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Tag Archives: SoCS


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A New Record!

Not including my own post, we had a record number of participants yesterday for Stream of Consciousness Saturday! I’d like to say thank you once again to all who took part, as well as everyone who enjoyed reading the posts. As always, my main goal for hosting prompts is to help everyone build their community of bloggers.

So if you discovered a new, awesome blog, good for you! I know I’ve found many through the course of this weekly event. And if you’ve also gained followers then that’s wonderful too. Congratulations!

Here are the twenty-two participants this week in reverse order, in case you didn’t get to some of the later entrants:

Pav: http://pavorisms.wordpress.com/2014/07/05/off-on-the-wrong-tooth/

Shanjeniah: http://shanjeniah.com/2014/07/05/socs-body-language/

Michael: http://summerstommy.com/2014/07/06/prompt-for-socs-july-514-arria/

SomeKernelsOfTruth: http://somekernelsoftruth.com/2014/07/05/what-id-really-like-to-say-in-the-body-of-a-cover-letter-for-a-job/

Helen: http://helenespinosa.wordpress.com/2014/07/05/thoughts-and-bodies/

Willow: http://willowdot21.wordpress.com/2014/07/05/precious-body-stream-of-consciousness-saturday/

Jeanne: http://jeanneowensauthor.wordpress.com/2014/07/05/exercising-the-body-mind-and-spirit/

Rose: http://rosebfischer.com/2014/07/05/socs-i-am-not-your-inspiration/

Rivers, streams, and painted turtle shells: http://paintedturtleshells.wordpress.com/2014/07/05/stream-of-consciousness-saturday-july-5/

Soulful Poet’s Heart: http://soulfulpoetsheart.wordpress.com/2014/07/05/the-floor-of-despair/

Bee: http://beehalton.com/2014/07/the-body-of-socs.html

Doobster: http://mindfuldigressions.com/2014/07/05/no-body-no-homicide/

Irene: http://irenedesign2011.com/2014/07/05/body-mind-this-post-is-a-part-of-socs/

Forty c’est Fantastique!: http://fortyandfantastique.wordpress.com/2014/07/05/anybody-socs/

Traces of the Soul: http://tracesofthesoul.wordpress.com/2014/07/05/stream-of-consciousness-socs-july-5-2014/

People, Places, and Perspectives: http://minahmisteri.wordpress.com/2014/07/05/body-not-in-the-usual-sense/

John: http://johnwhowell.com/2014/07/05/4695/

Fabricating Fiction: http://fabricatingfiction.wordpress.com/2014/07/05/socs-my-body-is-awesome/

Joanne: http://topofjcsmind.wordpress.com/2014/07/05/socs-body/

Wandering Story Teller: http://awanderingstoryteller.wordpress.com/2014/07/05/a-womans-body/

KG: http://booksmusicandmovies.wordpress.com/2014/07/05/socs-too-many-bodies/

My Leaky Boat: http://myleakyboat.com/blog/?p=779

We had plenty of return SoCS’ers as well as a few newcomers this week. Make sure you check them all out. Some really awesome posts listed above!

Thanks again, and I look forward to seeing you all back next week. And don’t forget, bring your friends!

 

 


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Just a quick note of thanks and an apology

First, I’d like to say thank you so much to everyone who participated in SoCS today. We’ve almost hit the record number of posts – two more and we’ll have beat the previous record of 21. I so appreciate everyone making this weekly event a success! You’re all awesome!!

My apology is to all of you who have posted today whose posts I haven’t read and to all of you who have left comments that I haven’t answered. My sight is incredibly blurry tonight, so I think I’ll close the computer and hope tomorrow is better.

Goodnight world, and pleasant dreams to all.


by 40 Comments

Precious Body – Stream of Consciousness Saturday (Body)

“Is he always this happy?”

It’s the question I am most asked about my thirteen year old son. At 60 pounds and 4’3″, with the amount of enthusiasm he has for everything, he can easily pass for an eight year old.

Born Deaf, his lungs are compressed by his large, deformed heart. He’s barrel-chested and is covered in scars, least of which is the tube in his stomach from whence he receives 99% of his nutrition. He is hooked up to a feeding machine about five hours a day. I’m sure he experiences pain – more than likely he’s been through more than most of us in his short life.

But I marvel at his little body. That he keeps going without complaint – he’s never known any different. I’m sure he’s realized by now that he’s not the same as most kids. One of his major goals in life is to eat in the cafeteria with the other kids at school, instead of being sent to the infirmary for lunch every day.

