What Good’s In You?

The Journal Writing prompt today is: Make a list of 20 things you like about yourself.

Believe it or not, this is going to be a difficult assignment. The thing is, according to my mood, I can tolerate myself or hate myself. The tendency toward antipathy is strong.

Here goes:

I am creative.
I love deeply and extravagantly.
The son I raised is an outstanding success.
I am a writer.
I am an artist (perhaps not a very good one, but I have some gifts).
I choose never to stop learning.
I want to be like Jesus.
I made my Mom’s final years bearable and kept her at home.
I do not allow Schizo-Affective Disorder to defeat me, though sometimes it is touch and go.
I have excellent taste.
Animals love me.
Children love me. (Ah, geez, I am running out of things to say. Whatever else?)
I am generous.
I sing.
I work with technology despite the fact I never got the hang of typing very well.
I am an early-adopter.
I am capable of teaching things I know.
I have empathy.
I have overcome most of my worst habits.
I have a wide variety of friends.

Bonus: I am still here, even though I fight suicidal ideation more than I like.

Okay, I did it. Can you? Can you step out of the negatives that often besiege us, and count yourself a blessing? I suggest you do it. It might brighten your day. Appreciate yourself.

The Bible says we should love others as ourselves. It implies the prerequisite that we love who we are to love others better.

Fragments

These fragments are six-word stories or poems. Often working in such a limited form can rouse the imagination and spark creativity. Any of these three ideas could become a story or even a book.

The watch stopped; no one moved.

Two dogs, too many, to master.

Now, no one answers the phone.

As a prompt, try six-word stories. You may find you have a way out of the doldrums. Forms can be a creative vehicle of great power.

As I play with fragments, there are always haiku. So here is one.

We can fall over
Ourselves trying to behave
Outside who we are.

For Joy’s Sake

When things are dogging us, and things seem to go wrong, sometimes a Gratitude List can give clarity.

I highly recommend the practice.

I have a journal, specially designated for gratitude. Sometimes I make entries less often than I ought, but I return to it.

The Journal Writing group I have been in for almost two decades does Thankful Thursday.

If you give it a try, I expect you will find a greater sense of peace.

Allowances

On days like this, it is hard to put my stuff out. I have the vow to trip over. The one that says I will post every day this year, and yeah, it is looking like that may become my permanency. It gives me the incentive to work when I might be tempted to go idle. What do you do to motivate yourself, or if you are not producing as you like, how can you make a change?

I have written four pages in the journal today, but I could so not post. Just go on reading the novel I want to complete, and wanting the chocolate I will not bring home. If I go to Aldi and get it, I will binge, to the degree I will eat almost nothing else until it is gone. Nope. I went to Sam’s Club the other day and am proud to say neither Nutella nor Airheads jumped in my cart. These sorts of things I battle regularly. What do you fight with every ounce of self you can muster? Is it food, television, books, shopping, negativity? You can win, at least sometimes. The more you win, the easier the next scrimmage will become.

I have played no music today, which is an anomaly. It has been me and my brain. Always a bit of a stretch, kind of like I imagine bungee jumping in the Grand Canyon, terrifying and exhilarating at once. What happens when you step out of your routine? Can you stick to it as you would like?

Anyway, I hope you have a rewarding evening and accomplish something that makes you smile.

My Purple Pen

There are times, places,
Avoided by almost all
Who choose, because we wish
LIVES,
But confrontation, conflict
FREE;
Experience, which will never be.
Strife presents in
So many situations,
PERSONALITIES,
Being a cumulative fact,
A sign circumstance must
ALTER,
Bend with change.
Growth is destiny, even
When forced, violent,
But peace is hoped, dared to pray,
For loss is not a price
APPROVED
Ever to be paid.
We dance our lines – listen,
Consonants beg humbly
Vowels murmur softly
ANGELS
Blend resonant voices
Among mere mortal entreaties;
The most possible, impossible
DREAM,
Liberty for every person, entity,
Who lives and will in
The future survive,
ALIVE –
The story to continue
Injustice, inhumanity to quell:
Happiness, love, peace…
ALL IS WELL!

As a prompt, do something different in your creative practice. If you work mostly on devices, go analog; use pens, change them about; work inside, go out. Variety can kick your brain into a different mindset. If you like share what develops.

Thank you for visiting Haphazard Creative. Your participation means a great deal to me. If you would like, please follow the site, alternatively come back as you will.

It is my hope that you are doing well and that even in this strange year you are making progress toward your goals. Life is a fascinating adventure when you dive into what comes.