In Faith

To me, faith plays a vibrant role in creativity because I feel the gifts with which I am endowed, and the inspiration given me are bestowed by the Lord. I am in no way ashamed of my belief in Jesus as my Savior, but I try to be mindful that others may not be of the same disposition.

I want to share something I wrote on Christmas Eve. If you are of another system of belief, do with it what you will.

When I survey my life, I am in awe of the blessings my Lord has accounted to me. He has given multitudes beyond my deserving. He has been generous in goodness and faithful in mercy. My God sees me like a precious treasure whom He purchased at a price so high as to be incomprehensible.

He is my solace in the depth of despair. He is my rock when I need a sure foundation. He is the beloved of my soul, and He cherishes me as priceless. He is a wall that surrounds me protecting me from harm of which I am blissfully unaware. He is the path that takes me to secure places. He is the Lion who fights my battles with principalities and powers beyond my reckoning. It is He who will gather me to Himself when my earthly days are over.

Who is like my God? Only He, Jesus Christ, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, stands in triumphant glory over all that exists. I will praise Him, with all my heart and soul and mind. It is He, only, who saves me.

Today, January 7, 2018, I became a member of a church where I feel more belonging than I have in a long time. It is home. I will probably share more of my journey in coming days.

When we create, we should endeavor to enhance the lives of those who witness our work. There is such a need for positive influence in so many lives, we are vessels of love given the power to bless others.

Thank you for visiting Haphazard Creative. If you desire, click the follow button and email will inform you of posts, or just come back as you will. May peace, love, and comfort be with you.

Short Poems Before Dawn

Often I write haiku and tanka because I can. I also do variations on the forms. I explained both of them in earlier posts here. Haiku are counted syllable poems with three lines of 5-7-5 syllables respectively. Tanka are also counted syllable poems with five lines of 5-7-5-7-7 syllables. The variations I do are the addition of more syllabic lines.

In my view, forms are guidelines. They are not chiseled in stone never to be bent to the creative will, so I play. Creativity is the play that makes an art of living in a world that needs more beauty and grace.

I.
Church is given us
A safety, love, gathering
To make us stronger
In body, spirit, belief,
So we may navigate life
Surrounded by such great grace
Our lives prove the Gospel truth.

II.
Failing along our
Way to the success for which
We live, are destined,
Lessons of immense value
Are bestowed with each heartbreak.

III.
So, you have come here
Prepared to plunder what is
Left after collapse;
Instead, sit you down just here,
Tell the story of the wounds
You carry hidden within
Depths of your half-mended soul;
Perhaps together we can
Align our lives with wholeness.

IV.
The wings, those feathers,
Cover the heart, the creature,
Flying to heaven,
For mere flesh could not ever
Go near the bright face of God.

When we create we have no obligation to be the best, our job is to show up, make an effort, and produce the best work we are capable of making in the moment. This does not mean we should not strive for near-perfection, but it allows us the freedom to make mistakes, make progress without the goal of perfection keeping us boxed in so we do not generate any art at all.

Every time we exercise our creativity we grow. We become more ourselves and more capable of illuminating our soul’s message for the world. If we are writing, each line, each page, helps us clarify our message. If taking pictures, each shot teaches and refines our technique. In art, each drawing, painting hones our skills. We were not born with all the knowledge and expertise we need, but continual practice equips us to accomplish more challenging tasks that lead to the possibility of widely successful work.

I am grateful:

Some issues I was having are being resolved.
Despite the cold weather we have retained power.
I found some great library books on Tuesday.
I am getting new contacts.
Hope is still here despite the growth on her flank which is getting larger.
Living, although a challenge, is worth the effort.
It is not over until it is over.

For a prompt, think of something that vexes you and explore the issue through an artwork or writing exercise. Be as precise or vague as you wish, but capture your audience’s attention.

Thank you for visiting Haphazard Creative. I hope you found something to inspire or encourage you here. Please feel free to press the follow button, or if you rather not, do come back as you can. If you have thoughts or suggestions, those are always welcome and may be written in the comment area. Thank you for coming. See you soon.

