2022 Creativity Project Day 1

The ever Beautiful Miss Wookie has wondrous monstrous designs on 2022! She and I wish you worlds of blessings in the New Year!

There is a pause to
Breathe before hurry begins,
Listen to the wind;
Restless relentless beating
Of a heart, like waves breaking.

A lot has been, but focusing behind can be a liability. This year beckons in a new gown with a bright face, crowned without tarnish. Embracing new endeavors with hope, joy, and wonder can allow opportunity and possibility. Adventure exists; seeking it is the challenge.

This is post one of 365 days. Join me here, at the inception, and we will go wherever the leading takes us.

Gratitude List
I am Thankful:

1. Holidays were spent with family.
2. My son and I remain close.
3. I have friends on whom I can depend for support.
4. I have creative avenues in which to invest.
5. I am still standing, despite it all, still standing. Onward, heed the call.

PROMPT

Survey the past, let anything negative go best you can, or at least for the moment. Imagine what you want the future to be and create from there. Should there be goals you are ready to hold, enumerate those if you wish.

Action

If you have any comments, ideas, or suggestions to share with me, those are greatly appreciated. You may leave them in the comment section. Please be sure to like this post, and if you wish, follow by reader or email; both are available for your convenience. If you rather, find your way back here as you may.

All material here and everywhere on this site and its sister site, Chronicles, is copyright,
© Jo Ann J. A. Jordan. Should you wish to use it, please ask permission.

Ready, Go Create

Sometimes creating is hard. Life intervenes, or feelings get in the way. When you find yourself unable to practice your art, here is some encouragement:

Pick up a book, turn to a random page, read the first entire paragraph, create a work inspired by the whole, or just a word. You do not have to relate your creation to the meaning of the paragraph at all.
Think of a place you would like to go, Google it or use Wikipedia. Do some searching; when you find something that intrigues you, create whatever you are inspired to do.
Go somewhere nearby and see it with new eyes, like a stranger. Take your impressions and create from that starter.
Create an ad for an item, band, show, or movie you love. Probably change the names involved.
Give your pet, or one you had, an adventure backstory. If you are a visual artist, create from there.

I hope those give you some ideas. All the best to you always.

Thanksgiving

Why Gratitude Is Great Every Day

It is fantastic to set aside a day annually for giving thanks, and we should. However, there is so much more meaning to be gained from an attitude of gratitude in the midst of ordinary days. We live by grace, everything flowing to us freely. Much of what happens and what we have, we did not plan.

The parking space that opens up on a day when walking hurts.
The child arrived after a long period of waiting.
The place where home is found.
The friends who love despite the flaws.
The technology that eases each day.
The books that let us travel away.
The pets that bring smiles and laughter.

All these and so many blessings enhance living, gratitude journals are a wonderful practice to indulge in thankfulness. What they give us is mindfulness of how full our lives are. Maybe it raises the spirits and keeps complaints at bay.

Try to take at least a few moments to recognize your extraordinary life every week. When you know what you have you may find yourself more content.

Life is a bountiful adventure abundant in every way. I hope you find reasons for gratitude all along the pathway.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Short Riff

God help me, I’m broken –
Again I wanted, but found,
My presence was bound
To things which I wished
Less remembered, oft-forgotten.

_____________________________________

You will not recall
What happened on such a day;
Rain gets in the way.

_____________________________________

No one understands
Walking these many long miles
When pain arises.

_____________________________________

The library is
Spurned, all books now there returned;
Hands for paper yearn.

______________________________________

The number hidden
In our soul, how long we have –
So, love we must share,
Mete out kind encouragement,
And needful inspiration.

______________________________________

I have a longer piece in my journal which goes beyond the first bit. Unlikely, it, the public shall see. I hide, to save the heart of being me.

If you have not read the Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine lately, you should check it out. Relentless by Dean Koontz which came out some years ago is also worth reading.

One day I will return to reviewing books I have read this year. This list grows long.

As a prompt: Use these words in your composition – concert, guitar, mug, closed window, ghost, fairing, shower, ultimately, lake, tetradactyl.

I am thankful, sometimes when it all falls apart, God puts it back together better.

Tuesday

It was an interesting day my friends. It started early, so I stayed up all night.

I went to the Ford dealership and got the reset I hoped and prayed for without having to pay.

The Explorer did not pass emissions. I was informed if I drove fifty miles at 55, it would likely pass later. (Have you gone 55 on an expressway lately? I felt like I was sitting still.)

Before trekking off, I stopped at Chick-Fil-A (Also known as God’s Chicken Place) for brunch. I sat there in an empty dining room, reading the NYT on my phone and crying over the news. Get your Covid shot, everyone.

The manager at BAM was my friend, so I stopped at the mall. I walked through Dillards and was accosted by a dress of Scarlett O’Hara Curtain Dress GREEN. A salesperson and I discussed it: beautiful design, but all out of my budget. If only!

My friend no longer works at the book store, but the staff knows me, so we chatted. I managed to leave without buying anything. (This is an incredible accomplishment for me, especially since the latest by Stephen King tried to wend a way into my hands.)

I drove to my hometown. I stopped and photographed my “Church in the Wildwood” and the Little White Church on the Hill. Both of these had hosted weddings of mine. I also stopped by the house I was buying when my world skidded into the deep.

The trip had not run up fifty miles, so I got back on the expressway and headed in the opposite direction. Everything on the road passed me. The trucks that appeared to have eating my rear bumper as their appetizer in mind, were a bit frightening.

When I returned to my home exit, I stopped at my cellular provider because my phone did not do data well, nor phone service. The young lady said she probably could not help. A male customer had just cursed her out for the same issue with the same make and model phone. I apologized to her for his nastiness. I asked her to try anyway. She did, and her fix was great.

I ate an early dinner of a green burrito, which cost $1.34 at Del Taco. Then I went back to get emissions done again. One of my club friends was there, and we talked. He has been going through a lot, and I tried to console him. Seeing him was like an angelic intervention. I was so happy. The Explorer passed emissions.

I went back and told the young lady that her fix worked fine on my cellphone. I told her not to let anyone else treat her disrespectfully.

I drove home and almost could not enter my house for Maui. All the dogs let me know their overwhelming displeasure with my being gone. I walked the three, and the day settled back towards normalcy.

Maybe that all seems ordinary, but I rarely go out and rarely encounter so many beautiful humans.

Be kind. Love is why all of us are here. People are precious treasures. You are included.