Monthly Archives: August 2013

Everlasting – Trifextra challenge

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Souls met across time

Bonded by their destiny

Love follows its fate

souls_destiny_by_atros17-d4gxeqm

(image credit: deviantart.com)

Written for the weekend Trifecta Challenge:  This weekend’s prompt comes from Hello, Cheney, whose lapse in memory was a
happy accident for us.  This weekend we’re asking you to harken back to your
grade school days and write a haiku.  No word restrictions, just stick to the
structure as defined below.  And check out Cheney’s turkey post
for an example.

HAIKU
(noun)

: an unrhymed verse form of Japanese origin having three lines
containing usually five, seven, and five syllables respectively

The lazy, hazy days of summer

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The first of September is tomorrow which can only signify one thing – summer is coming to a close and the long weekend has arrived.  I find sad irony in the term long weekend – the only people who truly find it long are the people who work on those weekends.  For the people who reap the benefit of being able to enjoy that three-day holiday, the time sails by and the weekend seems much shorter than it should.

I am one of those people who works the whole weekend, but at the end of that three-day craziness lies the light at the end of my sanity tunnel.  The days that travel by in a whirlwind slow their pace and I can reconnect with the long-lost principle of spare time.   The thing I honestly miss the most are the hours that are set aside for writing and reading blogs.  I feel a part of me has been missing and I feel a strained connection with my blogging friends.

In a few short days (who’s counting?  Oh, right….I am) I will be able to snuggle up on the couch, wine in hand, and lose myself in the words that have eluded me over the past few months.  I miss the humor, I miss the satire and I just miss the words.

I apologize to all of you who are enjoying your long weekend, but bring on Tuesday!!

Pay It Forward

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I just watched the movie of the same name again with a young Haley Joel Osment and was as overwhelmed with the movie today as I was when it first came out.  What a concept.  For those of you that have not seen the movie, I highly recommend it – and for those of you that have seen it, watch it again.

A young boy’s social studies assignment is to come up with a concept that could change the whole world and to put it into action.  His idea is so simple, yet so possible.  It begins with one good deed done for three separate people.   Instead of that favor being repaid, the favor is paid forward to three other unsuspecting, but deserving people.  The ripple effect of such a simple gesture could be remarkable!

The trajectory of human existence could be put into a whole new orbit.  The onus is on you to start the ripple – the rest is putting your faith in others to continue the journey that you began.  Imagine if the human race could single-handedly make the world a better place to live by putting our faith in each other and believing that such a small gesture could make such a vast difference.

It is certainly worth pondering for more than just a fleeting second.  What if the favor you bestow on someone today could start that ripple?  Kindness begets kindness…what we sow, so shall we reap.  But what if we let others reap what we have sown, and pass on that kindness to someone you may never cross paths with?

Pay it forward.  Impart your generosity to someone less fortunate with only one covenant.  They need not pay you for the kindness you have shown them.  Ask them instead to look favorably on someone else in need of that same benevolence that you have shared. The world can seem like an unfriendly and threatening place, but if we could change the outlook on life for three people and they, in turn, do the same, perhaps we can make a difference and make our world a much better place.

Don’t believe everything you think

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My brain plays tricks on me.  It sometimes deceives me into believing falsities that are so far from the truth it’s astounding.  I have a real knack for over-thinking, for seeing things unlike they really are and for creating sub-realities of truths I believe to be factual.

I am not delusional by any means, but I read too far into the most minute of details and things affect me on a much grander scale than they should.  If I forget to do something at work, I obsess over how it will affect my fellow employees when, in truth, it is a minor hiccup in the larger air pocket of the day.  I will churn words over and over again in my head – words that escaped my lips and perhaps fell on deaf ears, but words that I wish I would have said differently.  I over-think how those words could have been presented although time has already marched over those words and left them behind,  buried in the footprints of the past.

brain_on_fire

(image credit: salon.com)

In this regard, I am my own worst enemy.  Or at least the firing neurons in my thought processes are my worst enemy.  I must not believe everything I think.  I must learn that perspective is an individual thing and not everyone sees or hears the things I do in the same way.  I read too much into people’s reactions.  I over-analyze every word until those words are beaten into submission, yet they still torture me in my sleep and continue to hover above my pillow in my waking hours.

