Today's NaBloPoMo prompt: How do you balance your children, relationships, and work life?
Balance.
The all important trick to life. Is it truly possible for anyone to find the truly perfect balance?
There are seasons of life when it is a little easier to come close. When the kids were little and I had more control over their schedules, it seemed doable. But now, they have their own balancing act to try and control. For me to even attempt to mesh them all into one is Mission Impossible.
As far as work life and relationships....well that is easy when most of the people who are in your life are only the ones with whom you work. Thought through the list of people from my past that I might have called friends. About 85% of them were workplace relationships. Now long faded into mere memories of some good times. That is testimony to the fact that keeping the relationships in the balancing act usually fails. At least for me.
Monday, November 7, 2011
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Books
Reading is almost an addiction for me. I love books. At this very moment I have
thirty-seven checked out from my local library! Granted, a bunch are reference books,
not intended for reading cover to cover, but still that is probably more than the average person checks out in a year!
Currently I am on a record pace for personal reading in one year. Might even make it to having read one per week. That count doesn't include the daily reads that don't make the finished book list, like my Bible, devotional, newspaper, and blogs.
With all that I read, you would think that I would have a good base for being able to write, yet that just isn't so. I've been mulling this disconnect over in my mind. Could it be that it is too much like a true addiction? Is it similar to drinking wine to just get buzzed instead of drinking a fine wine to savor and enjoy the experience. Do I just rush through the books and on to another without really incorporating what I read with my own thought process? If I truly owned what I read, wouldn't it be easy for my to then put thoughts on paper?
Or is it just that some people really are born with true talent to write and others are not?
thirty-seven checked out from my local library! Granted, a bunch are reference books,
not intended for reading cover to cover, but still that is probably more than the average person checks out in a year!
Currently I am on a record pace for personal reading in one year. Might even make it to having read one per week. That count doesn't include the daily reads that don't make the finished book list, like my Bible, devotional, newspaper, and blogs.
With all that I read, you would think that I would have a good base for being able to write, yet that just isn't so. I've been mulling this disconnect over in my mind. Could it be that it is too much like a true addiction? Is it similar to drinking wine to just get buzzed instead of drinking a fine wine to savor and enjoy the experience. Do I just rush through the books and on to another without really incorporating what I read with my own thought process? If I truly owned what I read, wouldn't it be easy for my to then put thoughts on paper?
Or is it just that some people really are born with true talent to write and others are not?
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Words
Words strung together to make a sentence.
Sentences hooked together to make paragraphs.
Paragraphs pasted together to make a page.
Pages taped together to make chapters.
Chapters stitched together to make books.
But I left out the beginning.
A thought....it all starts with a thought.
A gift from God to humans alone.
Thoughts.
Friday, November 4, 2011
Paper or Keypad?
The prompt today over on the NaBloPoMo is:
When your writing, do you prefer to use paper or the computer?
Hands down--the computer.
I like getting the thought down and then searching for just the right word that really gets the meaning right (hopefully). There are so many words that can just tweak a sentence the right way, so I play with them. With paper it ends up being a scribbled mess. To be honest, sometimes I can't even read my own handwriting. Exception to the rule--personal letters or cards. But even those will have had a first draft before the final products it sent. Then give me beautiful stationary and a fountain pen.
When your writing, do you prefer to use paper or the computer?
Hands down--the computer.
I like getting the thought down and then searching for just the right word that really gets the meaning right (hopefully). There are so many words that can just tweak a sentence the right way, so I play with them. With paper it ends up being a scribbled mess. To be honest, sometimes I can't even read my own handwriting. Exception to the rule--personal letters or cards. But even those will have had a first draft before the final products it sent. Then give me beautiful stationary and a fountain pen.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
It's a Matter of Concentration
NaBloPoMo prompt of the day:Can you listen to music and write?
I can't do anything and listen to music at the same time.
I take that back. I can drive my car, wash dishes, process a huge stack of things needing to be added with an adding machine, mop a floor, fold the laundry.... You get the picture.
But those are mostly internal habits that need no sense of concentration. Yes, even adding a hundred numbers, because that is a skill that I mastered at a young age. But writing, putting words on paper and having them make sense...not my strength. Even reading words in a book or any other form of written material is almost impossible with music on. I might get away with some softer instrumental music, but if it has lyrics, the answer is definitely not.
I can't do anything and listen to music at the same time.
I take that back. I can drive my car, wash dishes, process a huge stack of things needing to be added with an adding machine, mop a floor, fold the laundry.... You get the picture.
But those are mostly internal habits that need no sense of concentration. Yes, even adding a hundred numbers, because that is a skill that I mastered at a young age. But writing, putting words on paper and having them make sense...not my strength. Even reading words in a book or any other form of written material is almost impossible with music on. I might get away with some softer instrumental music, but if it has lyrics, the answer is definitely not.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Last Meal
If I knew that what I ate next would be my last meal, what would I want it to be?
It might be nice to have some exotic delicacy that I've never had before.
Some type of comfort food might be better, bringing with it memories of the past.
But really, what would be important wouldn't be the type of food.
Most important would be with whom this last meal was shared.
Ultimately, I would want the food to please them.
Share in laughter, good conversation, and just enjoying each other
would be much better than pleasing my taste buds.
Of course, it would all have to be finished up with chocolate!
It might be nice to have some exotic delicacy that I've never had before.
Some type of comfort food might be better, bringing with it memories of the past.
But really, what would be important wouldn't be the type of food.
Most important would be with whom this last meal was shared.
Ultimately, I would want the food to please them.
Share in laughter, good conversation, and just enjoying each other
would be much better than pleasing my taste buds.
Of course, it would all have to be finished up with chocolate!
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Challenge Myself
For all you bloggers out there this will probably be pretty pathetic, but I decided to take the NaBloPoMo challenge. It is doubly challenging because I have an old lap top that has keys that only work right sometimes. But here it goes....
What is my favorite part of writing?
The spoken word is not my friend. I tend to let out words that are not the most appropriate. They fly out with little thought and usually have a devastating effect. As a compensation, I have learned to just be quiet and withdraw to protect myself and others from the pain caused by verbal words from me or to me. So the real thoughts and feelings inside never see the light of day, or reach the heart of the ones I love.
Writing on the other hand gives time to think through the words. Find the right ones, the right combination of them that actually says what I want to say. Doesn't always mean that I'm understood, but at least it comes out a whole lot better than if I hadn't given time and careful consideration to what I really want to communicate. With writing there is a chance, however small, that the real me might actually have a voice.
What is my favorite part of writing?
The spoken word is not my friend. I tend to let out words that are not the most appropriate. They fly out with little thought and usually have a devastating effect. As a compensation, I have learned to just be quiet and withdraw to protect myself and others from the pain caused by verbal words from me or to me. So the real thoughts and feelings inside never see the light of day, or reach the heart of the ones I love.
Writing on the other hand gives time to think through the words. Find the right ones, the right combination of them that actually says what I want to say. Doesn't always mean that I'm understood, but at least it comes out a whole lot better than if I hadn't given time and careful consideration to what I really want to communicate. With writing there is a chance, however small, that the real me might actually have a voice.
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