The 2007 Calendar is now available.
Lots of new writing and creativity events!
http://www.thefictionwritersjourney.com/cal_month.htm
Friday, December 22, 2006
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Flight, by Carolyn Rowland
My eye was caught by the slightest of movement on the train window. A tiny almost transparent light green insect had landed during the train stop and was now moving slowly across the window. As I watched, the train began to move and instead of flying off, the insect clung to the window pulling its wings in closer. The train began to pick up speed and I could see the insect stiffen against the wind and pull itself closer to the window, trying desperately to
hold on. It slid slightly down the window as its grip loosened and then suddenly one leg pulled free. I willed it to just let go and fly but it continued to fight to hold on. The tension in the remaining limb holding fast was visible even though the insect was so small that details of it were hard to see. The train continued to increase its speed and finally, the insect was
pulled free, lifted its wings and flew.
As I exited the train at my stop, I began to laugh. I had been willing the insect to just let go and fly but how many times had I been the insect, fighting to hold onto where I was, when if I could only let go, I too could take to the wind on my wings.
hold on. It slid slightly down the window as its grip loosened and then suddenly one leg pulled free. I willed it to just let go and fly but it continued to fight to hold on. The tension in the remaining limb holding fast was visible even though the insect was so small that details of it were hard to see. The train continued to increase its speed and finally, the insect was
pulled free, lifted its wings and flew.
As I exited the train at my stop, I began to laugh. I had been willing the insect to just let go and fly but how many times had I been the insect, fighting to hold onto where I was, when if I could only let go, I too could take to the wind on my wings.
Monday, October 09, 2006
Life,Ebbs and Flows
Why is it that Life sometimes seems to "get in the way" of normal living?
Because it is to be survived, not managed?
The reason I say this is that lately, although I had some individual plans as to where to go in my living....things have come into the mix that have told me what to do, not given me the chance to direct my own life.
Now that I think about it, much of my Life has been directed in this way.
Life, Ebbs and Flows
I am good at "going with the flow", so I shall survive this as well as the other skirmishes in the past.
My parents are going through a tough time in their lives, thus I am being pulled back from mine to help them.
This has not been a choice...as I am the only daughter and thus, expected to be the one to "do it".
Mom has been ill now for months, much longer than Dad recognized in fact.
I will not go into details only to say that this is going to be a fight for her life and she has the will to win, but I am not sure if she has the strength.
So, now each week speeds by us and we spend most of it waiting in vigil by her bedside as she goes through ups and downs in health.
She tends to get better, then slides back again. She has been in and out of the Hospital enough times now that I can no longer remember the true count. I have been going to visit for over a month now...well into 2.
Mom and Dad had moved into town from a lovely small lakeside home last December. The plan was to return to the lakeside come spring, but Mom's health quickly put the end to that dream for us all.
She seemed weak at our last meeting, frail and confused, lost but happy to see us. She needs oxygen at all times now apparently, for I have not seen her without it for a long time now.
The hospital moved her to a nursing home about a week ago only days after a major surgery. I still find that difficult to believe as she had barely had time to heal at all from that. It makes me wonder if it was done for financial reasons, not health ones. That angers me to no end and makes me leery of sending her back to that same home again.
Do not get me wrong, it is a nice nursing home...I have seen much worse. Until things change in the way nursing homes are run and funded, I do not see things improving much. They are just way understaffed with people who are not educated enough, paid enough or happy in their careers. You cannot pay someone barely over minimum wage to take care of our rapidly advancing elderly population without some consequences showing up.
Some of the workers are the best you could ask for. They truly do "love" the patients and treat them like their own families. I want to give these people a special shout out, Thank You! Bless your hearts, you made the time there bearable.
I do not really know where I am going with all this, perhaps no where like it seems Mom's life is going right now.
We nearly lost her now about 4 times, again I am losing count as this wears on.
I do not mean to sound negative or whiny or upset about any of this.
Nor do I mean to complain about any of it...it is just the way it is and I know and accept that...
I could go into many discussions about life with my parents, and how things have changed over the years.
Right now those changes and situations don't seem to matter much.
What matters right now is getting to the next level, whatever that might be.
Understanding and accepting is I guess why I am writing this right now.