It amazes me what the human body can endure and still keep going. We think of ourselves as fragile. We grieve when something stops working. Our eyesight fades, our hearing goes, our muscles tire more easily – but imagine if you had always been this way.

My son is a constant inspiration to me. Everywhere he goes he makes people smile with his joy in life.

The answer to the question: “Yes.”

 

This post is part of SoCS: https://lindaghill.wordpress.com/2014/07/04/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-july-514/  Click the link to read the rules and join in!

 

 


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The Friday Reminder and Prompt for SoCS July 5/14

First, to my American friends, Happy 4th of July! I hope your day is filled with family, friends and fireworks. Second, today’s prompt will have nothing to do with Independence Day, but extra points to you if you can figure out how to connect the two. For this Saturday’s Stream of Consciousness post, I’d like to give you a word that might not seem at first as though there are many places you can take it. But give it a little thought. There’s more to it than meets the eye.

This week’s prompt word is “body.” Do with it whatever comes to mind, and don’t forget – it doesn’t have to be non-fiction. Have fun!

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/2014/07/04/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-july-514/  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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Universal Feeling – Stream of Consciousness Saturday (Emote)

I want people who read my fiction to fall in love with my characters. Not the bad guys necessarily, but at least the good guys. It took me a while to figure out how to do this, but in the end it always comes down to emotions. When my characters emote in a way that people can relate to, they feel a connection.

When I write, “Hank felt sad,” I know that my readers will look at the words on the page and think Hank is sad. Too bad for Hank. But if I write, “Hank cried,” people will read this and feel it, because it’s something that they do, or try not to do, when they are sad.

Emotions have a way of getting the best of us. They’re something we share, no matter our race, language, or beliefs. They are universal. And so when we see someone whose beliefs we don’t understand on the news, for instance, and they are crying, we feel their pain. At least those of us with compassion.

My best friend John told me a while ago that when we yawn when we see someone else yawn, it’s a sign that we’re not a psychopath. I know this has nothing to do with emotions, as such, but it does show our capacity for understanding what someone else is feeling. Empathy, compassion, sympathy… they’re all necessary for us to understand. And what makes good fiction worth reading as well.

This scattered post was brought to you in conjunction with SoCS: https://lindaghill.wordpress.com/2014/06/27/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-june-2814/

Click on the link and join in the fun!

 


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The Friday Reminder and Prompt for SoCS June 28/14

It’s Friday (where did the week go?) and time for this week’s SoCS prompt! My inspiration this week – I can’t even begin to tell you where it came from. I don’t want to give you any ideas. Stream of Consciousness writing is all about just that – what comes from your ideas. So for this Saturday’s post, I’ll give you one word and let you run with it.

This week’s prompt word is “emote.” Feel free to add a suffix to it, or not, and just let it flow.

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/2014/06/27/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-june-2814/  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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Thanks for the Great Turnout!

I just wanted to say thank you very much to all of you who made Stream of Consciousness Saturday this week the biggest ever! We had so many great posts from amazing bloggers, both regulars and new participants.

Just in case you missed some of the later blogs, here they are in the reverse order of when they posted:

Footfalls and Forays: http://footfallsandforays.wordpress.com/2014/06/22/910/

Jessica: http://paintedturtleshells.wordpress.com/2014/06/22/stream-of-consciousness-saturday-june-21/

The Bee: http://riverflowing572.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/socs-likes-it.html

Traces of the Soul: http://tracesofthesoul.wordpress.com/2014/06/22/like-haibun-socs/

Just something I was thinking about: http://justsomethingiwasthinkingabout.com/2014/06/21/what-i-dont-like/

Shanjeniah: http://shanjeniah.com/2014/06/21/socs-i-like-flike/

Some Kernels of Truth: http://somekernelsoftruth.com/2014/06/22/do-i-sound-like-the-goldilocks-of-the-job-world-stream-of-consciousness-saturday-like/

Rose B Fischer: http://rosebfischer.com/2014/06/21/random-post-of-randomness/

My Leaky Boat: http://myleakyboat.com/blog/?p=489

Tony Leon: http://tonyleon13.wordpress.com/2014/06/21/what-i-like-in-a-girl-stream-of-consciousness-saturday-like/

The Dragon’s Lair: http://raphsodibreece.wordpress.com/2014/06/21/ill-look-to-like-if-looking-liking-move-socs/

Irene: http://irenedesign2011.com/2014/06/21/life-quality-this-post-is-a-part-of-socs/

Me: (yes, a shameless self-promotion) https://lindaghill.wordpress.com/2014/06/21/youre-not-just-like-me-stream-of-consciousness-saturday-like/

