Life in progress

Tag Archives: inspiration


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My Element

Earth, air, fire and water. Of the four I’ve always been most drawn to water, though according to my zodiac sign I should be more of an air person.

I love being near water, and living near it as well, though not too close. I’ve seen what floods can do and I’m far too practical to want to risk having my belongings ruined by one. I do have a natural spring running through my basement, however. Come over on laundry day and you’ll see me filling up my washing machine with a bucket of non-stop drinkable H20.

But this:

DSC00183this I could sit beside all day. Water like glass, I can imagine myself walking across it, skimming like a bird catching a fish just below the surface. I love the way things reflect upon it, ever-changing and yet it accepts whatever is put before it.

I love the way it smells, and the way the breeze rushes over it to the shore. I want to be floating upon it in a boat – any size boat, though my favourite is a canoe.

I want to read beside it, to write beside it, or to walk beside it.

I’m happy to be living close to the water; just close enough to visit any time.


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Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Now I’m Here

I’m here. I’m always here. But aren’t we all? Where else would we be but here?

Here, for me, is usually my living room couch with my laptop on my lap. At least when I’m at rest. And by ‘at rest’ I mean working, because working on my novels, whether writing or editing is right up there with relaxing with a good book. I may call it working but to me it’s nothing like work.

Back to the ‘here.’ There is a marked difference between being here and sitting next to Alex than there is being here when he’s at his dad’s. I’m afraid, most of the time, to allow myself to concentrate on my work. There’s nothing worse than being wrenched out of it by someone demanding something of me. It’s like laying down for a nap when you know the phone will probably ring. What’s the use?

Not only that, but the difference in noise is also a factor. When I’m alone I can put my music on–when I’m writing or editing it’s always the Japanese band, Buck-Tick–but when Alex is here I’m usually listening to him sing. And by singing I mean a long, drawn out single note, because he’s Deaf and doesn’t understand that singing means more than one sound. The good news is, he can watch TV and play video games with the sound off and he doesn’t know the difference. At least I don’t have to listen to Dora the Explorer all day long.

So here I sit, now trying to decide if I should take the plunge or just give up on the idea of working for the day. It’s stressful not to work.

Especially when Buck-Tick is playing.

 

This post is part of SoCS: https://lindaghill.wordpress.com/2014/08/01/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-august-214/  Click the link to see how you too can join in!


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Readers and Writers: Opinions Wanted

I had an idea: I doubt it’s a unique idea, which is why I one of my questions to you, dear readers and writers of fiction, is whether or not you’ve ever seen this done before.

Imagine being able to have a conversation with Anne Rice’s Lestat, Stephenie Meyer’s Edward Cullen, Stephen King’s Annie Wilkes, or J.R.R. Tolkien’s Galadriel. Would you want to? If an author gave voice to one of his or her characters in an interactive medium, would it be just plain weird for that character to be removed from the world the author created for them? Or would it be a thrill-ride to be able to ask all the questions you have about their lives before they showed up in the story you love? Would you enjoy flirting with your favourite fictional character? Would you like to get more insight on a villain’s inner thoughts?

I’ve seen blog posts where authors interview their characters, but to let them out in public–to relinquish control over what they might have to reveal–is a different scenario.

So I ask you, apart from the question have you seen it done before, would you want it? Or is it better to let them stay put in their story?


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The Friday Reminder and Prompt for SoCS August 2/14

One of the biggest challenges in coming up with the Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is finding something everyone can have in common. And yet there are so many things that transcend borders, cultures, abilities and environment that sometimes it’s hard to choose just one. Today I had so many ideas coming at me that I’ve written some down for future prompts. Here is the one I picked for tomorrow’s post:

Your Friday prompt for Saturday’s Stream of Consciousness post is “hear/here.” Be creative!

After you’ve written your Saturday post tomorrow, please link it here at the prompt page in the comments so others can find it and see your awesome Stream of Consciousness post. Don’t hesitate to join in!

Here are the rules:

1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing, (typos can be fixed) and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.

2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.

3. There will be a prompt every week. I will post the prompt here on my blog on Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” or “Begin with the word ‘The’.”

4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people will come and read your post! The way to ping back, is to just copy and paste the URL of my post somewhere on your post. Then your URL will show up in my comments, for everyone to see. For example, in your post you can copy and paste the following: This post is part of SoCS: https://lindaghill.wordpress.com/2014/08/01/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-august-214/  The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top.

5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read everyone’s! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later, or go to the previous week, by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find right below the “Like” button on my post.

6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!

7. Have fun!


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One-Liner Wednesday – April 13, 2004

“You are the Stars and I am the wanderer who gazes,

yearning to understand what makes you so beautiful.”

~me (part of an old poem)

 

______________________________________________________________________________________

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. As with Stream of Consciousness Saturday, 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.

