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About This Author
My name is Joy, and I love to write.
Why poetry, here? Because poetry uplifts its writer, and if she is lucky enough, her readers, too. Around us, so many objects abound to write about. Once a poet starts with a smallest, most trivial object, he shall discover that his pen will spill out what is most delicate or most majestic hidden inside him. Since the classics sometimes dealt with lofty subjects with a lofty language, a person with poetry in his soul may incline to emulate that. That is understandable. Poetry does that to a person: it enlarges the soul and gives it wings. Yet, to really soar, a poet needs to take off from the ground.
 
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Everyday Canvas
"Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself."
CHARLIE CHAPLIN
Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet
confinement of your aloneness
to learn
anything or anyone
that does not bring you alive
is too small for you.
David Whyte
This is my supplementary blog in which I will post entries written for prompts.
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Prompt: Use these words to create something on this lovely last day of June.
affair, flowers, parsnips, stationary, building, second and reconcile.
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What You Don’t Expect
Such a razzle-dazzle of a joke you are!
To reconcile misunderstandings,
An Affair to Remember, you say,
holding flowers that resemble
wilted parsnips, and you expect me
to remain stationary
on a short leash, building up hope.
Just what skin did you come wrapped in?
And how ill-fitting is your stance
especially since you don’t expect
to be wearing on your head
my left-over soup, in the next second!
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Prompt: Last night at my writing group a poem was shared discussing snitches get stitches. The phrase is a threat indicating that those who snitch (tell on or inform on others) Will be physically assaulted (require stitches to close the cuts or wounds they are going to get for being informers). What are your feelings about this topic? Is silence really the right thing to do or is putting yourself out there in harm's way the only way for this change?
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I would say that depends on the time, place, and situation. Now, reporting suspicions of terrorist activities is a good thing when based on a true concern and not on feelings of revenge or animosity. The police business also uses informants to some success. I am not, however, in favor of informants making deals to avoid prosecution. Yet the police have to do what they have to do to solve cases.
Although keeping silent in face of injustice is tempting, going along to get along feels not the right thing to do, at least not always. What do you do if your family, your neighbors, or the peace of the general public is threatened with harm? This is something everyone should decide for themselves according to what went wrong.
Then, sometimes, it takes one individual to make a change, personal ethics or concerns aside. Snitching could have been useful during the Nazi atrocities, for example, or it may work if you are sure that your neighbor is abusing his/her child. On the other hand, if my best friend has dropped and broken her mother’s antique dish by accident and is keeping quiet about it, it is not my business to tell her mother what happened. In a reverse situation, it is also not my business to tell everyone someone else's accomplishments if that accomplished person does not like being the center of attention.
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Prompt: Writing your life story. What are some things you would give highlights and details about?
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That is a very good question for those who would want to write their life stories. I have no interest in doing that. First, it is too much work and I don’t have the time. Second, no one would believe me. Don’t ask!
On the other hand, I can talk about a few ideas on writing one’s life story. First of all, it should have a central theme and a reason why you are writing your life story and what would be the secondary themes in it.
Beginning with childhood, the things to address are, what were the family dynamics, your parents, the place you were born and grew up, your spiritual upbringing or the lack of it, wealth or the lack of it, and who were the earliest people who stood up and still stand out for you. This is important because families and earliest experiences make or break the children. In relation to this, what you think you are like (your self-image) and how the person you shaped up to be was influenced by the earliest experiences should also be addressed.
The beginnings are the most important; then come your early adult years, the roads you followed as to relating to others, male-female relationships, education, work, and forks on your road and which turn you took, as well as your life goals in the beginning and if they changed along the way.
Another area is your life’s work. If you formed a family later or did something or other to influence the world or your community, these need to be shown. Your regrets and the things you are proud of are also worth mentioning.
Throughout the writing, other things can be revealed even if they are generally well-known, such as the changing of gender roles, political and social changes and upheavals. This is because the outside always impresses the inside.
Then, for the ending, the way you are looking at your future, how your life goals improved or changed for the worse, and what you expect as support from your family and your environment.
It is a very difficult job to be fair and truthful about one’s own life. So, to anyone who is thinking of tackling it, good luck! You’ll need it.
Prompt: Have you ever been on stage or performed for an audience?
