Every month a question will be posed that may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. Remember, the question is optional. You can write about anything that relates to your writing journey.
Let's give a warm welcome to our co-hosts: Susan Baury Rouchard, Nancy Gideon, Jennifer Lane, Jennifer Hawes, Chemist Ken, and Chrys Fey!
This month's question is: Quote: "Although I have written a short story collection, the form found me and not the other way around. Don't write short stories, novels or poems. Just write your truth and your stories will mold into the shapes they need to be."
Have you ever written a piece that became a form, or even a genre, you hadn't planned on writing in? Or do you choose a form/genre in advance?
I don't know. I've written in many different forms and genres and for many different age groups. So I guess the answer is that I've simply written "my truth."
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Thoughts
I blew past June and July. They slipped away without my noticing. Sometimes I think I'm just being lazy. Other times I think I don't care anymore. Then there are times when I'm just not inspired, my mind is a blank and I wonder how others can find so much to say, and have so many things to write about, or so many wonderful newsy things to announce. Me? I'm feeling somewhat drained.
I have questions that can't be answered.
How did we (and I mean all of humanity around the world) let things go so wrong/bad? Why are some people so very angry and hostile? When and how did some of us appear to have lost our ability to be civil and kind and compassionate to each other despite our particular beliefs or philosophies of life? How did we become so polarized? When did we loose the ability to compromise? When did we loose the ability to debate our differences calmly, logically, and with civility and without resorting to name-calling, blaming, and threatening? Is it that we have always been this way but that we were hiding our deep-seated "true" beliefs/feelings behind a thin veneer of denial and lies? When did we loose trust in science, which seems illogical to me as it permeates our lives from the electricity in our homes to the hand-held computers we carry around, from medical advancements to space exploration, from the study of sub-atomic particles to the cars we drive? On and on and on. I went to a private parochial school, my sister to a Catholic school. Both of us were taught religion and science, side by side. Studying science did not teach me to loose faith in God. Studying the Bible did not teach me that science is false. What it taught me is that they are not incompatible, that it isn't one or the other and can't be both. To say that they are incompatible is almost like saying that because I speak and write only English that all other languages are wrong/false. I am confused and disheartened.
For my own sanity, I search for up-lifting, inspiration, positive quotes and memes to post on Facebook. I post them for me, to remind myself of the kind of person, the kind of human, I want to be. I leave you with a few. My heart is sore, but I will ever strive to be kind and to be compassionate.
Being Thankful
Today I am thankful I got to see comet Neowise.
(Not my photo) Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) captured over Joshua Tree National Park, California on July 21st, 2020 at 05:03 UTC
Despite my moaning and feeling sorry for myself I am continually awed by the beauty of nature and the universe which lets me know there is something much bigger than myself out there. Our little island planet home is all we have and in the grand scheme of things, is an insignificant dust mote. Let us remember that as we go forth into our daily lives. How we treat this planet, which gives us life, is a direct reflection on how we treat each other. Let us remember that no matter how "different" we may think we are from each other, we all cry and laugh in the same language.
Namaste. Go With Peace.
Namaste. Go With Peace.
What are you thankful for? Are you questioning yourself? Your belief system? Others? And what about this month's question, have you ever written a piece that became a form, or even a genre, you hadn't planned on writing in? Or do you choose a form/genre in advance?
I have all those same questions. We so came together after 9/11. Why are we at such odds for this crisis?
ReplyDeleteGood question, Diane!
DeleteHi Bish - I just won't go negative, and ignore it if I'm asked ... thankfully now I'm in a self-bubble ... not often! We all need the positive takes on life from all points of view ... doing what's best for the planet and its occupants. Stay safe - Hilary
ReplyDeleteMost of the time I can avoid or ignore the negative, too, Hilary. On the days when it seems heavier I do my best to remember to breathe and be grateful.
DeleteI'm not as excited about my writing as others are either. And I'm not bubbling with ideas. So you're not alone.
ReplyDeleteThat's great that you try to spread some inspiring quotes on Facebook.
It's comforting to know I'm not alone in my lack of inspiration. Like one meme I posted said basically, "Shout out to all my procrastinator friends...maybe we should start a club, but not today." :D
DeleteGod created the world and the science of it so of course the two can co-exist.
