I envy people who can write words on the page that come together like a joyous song telling a story. I can’t do that. I’m not a poet and am limited in my writing capabilities but it doesn’t stop me from desiring to tell a story. In school, I absolutely hated writing. Being told by a writing teacher in sixth grade that my thoughts were unoriginal didn’t help so it was sheer shock that I landed in an honors writing course in college. It was tough—good—but a challenge. I learned quite a bit but have since forgotten more than I think I acquired. It’s true that one must keep in practice as for a number of things. I’m way out of practice. 🙂
A couple of years ago I envisioned a tale — more movie-like than anything else. I didn’t see it as a book of words but I started to write about it. I knew where I wanted to end up…I started with the ending and gave more substance as I went along until I got back to the beginning. That project is fueled by a collection of music pieces. I like it because it has a bit of history in it. Like I said, it’s more movie-like. I can see the scenes like they are real and I can almost touch them in my mind. Gives me goosebumps. It’s not finished… 😀 Just like my life – so many unfinished things.
Most of my writing has been at command – not for fun or entertainment. We are all different. Some people have their muses and they continue to write as long as they are moved to do so. I say this all because I realized people write from varying perspectives. Some choose to tell a story of what they know. It can be reality based. Some writers can command characters they create to elaborately unite for a theatrical composition. The words come to life with no or little struggle. There is much power in this because not only do you create a story but you are in command of how you want the reader to absorb each scene.
I don’t know why but I began to write several weeks ago. Well, that’s not true. I needed an escape. Fantasy is so much more fun than reality. Unlike the previous project, this one starts at a particular place, with certain people/characters. I don’t really have an ending. I’ve enjoyed taking the characters through different situations, adding locations, adding characters, and doing research for certain parts for which I needed more information.
I envision the story in my mind and write the words down. Certain parts have to be in a particular place so I write them in and then go back and fill in between the points like drawing a line on a dot-to-dot picture. I only hope that if I publish it, that people will be able to see the picture that I have drawn and maybe it will make just a bit of sense. What is ironic about all of this is that this story today is not far from the story I wrote for my sixth grade teacher that she labeled unoriginal. Hehehe. This is real life. Some things aren’t original and the really good ones can be repeated… Ok, that’s my take on it. 😀
I have three entries that need posting. First up is concerning a post from last year. I have always enjoyed hearing the Cherokee story where the old man is telling his grandson about the two wolves inside who fight each other for domination of the person. The boy wants to know which one wins—the good one or bad one and the old man answers—the one you feed. 🙂
Black and white wolves from wikipedia
I love this story! It is so relevant even if you don’t subscribe to Native American folklore. When we choose to do good, we reap good things. When we choose to do bad, we reap bad things…simple to me but important.
I wrote a cryptic post when the leader of a certain church passed away last year. You know who I’m talking about. I didn’t want to bring attention to him so I just referenced his stance enough so people would understand. I wrote about love and hate.
He was so hateful and he spread seeds of hate, he nourished those seedlings until they bore more seeds and repeated the cycle. He believed he was speaking God’s word but he drove people away from the very thing he aimed to bring people to and I find that quite ironic. He drove some of his family away and it wasn’t because he was right. He fed the wrong wolf and hate consumed him.
My posting was about being careful to feed the good wolf. I had no idea that it could be called into question of what I was saying but I was harshly criticized and scripture was quoted… I know I have hit a nerve when scripture is quoted, lol. Listen, I grew up in a Disciples of Christ church but some of my ancestors had ties to the Baptist church and you haven’t lived until you listen to a true hellfire and brimstone sermon which I have had the “privilege” to experience time and time again, so… 😀 I have been around the block a few times and as a friend likes to say, “This ain’t my first rodeo.” 🙂
There have been times where I have not allowed certain comments when I think they are not helpful to the discussion at hand—as in they may do more harm than good. It doesn’t happen often but it has been maybe three or four comments that I have withheld. If you have been one of these—my apologies. It turns out that the person who criticized the wolf posting was the same person who criticized the love and marriage posting where I lost followers or readers (not as many as I thought I would) because they believe I am wrong about loving all people and wanting equality for all.
