Time and IWSG December 2013

Quote of the Day:  Peace is when time doesn't matter as it passes by. Maria Schell

Time in a bottle Jim Croce "There never seems to be enough time to do the things you want to do, once you find them." 

Time (Why you punish me?) by Hootie and the Blowfish "Time without courage, And time without fear...is just wasted time."

Honey, time marches on, and suddenly you realize it is marching across your face. line by Truvy in Steel Magnolias. I played Truvy in a community theatre production in Alexandria, MN about 10 years ago. It is one of my favorite roles.

If you have to watch the clock, it might as well be artistic.

How do you mark time? For a short time, I had an email correspondence with a guy named Tim. I told him that every time I type his name it turns into Time. He wrote back a funny quip about time and how he marks it by how fast he empties the shampoo bottle! 

I am marking time today by noting that we're already at the first Wednesday of the month where we write about our insecurities with the Insecure Writer's Support Group, founded by the great ninja blogger, Alex J. Cavanaugh.

Before I joined the Advent Photo-a-Day Project, I had planned to write about my word for the week, which was Accept. And, actually, I think Time and Accept work well together. We need to accept the time we have, accept the time of life we're in, accept our gifts and take the time to use them to make the world a better place. We need to be gentle with ourselves when we run out of time. We need to accept that we are busy people with many tasks to do and people to care for. And, sometimes, we need to claim our time to create and build our own careers while those around us need to accept that we have those needs.

When I told the Biker Chef the word for the day, he wondered about thyme. There he goes, spicin' it up for me again. He says that thyme can be used with almost anything. I sure enjoyed the thyme at Thanksgiving! (*grin)

I'll leave you with one more song about time/thyme, Scarborough Fair: Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme, recorded by Simon & Garfunkel in 1966. The song itself has been around a long time. According to wikipedia, it is a ballad from Great Britain/Yorkshire and has been around since the middle ages.

When I wrote back to Tim about time, I said that I would like to be timeless, or at least have my creative work have the staying power of a song like Scarborough Fair, or a story we keep going back to like A Wrinkle in Time, or one of Shakespeare's great plays whose themes are timeless.

Go. Create. Inspire!

Journaling Prompt:  How do you mark time?

IWSG June, 2013

Quote of the Day:  Writing is harder than anything else; at least starting to write is. It's much easier to wash the dishes. When I'm writing I set myself a daily quota of pages, but nine times out of then I'm doing those pages at four o'clock in the afternoon because I've done everything else first...But once I get flowing with it, I wonder what took me so long. Kristin Hunter (American writer)

School's out for summer! Yay, right? It's that glorious time of hanging out at home, baseball practice and games, swim team conditioning, summer camps, fundraising for mission trips, band lessons, and having friends come over to hang at the house. Someone asked me once if I was looking forward to summer, and the truth is, not really. It's a different kind of busy, much less time for myself and my writing, but more time with the kids and the chance to take trips and get out. So, how do you fit in any kind of writing, especially the kind that might not produce any income?

Other mothers who write posed the question on facebook this week about finding time to actually write when the kids are there, plus the distractions and duties of the home, and the just plain ol' tired feeling you have. Some of us escape to coffee shops, which works if you're writing a play set in a coffee shop. Not so much when you run into people you know and "need" to catch up. Some of us try to tune out the family and ignore the household chores. I can do that. Not all day long, though. Those growing boys tend to want to be fed. Once the cereal runs out, they're looking for meat. (I need to teach them to cook.) Then, of course, it's carting them around to all the above mentioned activities. (Middle son is just starting driver's ed this summer.)

And, yes, it's much easier to do the dishes (see above quote). Case in point, this morning, I got up early to write this post, but first, I let the cat out, started coffee, washed up the pan from last night's burgers, eyed the rhubarb crisp for breakfast, got the middle son up to get to his swim conditioning, looked up the quote, left to bring him to swim conditioning, came back, ate breakfast (whole wheat English muffin with nutella, saving the rhubarb crisp for second breakfast), finished typing the quote, sneezed so hard my readers flew off, laughed about that with the twins who are eating breakfast beside me and waiting for me to drop them off at swim practice, but first we need to stop at Dad's house for their swimming suits.

