Life in progress


32 Comments

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for SoCS June 14/14

It’s SoCS prompt time again! A great deal of time in a blogger’s life is spent reading, whether it’s books outside the blogosphere, other blogs, or even our own articles that we pore over time and time again to get them perfect before hitting the publish button. So with that in mind, what better to do with Stream of Consciousness Saturday than write something we’re not going to fix?

This week’s prompt will be slightly more of a challenge, should you choose to accept. Your prompt is to include the word read (present tense), read (past tense) or red. The extra challenge? Publish without reading. Just do your best while you write, then make a really squinty face and pluck up the courage to hit that button. If you’re brave enough to do it, make sure you tell us you’re going to at the end 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 – it’s fun and this week it tastes good too!

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/2014/06/13/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-june-1414/  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!


41 Comments

Tongue Talk – Stream of Consciousness Saturday

When I thought of the tongue prompt yesterday I had no idea what I wanted to write. It just seemed like something people could have fun with. That hasn’t changed – I still don’t have any idea what I want to write.

There are so many things we can do with our tongues:

The first of course is taste – it’s one of the first things we do when we enter the world. Our tastes grow as we get older. Sure, there are things we can’t stand to eat, even as kids. Much to the annoyance of parents everywhere, often these foods end up in places they shouldn’t. I still remember picking sticky pieces of spaghetti off the walls when my kids were toddlers.

Shortly after taste comes our mother tongue. Or, in some cases, not. My son Alex will never know his mother tongue because he’s Deaf. Is Sign Language even a tongue? Maybe not, but Alex is certainly vocal enough. That’s something that comes with having hearing parents though. In completely Deaf families, they don’t use their voices.

Shortly after we learn to speak we learn to do other things with our tongues. Stick them out at people, for instance. (Thanks  Lee-Anne for reminding me of that one.) Some of us do tricks like twist them or curl them – which as I understand is something that is inherited. If your parents can’t do it, neither can you. I can lick my nose though…

As we grow up we learn to use them for kissing. I remember my first kiss – however I’d rather not. There was a lot of drool involved and I don’t think most of it was mine. Ick.

From that first kiss we graduate… My mother used to call it “sucking face” though I’m not sure that that was an expression she grew up with. Then there were the hickeys that we tried and usually failed to hide from our parents.  As I write this, I realize how much hell parents go through!

And of course there’s the next step.. but I won’t get into that here. Best left for the bedroom, eh?

That would be everything I can come up with, and I still don’t know that I’ve said anything of importance or worth reading.

Except the next time I go to the doctor and I see the tongue depressors, I’ll probably think of this post.

This post is part of SoCS! https://lindaghill.wordpress.com/2014/06/06/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-june-714/ Click the link to find out more, and to join in!


26 Comments

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for SoCS June 7/14

It’s that time of the week again, bloggers! Friday’s here and I’m all geared up to present you with your SoCS prompt for tomorrow’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday! I think we should have some fun with it this week, so let’s see what you can do with this one-word prompt–do with it whatever comes to mind:

Your prompt is (drum roll please): Tongue.

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 – it’s fun and this week it tastes good too!

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/2014/06/06/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-june-714/  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!


15 Comments

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for SoCS May 31/14

Spring has sprung,
the grass is ris’,
I wonder where Stream of Consciousness Saturday is?

Oh look, it’s almost here! Today is Friday however, and time for your SoCS prompt.

This week your prompt will be “object.” Choose an object, or write about something you object to. Nouns and verbs don’t matter here at Stream of Consciousness Saturday. If you do go with the noun, try to include a picture.

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 be afraid to join in – it’s fun! Heck, bring a friend!

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/2014/05/30/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-may-3114/  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!


32 Comments

Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Without

It doesn’t take me long to run out of resources. Energy, both physical and emotional – hell, even spiritual – seem to dry up when I get to a certain level of stress wherein I’m running around like a daddy longlegs with half of its legs pulled off by a willful child.

When I reach that limit I go blank. Nothing works. I must stop moving, I must force myself to try to stop thinking of everything at once. I have, at these times, so many thoughts in my head that I feel as though I will explode. And then I am without.

Without anything to draw from. My brain fires on the remnants of the sparks of what energy is beginning to build up again but I have no control over which way they shoot. Sometimes it’s anger, seeping from my pores like lava, and sometimes there are tears that threaten never to cease. Rarely, it’s laughter. When it is, I know I’ll be okay again soon.

Without resources I feel useless. I exist on a plane apart from the rest of society. I float (yes, I am even without gravity) an inch above the ground, always in danger of taking off. Not up, but away. If I do, I’m afraid nothing will stop me until I’m lost.

Eventually I can once again focus. But only by focusing on myself, and not all of the people who demand my attention all of the time, can I come back to me. To regain my energy, my emotions, and the spirituality that centers me and keeps me in the moment.