I am on a crusade to teach myself to let those things go – to not dwell on the things I cannot change and to accept things at face value.  The drama will continue to play on in my head but I must remember to not believe everything I think.

Of Mice and Alarm Clocks

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Living in an old out-building of a farmhouse has its perks.  My house has character.  My house has a unique look that will never resemble the cookie-cutter variety of subdivision homes but my house also comes with unwanted roommates who do not pay any rent.

My humble abode is home to a few wasps nests, a veritable plethora of spiders and an array of undefined insects that have yet to be identified on Google.  My basement resembles something akin to the Red Room in Amityville Horror and the holes in the foundation outweigh the number of windows and doors that access the main floor of my dwelling.

For the past six mornings, at precisely 5:30 am, mice, or a similar sub-species of rodent, have entered my home through those portals and begun to prepare for the foreshadowing winter.  My peaceful slumber has been rudely interrupted by the scurrying of tiny clawed feet and the incessant chewing that comes with building a nest.  There is no soft music to ease me from my sleep, merely the echoed sounds of ravenous vermin slowly dissecting the inner sanctum of my shelter.

talented_mice_9

(image credit: roundedoff.com)

As I lie in the comfort of my bed, wrapped in my duvet with my dog sleeping by my feet, several thoughts formulate in those moments before dawn actually meets the day.  I imagine myself engaging in a battle, riot gear at the ready for an all-out war against the dextrous creatures but then reality sets in.  Apart from ripping through the drywall to catch the furry infidels in the act, I am at their mercy.  My best defence is the pounding of my fists on the wall at the location where the noise resonates.  There is an angered rebuttal from the other side of the drywall and the chewing continues.  After many botched attempts to dissuade the whiskered pests from literally eating me out of house and home, I resign myself back to my bed and pull the pillow over my head to drown out the sound of my walls disintegrating.

There will come a day that my alarm clock will once again gently rouse me from my dream state and replace the sound of minute mammal incisors depleting the layer of gypsum board that helps to hold the roof over my head.  Until that day I can only hope those tiny furry creatures will understand the rules of mortgage payments and interest and leave their contribution before they begin another day of padding their nest with my drywall.

Lullaby and good night – Trifextra challenge

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Lullabies pulled the young ones into slumber.  Dreams formed like rainbows while they slept and that warmth soothed them in the darkness.  Crickets sang their melodies and the world closed its weary eyes.

**

Written for the weekend Trifextra Challenge:  The editors of Trifecta are tired.  Hectic summer plans, last minute school shopping and prep for courses of our own have us drifting off in front of the computer.  Any millisecond we can shave off of our busy schedules could potentially improve the quality of our lives as well as the lives of those around us.  This weekend, we’re enlisting your help in shortening our considerably lengthy bedtime routines by giving us a children’s bedtime story in exactly 33 words.  It can be an old favorite reimagined or a work that is entirely your own.  We only ask that your story not leave our kids with visions of the boogie man dancing in their heads.  These tired bones thank you in advance.
– See more at: http://www.trifectawritingchallenge.com/#sthash.53SoD6bL.dpuf

Liar, liar, pants ablaze with molten embers

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We are all guilty of telling a white lie or two.  If you say you have never stretched the truth to save a friend from feeling down you would most likely resemble the subject line of this post.  Lying is an unavoidable part of basic human nature and one of the simplest atrocities to rectify.

As we each navigate our way through this journey called life, falsehoods can often obscure our course and cause us to spend countless hours, days, even years getting back onto our original path.  Undoubtedly the person guilty of sharing that erroneous information did not have malicious intentions but did not take the time to thoroughly gauge how much that untruth may affect the person it was bestowed upon.

Making a simple fib into an honest admission is a peculiar concept but one that is so easily attainable.  If you’re going to say something that matters, you need to deal in the truth.

I urge everyone to see Jim Carrey in Liar, Liar.   Although presented in a humorous way, its message is so revealing.  What could our planet become if we were all forced to give honest answers to every question that was posed.  (Think of how our system of government would be altered!!)   Telling a lie will appease you in the now.  Telling the truth, although difficult, will benefit both parties in the end.  A true friend will appreciate your honesty and know that you have their best interest in the depths of your heart.

