February 5: Writing Prompt #36-Call Me, Maybe

Describe your relationship with your phone. Is it your life- line, a buzzing nuisance, or something in between?

Something in between. I talked about my relationship with cell phones in an earlier blog post this year that you may remember. Upon my return to the states, I was truly shocked at how much people can’t seem to live without their phones. I lived without one for so many years that I haven’t become that attached yet.  Hopefully, I never will.  I watch people in traffic talking, looking down and texting, and all I can think is, “what is so important that you can’t wait?”  It took me months just to figure out how to use mine! J  I don’t know. Texting is a fun way to keep in touch, but I’d still rather sit down with you at home or at a restaurant and enjoy a real conversation.

Call me old-fashioned, but it’s the same with books for me.  I do get most of my books on Kindle now, but I still have my favorites in hardback.  And for things like children’s picture and coffee books, there is NO digital substitute. It’s just not the same to look at the pictures on a tablet. There’s something about the feel of a book, and the fact that you can take it with you anywhere without having to worry about “charging” it. 

I enjoy technology as much as the next person. After all, I am the one who wrote that technology was the best thing since sliced bread, although I believe it’s best used in moderation or else it turns into too much carbs and starch that make you feel bloated and fat, so to speak. J  Just like anything else, too much can be harmful. 

I think my mom says it best when her dryer dings at her: “I hate being summoned by a machine!” Too many of us are being summoned by our phones on a daily basis, and our attention is drawn away from the real people in our lives. That’s my two cents, for what it’s worth…

February 4: Writing Prompt #35-Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

You need to make a major change in your life. Do you make it all at once, cold turkey style, or incrementally?

Based on my past, I’d make the change all at once, cold turkey style! It may take me awhile to mull things over, to actually make the decision to go forth with a major change, but once I’ve decided OR been presented with the opportunity I’ve been looking for, I move fast. 

Like my granddaddy, who gave up his long “love affair” with cigarettes cold turkey the day he found out he had emphysema, I don’t mess around with increments.  It draws it out too long, in my opinion, makes it more likely you’ll change your mind or compromise your “change” goal, if you take it in steps.  If you need to make a change, make it, I say! What are you waiting for? 

It’s similar to the writing process for me.  Once I know the “topic” of change, so to speak, I begin thinking about it in spare moments, “writing out” the change in my head, including the various ways it could work, the options for how to make the change, etc…Sometimes I come to a “block” on this one, and I decide no change is needed right away, so I pray, put my life in perspective, and move on until that “I need a change” feeling comes again. 

Then, maybe an opportunity presents itself or a new idea is proposed by a friend, a situation, something I read, and the process begins again.  Once I have the “change” processed in my head, thought out clearly and with confidence, I move on it, “change” flowing out of me like the words from my head when a piece of writing finally comes together.  If it’s the right time, then the change is smooth just like the writing. 

Changes are ALL ABOUT timing. You may WANT to make a change, but it doesn’t always mean it’s going to happen right away. Take my major life change to move from Kwajalein to Washington, for example. I had been looking and applying for jobs back in the states and/or in other spots overseas for several years, off and on, before the actual move took place, just keeping all my options open.  I felt a change coming when I first started this blog site back in 2010. In fact, my first blog entry (if you care to go back and read it) says that I felt it might be my last year on the island, and I wanted to chronicle it before my “island life” ended. Turns out, I didn’t leave for another 4 years. The timing wasn’t right until 2014.  So, I looked for jobs now and again, applied for ones I could see myself doing, then when those jobs didn’t come through, I went back the drawing board, waiting for what God had in mind next, learning to be content with staying on the island until I KNEW beyond a shadow of a doubt that God was calling me back somewhere else.   