I am trying to figure out where I fit and what I need to do to make this all better for everyone concerned. I am usually so giving and unselfish. Why is this so difficult for me now?
Through all of this though, I have learned much more about my mother than I ever expected to know. She has levels and ridges in her being that I never knew existed....for these truths I would go through this all over again....finding her inner soul and desires has given me new outlook on myself as well.
Knowing that things were different in her generation...things have improved for women over the years....maybe not fast enough, but for the better. Knowing that when I choose what to wear every day, I have full choice, I am not directed by any "rules" whether fashion or otherwise. This is a good thing to know. Younger women do not yet realize the way things used to be, and I am glad for that. This they will learn only as they grow older and wiser and look back on things as I am doing now.
We as women need to speak up. We can reach a new level if we stand together.
I began this writing at a far distant time from now. Mom passed away in 2004. I am attempting to put some sort of end to this writing. Time has quickly moved on since I wrote this. I am sitting here after returning home from a wonderful 2 weeks of vacationing in various places. I feel content at this moment, and very tired.
Mom has been gone over 2 years now, how is that possible? My Grandson Tyler is 3 today. The time has flown by and will continue to do so. I accept that.
Hunter is going to be 1 in December. Unreal that they can be that old already.
Time races on. The days zoom past before I accomplish much at all. I want to get
back to my Artsy side. I seem to go no further than to write more and more trivial stuff.
I continue to read every day, even if only for a few moments. It calms me, makes me feel better and allows some escape.
More later, hugs to me from me.
Because it is to be survived, not managed?
The reason I say this is that lately, although I had some individual plans as to where to go in my living....things have come into the mix that have told me what to do, not given me the chance to direct my own life.
Now that I think about it, much of my Life has been directed in this way.
Life, Ebbs and Flows
I am good at "going with the flow", so I shall survive this as well as the other skirmishes in the past.
My parents are going through a tough time in their lives, thus I am being pulled back from mine to help them.
This has not been a choice...as I am the only daughter and thus, expected to be the one to "do it".
Mom has been ill now for months, much longer than Dad recognized in fact.
I will not go into details only to say that this is going to be a fight for her life and she has the will to win, but I am not sure if she has the strength.
So, now each week speeds by us and we spend most of it waiting in vigil by her bedside as she goes through ups and downs in health.
She tends to get better, then slides back again. She has been in and out of the Hospital enough times now that I can no longer remember the true count. I have been going to visit for over a month now...well into 2.
Mom and Dad had moved into town from a lovely small lakeside home last December. The plan was to return to the lakeside come spring, but Mom's health quickly put the end to that dream for us all.
She seemed weak at our last meeting, frail and confused, lost but happy to see us. She needs oxygen at all times now apparently, for I have not seen her without it for a long time now.
The hospital moved her to a nursing home about a week ago only days after a major surgery. I still find that difficult to believe as she had barely had time to heal at all from that. It makes me wonder if it was done for financial reasons, not health ones. That angers me to no end and makes me leery of sending her back to that same home again.
Do not get me wrong, it is a nice nursing home...I have seen much worse. Until things change in the way nursing homes are run and funded, I do not see things improving much. They are just way understaffed with people who are not educated enough, paid enough or happy in their careers. You cannot pay someone barely over minimum wage to take care of our rapidly advancing elderly population without some consequences showing up.
Some of the workers are the best you could ask for. They truly do "love" the patients and treat them like their own families. I want to give these people a special shout out, Thank You! Bless your hearts, you made the time there bearable.
I do not really know where I am going with all this, perhaps no where like it seems Mom's life is going right now.
We nearly lost her now about 4 times, again I am losing count as this wears on.
I do not mean to sound negative or whiny or upset about any of this.
Nor do I mean to complain about any of it...it is just the way it is and I know and accept that...
I could go into many discussions about life with my parents, and how things have changed over the years.
Right now those changes and situations don't seem to matter much.
What matters right now is getting to the next level, whatever that might be.
Understanding and accepting is I guess why I am writing this right now.
I am trying to figure out where I fit and what I need to do to make this all better for everyone concerned. I am usually so giving and unselfish. Why is this so difficult for me now?
