This post is part of Just Jot it January, and the prompt word, “altruism,” is brought to us by Rohini. Check out their blog here!
My first real exposure to the concept of altruism was in a Science Fiction class I took in high school. Throughout a single school year, we read fourteen novels; it was amazing how many of the plots and characters lacked altruism.
From Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, a heartbreaking novel that’s stayed with me for forty-plus years, to 1984 by George Orwell, to Fahrenheit451 and The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury and many others, the absolutely dismal amount of caring is astounding.
It occurs to me now how many science fiction novels paint science as distanced from humanity. Then again, many of them are based around the idea of future governments taking over with little regard to anyone but their own ranks.
I wonder why that sounds so familiar.
This science fictiony post is part of Just Jot it January! Want to join in? Just click here to get to the prompt and drop your link in the comments. It’s fun!
This post is part of Just Jot it January, and the prompt word, “impatience,” is brought to us by Dharkanein. Check out their blog here!
Once upon a time, I looked forward to today’s date with great impatience. I couldn’t wait to open my presents, to be one year older.
How far I’ve come.
Today was an ordinary day. I woke up and got to work. Two of my three adult children remembered to say happy birthday, and I got some nice birthday wishes on Facebook along with a few DMs. I got a phone call from my best friend who couldn’t forget my birthday if he tried—his is tomorrow.
Tonight I had leftover spaghetti for dinner.
So “vintage.”
At least I didn’t have to deal with the impatience.
This bleh post is part of Just Jot it January! Want to join in? Just click here to get to the prompt and drop your link in the comments. It’s fun!
Between my Prime Minister and “Heated Rivalry,” I’ve never been prouder and happier to be Canadian.
If you would like to participate in this prompt, 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.
Here are the simple JusJoJan Rules:
1. Just Jot It January starts January 1st, but it’s never too late to join in! Here, we run on the honour system; the “jot it” part of JusJoJan means that anything you jot down, anywhere (it doesn’t have to be a post, it can even be a grocery list), counts as a “jot.” If it makes it to your blog that day, great! If it waits a week to get from a sticky note to your screen, no problem!
2. I’ll post prompts at 2am my time (GMT -5). The prompt will be the word in quotation marks in the title of my 2am post. You don’t have to follow the prompt every day, but that will be where you leave your link for others to see. You’ll get a prompt for every day except Wednesday, when the prompt is simply my One-Liner Wednesday and on Saturday, when your prompt will be the Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS, which will appear at about 9:30am Friday. Each prompt post will include the rules.
2 a) The rules that I’ve made for myself (but don’t always follow) for “One-Liner Wednesday” are:
1. Make it one sentence.
2. Try to make it either funny or inspirational.
3. Use our unique tag #1linerWeds.
4. Add our lovely badge to your post for extra exposure!
5. Have fun!
Badge by Laura @ riddlefromthemiddle.com
3. Please ping back or link to the daily prompt. To ping back, just copy the URL from the daily prompt post, and paste it anywhere in your post. Check to make sure your link shows up where you want it to, and go back occasionally to see other bloggers’ entries – the more you visit others, the more they’ll visit you! Note: A) The newest pingbacks will be at the top of the comments section. B) Ping backs only work if you’re blogging on WordPress. Everyone else must paste a link manually.
4. Tag your post JusJoJan26 and/or #JusJoJan26.
5. Write anything! Any length will do! It can even be a photo or a drawing – you’re going to title it, right? There’s your jot!
6. The prompts will appear every day that’s neither a Wednesday nor a Saturday–Saturday’s JusJoJan prompt will be Stream of Consciousness Saturday. You’ll find the list of prompts below as they come in, which means I’ll be updating this post. Remember, you don’t have to use the prompts. Please write whatever inspires you. NOTE: If your post is NSFW, do not ping back. Please leave your link in the comments with a warning.
7. If you’d like to, use the JusJoJan badge so that others can find your post more easily.
This post is part of Just Jot it January, and the prompt word, “unspoken,” is brought to us by Maggie. Check out her blog here!
“If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nothing at all.” ~ Thumper
But it doesn’t stop there, does it?
I often find myself holding my tongue so I don’t upset others, not because their sweater is ugly, but because I don’t want to bother them with what I’m going through. After all, everyone has problems. Why should I add to theirs by complaining about my own stuff?
So the words are left unspoken.
Though I might be doing them a favour by telling them to stop wearing that sweater…
This profound post is part of Just Jot it January! Want to join in? Just click here to get to the prompt and drop your link in the comments. It’s fun!
This post is part of Just Jot it January, and the prompt word, “consistency,” is brought to us by Warren. Check out his blog here!
Does consistency lead to routine or does routine lead to consistency?
Kind of a chicken and an egg sort of question.
One part of my routine that I count on is drinking coffee. (That might actually be a habit, but let’s not get into those for the time being.)
To drink coffee, I have to first make it. And I’ve decided of late that I’m really tired of having to make coffee.
Like, I get weary just thinking about having to fill the coffeemaker with water, throw out the old filter, wash the basket, wash the pot, put in a new filter, add the coffee … You see how boring it is?