Sometimes just the planning and looking for a change teaches you how to be content where you are when you get that gnawing, “I need a change” feeling.  Within months of starting my new job here, I became unsure about it all, so I applied for a couple of jobs and even had 2 interviews, but realized in the end that I had “jumped the gun, “ and needed to give this new change more time to see where it would take me.  I believe it always takes a good year plus to feel settled in a new place and job. Too bad I didn’t believe it enough for myself a few months ago.  As we near a year here this February, I realize that I am exactly where I am supposed to be, just like I knew a year ago that I was supposed to take this job and make this move.  I’m so happy I did!  I don’t know when another change will be in order or where it will take us, but I know that when it happens, it will happen fast, and that’s okay! In fact, that’s how I like it, like ripping a Band-Aid off a cut, getting it over with all at once is best!! J 

There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven—

A time to give birth and a time to die;

A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.

A time to kill and a time to heal;

A time to tear down and a time to build up.

A time to weep and a time to laugh;

A time to mourn and a time to dance.

A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones;

A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing.

A time to search and a time to give up as lost;

A time to keep and a time to throw away.

A time to tear apart and a time to sew together;

A time to be silent and a time to speak.

A time to love and a time to hate;

A time for war and a time for peace.

What profit is there to the worker from that in which he toils? I have seen the task which God has given the sons of men with which to occupy themselves. He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end. Ecclesiastes 3:1-11

February 3: Writing Prompt #34-Writing Room

My writing room has large picture windows on two sides, and it overlooks the ocean and the mountains. This means it has to be situated high above the world, so I can see both these magnificent creations of nature in the same spot.  It is furnished with a super comfortable couch as well as some open space for my yoga mat.  There’s a desk by the windows looking out at the view, and an awesome Bluetooth sound system built into the walls that can be heard but not seen. J There’s also a built in bookshelf with all the classics from children’s picture books and literature on up through Shakespeare, Hemingway, Faulkner, and even the most modern award winners.  Next to the bookshelf is a large nook with a window seat and comfy cushions for sitting and reading.  It’s always the perfect temperature, adjusting itself like a “smart house” programmed to work with the occupant’s preference.  It’s equipped with a large hidden monitor in the wall for playing yoga videos, to review writing from the computer, etc…whatever one might want to watch or see on the big screen.  There’s a small kitchenette in the corner near the door with a microwave, toaster oven, mini-fridge, hot water/tea maker, and cabinets for snacks, drinks, and whatever else one might need for fuel while writing and creating.  What else? Well, isn’t that enough? Feels like such a selfish writing prompt….but it was fun to think about! What would your perfect relaxation and/or work space look like? 

February 2: Writing Prompt #33-Think Global, Act Local

“Think global, act local.” Write a post connecting a global issue to a personal one.

Since moving back to the United States, I am surprised at how many “homeless” are standing around on the street corners asking for anything. (“anything helps,” that’s what most of their signs read).  I saw of glimpse of the rise of these types of beggars when I was back visiting with my children several years ago. I had one baby and one toddler, and my dad was driving us from AL to North Carolina to visit family and friends, and we stopped at a popular rest stop in Georgia (The Peach State!) that we had stopped at before when I was a girl. I was excited to stop there for some ice cream and a break, but I was disappointed when a gentleman approached my dad saying that he needed gas money (he was even carrying a gas can) because his wife and baby were with him, and they had no gas to get to where they were going. My dad refused to give him anything, then we watched him go back to his nice looking car where there was another guy, but no sign of a woman or baby, then he took off to ask the next unsuspecting victim. 

Now a days it’s tough because you can’t always tell who is “begging for a living” and who is truly in need of help. Well, you can sort of tell, like the lady I saw when I was driving to work at 5 am the other morning who was walking and talking to herself in the rain crossing the bridge with wet, holey socks on and no shoes on. My heart went out to her, but she wasn’t asking for anything.  The others who wait on the intersection corners as I exit I-5 on the road by my house and as I stop to get gas at Fred Meyer are always holding up signs while they smoke cigarettes, watch after their dogs, and stay warm in their fairly clean, thick coats and good shoes. Unfortunately, for them, I have no desire to help them out except maybe to take their dog off their hands or help them quit smoking, the two things that are costing them money they should be using to get back on their feet. 

