I’ve been sitting here for a while pondering the things I collect. I can’t come up with a single collection I possess that doesn’t have a specific use. By that I mean I don’t collect knick-knacks, the major reason being that I hate dusting.
I have a record collection, a CD collection, and a DVD collection. Soon, I’m sure, there will be a Blue Ray collection as well, but so far I only have two of those. The kids have more. I have a jewelry collection that I haven’t added to in at least five years, mostly because I rarely wear any of it. I used to collect coffee mugs, but last time I moved I ended up throwing a lot of them out; I didn’t use them. I collect words – books are probably my biggest vice.
It’s a bit of a conundrum, isn’t it? They say there’s so much benefit in downsizing and getting rid of things we don’t need, and yet there’s a need to collect things that we don’t use. There’s a comfort in it.
What do you collect? Tell me in the comments or jot your own post and link it back here.
The “Collection” prompt is brought to you by Deborah at Container Chronicles. If you don’t already follow her, please check out her blog!
To find the rules for Just Jot It January, click here and join in today. It’s never too late! And don’t forget to ping back your January 17th post here!
I used to love playing follow-the-leader when I was little. My favourite part was getting the chance to be the leader, although I never insisted. I always waited my turn.
When I was a young adult I landed a job on a dude ranch, taking out trail rides. I loved horses; riding was my passion in life. Yet my first few experiences guiding a bunch of strangers on an equal number of 1,000 pound animals they couldn’t necessarily control, whilst on my own 1,000 pound animal, practically sitting backwards in the saddle so I could watch the aforementioned strangers was a bit nerve-wracking; for $2 an hour, how could I go wrong? Seriously, it was my favourite job to date. But I digress.
All my life I’ve been able to take or leave the role of leader. In most cases, unless I have no idea what I’m doing, I’m happy to take over if no one else wants to. Except when it comes to my kids. With them, it’s my way or the highway, and I don’t mean the kids directly. I’m talking about anyone who looks after them.
I’ve been disappointed by more doctors than I can mention, the most recent being the one who was filling in for our family doctor the day we went for our flu shots. I had mine done; when Alex’s turn came he said no, he didn’t want a needle. I offered to hold him down while they did it but they refused. It had something to do with the fact that he’s 15 years old… that he’s only 60 lbs and has the mentality of a six year old seemed to escape them. But whatever. It was decided we’d try in a few weeks since he was going for surgery (dental) and would be under a general anesthesia anyway. Only when I got there, the anesthesiologist refused to administer it. That was before Christmas.
Last week our family doctor’s office called me to follow up and make sure Alex had his shot. They were obviously expecting a “yes” and didn’t quite know what to say when I told them no, and then explained exactly what had to happen – I wanted another appointment and I needed them to insist he have the vaccination next time. After all, with his heart issues, the flu could kill him. The doctor’s secretary said she’d get back to me in a couple of days. She didn’t. In the meantime I made an appointment to see his pediatrician. Between us we came up with a plan. We’ll try the nasal spray vaccination at the pharmacy but if he puts up too much of a fuss I’ll bring it with me to the pediatrician’s office and they’ll hold him down. The entire process has taken two months so far.
As a “leader” in my family’s care, I am less than pleased. It won’t happen again next year. I’m not waiting my turn to be the leader anymore.
The “Leadership” prompt is brought to you by Tessa at Always A Writer. Please check out her blog and say hi!
To find the rules for Just Jot It January, click here and join in today. It’s never too late! And don’t forget to ping back your January 15th post here!
I’ve been thinking about the motivation to write. I’m not talking about fiction, necessarily, but that’s a big part of it that I’ll get to in a few minutes. My thoughts at the moment are more on writing about real life and the need to connect with others who might be going through the same things as I am. The desire to put it all out there to find out if I really am alone in my living room with my laptop. And I am alone. Alone with millions of other people, all of them doing the same thing I am. Being part of that crowd is motivating indeed.
But then, a couple of days ago I read an article about David Bowie. Only it isn’t really just about him. It’s about all of us. Every one of us on social media, whether a blog, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr… any of them. Whether you liked Bowie or not, you need to read this. I’ll give you a minute. Please come back when you’re finished.