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Yes, a few times in school. I was in a drama club at one time. I was first a porter in a Shakespeare play (all girl’s school). Then I graduated to Madame Butterfly, and a few other fancy stuff.
Funny thing is, I was never shy on stage. I am more modest in real life. Go figure!
Prompt: Donald Hall, a former poet laureate of the USA, who passed away on June 23, 2018, once said, “Literature starts by being personal, but the deeper we go inside the more we become everybody.”
What are your thoughts on the quote?
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The most clichéd advice for writers is write what you know. I take it as to not-referring to actual events, places, or actions, but to our thoughts and feelings about them. Let’s face it; literature in general, even the most realistic, is make-believe. In that make-believe work, however, are great truths of humanity that rise to distinction. That is why literature tells the humanity’s truth more than the facts themselves, as literature is probably based on the desire to reveal the author’s essential, secret self, to be known by others. Unfortunately, so many writers believe that advice, write what you know, to be the subject of their work and that what they write should be their factual experience, and consequently, so do their readers.
So many times, some members here thought what I write in my poems or stories to be the facts of my life, especially when I used the first person. Inside their reviews were some really hilarious comments.
Fact is, most writers try to write their ways into many characters whose lives they know nothing, or next to nothing, about, but while doing that, they discover the universal truths; thus, the deeper they can go into their own selves, the more they become everybody.
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Prompt: In an interview, Charles Krauthammer said, about his paralysis, “I made a promise to myself on day one [after my injury]. I was not going to allow it to alter my life. You get two choices. You can be hopeless and despairing, or you can live your life. And to me, there was basically no option.”
What are some of those difficult things you do not let to change your life? If you do not want to write about yourself, write about someone you know or even a story character.
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I think, Charles Krauthammer was a very brave man, and he owed his success to his decision to not let such a serious disability affect his output.
I honestly don’t think I have his courage.
On the other hand, I have worked despite some illnesses and other mishaps, but it has never been my style to complain of pain or discomfort. I never knew what challenges were awaiting me, and I had a lot of challenges, too, but I decided not to be frightened of them but to make the best of everything.
Other life challenges that may affect any one of us could be bad parents, divorce, violent people in one’s life, old age, and failures in things we have our hearts set on. It could even be the country one was born in with an extremely repressing regime, or it could be leaving family behind, living in foreign lands and having to make friends with foreigners.
For most of us, it could be small things gone wrong or even bigger undesirable things changing our lives. In fact, we never know from one minute to the next what is on the horizon.
I believe some kind of faith is needed to overcome any adversity. If it isn’t a religion or some such belief, one must, at least, believe in oneself, thinking, “I shall overcome this. I shall be successful and happy, despite this mishap, tragedy, or whatever.”
No one taught me this. In fact, the parent who raised me was a pessimist to the nth degree. I found out on my own that life is never easy, but good or bad, everything is part of the journey human beings have to take. We might as well make the best of it.
Moreover, as easy as this sounds, it isn’t. One thing to take into consideration, after believing in oneself, is the understanding that we have nothing to lose and it isn’t the end. Also, the more we overcome challenges, the stronger we become.
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Prompt: Creation Saturday strikes again--
use these words in your writing task: orange, toothbrush, grains, sunrise, apple, poison, and groan
Bad Temper
Arrgh! Soup’s gone too thick
with barley grains…
Then, spotting orange and apple peels
spilled on kitchen tiles
I need to shriek
who’ll pluck them up, now!
Instead, I rush for the broom.
Later, a gray hair on my toothbrush,
my annoyance is filled to capacity,
I gag and groan as if it were poison
but suddenly, I grin, recalling
our first sunrise, after which
you stuck with me
despite my bad temper.
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Prompt: Write a complete story about a cat in 55 words.
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Electra, the tabby, hated the couple who picked her off her mother’s tits and adopted her.
When Electra didn’t heed commands, the wife said, “Electra’s deaf!” and she gave Electra to Janice.
Janice was surprised when the vet said Electra heard perfectly.
With Janice, Electra was obedient and lovable.
She had only resented the couple.
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Exactly 55 words according to MS Word. |
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Prompt: Write a Blog entry about a Hope Chest.
