life's Challenges, Love, Sharing, writing

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Hey, Bloggers

Hey, Bloggers,

How ya feelin’ today?

Have ya found yer smile,

Or did the blues get in the way?

.

Hey, Bloggers,

What’s your mood today?

Have ya found yer happy,

Or did some news get in the way?

.

Hey, Bloggers,

How’s yer heart today?

Do ya feel the love in there,

Or did some muse get in the way?

.

Hey, Bloggers-

I read yer post today.

It set me here to thinkin’

‘Bout what you had to say.

.

Hey Bloggers,

When life gits pure insane,

Come visit me at JanBeek

And I’ll help your spirit gain

. That smile you lost,

. A renewed sense of happy, and

. Hearts for Loving One Another

❤️💕♥️💕❤️💕♥️💕❤️

Drop by anytime.

Hey, Bloggers –

I got love to spare!

Come share ❤️💕♥️

Category:

blogging, Love, writing

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The Pipes Didn’t Speak

Wholesale supply plumbing materials and fittings

I wanted him to come
And check out why we wait
For five minutes or more
To have hot water pour
Out of our kitchen faucet.

He never showed to say
Just what the problem is,
And when I called to ask,
He said he didn’t come
Because the pipes didn’t speak.

Hello! I asked the plumber how
He expects to run a business
That relies on the audible voices
Of the pipes he’s paid to fix.
How does that really work?

It’s a little like a writer who sits
At the computer and waits to hear
The keys speaking the words
That will eventually end up
On the screen or on paper or blog.

The pipes didn’t speak to me.
The keys didn’t tell me what to write.
I need to be inspired by the tools
I rely on for my work.
Clear whatever’s blocking my pipes.

Category:

Life's Challenges

Tagged with:

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