Dealing in fact and reality is a harsh imposition but one that could exponentially increase the authenticity of all of our relationships.  Something as simple as being honest can lend credence to the foundation of a friendship formed on that very ideal. Hold fast to your sincerity.  Let it breathe new life into your conversations and let the words that fall from your tongue drip genuine truism.

Be gentle but, in the end, be honest.  There is no better gift you could give the people you hold closest to your heart.

Written in response to the Daily Prompt.

You could be

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You could be the one I was meant to be with

You could be the one I think of as I fall into my dreams

You could be my waking thought

You could be the one I want to share my laughter with

And you could be the shoulder I was meant to cry on

You could be the one who appreciates my strengths

And you could be the one to challenge my weaknesses

You could be the soul that was searching for mine

You could be

You could be the sun in my cloudy day

You could be the rain in my drought

You could be my voice of reason

And you could be the balance in my scale

You could be the one I turn to in times of stress

You could be the voice that makes me smile

You could be the one who makes me believe in fate

And you could be the one I should have met years ago

You could be

Blue Shoes – A picture is worth 1000 words challenge

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Written for the Weekly Writing Challenge

alone-on-the-playground

Photo by Michelle Weber

She liked to call it the Magic Wall.  The reflection in the window changed each time she spun around and always showed something vastly different from her reality but the thought of life beyond her prison made her smile.  She had always had a vivid imagination for a child.  Everyone told her that.  She loved to live in worlds in her mind, far removed from the day-to-day life in which she found herself immersed.  The chain link fences and concrete yards were a harsh world for an orphan.  She was convinced that only she could see the colors on the carousel and that one day the animals would come to life and take her out of this dark place.

Although her Hello Kitty jeans were new, she could feel the cement on her feet through the holes in her shoes as she pushed once again to spin around and see what the magic wall would reflect.  The windows of the house were beautiful and she could almost smell the scent of pine coming from the trees.  This was no ordinary house.  She knew this house was a home.  Inside of those walls lived laughter and love and warmth.  She wanted so much to find a home – something far removed from the brick building and cold walls where she spent countless days waiting to be found.  She knew that home had a mom who baked cookies.  She knew that home was where hugs were given freely and where tears were wiped away by something other than the back of her own hand.

The lifeless creatures held fast to their position as she spun once more.  As the carousel came to a stop she noticed that the image in the window had not changed.  Never before had she seen the same picture twice.   She turned the disk a quarter turn so she was no longer facing the wall that she now thought was broken.  She pondered what this signified. Was the magic gone?  Would the colors of the creatures cease to exist and her world become monochromatic?

She heard the high-heels clicking on the pavement before she saw anyone approaching.   Slowly she looked up to see the woman in the pretty blue shoes.  She was positive she had seen this lady before and seeing the brilliant color on those shoes made her realize that the palette of her world was not going to be shades of grey.  The woman was speaking to her and it took a moment for the words to filter through her ears to her brain.  She was no longer an orphan.  This woman with the brilliant royal blue shoes wanted to take her home and give her a family.

Happiness traveled through every part of her small child-like frame.  She spun around again and again, giggling as the blue shoes raced past her vision each time she circled by the woman who came to save her.  As the ride slowed and finally came to a stop she looked at the magic wall for the last time.  The reflection in the window showed nothing more than the chain link fence and corrugated sheet metal that had surrounded the only playground she had ever known.  The woman stood next to her and they grasped each others hand.  As they left the playground, the woman pulled out a picture of where they would live together.  It was the house from the magic wall.   She could see the warm light cascading from the windows in the photo and already felt like she was home.

She glanced over her shoulder as they rounded the corner and took one last look at the carousel.  The faded grey and white characters that had once been so vivid in her head now appeared as they truly were.  She was sure she saw one of them wave good-bye but she was too focused on the most beautiful blue shoes she had ever seen.

Slices of life – Trifextra Challenge

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A million pixels of beautiful light – slivers of reality connected to create a bigger picture.

Life’s spectral portrait can be cherished in its entirety or by seeing each day for its individual beauty.

***

pixels

Written for the weekend Trifextra Challenge:  But in an effort to try to steer you guys back into the light and save the darkness for another month, we’re switching gears a bit this weekend.  This weekend’s prompt is to write 33 words exactly inspired by the photo project by Eirik Solheim.  Each slice of the photo compilation is a different day of the year, taken from the same location.