Unyielding

I have been told
I should yield
To the ordinary
Settle down
Settle in,
I considered it
Once,
But then again
I have too much
Difficulty
With those like
Them.
I am too
Different,
Too loud,
Too much
To bridle
Who I am,
I bring
Creativity
In order
Wherever
I am.
Life is
Love,
To inspire,
Encourage,
Bring
Wanderers
To be found.
I am unable
To slow down,
Time goes too
Fast to let it
Pass without
Living it sound
Aloud.

© Jo Ann J. A. Jordan

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!

© Jo Ann J. A. Jordan

Out of the Way

Nothing assures the imagination will show itself, but we are all creative and can manufacture situations to bring dreams to life.

One way is to face the page in actuality or on-screen and stay with it until words or art come. Another is to dive in; create as one goes, letting go of the obligation to be great in the roughness of the draft. One can clean up the mistakes and omissions later.

No one, nothing, is perfect this side of heaven. There are flaws in people and things – inanimate and living. Everyone has to deal with who they are, but change is doable. Work is not permanent, everything has a season. Sometimes the appropriate season fails to come, but this is no reason to give up.

If one only creates for the temporary pleasure of applause, little is apt to be accomplished. Seeing each moment as practice one moves close to concrete meaning. The creative act is where one experiments attempting to beget work that measures up to the triumphs of the past. Best practice is to keep the self as the competition rather than others.

If work is not displayed for public digestion it can marinate in the recesses of imagination being allowed to be edited in time for consumption by others. One must continue the work only an individual may do. Each person’s vision is important as an antidote to the fracturing of the world. Production is a valid truth, creation has meaning, dreams must be nourished. Life requires each perception of what is and is not precious. Keep going, never give up.

© Jo Ann J. A. Jordan

Touch

© Jo Ann J. A. Jordan

The waves we
Make
The disturbance
On the surface
Are
Only evidence
Of
Existence.
We are
Distant,
Leaving
Imprints,
Dropping keys,
But
Those are
Not us; we
Transcend
Reality.
We are
Everything:
Hope,
Joy,
Life,
Love,
Make our
Victory
In God’s
Economy;
In and out
Of time,
Space,
Eternal
As story.

© Jo Ann J. A. Jordan

As a prompt: Consider your place in the universe, consider your impact on the planet, consider your beliefs, write something that packages that without any doubt.