ReplyDeleteJust keep focusing on the positive.
Thanks, Alex. I know from personal experience there is something much greater than myself involved in this fabulous universe, but sometimes I do get misanthropic...
DeleteThank you for your inspirational post, Bish! Just what I needed today. Staying neutral may be difficult if not impossible but staying civil and courteous is what we all should aspire to. Hang in there! It's a beautiful world out there (and you live in my favorite part of it!) worth saving and savoring!
ReplyDeleteOh, it IS a beautiful world, which is why I keep wondering why we humans keep sh*tting in our only nest. Yet every day I remain grateful.
DeleteI want you to know that I really appreciate your Facebook memes. I am feeling disheartened, too, but trying to remember to look for that which is good. Sadly, it appears the rude people are the loudest. We have to remember that for all the people out there who have lost their manners, there are many people like you, Bish, who (perhaps quietly) have not. It is the only way forward, I think.
ReplyDeleteWell, you just made me all teary-eyed, in a good way. There's that Jackson 5 song... "One bad apple don't spoil the whole bunch, girl." I know it's true. Just some days I want to scream into my pillow til I'm hoarse.
DeleteThat's so true. Out of the Dark Ages came the Renaissance. Thanks for the reminder.
ReplyDeleteI could have written what you did about Thoughts. These past two months have been so different that I'm not sure how to behave.
ReplyDeleteI get that way, too. I wish I could throw a full-blown tantrum like a two-year old.
Delete2020 is definitely a draining year for all of us, and creatives are getting it hard, finding it difficult to create.
ReplyDeleteAnd yet you, Chrys... You are an inspiration, you are like a Timex. You take a licking and keep on ticking. I really have nothing to complain about. Most of what I seem to be experiencing is vague and subterranean.
DeleteI have all those same questions and feelings, Bish. For a while, even before covid, they were making me a little crazy. One morning I woke up and knew that I was wasting my time and energy fretting over it all. The only person I have any control over is myself. I have to leave the rest to God, the Universe, whatever you want to call it. I still have faith that we are all basically good, but somewhere along the way we took the wrong fork in the road and there are a lot of roadblocks and wrong turns before we reach the highway again. My 9th grade science teacher weighed in on the science vs. God debate, and I agree with what he said: Some people, especially some scientists believe only in science and what they can see and touch. I am not one of those. I believe in science, but when I see a tree or the stars at night, I know that none of it could exist without God.
ReplyDeleteOh, Carol. I think we must be soul sisters. I also know that there are some scientists (and this is resent news) who are finding it more and more difficult to discount the existence of a "creator." There seems to be movement towards the idea that the Universe has always being here and that there was no Big Bang...:O
DeleteWonderful post, Bish, and I think a lot of people are feeling as you do. I keep reminding myself that I have to focus on the things that I have control over. That means doing the best I can to create safety and health for Terry and me (Both of our families are scattered well apart from us). I can't worry about the yoyo who won't wear a mask. I make sure that I do so for others and myself. I'm keeping in contact with the important people in my life as best I can. Also, I am expressing gratitude throughout the day to God for all the little things that make my life rich and full. This agnostic is very uncertain about who or what God is, but I am praying for our world every night and giving thanks every morning for the gift of a new day.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, science and religion are not mutually exclusive. I learned that God gave us brains, that he helps those who help themselves, and that people should not bury their talents but use them. The more I learn about theoretic physics and cosmology, the closer I feel I am coming to the mind of God.
Hang in there. Don't be hard on yourself. This is a challenging and uncertain time. You are a wonderful writer. Your Blind Ship story in Voyager had so much heart. You'll get past this! Meanwhile buy or download Chrys Fey's new book! There is something there to help everyone with writing. Hugs to you!
I think the stress of the last few months has exposed a lot of things simmering under the surface I guess. And I loved your quotes, especially Phillipians 4:8. I wish we could "agree to disagree" more and have respectful discussions. I hope that is not forever lost, but I think some of it is that people are bolder online to be rude than they are in real life.They also tend to more extremes online.
ReplyDeleteI had a wonderful time yesterday at coffee with a friend about some of these issues, and we don't agree on everything.
So I still have hope.
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