Thoughts with photographs

I will fly into the storm, pelleted by the driving rain, buffeted by the raging wind, but I will conquer, I will fly out victorious in the end.

1 The Winding Road

I have only this;
I am willing to love each
One, with my whole heart.

Sometimes we avoid what we should be doing. We say we are too busy or we do not have the time. We can always find an excuse to avoid creative work. The investment of ourselves it requires is tremendous, and it is almost all-consuming. If we wish to grow our talents, abilities, and gifts, we must dedicate ourselves to expending what we now possess in the hope of becoming more competent and skilled.

What we love, what compels us, will draw us even when we are excusing ourselves away from our real purpose. Creativity is not a sometime occupation, it is the drive that makes us alive. Love and creation are inexorably entwined, we send goodness into the world through our endeavors.

I have been away from Haphazard Creative because working here requires an intensity of me that I do not always feel I can create. I fiddle-faddle on Facebook and avoid dedicating the time I need to put in to make a post worthy of this space. Maybe I will come here more often, I shall hope so.

If you wish a prompt, explore what keeps you from the creative work you desire to do. See if you can devise a plan that will convince you to put in the effort. We cannot accomplish great things without we decide they are more critical than our leisure.

Thank you so much for visiting Haphazard Creative. I hope you enjoyed your time here and that you will click the follow button, or come again as you are able.

Be blessed, and share your love with the world. Many need your light in times of darkness.

Tanka – after Luther

With a feeble reach
I attempt to touch Heaven,
It beyond me stands;
But Jesus extends Himself,
I am lifted by His hand.

Lit Anew

This day arose from

The dark negativity

Which tried to destroy

Whatever is left of me,

But I chose dawn’s rising light.

I stood up before,
I am standing once again;
I will not allow
Anything coming against

Me to break my heart’s resolve.

I come from a line

Of fighters and survivors,

We do not give up;

The naysayers may slow us

But like the rivers, we flow.

Anyone who loves,

Who wishes to rise higher,

May join the battle

To reclaim every day
From the forces of despair.

I will be a light,

If I only dimly shine
At least one may not

Stumble into the trouble
Loveless darkness often spreads.

I never do well at challenges, but today starts the 2017 November PAD Chapbook Challenge, which happens to be the tenth one. You can find it at 2017 November PAD Chapbook Challenge. I will see how I do, and you may join in.

Thank you so much for visiting Haphazard Creative. I hope you will either click the follow button or come again soon. Take care and be safe.

Grace be with you,

Jo Ann

Two Poems, Two Pictures

1 Hope's Portrait

And Ago

The house at the edge
Of the world is empty now,
But once it held love;
It was a place of mirrors
Constructed of other’s eyes,
Wide open, truth-telling, real,
Unlike glass speaking vain lies.

All were happy there
Loneliness was destroyed
By companionship,
But no structure, human-made,
Can prevent time’s erosion
Working to comport bodies
Ever, always, toward death.

So now the shadow,
Ghoulish, unburied, dim blight
Lies uneasily
Over the house at the edge
Of yesterday, tomorrow,
And we must glean from today
Enough love to inspire life.

2 Time Out

Is It Enough?

It is easy to
Get along if you play
To the popular crowd,
But if you are creative,
Original, one of your kind,
You may find yourself living
A separate, distinct,
Isolated existence
On society’s edges,
Where you may just discover
Those who love you are enough.

I hesitated to bring only poems and pictures here. I wanted to do something inspiring, but coming up with articles is not always natural for me. More than anything I am a poet. So excuse me.

As a prompt try to capture an overwhelming feeling in something you create, whatever that may be.

I am so glad you took the time to visit Haphazard Creative, and I hope you will either click the follow button or come back again. I will try to be more productive and share more often. Have a great one and do take care out there.

As ever grateful,
Jo Ann

The secret of sales

The title may not sound like it involves creativity, but as I stated elsewhere, creativity is a part of all we do. Also, I am going to relate it to your creative products so please continue.

This is not from a book, though I read many books, this is out of my head and my experience, as is everything I post here.

If you have created something, you put your heart and soul into, make sure you value it. Look at it, touch it, get to know it, not just as the creator, but someone who appreciates it as something beautiful, something of worth. Fall in love with that thing, but not so much you cannot part with it if you are selling it.

Present it in the very best way possible, let your love for the object guide you, or if it is writing, do what you can to accent the text in ways that will make a person want it. With a textual description make it as inviting as if you were there talking to the buyer. If you are selling, your love and enthusiasm are what will invite someone to take it. They will want your experience, your feelings, your passion.

If you are selling person to person, it is also essential that you take time to make yourself most presentable, because as much as you are selling love for the object, you are making an impression as someone to score it from. The more they value you, the more they will be willing to pay.

Then there is the person to whom you are potentially selling, you must at that time make them the most important person in your world. You have to love them, not like romantically, just love that flows out positively.

If you are not personally involved with the object and the person it will come across that this is just another thing and they are just a stranger you have to talk to today.

I could go on with this, but this should prime your brain. Sales are not hard, you just have to involve your heart in the game.

For a prompt describe something you have created with enough love that someone would go out of their way to buy it from you.

I hope you have enjoyed your visit here. I certainly appreciate you reading. There is a follow button, or you may come back. Sorry, I have been a while getting up a post, sometimes life intervenes. Take care and be safe.