But if I want coffee …
That’s it! I need a maid!
But first I have to consistently earn money.
Damn it!
*makes boring coffee myself*
It’s such a daily grind. (Pun intended.)
This conundrum-like post is part of Just Jot it January! Want to join in? Just click here to get to the prompt and drop your link in the comments. It’s fun!
This post is part of Just Jot it January, and the prompt word, “organ,” is brought to us by Kaye. Check out her blog here!
Okay, so here’s something I haven’t thought about in ages.
When I was a kid, I had a Magnus mini chord organ that I absolutely loved, though I think I only learned to play about four songs on it.
I’ve always been in love with the idea of being able to play music.
But it’s an aptitude I’ve never mastered.
Anyway, I Googled small organs to try to find the one I had, but none were immediately identifiable enough to point and say “it was that one.”
The depressing part was the fact that all the ones that might have been the same as mine on Ebay are described as vintage.
Nothing like the “v” word to make you feel old.
This wordy reminiscence is part of Just Jot it January! Want to join in? Just click here to get to the prompt and drop your link in the comments. It’s fun!
This post is part of Just Jot it January, and the prompt word, “philosophy,” is brought to us by Sadje. Check out her blog here!
I’ve strayed away from it, but at one time, I closely followed the teachings of the Tao Te Ching.
The philosophy of Taoism makes a lot of sense to me.
Chapter 11
Thirty spokes share one central hub; it is the empty space within that makes the carriage useful. Clay is molded to form a vessel; it is the empty space within that makes the vessel useful.
Doors and windows are cut out to make a room; it is the empty space within that makes the room useful.
Therefore, while substance (Being) offers the benefit, emptiness (Non-being) offers the utility.
As a way to apply this to life, think about living in the present; emptying the mind of thoughts of the past and worries of the future allows a person to fully concentrate on what they’re doing, making their actions more controlled and therefore more useful to the moment.
Something worth thinking about.
This philosophical post is part of Just Jot it January! Want to join in? Just click here to get to the prompt and drop your link in the comments. It’s fun!
Thanks again to Sadje for today’s word of the day!
I could write an entire book about “decision fatigue,” but I can’t decide if that’s the book I want to write next.
If you would like to participate in this prompt, 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.
Here are the simple JusJoJan Rules:
1. Just Jot It January starts January 1st, but it’s never too late to join in! Here, we run on the honour system; the “jot it” part of JusJoJan means that anything you jot down, anywhere (it doesn’t have to be a post, it can even be a grocery list), counts as a “jot.” If it makes it to your blog that day, great! If it waits a week to get from a sticky note to your screen, no problem!
2. I’ll post prompts at 2am my time (GMT -5). The prompt will be the word in quotation marks in the title of my 2am post. You don’t have to follow the prompt every day, but that will be where you leave your link for others to see. You’ll get a prompt for every day except Wednesday, when the prompt is simply my One-Liner Wednesday and on Saturday, when your prompt will be the Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS, which will appear at about 9:30am Friday. Each prompt post will include the rules.
2 a) The rules that I’ve made for myself (but don’t always follow) for “One-Liner Wednesday” are:
1. Make it one sentence.
2. Try to make it either funny or inspirational.
3. Use our unique tag #1linerWeds.
4. Add our lovely badge to your post for extra exposure!
5. Have fun!
Badge by Laura @ riddlefromthemiddle.com
3. Please ping back or link to the daily prompt. To ping back, just copy the URL from the daily prompt post, and paste it anywhere in your post. Check to make sure your link shows up where you want it to, and go back occasionally to see other bloggers’ entries – the more you visit others, the more they’ll visit you! Note: A) The newest pingbacks will be at the top of the comments section. B) Ping backs only work if you’re blogging on WordPress. Everyone else must paste a link manually.
4. Tag your post JusJoJan26 and/or #JusJoJan26.
5. Write anything! Any length will do! It can even be a photo or a drawing – you’re going to title it, right? There’s your jot!
6. The prompts will appear every day that’s neither a Wednesday nor a Saturday–Saturday’s JusJoJan prompt will be Stream of Consciousness Saturday. You’ll find the list of prompts below as they come in, which means I’ll be updating this post. Remember, you don’t have to use the prompts. Please write whatever inspires you. NOTE: If your post is NSFW, do not ping back. Please leave your link in the comments with a warning.
7. If you’d like to, use the JusJoJan badge so that others can find your post more easily.
This post is part of Just Jot it January, and the prompt word, “rubbish,” is brought to us by Di. Check out her blog here!
I have to pay to put out my garbage in this town. I’ve never had to do that before.
As a result, I accumulate things more than I might if I could just stick five bags of garbage at the curb like I used to be able to.
I have stuff that came with me when I moved seventeen years ago that I’ve never bothered taking out of boxes. Do I need that stuff? No. Can I afford to get rid of it? No again.
So much rubbish. 🙄
It’s not hoarding if you want to get rid of it, right?
This frustrated post is part of Just Jot it January! Want to join in? Just click here to get to the prompt and drop your link in the comments. It’s fun!
lindaghill.com 