October 5: Writing Prompt #278-Eye of the Beholder

Describe what it feels like to hear a beautiful piece of music or see a stunning piece of art.

In a word, TRANSFORMING.  A beautiful piece of music inspires, brings joy, or it can just as easily bring bittersweet tears. A stunning piece of art can take your breath away and pull you out of reality and into the depths of the piece before you.  Like music, art can also inspire, bring joy or sadness.  And that’s what I mean by transforming.  In the first few notes or a single glance, music and art can transform you, make you think about the world in a different way, encourage you to try harder, to be better, or take you back to a painful time and teach you new lessons through it.  It may show you the world in a whole new light or it might reveal to you how you are not alone on this green and blue planet because you can relate to what is being spoken through the musician’s or artist’s work.   Of course, what speaks to me might not speak to you, but that’s the beauty of music and art and why we have the saying, “It’s all in the eye of the beholder.” 

October 4: Writing Prompt #277-The Clothes That (May) Make the (Wo)man

How important are clothes to you? Describe your style, if you have one, and tell us how appearance impacts how you feel about yourself.

How important are clothes to me?  Well, I like clothes. I enjoy shopping and the challenge of putting things together now and again.  My mom used to like me to go shopping with her to pick out things she might like that she probably wouldn’t choose on her own.  I like that she trusted my sense of style in later years because I know she thought I dressed a little oddly in high school.  I had my own style, including wearing multiple watches up my wrist (all Swatch, of course) along with all kinds of costume jewelry and interesting combinations of outfits from nice church dresses to beatnik and grunge styles.  I have since come into my own, and I’m pretty good at choosing what most flatters my aging figure today.  I realized a little too late that I should have appreciated my figure as a teenager and young woman a bit more when I picked up clothes from storage at my parent’s house back in December…everything was large and even extra large! These were the clothes I wore in college, when I was between 19-22 years old!! Today, I am usually a medium and back then possibly even a small at times, but I was SO self conscious, I didn’t feel comfortable wearing anything less than really baggy and extra big.  Once on Kwajalein, I gained confidence and by the time I left, I was wearing clothes that were definitely more appropriately fitted to me.  My self-esteem grew up, you could say.  Appearance impacts how I feel about myself more than I care to admit. You know if I’m super tired, sick, or having a bad day because I’ll be dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt to work, but if I’m feeling positive and ready to face the day’s challenges confidently, I will have a nice skirt and top on and my best shoes and accessories.  When I’m feeling good, my style shines through, which is kind of unique to me, I think, not sure I know how to describe it exactly. Maybe you all who know me would be better at that. What about you? What’s your style and what does it say about you?    

October 3: Writing Prompt #276-New Internet Order

All the world’s countries have decided that the Internet itself needs a government. Your country asks you to run for Prime Minister of the ‘Net — do you accept? If so, what will your platform be?

No, I do not accept.  I wouldn’t want to be President of the United States or Prime Minister of anything, much less the “Net.”  I have the utmost respect for our country’s leaders, even when I don’t always agree with how they lead because I believe it is one of the toughest jobs in the world.  I think those who chose to run for these positions (for the most part) have idealistic views of the world, dreams for its people, and a vision that they can make things better.  And like so many of us, when we grow up and get a real taste of the tough world we live in and discover disillusionment for the first time, our country’s leaders soon find how difficult it is to bring their visions for a better world to fruition.  There are so many obstacles to overcome and so much division among our leaders (especially today), it’s unfortunate.  It makes it almost impossible to achieve our goals as a country. And as we continue to experience the horror of daily mass shootings, drive-bys, and senseless violence in America, I can’t help but wonder if we are beyond rescue.  My glass half full side would like to say we are on the extreme end of the pendulum. We have swung into some of the most evil days of this world, and it’s time to begin swinging back into balance, to better days.  At least that’s the way I have to live, believing in people, in God, in all the good there still is in the world because if I don’t, then I’m letting go of hope and faith, and that truly would be the end of the world in my book. 

October 2: Writing Prompt #275-Reading Material

How do you pick what blogs or books to read? What’s the one thing that will get you to pick up a book or click on a link every single time?

Put simply, I pick what I like.  When I go to bookstores, (yes, I still love to go to actual bookstores-not online ones), I enjoy holding the books in my hands and reading the synopsis on the back or maybe even the first chapter or so, and if it catches my interest or I don’t want to put it down and stop reading, I will purchase it.  This is the same with library books.  One of the first things I did upon moving back to the states was go with my son to the library to get our library accounts set up.  Unfortunately, I don’t have the kind of time to read that I used to, but I’m prepared for those moments when life does slow down for a moment. 

Now blogs are a bit of a different story.  Most of the blogs I read are the blogs of friends. So, I picked them because I love my friends, and their lives are interesting to me.  J  See, I told you it was a simple process for me. 

October 1: Writing Prompt #274-Fearful Symmetry

Pick a letter, any letter. Now, write a story, poem, or post in which every line starts with that letter.

Angels live among us, I believe, and unfortunately, so do demons.

As we walk this crazy path called life, we run into them daily.

An angel may come in the form of a friend or co-worker willing to stay with you

      after you clock out to let you talk it out, whatever “it” may be.

An angel may be the caregiver who entertained, fed, loved on, and watched out for

       your child while you took care of the important business of your life today. 

An angel counteracts the work of the demons in your life, imparting truth in the

      midst of the lies the devil puts in your mind when the going gets rough.

Angels live among us, that’s for sure, and being an angel for someone else is

      something to aspire to. 

And so, I challenge you today (or tomorrow or the next day or all three) to be that

       angel in someone else’s life, to pay it forward.

And I promise, it will be returned to you tenfold in ways you never could have

        imagined.