We’re urged as writers to bleed on the page. That if we’re not bleeding – if we’re not putting everything we’ve got into what we write – then no one will be interested. But how much is too much? There are some who will tell us that there’s no such thing as too much. They are the ones who live off the angst of everyone else. I think of them as emotional vampires; they’ll say anything to get us to open up to them and say it’s for our own good. But they’ll never go out of their way to help. They’ll just motivate us…
What motivates you to write what you write? To share what you share? Has it changed since you started?
I understand how cathartic it can be to share a problem with the world, or go off on a rant when something is weighing heavily on the mind. I suppose the question comes down to how many details we give out. Its scary when we realise just how easy it is to give away our privacy. To box it up in a neat little package that is a simple post on social media and hand it to the entire world. In the past couple of weeks I’ve written 50-word stories on my fiction blog. Fifty words can say a lot. I even wonder sometimes how much of myself I’m giving away via fiction. To me it’s glaringly obvious what I’m imagining and what I’m bleeding; I can only hope it’s not as obvious to everyone else.
In the past I have tried to put a few filters on what I post. First and foremost, how does what I’m writing serve me? My reason for blogging of course is to have people read, so yes, I write what I think people will click on. When a post seems to be entirely self-serving (such as a rant) I feel uncomfortable. Sometimes I’ll post, sometimes it goes in the trash. If a post serves others, whether it’s a public service announcement, an example of what it’s like to parent a special needs child, or a prompt, I’m more likely to hit the publish button without thought for my privacy. On this blog I draw the line at the people in my life. I only write about what they willingly make public themselves. Even then I sometimes hesitate. There are people in my life I don’t talk about at all. Personally I have very little to hide about my life. Until I read the article, I didn’t even really think about discretion or, on the flipside, indiscretion. Now I wonder.
It’s contradictory that we’re so isolated and yet so out-in-the-open. We’re a society that no longer needs to go to a store to buy things, nor venture outside to talk to our neighbours, yet people half way around the planet can experience our lunch, our bowel movements, and if we wish to remain anonymous, even our sickest desires and without consequence. But it all starts with one thing. Motivation.
I ask you again, what’s yours?
The “Motivation” prompt is brought to you by Aaron Elmore at the blog bearing his own name. If you don’t already follow him, please check him out!
To find the rules for Just Jot It January, click here and join in today. It’s never too late! And don’t forget to ping back your January 14th post here!
Anyone who would like to try it out, feel free to use the “One-Liner Wednesday” title in your post, and if you do, you can ping back here to help your blog get more exposure. To execute a ping back, just copy the URL in the address bar on this post and paste it somewhere in the body of your post. Your link will show up in the comments below. Please ensure that the One-Liner Wednesday you’re pinging back to is this week’s! Otherwise, no one will likely see it but me.
As with Stream of Consciousness Saturday (SoCS), if you see a ping back from someone else in my comment section, click and have a read. It’s bound to be short and sweet.
Unlike SoCS, this is not a prompt so there’s no need to stick to the same “theme.” However, if you’d like to combine One-Liner Wednesday with Just Jot It January, go right ahead!
The rules that I’ve made for myself (but don’t always follow) for “One-Liner Wednesday” are:
They say that with great responsibility comes great power. But what about sacrifice?
When I was a teenager and into my young adulthood I thought of sacrifice as something romantic. I dreamed of the ultimate sacrifice, as in, “I’d die for you my love!” As much as I might have jumped in front of a bus for my boyfriend, I (thank goodness) never found out whether I’d have the guts when it came down to it.
Then when I started thinking about having kids I wondered at all I’d have to sacrifice of my relatively carefree life. And when it came down to it, I suppose I did. I miss the days of laying in on a weekend morning, of being able to go in and out of the house at will, of doing all the things one truly takes for granted before they have kids. But it doesn’t feel like a sacrifice.
So I was quite wrong, in my own case at least, when I thought that with great responsibility comes great sacrifice. It’s definitely power… the power the kids have over me.