The rules that I’ve made for myself for “One-Liner Wednesday” are as follows:

1. Make it one sentence.

2. Make it either funny or inspirational.

Have fun!


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Goals for Stream of Consciousness Saturday

I’ve been receiving a lot of positive feedback for SoCS in regards to it not only being fun to participate in, but also for the new connections that are being made between bloggers. However, without advertising it on HarsH ReaLiTy, the word doesn’t seem to be getting out that fast. And after all, the more new bloggers participate, the more new bloggers we have the chance to meet and follow and have follow us.

In light of this fact, I’ve decided to set up some goals:

1. Write a blog post (probably close to or on Friday this week) and ask people to reblog or copy and paste to hopefully encourage each of our “outer circles” to join in.

2. Set up a contest for the design of a new SoCS badge that we can all display on our blogs and/or display in our weekly posts. The winner will of course have their badge on display with their website name on the badge for all to see. Judging will be made public.

3. EVENTUALLY, when and if SoCS gets big enough, set up its own WordPress site and invite other bloggers to come and set up the week’s prompt and watch over the proceedings.

If you can think of ways to promote SoCS, please let me know in the comments.  The more, the merrier!


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Can a Life be made Beautiful?

There are moments out of my ordinary, often boring life when I see it as something beyond what readily meets the eye.

There are days when I feel as though I was meant for more than just this: my life as a single, stay-at-home mother. That I was born to live a life of luxury seems obvious to me, even as I put on one of my two pairs of jeans and one of my four t-shirts every day. My one pair of shoes that I wear for every occasion is all that adorns my front hall closet, and yet I know this is not “it.”

There are minutes, and sometimes hours when everything I see is in a brighter technicolor. Everything I hear is an infinite song. Every taste blooms as though it is the beginning and end of life.

There are times when the energy of the universe surrounds me and I feel one with everything and everyone.

Is this how life can be made beautiful? Is the existence of a beautiful life all in our imaginations? I believe it is.

My life can be made poetic by the creation of a poem. It can be made inspirational by a scenery or by music. It can be anything I want it to be.

My life is beautiful. I make it so.


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Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Anniversary (Question)

According to WordPress, today is the official second anniversary of my blog. It’s the day, two years ago, when I decided to see what WordPress is all about. I wrote one post and promptly forgot about it for the next six months.

So this morning I decided to go back and take a look at it. At this moment it has three “likes” and no comments. But I’m okay with that – it’s nothing to write home about. Hell, it’s nothing to write WordPress about. It’s four sentences of basically question marks. It’s the same first post I see on many blogs, to varying degrees.

But let’s face it – this WordPress thing is a tough thing to get into at the start. None of us really knows what we’re doing, and most of us don’t understand what the follow/like/comment thing is all about. How many people here had no idea that there was such a wonderful community here? Come on, put up your hand if you’re one of us.

Once we’re in, and I mean REALLY in to this mode of communication, it’s astounding what it can do. We meet people with similar tastes, we share invaluable information with one another, and we find a place to sound off, to practice our craft, and to feel a part of something so large!

And it all started somewhere for each of us. When was the last time you read your very first post?

 

This post is part of SoCS: https://lindaghill.wordpress.com/2014/07/25/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-july-2514/

Click on the link and join in the fun today!


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On the Buses

The people in my town are polite – I’ve written about how dangerously polite they are in the past. But today, on the city bus, I found out how far it really goes.

Take, for instance, the graffiti:
graffiti

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s something a little edgier: It originally said, “All your base are belong to us,” until a handy grammarian came along and corrected it to, “All your bases belong to us.”

graffitinazi

 

 

 

 

I swear it wasn’t me.


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The Friday Reminder and Prompt for SoCS July 26/14

Can you believe it?  It’s the last Friday in July already! Whatever Friday it is though, Friday means tomorrow is Stream of Consciousness Saturday. It’s been a while since I completely left the subject or the theme of SoCS up to you, so I figure it’s about time. Without further ado, I give you the prompt:

Your Friday prompt for Saturday’s Stream of Consciousness post is, end your post with a question. Extra points if you fit an exclamation mark somewhere in the body of your post.

After you’ve written your Saturday post tomorrow, please link it here at the prompt page in the comments so others can find it and see your awesome Stream of Consciousness post. Don’t hesitate to join in!

Here are the rules:

1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing, (typos can be fixed) and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.

2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.

3. There will be a prompt every week. I will post the prompt here on my blog on Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” or “Begin with the word ‘The’.”

4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people will come and read your post! The way to ping back, is to just copy and paste the URL of my post somewhere on your post. Then your URL will show up in my comments, for everyone to see. For example, in your post you can copy and paste the following: This post is part of SoCS: https://lindaghill.wordpress.com/2014/07/25/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-july-2514/  The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top.

5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read everyone’s! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later, or go to the previous week, by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find right below the “Like” button on my post.

6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!

7. Have fun!