I need a vacation.

 

This post is part of SoCS. Find the rules here, https://lindaghill.wordpress.com/2014/05/23/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-may-2414/ and join in!


18 Comments

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for SoCS May 24/14

It’s time again for your Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt! It’s been a week of having and lacking for me. It’s a condition that follows us all throughout our lives: the haves and have nots. If we’re lucky, neither stays with us for long. No one wants to be wanting, and yet if we had everything we wanted all the time, we wouldn’t know how to appreciate it.

This week your Prompt will be “with/without.” Choose one to write about or include both. Write about any subject you wish, as 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. Let’s have lots of participants again this week. Try it, it’s fun!

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/2014/05/23/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-may-2414/  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!


41 Comments

Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Senses

It’s been thirty-four years since I had a discussion in a class in high school – I don’t even remember what the class was, only that the teacher could easily be led astray by an interesting conversation and we wouldn’t have to do any work if we could catch her attention with something.

The discussion was based on two things. First – everyone, at some point in their lives, has six months left to live. If you could know without a shadow of a doubt that you had that much time left, would you want to?

The second of the two subjects that day has more to do with today’s prompt. And I swear, I wasn’t thinking of this when I came up with the prompt. (not sure if I should put that in there or not, but I can’t take it out now, right?)

Anyway, the second of the two subjects we talked about that day was, if you had a choice between losing your sight or your hearing, but you had to choose one, which would you pick?

Most people if I remember correctly, said their hearing. After all, being able to see makes getting around a lot easier. But I was torn. I love music. I love to be able to hear the birds sing. I can’t imagine not being able to hear the beauty of a great guitar riff, or the voice of a singer I adore. I just… can’t.

With so many years of hindsight, and having a Deaf child, I am really now torn. I see him enjoying life without sound – he can still feel the beat of music, and he’s able to communicate for the most part with just about anyone through gestures and body language. Still, he’s never been able to hear music, and so he doesn’t understand what he’s missing.

I don’t know how I would cope without my sight either. Gone would be my camera, and all but the fragrance of flowers. And I walk into things as it is…

It’s a question that will probably stay with me for another thirty-four years, if not more. I hope I never have to choose.

 

This post is part of SoCS: https://lindaghill.wordpress.com/2014/05/16/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-may-1714/

Post one of your own!


25 Comments

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for SoCS May 17/14

Friday is here once again and time for your Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt! Taking pictures with colour in them (finally, no snow and ice!) has made me contemplate vision for the past few days. And so I thought about making vision this week’s prompt. But then I thought, why stop there?

This week your Prompt will be the 5 senses. Pick one, or include them all, but somehow get them into your Stream of Consciousness post. Or heck, put none of them in there! Now there’s a real challenge!

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. Let’s have lots of participants again this week. Try it, it’s fun!

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/2014/05/16/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-may-1714/  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!


40 Comments

Life-Changing Entrances – Stream of Consciousness Saturday

You never know when you’re going to meet someone who will change your life forever. Be it by accident or by design, there are those whose actions will alter the course of our lives, or do it simply by existing.

For myself, I think the people who have changed my life the most drastically are my kids. I could have had no idea how much until I actually gave birth to them.

There are people who have passed through my life who have caused me to trust less, and those who have cemented my faith in humanity. I suppose one sort balances the other sort out.

My ex, with whom I had my children…

We met when we worked together many years before we actually began having a romantic relationship. We lost track of each other for six years – it didn’t really matter. We were barely friends at the start. Then one day I pulled into a gas station just to buy gas and there he was again, in a city hundreds of miles from where we first met. Some might say it was meant to be. I’m sure my kids would.

I never even liked children before I had my own. Yet now I would die for one, even if it was not mine. That’s what being a mother is about, I guess.

I wanted to say something about the fiction piece I’m going to post after I post this one, also for SoCS. It is entitled “Entranced” and it is metaphorical. There are people out there like the man you will meet in this particular piece of fiction. They are hard to spot. They are dangerous. http://lindaghillfiction.wordpress.com/2014/05/10/entranced-stream-of-consciousness-saturday-entrance/

And I’ve lost the train.

Who has changed your life just by walking into it? So many do, don’t they?

 

SoCS – This week’s prompt, “Entrance”. https://lindaghill.wordpress.com/2014/05/09/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-may-1014/ 


14 Comments

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for SoCS May 10/14

It’s that time of the week again! Time for your Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt! I’m excited – are you? Of course, you are going to join in this week, right? I’m not sure what inspired my prompt this week. Perhaps it’s Mother’s Day which is coming up on Sunday. Here it is:

This week your Prompt will be ‘entrance.’ As a noun or verb, literally or loosely, you choose how to write your post around the concept.

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.

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/2014/05/09/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-may-1014/  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!