Forty, c’est Fantastique!: http://fortyandfantastique.wordpress.com/2014/06/21/like-socs/

Jeanne Owens: http://jeanneowensauthor.wordpress.com/2014/06/21/of-music-and-writing/

Books, Music, Photography, and Movies: http://booksmusicandmovies.wordpress.com/2014/06/21/socs-about-this-and-that-likes/

Mindful Digressions: http://mindfuldigressions.com/2014/06/21/whats-not-to-like/

Youth of a Nation: Bent Not Broke: http://darcsunshine.wordpress.com/2014/06/21/when-there-are-no-words-music-will-speak-for-you/

Trying to make things right: http://mommyx4boys.wordpress.com/2014/06/21/things-i-like-for-my-husband/

Pavorisms: http://pavorisms.wordpress.com/2014/06/21/why-i-like-like/

People, Places, and Perspectives: http://minahmisteri.wordpress.com/2014/06/21/like/

Each and every one of the above posts are wonderfully written, and entertaining – I highly recommend checking them out if you haven’t already.

Thanks so much again, and I sincerely hope to see you all back next week!


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You’re Not Just Like Me – Stream of Consciousness Saturday (Like)

If I take all the things I like, and all the things I dislike and put them all, say, into a box, my box will be filled and devoid of a unique number of things. Some people in the world would need really big boxes, and others would fit all the things they like into a shoebox. I tend to try to avoid both types.

The types of people who make me suspicious, however, are the ones who tell me they like everything I like and dislike everything I dislike. How can they? Our boxes, after all, are as unique as our fingerprints. And so when I come across someone I seem to have a lot in common with, I try not to tell them I like the same things they like – at least not too many – because it kind of freaks me out. I don’t want them to get suspicious of ME.

Sometimes I think we should have a sheet that we can check off things we like and don’t like and hang them around our necks for other people to see. No wait, that’s just stupid. Can you imagine how many people would look at your sheet and not want to associate with you because you, for instance, enjoy eating peanut butter with cheese? I’d never have spoken to my best friend if I’d known that up front.

The point is, I like what I like and you like what you like. If we all liked the same things, how boring would the world be? What would we have to argue about? We’d all be one big happy world without conflict and we’d all sit around smiling all day because the things we don’t like wouldn’t even exist. I don’t think I’d like that. Would you?

This post is part of SoCS: https://lindaghill.wordpress.com/2014/06/20/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-june-2114/ Check it out and join in the fun!


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The Friday Reminder and Prompt for SoCS June 21/14

After my much-needed little rest, I’m back with this week’s SoCS prompt! During my couple of days off, not posting any articles myself, I found I had a little more time to wander around and read some of the blogs I enjoy. It was fun! I probably hit the “like” button more times in the past forty-eight hours than I usually do in four days. In celebration of that, I’m going to ask you bloggers out there to write your Stream of Consciousness Saturday posts based on that one word.

This week’s prompt word is “like.” Any way you want to interpret it, “like” always. 😉

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/2014/06/20/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-june-2114/  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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Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Reading

This post isn’t about what I thought to write about today, but rather, something that has come up. It’s about reading, yes. But then again it’s about not reading. Not being able to read.

Every once in a while my vision goes wonky. It happened today and I’ve been having a hard time seeing my screen. Last night before bed I was squinting at my book. Today I’m seeing double – one image is above and to the right of the actual image. It’s very hard on the eyes.

I don’t know what I’d do if I couldn’t see to write, or to read. I know I wrote about losing one of my senses before (can’t think of the title of the post right now, but it was about losing either your sight or your hearing- which would you choose if you had to?) and at the time I said I didn’t know. Then again, I was sitting at the table with John this morning and he could hear a song playing in the other room and was able to name it – I couldn’t even hear a sound, let alone a recognizable song. So I suppose I’m losing both. I may not get to choose.

The things we take for granted – our senses if we were born with them being the most obvious. I sit here at the kitchen table looking out at the deck I plan to stain this summer and I wonder if I’ll always be able to see it. I wonder if we forget what colour is like when we go blind, or if we just assign another sense to it. I can imagine green would be warm to me, even though it’s not considered a warm colour (I don’t think). It represents summer, after all.

There are men outside chopping up the tree that fell in December. I can see them through the slats of the fence. It’s cold out today, so I imagine their work is comfortable.

Maybe I’ll stain the deck bright red. There goes a chainsaw – there goes my thought process.

I’m posting this without reading. I hope it makes sense.

This post is part of SoCS: https://lindaghill.wordpress.com/2014/06/13/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-june-1414/