Always,
Jo Ann

Mission Statement

#1 Creative Statement - Typewriter

If we want to accomplish more, we must do the remarkable. We cannot settle for a lukewarm approach, our desire for excellence must be like wildfire. We hold in our minds, hearts, souls the creativity to institute change at a cosmic level, but we cannot defer our work. The world needs out production in the present moment. We are not allowed to be placid and let time to rush by us without our contribution to its meaning.

Every word, thought, image, line, page, all we do, are, create, is integral to the shaping of the next minute. We may sometimes feel we have nothing to express, share, but this is mistaken, our gifts, talents, abilities were conferred upon us to light lives now. Ours is the foundation that will cement these days in history.

We create alone
But the work reaches further
Than we imagine;
We are each a world changing
Force with power to excel.

As a prompt: Devote a few minutes, or more, to mapping out a plan for this week. Find a resource that inspires you and dedicate yourself to exploring it. You have so much that needs sharing with others. You can inspire and encourage greatness. Realize your creativity was given to bless those who encounter your art.

Goals Anyone?

On the first day of a new year, many people make resolutions. Some creatives are not great at adhering to something strict. The recommendation to make an effort, maybe not daily, but regularly, to express creativity seems doable. There is a multitude of tools to help motivate us and increase our skills. Some of these are like Creative Bug offered as a subscription on Amazon, or the numerous books that cover almost anything creative one wishes to do. Magazines, YouTube, blogs like this one, Udemy courses, Coursera, all afford opportunities to become more adept. The most effective method of increasing abilities is frequent practice. The more skill is used, the more it evolves into expertise.

A 365 project can be beneficial. Taking a photo, making a journal entry, completing a gratitude list, doing a doodle or drawing, working on a painting, writing a poem, flash fiction, working on a story or novel, or anything every day can increase proficiency prodigiously. A year and a half of one such project can be found on Chronicles. There is a trove of information there.

This is an open invitation to make the use of your creative talent an intrinsic part of your life. Please share your journey here if you like.

Today, I am grateful:

I have a warm shelter to protect me from the frigid cold.
There is plenty of food to nourish the puppy dogs and me.
I have the tools I need to be productive.
My grief over losing Mom is beginning to lessen.
I have clothes I like.
My son is doing well in his position at the GigaFactory.
There is reason to believe 2018 will be much better than 2017.

Life does not force us
To become who we should be;
Creativity
Causes us to grow, evolve,
Fulfilling all our promise.

As a prompt: Set a goal, easily met, write it out and hang it in the workspace, so it is visible daily.

Thank you so much for visiting Haphazard Creative. I hope you found something that inspired or encouraged you. There is a follow button if you wish to click it, or please return often. Happy New Year and may you grow your creativity in coming days.

How to avoid suicide this week (Repeat)

Sunday – The Christian day of worship, not a good choice for deserting this plane of existence. Since time immemorial many believe suicides are consigned to hell. The consensus on that is it is a place of infernal fire and cruel everlasting punishment. It is also purportedly populated by Satan, devils, demons and other vile characters. Should you need some help imagining what those tormentors are like, catch a few episodes of Supernatural and see the trouble they cause Sam and Dean. Maybe if you weigh it out, you will find you sooner not leave an unpleasant life only to go somewhere worse.

Monday – Always a fun day when all the crap you left in the hope of enjoying a good weekend announces itself by punching you in the face and crunching allover your toes. It may appear a prime day for an exit, but fortunately, or no, you are so busy trying to catch up, doing damage control, and attempting to get ahead, that there is no time to escape. After the struggle, kick back, laugh at the battle, take advantage of the peace, and let the day slip into history.

Tuesday – Not a standout day as the week goes, but it has a few highlights. It is when the packages you ordered before the weekend usually arrive, and the day new book releases hit the stores, so you probably ought to choose a different day. You would not want to miss that book that taught you how to do more than merely exist nor the newest, latest, greatest thing you wanted because it can change your whole world. So take your tome and gadget, find a place you can forget the rest, and lose yourself in possibilities.

