Saying Hi

Entry Sixteen – Creativity Project 2023

Some people are concerned about me on Facebook. I apologize for not being on there much anymore. I do not belong there since they took my original account from 2010 to 2021. I had much original content that I created and kept copies of nowhere else. They also locked me out of my Haphazard Creative page on their service.

The account I have now on Facebook will not allow me to change the password, so my Messenger is disabled because I forgot my password. Eventually, I will lose that account, too, since I can only reach it on this phone.

I do still have my original Instagram account with Messenger, Twitter account, Pinterest account, and both haphazardcreative.com and hopefuljo.com.

Due to the concern shown, I am posting a photo I took just before I began this post.

I cut my hair myself again in case it looks ragged to anyone.

I have my two dogs and Alex’s dog, Maui, who is mine for a time.

I am not treating this as a standard post with all my creations, prompts, and such. Mostly this is a proof of life thing.

I must however do a Gratitude List:

I am Thankful:

1. God saved my soul.
2. I still have friends who are watching out for me.
3. I have this haven on the web.
4. Books that keep me company.
5. The gift of creativity allows me to write.

Please all of you remember you can find me here.

May God’s Love be rich and abundant in your lives. May He who is over all watch over each one of you and keep you until we see Jesus face to face in all His Glory. May you prosper in every endeavor. God Bless You and Yours, Forevermore.

Always and Ever,
Jo Ann

Fiber Lives

This is us
You and me
Spirits riding
The wires.
Participants
In Global
Society
To the
Ninth
Degree.
We are hung
Between
Earth and Sky,
Becoming
Detached
From what
Some call
Reality.
Still, it is
In these
Hours
Many find
Strength
To endure,
In interaction
With temporal
Strangers,
Who are
Cyber friends.
The lines
Wired,
Screens,
Love or
Hate,
Friends
And Foes,
There are
Few ways
To let go
The life
Within
This realm
Digital,
Technology
Wins the hour
Abides,
Attenable.

© Jo Ann J. A. Jordan

Prompt

Photography has become ubiquitous. Take a photo, create something projected from your image. Words may be best in this instance.

A VERY OLD BOOK

Riffing off an Amazon review title, I so propitiously encountered.

A VERY OLD BOOK

Reader beware, herein lie
Monsters of dastardly mien,
You may be captured, captivated,
Made prisoner for the space
Of these many pages.
I would not read it were I you,
I did not, in truth, finding its words
Many syllabic, poetic, strange
To my modern eyes and sensibility.
It seemed akin to Dickens, Emerson,
Perhaps Poe and Thoreau, whom
I thought all left in the distant past
When what I read was for lessons,
Not for pleasurable entertainment
Initiated on my fancy whim or choice.
No, dear reader, hear, hear,
This tome is best left shoved
To the back of the shelf, covered
In ages, layers of sooty dust,
Let it be, let it lie, you have no need
Of it, nor would ever I, it is a burden
To be left without perusal alone.
Do not open the covers, do not see,
What treasures I could not ascertain,
Join me in my startling refrain
This is a VERY OLD BOOK,
Herein lie dastardly monsters
Of highly developed vocabulary,
Read At Your Own Dire Risk.

The Out Option

For some time, there has been speculation about what it would be like to leave Facebook. I have long felt I contributed much more than I gained, making the proposition much less than profitable in a relational way.

I deactivated my account a week ago and have also abandoned Twitter and Instagram. A lot of consideration went into these actions. It was not the choice of a moment.

The time I have gained is tremendous. I am not subject to the harmful material posted by others and have freedom from politics—more than that, the bombardment from advertising is gone.

All my social media has come to seem frivolous, and of little value, so I temporarily quit. Whether I go back is to be seen.

I joined the social networks to build a creative platform, and none of it seems applicable in that regard. The freedom from the tyranny of having to participate and the quantity of time I recovered are strong incentives to opt out permanently.

So, I am reporting from the outside, and the scenery looks gorgeous.

Faded Roses

The flowers began as a wistful dream of a bountiful harvest, but once cut from the bushes and placed within a vase, they began to fade and crumble—a falling off begun because the blooms were separated from their source.

Nothing living can long survive without nurture. So much depends on tender care. In this life with its challenges, desperation, distractions, doubts, fears, being connected to a network of people who love us is essential.

In this time of isolation, we must find realistic ways to rally our spirits in whatever togetherness we can devise. We need safety zones to engage in conversation without masks and where we can give hugs freely.

We would be negligent to disregard the needs of those who are most vulnerable, but even they need the reassurance of beloved faces and physical touch.

It has been an exceedingly difficult year, but we can help others bloom and remind each one that even in a shadow season, the Lord is present. God will eventually clear the clouds away, and the beauty of humanity’s promise will shine as newly minted gold.