At the time of the post last year, I was still trying to avoid confrontation. I still would like to avoid confrontation but that isn’t going to happen and I cannot shrink in the corner anymore because I have a lot to say about treating others like we want to be treated. I’m not hiding and I’m not shrinking or avoiding these days. So, if anyone wants to hit at me—strike at me—make sure your aim is good. I may turn and offer the other cheek but I will not hold back of what I believe when people are being hurt.
So…to the person(s) who think like my harsh critic…yes…be careful of the wolf you feed. If you are reaping hate—you are feeding the wrong wolf. 🙂
Grow gardens of goodness and love rather than gardens of hate and contempt! – Thanks! Take care… Amy 🙂
Nice looking man with muscles to open wine bottles.
Must have: pleasant personality, enjoys wine and conversation and enjoys sharing kitchen–with me.
A big plus: can laugh at my jokes and witty humor, likes music and dancing, and isn’t scared of new things.
Oh, and cannot be allergic to pets…or me. 🙂
Also: must be single with no attachments.
While visiting my younger daughter in Tennessee the other week, we made a trip to the local winery. Although the weather was cold with freezing precipitation, we had a great time. We did the tasting tour and of course I said I wanted to bring the entire vat of peach wine home. They didn’t take me serious at first but then said that it would cost about $30,000. That might be pocket change for some people but I just did not have the cash on me that day 😀 .
I cannot drink red wine for some strange reason—makes me very sick. It has been suggested that the tannins are the culprit but I don’t know and I don’t know if it has to do with some of my allergies. I can drink white wine and more fruity wines with no problem. I had all but given up on wine years ago because I never found anything that I really liked but today, there is so much more variety. I’m even thinking about making my own 🙂
We bought a few bottles of wine and one night after we returned home I texted my older daughter that I was having trouble opening a bottle. She said she had no problem—that she unwrapped the top and gave the bottle to her boyfriend and _(name withheld)_ opened it. I said that I didn’t have a _(name withheld)_ to open my wine and we just laughed. So…I came up with this want-ad.
As for my advertisement… a girl can dream, can’t she 😉 ? Have a great day! 🙂
It’s time to make a difference…to make your voice heard…it’s time to do something for our EARTH!
🙂
How does your garden grow? Are you caring for it? Is it healthy? We all have a stake in the gardens of the world. Doing nothing means choosing to ignore and this inaction is actually detrimental to all of us. It is our responsibility to reach out to each other and make positive gains in taking better care of OUR Earth!!!
When the kids were young we used to watch Barney—you know—the purple dinosaur and he had a bag much like Mary Poppins…everything would fit in the bag. It was magical.
We teach people to go after their dreams, to find their passion, to treat people right…with respect…to have manners, but do we really expect them to stand up for what THEY believe in? We tell them we do but I don’t think so. We expect them to stand up for what WE believe—not for what they believe because many times they believe differently than us.
When my children were little I used to wonder what they could tell me that would shock me—I wanted to be prepared. I thought of various scenarios like jobs they wanted to pursue or if I could handle them telling me they had chosen a different lifestyle, etc. I wasn’t going to be one of those parents who put their child out of the house because they chose something I didn’t agree with. If they were caught with drugs they understood they would sit in jail overnight. Other than that stipulation, I love them unconditionally and I still love them—drugs or not. There were times where they made choices I didn’t agree with and sometimes I had to step back and let them make mistakes. We all make mistakes and hopefully, we learn. I wanted to be prepared so I could help them through whatever.
I have had friends support me but more and more I realize they have supported me as long as I chose what they wanted me to choose. For instance, religion. I made a choice a few years ago that I would try to bridge a gap so that people would see we should have a choice in what we believe for religion—that we cannot hate others for what they believe or what they do not believe. I have been more vocal about choices in religion and it has caused friction in my life. This, I don’t understand because my belief is that we are to love all people. My friends have professed that but when it comes down to it, they cannot love all people. Acceptance is the first step and many of my friends do not accept others who are different from them. I have been ostracized from my church. I wrote about it—that it might happen and it did much like I thought. It’s unfortunate—not for me but for them because people will follow those who they believe have power. They will do what they are told to do without believing in what it is they are doing. Some animals will do the same. It’s like when whales beach themselves. There can be no apparent reason other than the leader does so and they follow along.