Wednesday – You have reached midweek, hump day, the weekend is in sight. Why leave when you anticipate relaxation ahead? Did I hear you release a deep sighing, “yeah, right?” I know, but there are cultural myths we all have to buy to lubricate the machine of society, so just go with it. Order a pizza or grill a steak or if you are on subsistence, cook up a pot of Ramen. Have a drink, not saying it has to be alcoholic though you might gather it is implied. Stream a comedy, or play your favorite album or three, find a someone and consider something momentous together. Wednesday is not a good day to desert the followers who will forget you in a week. You have to be here to fuel the engine.

Thursday – Nothing outstanding usually happens on Thursday, (except Thanksgiving, and if you can dredge up some gratitude, it might help you find some sliver of meaning to get you through, but I would not bet on it if you are buried in the barrel of monkeys on your back). Why would you want such an ignominious death day, we all want to go out in blazing glory, uh, yeah, please do not burn the house down, fire hurts. Go for a drive, or a bike ride, or walk the dog, put the cat in a box, call someone who may be as lonely as you, well, maybe not, but try to cheer both of you up. Belay, this is not the day to die.

Friday – Congratulations, you have gained the eve of the weekend. Time to party! Take yourself out to a restaurant where the screeching is limited and let someone else prepare, serve, and clean up after your meal; after your appetite is appeased go somewhere and watch people. Observe that there are others who are making their way through life, facing some of the same obstacles as yours, and each one is still in the game. Go home and do something creative. Bring a vision of your own into the world by writing, with photos, doing art, singing, laying out your outfit for tomorrow, or anything that comes to mind to entertain you. While you are at it, you might even forget you wish to die, after all, it is a sad scene.

Saturday – Wow! Day seven, you have survived! Give yourself a gold star, okay, silver if you prefer. Forget about the bottle of pills you fantasize about, that cold metal loaded gun, quit gauging whether the extension cord will hold your weight long enough to strangle you, or if you can stand the pain of carving yourself up, and all the other myriad ways you have devised to rob posterity of your presence. It is Saturday! There are sports on television, I guess, I watch such little tv, that I am not positive, but I think so. Someone put up a new video on YouTube which is must see. There are articles everyone will discuss Monday, in the paper, or maybe nowadays you have to watch the news to get the scoop, take CNN or Fox, matters not to me; watch the latest movie at the box office. Lose yourself in media and let the notion of self-destruction fade out of your moments. After all, tomorrow is another day.

Postscript – I wrote this in my “dump notebook,” which is where I put things I never intend to use. I thought about how this might help someone or open someone’s perspective. I solicited opinions with a teaser posting on Facebook, and some few responded that I should post. There were no adverse reactions, so you found this here.

I struggle with suicide, daily. Most times I am safe, it is just a thought. Others, I plan. Talking to someone, even though they have no idea they are pushing the possibility away, often helps reframe the situation and leads to choosing life. Life is a treasure, if we end it prematurely by our hand, we have deserted all the possibilities we have to excel and succeed. We have lost confidence in ourselves, others, love, and we have laid aside our courage and chosen to quit. We are winners, every one of us is precious. We would not be alive without we have a purpose, and it is not to kill ourselves.

If you are struggling with suicidal ideation, talk to someone, let someone know, give yourself and the universe the gift of getting help, you are not hopeless, and you are not alone. People love you, even people you have no idea care. Do not leave a void on the planet because you went without reason. If you die, you will cause such a magnitude of suffering you cannot imagine. Your family, your friends, every person you know will feel guilt, sadness, grief because you are gone. They will be unable to forgive themselves for not knowing your pain, not stopping the ending of your life.

Please, I know it hurts, I see the futility, the profound hopelessness, and uselessness, all those negative feelings that can assail a heart that no longer knows a reason to go on. The truth is you belong; you are loved, you have so much to share with the world. You are needed here. You can survive. You may have to change; change can be useful. You fell many times before you walked and you could call that failure, but you got up and tried again. One day you took off walking, and you never looked back. There are future successes ahead of you. The truth is no day is a good day to die. Keep going, you can achieve greatness, and it is your responsibility to do all you can. You got this. Never Give Up.

Should you need to talk anonymously, call the hotline at 1-800-273-8255. Do what you must to make yourself safe and keep doing it until you are free.