The “Sacrifice” prompt is brought to you by Me – Who Am I?. If you don’t already know her, check out her blog!
To find the rules for Just Jot It January, click here and join in today. It’s never too late! And don’t forget to ping back your January 13th post here! If you’d like to combine this with One-Liner Wednesday (which will be posted several hours after this), have at it! Just be sure to link back to both prompts.
Skulls, for me of late, have been all about inspiration. It began a few months ago with the release of a solo project, a band called The Mortal, by my favourite singer Sakurai Atsushi. The music of The Mortal with Sakurai’s Shakespearean inspired lyrics, and the Gothic look they created with their tophats and props spoke to me from the start.
But today, with the news of the death of David Bowie the co-incidences and the very meaning of how deeply music can inspire us was driven home and has been revolving in my head faster than I can process it.
I fell in love with “A Space Oddity” the first time I heard it. I was in my parent’s best friends’ basement with their niece, Beverly. She was a teenager – a mythical creature to me at my tender age of about six years. On this particular afternoon she was listening to the song over and over. I’ve never tired of it.
At my first glimpse of the man himself I was totally fascinated. His slightly feminine features which seemed to blur but not hide his masculinity, his style (which was his Ziggy persona at the time), and his lyrics made my mind whirl at the possibilities of what even my life could be like: wild, bohemian, and perhaps out-of-this-world exciting. Bowie made me dream. Ultimately he sparked my imagination and guided me to the worlds my characters live in.
As a young man this “cat from Japan” was also inspired by David Bowie.
Sakurai Atsushi with Buck-Tick, 1987
During Sakurai’s first solo outing in 2004, before I knew he existed, he covered “A Space Oddity.”
And so we fast-forward to my discovery of Mr. Sakurai. Eleven years after this video was recorded I had the privilege to see Sakurai perform for the second time. He described The Mortal as an opportunity to be himself; to do what he wanted on stage, with the dark, Goth-inspired atmosphere that moves him.
I suppose you could say that I’ve been influenced twice by the same man. First directly, when I was very young, and now again indirectly by the influence he had over Sakurai Atsushi.
David Bowie, the hero that blew the spark that lit the flame of our imaginations has flown. May his influence live forever.
The “Skulls” prompt is brought to you by Dean Kealy at Dean’z Doodlez. Please check out his amazing doodles, and tell him I said hi while you’re there!
To find the rules for Just Jot It January, click here and join in today. It’s never too late! And don’t forget to ping back your January 12th post here!
What does it mean to be sane? According to Google’s dictionary it refers to a) a person who is “of sound mind; not mad or mentally ill,” or b) an undertaking or manner which is “reasonable; sensible.” That’s all fine and good, but who gets to judge?
The obvious answer is a doctor. But before that can happen, someone has to take, encourage, or direct said insane person to the doctor in the first place. Because chances are that the truly insane person doesn’t know he or she is insane at all. Not, of course, to put down anyone with mental illness. But for example, I had to be the one to decide to take my Autistic son to the doctor to get checked out. I was the judge in that case.
Moving on…
I often wonder about my own sanity. Considering some of the things that come out of me in my fiction, I think anyone in their right mind would. The thing is, I have no idea where my darker, twisted imagination stems from. I had no significant trauma (that I can remember) in my childhood. I was loved by my parents until my father passed away at the tender age of 49, when I was fourteen. So where’s the psychology in it? Okay yes, I’ve been reading Stephen King since I was fourteen, but can he have influenced me that greatly? No, in fact I don’t think he did.
I’ve had the imagination of a writer since I was very young. I’m talking four or five years old. I remember coming up with stories that, not having the skill to spell, revolved over and over in my head. Some of them even then involved a certain level of torture and sex. So how? Could I have been remembering another life? You may be thinking what I poor child I must have been to have such imaginings, but I grew up with a healthy sense of right and wrong, with empathy, without anxiety or nervousness, and with an understanding of humankind that has prevented me from hating a single soul on the planet. It’s an understanding that has enabled me to write relatable characters. It’s an understanding of everyone else but me.