A friend asked me about facebook groups this week. I am a member of a few groups—mostly harp types of groups 😀 . This friend wanted to know how groups worked compared to friends or followers. I explained and then asked what groups he was looking into. One was a hate group for a particular religion. I disagree with facebook allowing such groups. I have complained about them but they are still around. Anyway, I gave my opinion that there should exist no such hate group and that we should give people respect. I told him that if he wanted someone to respect his views, then he needed to respect others’ views. Of course that did not go over well.
And it continues…what I think is important is mocked by my friends. They think it is ok and I don’t. I find that I’m just an acquaintance rather than a friend. I have changed. I am constantly evolving. I like things to stay the same but I know that we have a changing world and therefore we must adapt to overcome. That’s the rule of life. To survive, we must change and adapt to different ways of life. I choose this way because to stay the same means that I don’t accept others and that is not acceptable.
Someone said I can’t complain if I am not willing to do something so… I’m doing something.
I am exasperated by how much we take for granted. What tipped the scale was the childhood friend from facebook who swears that climate change is a scare tactic. To be honest, I used to wonder if it was possible–to try to scare people into believing such–but then I began to dig and discover things I wasn’t happy about. Do you realize how much people regurgitate what others say–hate speech–biased data–all type of things? People just rehash what they hear depending on how the information is slanted rather than finding out what is actually factual.
This is not acceptable to me. I love this world. I love people—or I try to. It isn’t always easy. So…in my efforts I am beginning a new blog about our world called … My World Too.
I want it to be a place where I can post things I read, things I discover, thoughts of “what if…” I want it to be about our world and things that I consider important. I am passionate about having a world here for the next generation and many, many more. This new project may become something I don’t like. It may not go the way I hope but it scares me that we dismiss our responsibilities to our world. I may only stir the pot but at least I will have tried something.
This world, this Earth…she owes us nothing but we owe her everything. It is time we begin to care for her and quit taking from her. If interested, you can find this blog at http://earth2morrow.wordpress.com/
It is just by accident that it comes at the time of the UN Climate Summit. I really had no idea that it would come together like this. I have been working on this project off and on for a couple of months…researching…reading…watching videos…talking to people. There is a wealth of information out there but you have to be careful where you tread because you can get caught up in the bickering and politics. It is easy to forget what the real interest is…us working together to help our earth.
My next post will be the first post from this new blog. It’s important to me. It’s one of my passions. 🙂
Gardens are recyclable. Each year, something new is planted, tender plants–vegetation–are cared for until the fruits of harvest come along. Eventually, the growing season dwindles and plants die back. They are removed from the field–allowed to become compost for the next year’s seedlings. Cycles are what keeps us going. Whatever your gardens produce, I wish you Happy Gardening! Go sow some seeds…seeds that will grow wonderful plants and bountiful gardens. 🙂
I am trying so hard to understand people but it isn’t easy. There are those who say the meanest things sometimes. It’s not easy for me to watch suffering and pain or people ignoring others and maybe inflicting some pain of their own. We should be careful of our words. We need to think of others. I am still growing and I speak out about things I see as injustices—not to provoke but to discuss and see if we can resolve things. Too often there are those who have stuffed their ears and maybe pulled the wool over their own eyes.
I had a rough week. This is supposed to be an inspirational post…LOL… I will see what I can do to make it that way. 😉
I took a reprieve from facebook this week because I could not deal with the negativity. It is suffocating—I feel like I am being choked. People speak bad about the ice bucket challenges; there is meanness about political issues; negativity about environmental issues; and then there is what some may call stupidity about science issues. I threw up my hands, made a cover picture that said, “Closed. Gone fishing,” and included a note that said it bothers me how people treat others. It was obvious I was a little peeved.
This did not sit well with some of my facebook friends. One messaged me. She was concerned. Another one asked if there was anything I needed. She gave encouraging words and said that I help her in ways I don’t know because of what I go through and things I share. They were being nice. Another one didn’t reach out, didn’t try to talk to me—but I didn’t hold it against her. We aren’t close and have become more distant after our run-in about the climate change video when she was saying negative things about people. So what did she do? She changed our relationship status to family but we aren’t family. There are people I barely know who I consider closer. I did not get a choice to deny the request—thanks, Facebook. I really appreciate it (sarcasm). I guess FB knows best, right? I am kidding but FB did ask me how she was related…sister, aunt, etc. Can anyone claim you as family? That is scary if so. And, if you unfriend them before they remove the relationship status, does the family status remain…as in…would I still be tied to her in some way?
