The Soul of My Blog?

Blogging is an adventurous outlet, with an innate freedom of expression that allows you to explore the weirdest ideas that could come about. Maybe you are able to traverse the confines of your soul and release them with new words, or maybe you just write. One time I told someone they wouldn’t find my blog, to which they responded that they would. I was told they would, one day.

Then this question arose.

Why do you want me to find your blog, who said I wanted to see your soul?

I laughed a bit at this. My response was it’s really not my soul.

I never think of my blog or my writing for that matter as a way to view my soul, but today I thought about this comment and thought about my blog.

Why do I write?

I always ask myself this question and I never have a concrete answer. I write just because I like to and I think I have a way with words. Sometimes my emotions may gear my writing, life might influence the words and other times something around me just sparks the fuse of my imagination and the explosion of words erupts with a big bang (it’s usually the latter). For instance, Would You was inspired while I was at the gym and Shawn Mendes’ Mercy started playing on my Pandora station. There is nothing very deep or interesting about where the inspiration for this particular poem came from but it turned into something; it popped into my head, poof! just like magic.

I would be lying if I said life didn’t inspire me but it doesn’t always move my inner soul to reveal itself. There are times when I write these sordid tales that might make you cringe or a sappy love story at times when I might not believe in love. Then, I will shift gears and write a poem about a ghost, that’s Casper’s cousin. I may even kill someone off in a tale and smile when I’m done writing it and it’s not because that’s what lies deep inside, it’s because that’s what the muses pushed into my mind.

I’m not sure if they ever found my blog, I don’t know if they will ever read the posts but I hope they keep in mind there’s more between the lines. Writing is a part of who I am, it is a part of my soul but it does not reveal my soul. Writing for me is a journey of exploration and a way to let my imagination run free.

Quotations on Writing by Ray Bradbury

My favorite author!

charles french words reading and writing

(https://pixabay.com)

“Write only what you love, and love what you write. The key word is love. You have to get up in the morning and write something you love, something to live for.”

“You fail only if you stop writing.”

“You must write every single day of your life.”

(https://commons.wikimedia.org)

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Neil Gaiman on Books

“read and cherish the books you love.”

charles french words reading and writing

(https://commons.wikimedia.org)

Unfortunately in the world of books as well as the larger world, human beings often create artificial divisions.  In his “Newberry Medal Acceptance Speech,” following the text of his wonderful novel The Graveyard Book, Mr. Gaiman speaks to the question of what books to read.

He says, “It was as if some people believed there was a divide between the books that you were permitted to enjoy and the books that were good for you, and I was expected to choose sides. We were all expected to choose sides. And I didn’t believe it, and I still don’t.

I was, and still am, on the side of books you love.” (Gaiman 320)

I agree with this brilliant writer completely: read and cherish the books you love.

(www.pixabay.com)

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Let’s Share: Comics Grinder

When it comes to a comic book that is a big deal, it does not get much sweeter than AMERICAN GODS: SHADOWS, based upon the critically-acclaimed novel and upcoming Starz television series by Neil Gaiman. Published by Dark Horse Comics, this comic is: story and words by Neil Gaiman; script and layouts by P. Craig […]

via Review: AMERICAN GODS: SHADOWS #1 — Comics Grinder

Let’s Share: Don’t Fret About Your Slump

by Elethwyn Salutations, fellow elves and writers! Elethwyn is here today to share her thoughts, ideas, and tips for overcoming writing slumps. Writing slumps – also known as writer’s block, also known as writing depression, also known as the-reason-future-Newberry-winners-gave-up-writing – is something all writers face. It’s when we lose that spark to write and find ourselves in […]

via Surviving Writing Slumps – Everything You Need to Know — A Writer’s Path

We Are Not Really There At All

I had an epiphany! I am going to delete Facebook. A few weeks ago I made this decision since I found myself spending way too much time scrolling through a news feed of irrelevant information; countless connections and intrusions into personal lives of people that I really did not know.  Then there was the FB façade because everyone is FB famous. So I made my way into the settings and deleted the account.

Then something great happened; I had a lot more time to do simple things. I noticed that those that matter didn’t mind and made sure they were able to connect with me. Those that were not part of my life were not impacted by my disappearance, and my life is not impacted by the loss either.  I am now connected more with those who are really a part of my life and I have more time to pay attention to the world.

I found myself spending way too much time scrolling through a news feed of irrelevant information; countless connections and intrusions into personal lives of people that I really did not know.  Then add into the mix the FB façade because everyone is FB famous. So I made the conscious decision to delete .social  Then something great happened; I had a lot more time to do simple things. I noticed that those that matter didn’t mind and made sure they were able to connect with me. Those that were not part of my life were not impacted by my disappearance, and my life is not impacted by the loss either.  I am now connected more with those who are really a part of my life and I have more time to pay attention to the world.

I have always had a good relationship with my children, but I noticed that as I got rid of FB my relationship with my kids has improved vastly. Now I am engaging them in even more conversations and surprisingly they are very talkative (I don’t think that they have figured out the correlation as to why Mommy is asking more and more questions, and why I am not on my phone as much). All too often, we pick up our devices when we are bored and when we are not bored even when there are others around us.

After I deleted my account I noticed that I didn’t miss the narcissistic self-love that is constantly promoted on social media. The instant gratification of our lives has ruined many aspects of human interaction.  No longer are we interacting with people on a personal level; instead, we are conversing with screens of light that hold our attention. We have lost the art of conversation and human interaction. Engaging with technology more than we do with one another. We really have lost that ability to connect with others.

When is the last you called someone and talked to them?

Today, people can evade personal conflict by typing out a message on a screen and effortlessly we are able to disregard emotions since we can hide behind a device. It is easy to avoid, ignore and block a person from your device; block lists on your phone, email, and social media accounts make it so that you never have to hear from that person again. Poof! They’re gone (it’s that easy to sever the line of communication).

You never have to think about your actions when you can block the repercussions from your phone.  You never have to explain anything or even answer for your behaviors, you don’t have to deal with the reality of your circumstances, and you can ignore that maybe you hurt someone. (PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! Remember that it is never okay to break up with someone in a text message.) Humanity is being transferred into emoticons and we are losing the importance of interaction. I much rather hear a voice on the other end and talk. Think about the time it takes to type out the message, make revisions, send the message, wait for delivery of the message, then the person has to open the message, then decide if they’re going to respond to the message, type out their message, send it and repeat ( I could have called you and gotten the answer in less time).

Am I guilty of engaging in such behaviors? Of course, I am, but I have become aware of what the problem is. We will never give up our technology but we can try to talk a little bit more with one another,  interact more with those around us. Get to know people and not the image they want you to see, make mistakes and learn from them. Get away from the device and live life a little more than you did today.

Fall

I fell a few times before
Unsure of how to get up again
I lost my balance
Wavering through life
Trying to figure out where to place my feet down next

I fell through the whole of existence
I met myself in resistance
I played my hand one more time
Rolled the dice and tried again
Snake eyes was the fate of life

I picked myself up another time
I tried and tried and tried again

Tired
Listless
It’s hard to move
Stuck
Beyond the frames of time
I’m trapped within the days

I felt the stirrings within
I ran as they consumed my sins

I fall again
I rise again

I will not be myself again.

A painting brings words to life

If a painting is worth a thousand words this one is worth so much more. I have been fortunate enough to know some talented artists; one such person Wilfredo Rivera created this illustration for me.

This painting has given life to my words. Without reading a single word he created the perfect image from my tale. This painting is one tale I tell in the dark of night.

This is the illustration for The Tale of the Wandering Woman.