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My grandmother had started a hope chest for me as soon as I was born. That thing (a trunk actually) gained many sets of different things, but mostly linens all finely embroidered. In time, they all got stains for just being in that hope chest, which nobody could get out. Plus, most of their cloth being linen and cotton, they needed constant stain removal and ironing.
Although I still appreciate the love and effort, when I had my own place, I gave the whole thing to my cousin and bought plastics and easily washable stuff. I don't think my cousin used them all that much, either. I think hope chests and such similar things belonged to a different era when women were meant to stay at home and slave over their laundry and fancy housekeeping.
Prompt: "I explore the world by looking to the past." Toma Clark Haines Write your views about this quote
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The past, I am not too goo-goo-eyed about. If the past were that perfect, we wouldn’t have had wars, fights, hostilities. and conflicts. And since we are still at odds with one another, we haven’t learned a thing. That is not exploration by looking to the past, is it? Therefore, why revel in nostalgia?
On the other hand, maybe nostalgia motivates the rehearsal of past experiences that can remind us of our authenticity. On a personal note, reaching back helps us rediscover the people who became part of who we have become and what our world today is. Maybe a few people have discovered a world through their rose-colored lenses through their families and hometowns; yet, when this nostalgia is applied to the world, I can’t help but be pessimistic.
Prompt: Some people, we love to talk with; yet with others, we lose attention or focus or, worse yet, we are annoyed. What do you think makes a conversation poignant and successful?
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To have a good conversation with anyone, first people have to have something in common or, if a person doesn’t know the others well, he or she has to find a common subject or just say what his or her thoughts are on the present subject.
I think being one’s genuine self always is the best policy. I don’t think compliments, if not genuine, are necessary, although most people who think they are experts on the subject advise to give the other person a compliment and tie it to a question. Although I don't like insincere compliments, starting unnecessary arguments isn't a proper way of acting, either. I believe being real but not rude is better.
Making conversation can be difficult for most people, especially if they are on the shy side, but practice makes perfect and good timing is essential. If someone is arguing on the phone, trying to have a conversation with him can be useless, for example.
Another point is listening well and understanding what the other person is trying to say. If one doesn’t understand the other person’s meaning, asking questions or paraphrasing what he’s saying could help the focus of both people. Eye contact and positive body language also help a good conversation going.
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Prompt: “If you are in love with somebody, that love is a gift to you.” Sri-Sri
What are your thoughts on the subject, and is that love still a gift when your beloved mistreats you?
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It is a gift only because it shows you are capable of loving. Some people exist who do not understand what love is or cannot love another person.
Although there are many different ways of looking at love, the quote says, “if you are in love with somebody…” To me, this means a specific person, which rules out agapé and its offshoots.
I think the meaning may be more like eros, which unlike agapé, eros seeks someone like the seeker.
If the love is like that of eros, a question could be why is it that anyone seeking someone like himself or herself can still feel love when mistreated? This makes me think, one has to love oneself first before seeking for the kind of love the quote is referring to.
Then, I don’t think that love is a gift when the person you love mistreats you. It may only mean that the Creator or the Universe is showing the lover what is wrong with him or her for he or she loves that one specific abusive person.
If you still love the person who mistreats you, you are not being gifted and you are not a saint either. You are a glutton for punishment.
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Prompt: "I think we are already in a lot of trouble, actually!"
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"I think we are already in a lot of trouble, actually!" she said, looking over her shoulder at him fixedly.
“Perfectly ridiculous!” he said putting emphasis on the last syllable. “I don’t understand any of it. All this mixup.”
“Of course not,” she said, “I don’t understand it either, but I thought you did.”
How could she! He took a long breath, realizing he was more irked than she thought him to be, but if she were on to him, she’d try to calm him down with her attentions, fussing over him, smoothing his hair, or loosening his tie…exactly what he didn’t want her to do.
“Is there something wrong?” she asked anxiously, watching his face.
“No, dear,” he said forcing himself. “Just tired, that’s all!”
“Wait! I’ll get you a cup of chamomile tea.”
He rested his head against the back of the La-Z-Boy as she left the room. As soon as she was out, he sprung to his feet and put his head against the door to be able to hear her talking on the phone.
“He’s here,” she was saying. “I have him.”