I kindly asked her to remove the family relationship. She had a temper tantrum. Needless to say, it resulted in her deleting me (unfriending) which I really don’t think is a bad thing but that was not my intention. She was not interested in anything I had to say. She just wanted to manipulate. I found that hurtful but that is on her. So often we want to love only those who love us. She isn’t a giving person…she takes too much and doesn’t give back.
Just think if we only love the people who love us…and not love all people. We need to love everyone especially those who do not love us. I tried to explain this but she wasn’t having any of it. Sometimes negative people need to get out of our bubble. Hopefully, they will be close enough to see they can’t hurt us and they will reap good things without having a negative effect on us. Sounds bad but sometimes there is a limit to what we can tolerate and still be positive.
There is so much apathy in the world that I applaud people and things that bring to light information such as the ice bucket challenge. ALS is such a dreaded and terrible disease…Bill knows this (Hi, Bill 🙂 [LINK]). I had concerns about it at first but I was like—it’s about time people get behind other little known diseases and bring awareness to others. Whether it is because we aren’t affected or we are just too busy or whatever, we need to become aware of others who are suffering and do something. By the way, here is a link to Bill’s own ice bucket challenge. (More about this next time.) 🙂
Then there are those who are trying to bring awareness to charities for what is called Japy day…this idea of having a world day of charity has been tried before and we need to keep trying—not give up. There was a video made and shared about helping the homeless. People found fault with it for many reasons but you know I don’t care. I think the real reason was to bring about change in our world—to remove some of the apathy. People said bad things because they said the video was a stage production. I don’t care. If someone is doing something to cause positive change, WONDERFUL! We need all the help we can get!
First video – about Japy Day – 30 August 2014. Second video – encouraging others to help and to show what community means. Yes, I know it is AUG 31. I had planned to post this earlier this week but it is never too late to help others.
I have a friend who said homeless people don’t need food and clothing and they don’t need stuff people give them. He said that people do this so the giver can feel good about him or her self. The person, this friend, well, he is practically homeless so I didn’t expect to hear this from him. I said… “You missed the point. This is to bring awareness to people who don’t see homeless people as humans but as a blight of humanity—something that hurts their city, etc.”
I became very vocal to him because of other things he said. Listen up! I don’t help other people because it makes me feel good. I help others because they need help. Sometimes I do feel good that I have done something to help another but that’s an intrinsic thought and it’s my own pat on the back that I did right…I did what I am called to do…being a caretaker and giver. We are all supposed to do this, to care for others. We should not boast about our deeds but I think feeling complete…as in we have been successful reaching goals is a good thing. It helps us to continue on that path. If we just do one thing and that’s it, no, that’s not what it is about. But, also, we can’t judge others either. I can’t tell you what to do and not do. I just do what I can and keep doing it. We don’t do things because people deserve something. We should do things because people need us and in turn we all help each other.
It’s true that all of the problems with homelessness are not going to be solved with this one video or a few people but one of the big problems is there are those who do not see homeless people. They are ignored…like they don’t exist. My daughter said, “But they do need those clothes and food and shelter and such until they can get back on their feet or if they can’t get back into society they still need these resources.” My children are very smart. 🙂
This friend said that homeless people need work…jobs…help in getting jobs and resources to become presentable. He found fault with the video and my stance of how we should help. I can be wrong. It’s hard to accept being wrong but I can be wrong…but I’m not wrong…not this time 🙂 . I can choose to back down, shrink into a corner or I can choose to be vocal. I’m being vocal. I don’t want to hurt anyone but we have to reach out to people. I’m not saying to put yourself at risk but be more aware of what is around. Appreciate people more. Smile. Become passionate about life and let it infect others. Don’t let people hurt you with words. Don’t let the negativity in this world tear you down. Find a way to help others. If we only helped as much as we criticize…sigh…
I’ve studied people. Observing, watching. We like what makes us feel good and that isn’t a really bad thing. There is so much hatred in the world. Isn’t it time we remove the hate? 🙂
Is there really any truth to what people refer to as global warming or climate change? I don’t like political things—nothing new—but Friday, I reposted a video on facebook that I thought demonstrated our effect (humans’) on our earth. A longtime “friend” said it was good except for mentioning global warming. In truth, the entire video was about nature and what man has done–see video at the end of my post if you are interested. She also said the French were stupid…sometimes I just shake my head.