But then, does anyone really understand themselves? Or does everyone but me?
This questionably “Sane” prompt is brought to you by John W. Howell at Fiction Favorites. Please click on the link to visit his blog, and follow him if you aren’t already!
To find the rules for Just Jot It January, click here and join in today. It’s never too late! And don’t forget to ping back your January 10th post here!
It’s come to my attention after a full week of eight hour days spent reading and commenting on and tweeting all (I think I got them all) of the posts that are linked back here and still being a day behind that I’m not going to be able to keep it up. For some strange reason, my kids are trying to scrape me off the laptop and my glue is getting weaker by the hour. I’ve been trying to read your posts before replying to my own comments, so if your kindly left comment has gone unanswered, that’s why.
From here on in I’m going to do my best to get to everyone at least once every two days. On the odd day I may “like” but not comment. If this happens, it doesn’t mean I didn’t read your post! Chances are I enjoyed it immensely but am just short on time.
I’d like to take this opportunity to once again say thank you to the overwhelming response to Just Jot It January and SoCS. You guys are awesome, and I really do love reading all the posts! So keep visiting each other, keep up the community spirit and keep on jotting. 😀
I’ve been procrastinating long and hard on this post. It’s not that I don’t want to write it, it’s more that I want to get it right. But I want to get some sleep at some point tonight (I haven’t had a night off without kids since my last one in Japan, on November 29th) so here I am just writing it.
Honesty, honour (I managed to eke out one American spelling for the title; sorry Tasha, that’s the best I can do), and ethics, to me, are the most important qualities in a person. I’m no harder on anyone else on these points than I am on myself. I demand them of myself constantly. I come by it honestly enough.
The Golden Rule was drummed into me as a child to the extent that I’ve developed a love/hate relationship with it. Yes, it should be followed always, but it seems a no-brainer. While many people consider it a purely ethical teaching, I can see an equal amount of logic in it. Like Newton’s third law (every action has an equal and opposite reaction), “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” simply makes sense. I’ve begun to see it in action on a daily basis, now that I have a puppy in the house.
Alex is on a feeding pump at home for at least a few hours every day. The pump (which is like an IV pump) has a tube running through it which attaches to a valve in his stomach; it delivers his formula directly. There is about three feet of tubing between his belly and the machine, so if he walks away from the device, the tube sits on the floor. Alex is deathly afraid of the dog grabbing and pulling on the tube, so every time the pup comes near, he screams and pushes him away. The puppy, being a puppy, thinks this means he wants to wrestle. Which makes the situation so much worse than if he quietly held the dog at arm’s length until it got bored and walked away.
Golden Rule or Newton’s Law? Or both?
While my example doesn’t really have a lot to do with behaving ethically, honourably, or honestly, it’s a prime example of why we must react to and treat all humans and creatures as kindly as we can, with as much understanding as we are able to muster. Wouldn’t the world be so much better if puppies weren’t pushed away from enteral feeding devices? And we all just got along quietly and calmly?
The “Honorable” prompt is brought to you by Tasha at Corner Of Confessions. Please click on the link to visit her blog, and follow her if you aren’t already!
To find the rules for Just Jot It January, click here and join in today. It’s never too late! And don’t forget to ping back your January 8th post here!
Anyone who would like to try it out, feel free to use the “One-Liner Wednesday” title in your post, and if you do, you can ping back here to help your blog get more exposure. To execute a ping back, just copy the URL in the address bar on this post and paste it somewhere in the body of your post. Your link will show up in the comments below. Please ensure that the One-Liner Wednesday you’re pinging back to is this week’s! Otherwise, no one will likely see it but me.
As with Stream of Consciousness Saturday (SoCS), if you see a ping back from someone else in my comment section, click and have a read. It’s bound to be short and sweet.
Unlike SoCS, this is not a prompt so there’s no need to stick to the same “theme.” However, if you’d like to combine One-Liner Wednesday with Just Jot It January, go right ahead!
The rules that I’ve made for myself (but don’t always follow) for “One-Liner Wednesday” are:
lindaghill.com 