What a wild trip! he thought as she continued. “I’ll put it in his tea. We'll be rid of him. No, no one would know. It’ll be all right. ”
He reached inside his jacket, to the back of it where his belt held the Glock, and stepped behind the door, cocking it.
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Prompt: Write a four-line poem about a mysterious island. (Do this two times: once where each line rhymes and then again with no rhyming at all.) Let your creativity flow.
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Girded by mermaids and a cutthroat shark,
my isle of mistakes flounders in the dark;
mysterious trees on its hill, wind-shaken, bark
like dogs, bitter and scared by lightning’s spark.
Since I have swerved away, out of your way,
after our parting, such an enigmatic heart
this island prods on the latitude of worn-out hopes...
Still, may you find the route to come back to me!
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Prompt: "Start each day like it was your Birthday." Kate Spade How would you live each day if every day was your Birthday?
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I am not too crazy about my birthday, and every day can’t be a birthday, because we are only born once in one day of the year. If every day was my birthday, I would hate my life.
This is different for children since they get to invite their friends over and have a party and they get presents, and especially if a present is something they wanted, it makes them happy. Since I am old and do not want too many material possessions and I value my quiet time when I can read or write, birthdays with parties can become tiring and boring.
Having said that, I am glad I was born and I am grateful to those people who remember my birthday. Their remembering is like saying they are glad I am around.
I like other people’s birthdays much better than mine and saying “Happy Birthday” to someone is an acknowledgment of someone’s existence. It’s always nice to recognize someone and make them feel loved
Prompt: "In order to lead a fascinating life, one brimming with art, music, intrigue and romance, you must surround yourself with precisely these things." Kate Spade What is your take on this? I'm in a Kate Spade mood, so I will be using quotes from her.
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Okay, I would partly agree if someone else had said that. In Kate Spade’s case, it seems that didn’t work so well for her, unfortunately.
I would partly agree because not all romances are perfect and I stay away from intrigue. Art and Music, however, I'd go for those, 100%.
For life to be fascinating, one needs curiosity and a sense of adventure, then, most importantly, making the best of every situation, even one's own birthday party.
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Prompt: What would your personal fantasy world be like? Can you describe it in detail? Would it be like the earth and its inhabitants or something totally different?
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My personal fantasy world is where there are no wars, and no living being has to eat another living being to survive. Success is defined in terms of kindness and generosity. Money and power are only needed for survival, but having too much of them is something to be ashamed of.
As to the elements, the weather is always mild, and there are more colors everywhere. People can fly like the birds and can dive into the ocean like the fish. Here, all living things are sacred, and all living things take care of one another, even if they are of a different species. Hurting a member of any species has the highest punishment. Thus, no species can become extinct, ever.
My world also consists of numerous planets, and some of them are empty. This has to do with the idea of procreation. Having children is fine as children are cute and much loved by everyone, but since there’s no death and no threat to the family line, people usually opt not to have kids. Then, since our bodies will be working differently, having or not having them is a very easy option, which will be totally left to the couples; however, if this world gets too crowded, the other empty planets are easy to get to and inhabit.
Our present world will be thought of as the fantasy world and the arts and literature will be there to show it as a pastime or for thrills. Anyone who wants to study any one kind of the arts will be encouraged. In fact, discouraging people from studying anything they want will be considered a huge crime.
Prompt: Do you think travel is stressful, and what would you do if you found yourself alone in a foreign country where you don’t know the language and you don’t even know if there’s an embassy of your country?
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Yes, travel is stressful although it depends on the conditions and where you are going. As to finding myself alone in a foreign country, it has happened to me and it was no fun. But then, please don’t shortchange the humankind; many people were very helpful and I made friends with a lot of them.
The good thing about the English language, in most countries, there is always someone who, at least, half understands what you are saying. Still, it is a good idea to carry a phrase book of the language of that country. Even if you can't pronounce the words, you can point to the sentence in the book to the people.
There’s something to be said about traveling solo because the pleasure is doubled for being on one’s own schedule, at least for me. Still, if you are a people person, you may feel lonely if you can’t talk the local language, and it sometimes hurts to know that the friendships you made will be temporary. Also, when you’re alone, dangers may intensify, but the rewards are usually much greater. For, when you return, you’ll feel a sense of accomplishment since you took on yourself a challenge many people would find daunting.