I told her that glaciers would soon be a thing of the past and polar ice is disappearing faster than it can reform. That seemed to just anger her. She said that we have had heat waves in the past and they were nothing new. She also said global warming was a term made up by an idiot trying to scare people.
Ok. I get it that people are skeptical. I was too, at first. It seems that so many people do not understand we are here to care for our earth and we are destroying it. It’s easy to stick one’s head in the sand and pretend nothing is happening. It is easy to make fun of others when you don’t understand the science behind the observations.
I asked her to unfriend me on facebook…I wanted her to know I was not happy with her comments. I’ve known her all of my life but I will not be told that this is just a matter of differing opinions. I told my daughters about it and they wondered how anyone doesn’t see what we are doing to our world—our home–our earth. I am very passionate about some things and this is one of them. Science is not an opinion.
I really dislike it when people try throwing their weight around attempting to agitate others and she has been doing this in several ways. I said something about it in a private message and she said that she has been stepped on too many times. I kindly said I have been stepped on all of my life but it does not give me the right to step on someone else. There are some other things about this but writing them would be just more bashing another person. My intent is to show we need to be aware of our world and not closed in or sealed off. It is about more than a few people. What we do here affects the entire planet. Other people live here, too.
I am afraid that this is what happens when hatred becomes such a part of your life that you cannot see past the end of your nose. You can tell me that the tree in my yard is purple when it is really green. Just because you say it is purple does not make it true. Just because we ignore our part in the destruction of our world doesn’t change things. We either acknowledge and make changes in our lifestyles or we ignore and doom our planet to an early death or at least human life. Responsibility is not party affiliated—republican, democrat, independent or other. We all are responsible. We choose to do something or we choose to ignore. We choose to be a part of the solution or we continue to be a part of the problem. Simple.
In case you don’t believe we are doing harm to our atmosphere, weather, water supplies, etc., I urge you to begin to study in depth about the oceans and the measurements of elements and aquatic life, temperature changes, salinity, etc. Chart data. Include information about storms. Study the levels of the atmosphere and how much pollution there is. Then take a look at how many trees have been destroyed and not replanted—particularly the rainforests. Study the ice shelves of Antarctica. Observe the polar habitats that are disappearing before our eyes. And, if that’s not enough, begin studying about solar storms. Don’t take anyone’s word for it but don’t believe everything is all hunky dory.
Sorry. 🙂 Sometimes I have to vent my frustrations, too. Oh, and here is a link to what started it all… Hope you enjoy it! It has been around a while so you may have seen it before.
A friend shared this with me today. She met Stanton Lanier when he did a fundraiser for their hospice years ago. I had to share. Isn’t this just beautiful? Ahhhhh . . . . . 🙂
Let me see if I can remember…There once was this duck flying along one day. I forget the height he was flying but he was headed for a frozen pond. His decent angle—if I remember correctly—was 45 degrees. There were some other statistics given…air temperature…below freezing. I don’t remember how fast he flying but he was traveling at a pretty decent clip. The question was, “What happens to the duck?”
This was physics class and this was a test. I thought I had gone crazy with this type of problem but it was given to us because the class was not thinking—we were not looking at the complete picture for word problems. We were instead learning formulas and plugging in values to find the unknown. In real life, the unknown can be several things and to solve problems, one needs to know the questions to ask. This problem was more of logic than calculations. In fact, the answer was not a number but a sentence describing what happened to the duck. It was one of those defining moments in life–one where the light switch turns on or stays off. (cough-cough)
I remember everyone missed the problem except one person. I was really good at physics but not this time. Logic back then was not my strong suit. I could not see it. It is like a 3-D puzzle on 2-D media (think Escher if you know he was–see below). You have to look at it in the right way, in the right perspective, from the right distance and correct angle.
wikipedia
I didn’t discover Escher until graduate geometry. I’m glad I did. We gather pieces along the way to put in our puzzles. Link to work by Escher:
You have to be willing to open your mind to possibilities. That’s the key to problem solving. Sometimes you have to think about the tree falling in the forest…does it make a sound if no one is there? 😀 Sometimes it takes all of your life for things to click and make sense. For some—it never happens.
What happens to the duck? Does it matter? Does the tree make a noise 😉 ? See. We want concrete facts–absolutes–no variants. We want it to make sense. We don’t like it when it is open ended.
Garden2day 