You get the picture, and it's just 8:00 am, now.

So, I suggested to one of the other authors who seems to be quite popular and can find no private retreat in which to write: Build yourself a treefort and pull up the ladder!

Sign at my friends' treehouse cabin in the woods, a great hideout.

 

And, that is my contribution to the Insecure Writer's Support Group for June, 2013. How do we find the time to be writers when we're so busy living? I don't know. Maybe, I'll jump on the bike and write about it later (when the snow flies, and boy, does it fly here in the North)!

 

Read more about the Insecure Writer's Support Group at Alex J. Cavanaugh's blog. (I gotta go. Time to drive the kids to the pool!)

 

Go. Create. Inspire!

 

Journaling Prompt:  What's your biggest distraction? Any fun summer plans?

Summer's Over

Quote of the Day:  How do geese know when to fly south? Who tells them the seasons? How do we, humans, know when it is time to move on? As with the migrant birds, so surely with us, there is a voice within if only we would listen to it, that tells us certainly when to go forth into the unknown. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

This weekend marks the passage of time, milestones in life, and the next generation rising up and going forth into the unknown.

I watched my first-born son pack up for college and hugged him good-bye.

Then, we jumped in the van and headed to my nephew's wedding, the first in the next generation.

Realized that my sisters and I are now the "old aunts."

And, I have just three kids to watch over, drag to weddings, help manage their schedules.

Plus, football practice has started, the mornings are cool, and we're getting ready for school to start.

Summer's over. The new season begins, in the year and in life. I wonder where these halls and pathways will take my biggest boy.

I miss him already.

Go. Create. Inspire!

Journaling Prompt:  What season are you in right now, creatively, personally, socially, etc?

Turn on the Faucet

Quote of the Day: 

If you're going to be a writer, the first essential

is just to write. Do not wait for an idea. Start

writing something and the ideas will come. You have

to turn the faucet on before the water starts to flow.

~ Louis L'Amour

My cat, Leo, likes to drink that little bit of water at the bottom of the bathtub. The boys thought that was funny, so when he's climbing around the edge of the tub, they turn on the water so there's enough for him to drink.  Yesterday, he was in the tub, so I started just a trickle. He thought that was fun to play with. I finished getting ready and left. When I came back, hours later, the slow trickle had filled the tub half-full (versus half-empty, cause that's the way I am). I was embarrassed about leaving the water running, apologized to the Earth for wasting water, but saw the grand metaphor in my error. Even a slow trickle will eventually produce enough water to fill a tub.

That slow trickle can be the few minutes you carve out of each day to work on your art, your projects, and your dreams. Open the faucet and let the ideas flow out. Believe that you are the only person who can bring that art to life. It's you, your unique experiences and collection of gifts and talents.

Your daily goals might need to be small - one page or poem a day, one new contact a week, one new color on a painting, or one block for your quilt.

Go. Create. Inspire!

And, fill your tub of creativity, no matter how slow the flow.

Journaling Prompt:  Keep track of all that you DID accomplish this week.

Life is Good

Quote of the Day:  "...a talent is something given, that opens like a flower, but without exceptional energy, discipline, and persistence will never bear fruit."  - Mary Sarton, Belgian-born American writer

From my Mom's flower garden.

Her spring flowers were gorgeous this year.

When I discovered Orioles in my yard, I set out oranges and readied my camera, but it was the grape jelly that brought them to my porch railing.  Birds have amazing brightness of color.  I'm a bird watcher, but not a true "Birder."  I don't know all my varieties, I just like looking at them.  I heard an ad on the radio about a yard service that makes your yard bird friendly with the right plants, feeders, etc.  I'm tempted to have them come here.

The Oriole likes grape jelly!

