My essence is flame
words, like petals, reaching high –
transformative fire.
(For Cee’s Flower of the Day. Don’t know what these beauties are, but am inspired by their flow.)
Like Fire
Category: creative writing
Creativity Remains a Blessing
The child embraces creativity without limits. I have memories of tucking between my bed and the wall, hidden from view, surrounded by materials for drawing, writing, and colouring. I kept the chaos at bay with my creative endeavours.
Life happened, and the pencils and crayons disappeared. Journals remained, but only for private. Mundanity and routine replaced imagination.
Then illness struck and with dis-ability came time, and that inner urge to create re-emerged. A true blessing.
(Reena’s Exploration Challenge this week is quotations related to writing, creativity, or writer’s block.)
V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #50: Acceptance
“The doctor was adamant that it’s cancer, and I’ve researched it. If it is, it’s not good.”
Weeks of repressed fear gush forward, and I find myself crying, mid restaurant, my husband seated across from me.
“We just don’t know yet.” he responds softly, taking my hand. “We’ll deal it with one step at a time.”
Of course he’s right. Lack of sleep is making me irrational. The site burns with itch, but the skin tears if I touch it, leaving me with razor-like pain. The specialist warned against treating the area till we had more information. I am a raving lunatic.
Back at home, I have a little chat with God:
“Whatever the outcome, whatever your plan, please give me the opportunity to serve in some manner. I want my time here to count.”
We leave it there. I have calmed down. Acceptance settles in next to faith.
***
In the dance of life, acceptance has been a frequent partner, asking me to follow. This week, examine the role that acceptance plays in your life. So looking forward to your responses.
Leave a link to your post in the comments below, and I’ll be checking back regularly.
So Many Questions
Questions are piling up over here, with very few answers. Isn’t that life? And maybe that is the point: we are meant to reflect, to ponder, to search, to explore.
As a teacher, the emphasis was on inquisition: teaching children to think beyond the obvious, find the tools to research deeper. In this ever-increasing digital age, we want to ensure that students are equipped with the resources and discernment to recognize that you can’t take everything at face value, that ignorance is our enemy, that we must keep asking – even if the answers are elusive.
This week the focus has been on the unanswerable, and while we have acknowledged that answers aren’t always at hand, our combined efforts have inspired thought and hope. Here is what I have gained from your input this week:
“…how can people do/ Horrific reprehensible evil to others….” asks Abandoned Amenities, a question relevant to current world affairs.
“the answer is there, but it’s not,” Paul writes: “certain uncertainty”. (parallax)
“As time passes, the answers thin out.” (one letter UP)
“As long as the sun rises/ The unknowable is the way…” Olga offers
(Stuff and what if…)
“the quest is joyful / paradoxically sound” from wonkywizard
“interconnectedness gone with ignorant winds” Reena Saxena
“if even for a moment…” Heather sparks wonder (Sgeoil)
“Spring/ are you / there waiting?” Hélène asks a question close to all our hearts (Willow Poetry).
“Unplugged and broken” – Ken’s respond made me laugh. (Pictures without film.)
“…how and who?” asks Proscenium. Tongue-in-cheek, of course.
“How long will I live?” asks Antonia, a question most dare not voice.
(Antonia Sara Zenkevitch)
Thank you all for your thoughts, and for making my week.
(Featured image is from my personal collection and asks the question: How long before our disregard for the environment destroys us?)
See you tomorrow for a new challenge.
V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #37: Story
My very first blog post on this site is entitled “Relevance of Story“. It was inspired by the work of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie whose Ted Talk: The Danger of a Single Story, challenged me to think differently about how, as a teacher, I approached my craft. Her words are also a recipe for living compassionately.
Each time we open a blog post and read, we are touching a part of someone’s story. Every time we commit our words to the page, we are presenting a part of our own story. It’s never a complete picture.
There are many ways we might approach this challenge: dig up a story from our timelines, tell a story about the future, offer a story through images, or even uncover the story of another.
Not sure, what I’m going to do yet, but I have a feeling this challenge will uncover much – looking forward to your responses.
To participate: create a post with a focus on story, tag it with VJWC, link back here, and enjoy the creativity of this community.
Wild Card Moments
Age, I’m determining, does not define me. Each new decade presents a different attitude and energy in regards to life, and sixty is but a new approach.
Naturally, the onset of a debilitating illness and all the losses I incurred, made me feel old and redundant, but I’m happy to say, I emerging from that stifling confinement. Embracing the new decade with hope and excitement.
Age was my wild card this week. To find our focus, I challenged us to look back over the past week or so of posts and find the repeated word.
It was interesting to see how different each of our ‘wild cards’ turned out:
landscapes, snow, winter, balance, age, hope, colour, hope, ago, sweet and whispers, love, and nature.
Naturally, I am tempted to weave it together:
Winter is the landscape
of this age, snow
the colour of my hope,
I balance whispers of ago
with sweet hope and
the love of nature.
Would like to see what you can up with – leave your thoughts in the comments.
Thank you to all the creative geniuses who participated. Check them out:
Pictures without film
Proscenium
Stuff and what if…
MICHNAVS
Willow Poetry
parallax
Antonia Sara Zenkevitch
one letter UP
Sgeoil
Prats Corner
Poetry for Healing
See you tomorrow with a new challenge!
V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #36: Wild Card
This week, I am giving you a carte blanche…well, sort of… there’s a catch.
Go back over the last week’s worth of posts or so, and notice any words or phrases that repeat themselves. I’m talking adjectives, or verbs, maybe nouns.
For example, when I look over my posts leading up to writing this one, ‘aged’ comes up frequently. So this is my wild card, and my focus for the week.
Now what is your ‘wild card’?
Respond as your muse guides you: with photographs, poetry, prose, art, or whatever.
Can’t wait to see what you come up with!
To participate: Create a post on your blog and link back to this one, or drop your post’s address in the comments below. Tag your post VJWC, and check back to see what everyone else is doing.