My husband has a story to tell as well. He stopped to help a guy who was asking for gas money one time. He told him to “get in,” his car. The guy replied, “what?” My husband continued saying, “get in, and I’ll take you to get some gas.” The man replied with a laugh as he went to the next car to ask for money. He didn’t want or need the gas. He just wanted the money.   

Homelessness is a global and local problem, but what can we do to solve it?  Well, the countries that struggle the least with this are those who take care of their elderly, mentally ill, and unemployable.  In the Marshall Islands, I met a couple of “homeless” gentleman, but they were never hungry, always had clothes on, a place sleep, and were relatively happy and not a hindrance to anyone in their society. That’s because “the community” of people took care of them, giving them their leftover food or clothes and shoes they did not need, and making sure they always had a place to sleep when they needed it. They never asked me for money. In Japan, there are homeless, but they don’t beg for money. They are quiet and polite, take care of stray animals in urban parks, and collect money by recycling others’ garbage.  In America, we can be cynical about our homeless because there are so many who have deceived us by pretending to be homeless or poor when they are really just “conning” others out of their money, so they don’t have to try and find a job or work for their earnings. 

So, what do we do about it?  I don’t know. Try to determine who is homeless for real and who is not and fine those who are begging without need?  I’m sure that must violate some American freedom.  Plus, who’s going to do that job anyway.  I think the best thing is to help those we know who need us through our churches, our work places, our children’s friends, and those we come into contact with each day. We all struggle in one way or another, so just keeping your eyes and ears open to those legitimate “right next to us” opportunities to assist in whatever large or small way we can is the best way to really bless someone who truly needs the blessing. 

“So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.” Galatians 6:10

February 1: Writing Prompt #32-Flangiprop!

Invent a definition for the word “flangiprop,” then use the word in a post.

This first entry of the month will be short and sweet, I think.  Being the English major that I am, I decided to look up each of the root words here to get an accurate definition for this new word I’ll attempt to use in a minute. 

1. Flang (I decided to go with flange because there’s an i that the e in the root word could possibly account for):  NOUN-a rib or rim for strength, for guiding, or for attachment to another object flange

on a pipe> flange on a wheel>

2. Prop:  VERB-One that serves as a means of support or assistance.

Now, use it in a post, okay. 

I’ve always LOVED language, and I adore words. Two of my favorite authors when I was a teenager and college student were William Faulkner and William Shakespeare.  Most students do NOT like Shakespeare because they don’t easily understand his writings.  But what other author/playwright do you know who can make soap opera stories into classic literature studied in every high school and college, even to the point of having whole college level classes dedicated to his work and his work only?  What other author/playwright has made up and added so many new words to the English language just because he put them into context in his writing? Not many, if any.  And Faulkner, the author who made stream of consciousness a style of writing, well, most of us would just be considered too wordy if we wrote like Faulkner, and our English teachers would tell us we needed to learn how to use proper punctuation, but now we can say, we were simply writing in Faulkner’s stream of consciousness style.  J  Language can be a flangiprop to our lives if we choose to use our words wisely and with kindness.  They can lift us up, support us through difficult times, even guide us along the path of life.  They can also cause us so much pain and destroy our lives, but again, only if we let them. 

I love language because of its power to effect change, to express emotions, to move me and teach me, but I have also felt the power of language through pain, pain that I’ve experienced at other’s acidic words and pain at realizing that I have so easily used those same acidic words to inflict pain on others.  I still love language, even when it’s power gets the best of me. I work every day at trying to perfect my use of it, both in writing and spoken form.  I have much to learn, but I will continue to work at it, just like I continue to work at any and all things in life that I love.  My end goal is that my language will always be a flangiprop to others and used for good, not for evil. 

“Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” Ephesians 4:29