School's out for summer, and I'm prepping myself to share my space.  With my own four sons and various friends and neighborhood boys running in and out, I find myself craving quiet time and creative space.  I need to claim it.  Make some dates with myself at coffee shops.  Shut the door and tell them to find their own food.  I can do it, but it takes more discipline.  It's good for them to see me taking time to do what I love, creating, writing, making music, nurturing my own friendships.

And, they're not little kids anymore (sigh).  They're getting more independent. My oldest son is a senior, now, and starting his first job - lifeguard at the Y.  Yay for him!  The three younger ones will go to scout camp for a whole week without me this August.  What adventures await them?

What adventures are waiting for me?

Don't lose yourself in caring for others.  Find what you love and nurture it, too.  Then, you won't feel so empty when the chicks start to leave the nest.

This was the fastest school year, yet.  How fast will next year fly with a senior in the house? Too fast. I can already hear the clock gears speeding up.

Tess Hilmo, a blog friend, is challenging us to write how "Life is Good."  She's also giving away prizes and promoting her first book, With a Name Like Love.  I was a winner last week, among my treats are See's candies and her book as soon as it's released, Sept. 27.  Thanks, Tess.  Go check out her book and great prizes, and tell her how "Life is Good" in your world.

Go. Create. Inspire!

Journaling Prompt:  When you claim time and space for yourself, where do you go and what do you do?



T is for Time

Letter of the Day:  T

T is for Time and the Texas Playwright Chick.  I stumbled upon her blog.  I think I liked one of her comments, or was drawn to the playwright part.  I don't know.  What I do know is that once I discovered the Texas Playwright Chick, I wanted to be the Minnesota Playwright Chick.  I signed up for Scriptfrenzy last year and I've completed my first full-length play.  Cher, the Texas Playwright Chick, has been most encouraging.  She read my play, said it made her laugh out loud, and told me she "loved it."  Well, that makes it official.  Let this Minnesota Playwright Chick introduce you to Cher, The Texas Playwright Chick....

Settle in with your favorite cup of brew, or tea.

T is for Texas Playwright Chick and all my Thoughts! And, what I’ve been thinking about lately, the personal motto I’ve been using to spur (get it? Texas…spurs?) myself on with is this:

Time to Tap your Talent!

The first time I saw Lord of the Rings, I was inspired by something Gandalf said to Frodo. He said, “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.” That really struck a chord with me and I began to ask myself, “What am I doing with my time?” Am I really using my time wisely? Am I using my talent wisely? Am I tapping into my best life potential? Or am I puttering my time and talent away, wasting it doing things that aren’t important?


So, my personal battle cry has become, “it’s TIME to TAP your TALENT!” I say this to myself each day to remind myself to get to my computer and use those writing talents! But, to tap those writing talents of mine, it comes down to time. Finding time, making time, taking time, to sit down and explore my story ideas and characters on the page, is the only thing that can help me achieve my dreams. Without taking the time to tap into your own talents – whatever they may be – you will never fully reach your own potential.


We all have dreams for ourselves, and we all have hope that we will be able to make those dreams come true, yes? But, hope is not enough. You must take the time to tap our talents (which is really taking an action), or you will continue to live your life in a fog of status quo. Nothing new will happen to you. Nothing exciting will happen to you. Nothing extraordinary will happen to you. Is that what you want? Or do you want an extraordinary life full of amazing experiences?


Are YOU taking the TIME you need to TAP your own TALENTS? Are you taking the TIME you need to create the life you want? Have YOU decided what to do with the TIME that has been given to YOU?


Ciao for Niao – Texas Playwright Chick


http://www.playwrightchick.com/

This post needs a theme song:  Time by Hootie and the Blowfish. It's a Youtube link if you're in the mood for a listen.

One more note:  Just this week I read a blog post by a young woman actor named Andi Zeisler about the need for women playwrights and the need for plays with strong women roles.  She was bemoaning the lack of respectable roles for women in musicals.  It gave me courage to persevere with Coffee Shop Confessions.  I'm in need of a composer, original songs, and a creative team to get it out to the public.  You can find the post here.

 Journaling Prompt: How have you taken time for yourself and your art lately?