Through all of this though, I have learned much more about my mother than I ever expected to know. She has levels and ridges in her being that I never knew existed....for these truths I would go through this all over again....finding her inner soul and desires has given me new outlook on myself as well.
Knowing that things were different in her generation...things have improved for women over the years....maybe not fast enough, but for the better. Knowing that when I choose what to wear every day, I have full choice, I am not directed by any "rules" whether fashion or otherwise. This is a good thing to know. Younger women do not yet realize the way things used to be, and I am glad for that. This they will learn only as they grow older and wiser and look back on things as I am doing now.
We as women need to speak up. We can reach a new level if we stand together.
I began this writing at a far distant time from now. Mom passed away in 2004. I am attempting to put some sort of end to this writing. Time has quickly moved on since I wrote this. I am sitting here after returning home from a wonderful 2 weeks of vacationing in various places. I feel content at this moment, and very tired.
Mom has been gone over 2 years now, how is that possible? My Grandson Tyler is 3 today. The time has flown by and will continue to do so. I accept that.
Hunter is going to be 1 in December. Unreal that they can be that old already.
Time races on. The days zoom past before I accomplish much at all. I want to get
back to my Artsy side. I seem to go no further than to write more and more trivial stuff.
I continue to read every day, even if only for a few moments. It calms me, makes me feel better and allows some escape.
More later, hugs to me from me.
Monday, October 02, 2006
Creativity, A Call to Awakening Workshop
A new and inspiring workshop led by Emily Hanlon
October 13-15, 2006
The Country Place Retreat Center, White Haven, PA
The multifaceted journey of creativity is not limited to the arts. There is another level of creativity that beckons us: awakening to the deeper truth of who we are, or who we would be.
Labyrinth as a Metaphor for the Journey
There is a large, beautiful labyrinth at the retreat center; it is on a small hill that is bathed in sunlight. Taking advantage of such inspiration, we will work, among other things, with the labyrinth as the metaphor the journey inwards.
In the ancient myth of Ariadne, her half brother, the Minotaur, half-man, half-beast, is imprisoned at the heart of the labyrinth and fed the brightest and most promising youth of Athens in sacrifice each year. It is Ariadne, muse and guide to truth, who gives Theseus the golden thread that leads into the labyrinth, where he slays the Minotaur and then follows the golden thread back into the light.
Each of us has a Minotaur caged inside us. We, too, feed this beast the best and brightest of our creativity. In the workshop, we will use writing and other creative methods as Ariadne's golden thread!
Using the image of the labyrinth is a bridge into the deeper mystery of self is a powerful creative experience that shifts our relationship to self and allows us to hear our true voice.
"Back into the labyrinth, where we are found or lost forever."
W.B. Yeats
Explore the workshop at:
http://www.thefictionwritersjourney.com/Creativity_The_Call_To_Awakening.htm
October 13-15, 2006
The Country Place Retreat Center, White Haven, PA
The multifaceted journey of creativity is not limited to the arts. There is another level of creativity that beckons us: awakening to the deeper truth of who we are, or who we would be.
Labyrinth as a Metaphor for the Journey
There is a large, beautiful labyrinth at the retreat center; it is on a small hill that is bathed in sunlight. Taking advantage of such inspiration, we will work, among other things, with the labyrinth as the metaphor the journey inwards.
In the ancient myth of Ariadne, her half brother, the Minotaur, half-man, half-beast, is imprisoned at the heart of the labyrinth and fed the brightest and most promising youth of Athens in sacrifice each year. It is Ariadne, muse and guide to truth, who gives Theseus the golden thread that leads into the labyrinth, where he slays the Minotaur and then follows the golden thread back into the light.
Each of us has a Minotaur caged inside us. We, too, feed this beast the best and brightest of our creativity. In the workshop, we will use writing and other creative methods as Ariadne's golden thread!
Using the image of the labyrinth is a bridge into the deeper mystery of self is a powerful creative experience that shifts our relationship to self and allows us to hear our true voice.
"Back into the labyrinth, where we are found or lost forever."
W.B. Yeats
Explore the workshop at:
http://www.thefictionwritersjourney.com/Creativity_The_Call_To_Awakening.htm
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)