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Prompt: Let's have fun on this creative Saturday with these words:
rate triangle death selection well appear captain mail-carrier mechanical
Choosing Story Characters
so far, I did not make the selection well
at this rate, my triangle means death
a captain, a mail-carrier, and a plastic figurine
and you say you love everything I write
but this story needs more than a captain,
a mail-carrier, and a plastic figurine
but someone handsome, like you, to appear
with the know-how of mechanical intricacies
to fix the crackle and buzz of my wild words
to sing a song of tragedy, to twist and turn
the wild cacophony of the plot
a captain, a mail-carrier, and a plastic figurine
at this rate, my triangle means death
so far, I did not make the selection well
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Prompt: What period of history is most interesting to you?
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I always liked history for its relevance to human life, and I consider the knowledge of it as an investment in our future. Fortunate or unfortunate it may be, history does repeat itself however with variances. So, when we dream of future, we can also warn ourselves, as the saying goes, forewarned is forearmed.
Surely, “forewarned” has to do mostly with the silly-stupid wars mankind gets into, but more than the wars and events around them, I am most interested in the cultural background and how people lived and thought, at any era.
For this reason, all periods of history are interesting to me, and for a while there, I was into the Romans, Europe’s middle ages and culture, and the Renaissance, but my reading, for quite a few years now, has been about the Second World War and its repercussions as far as human behavior and feelings are concerned. This may also have something to do with the time of my birth, which was after the middle of the WWII.
Maybe I was alive during the war but not much aware of it, as I had quite an overprotective family environment. The events during my older times, say the Korean War, has begun to gain importance only recently, and only recently, I have begun to read books and stories about it.
Then, reading about things that came after when I was an adult and the wars and the situations of the people involved in them do not seem too interesting to me. I think this is because I knew them well enough. For example, I had watched Watergate proceedings without missing a day.
On the other hand, the Vietnam war still hurts me deeply. I can’t bring myself to read the fiction or memoirs of it. Neither can I read anything fictional about what has happened or is happening in Iraq or Afghanistan. Such books depress me immensely. Maybe in a few years, if I am around, I’ll be able to read them.
For some weird reason, US Civil War fiction is not for me either. I feel upset that this war ever happened, although I have read some fiction on the matter such as Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind.
Yet, the Revolutionary War, I have no problem with. I even enjoyed the Outlander series, which some of it took place during the Revolutionary War.
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Prompt: What books are on your summer reading list?
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I don’t have a summer reading list. I don’t know why summer is set aside for reading, in the first place; however, I read a lot, so I’m going to mention my current reading projects here.
In WdC, I am reading and reviewing with other WdC members in "CLOSED!The Monthly Reading Challenge"  and also through GoodReads. Each month, I pick several books, from varied genres and types. Usually, I have novels, non-fiction, personal experience, and poetry books. I am partial to the literary, historical, spy, World War II, and psychological mystery books. I try to read at least one classic, possibly by Dickens or Daphne du Maurier. I also try to read at least one contemporary author from a Non-English-speaking country.
For June, so far, I have Malagash by Joey Comeau, Chemistry by Weike Wang, the Paris Package by A.W.Hartoin, The Korean War Trivia Book by Bill O’Neill, Gray Shadows by Julia Gousseva. The rest I’ll figure out when I finish these.
For later, I’ll be reading Daphne Du Maurier’s Jamaica Inn and I also just bought Brain Rules by John Medina, which is really a textbook, but about a subject I am keen to explore. I don’t know what else will come, but at the rate that I read, there’ll be several other books for the summer.
I don’t write reviews for every book I read, but "CLOSED!The Monthly Reading Challenge" expects good lengthy reviews, so I do what I can for the books I have pledged to read for that forum, each month.
It used to be writing was my first love. Now, it is reading, possibly because I can take a book or a Kindle with me wherever I go, and my writing needs a quiet place and a laptop or pen and paper. Also, writing in public gets people’s attention and I am usually asked why or what I am writing, which bothers me, but with reading, with everyone’s nose in their cellphones, no one takes notice.
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Prompt: Life is about creating yourself, not finding yourself. Do you agree?
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Yes, I do, in a way. I could never warm up to the finding oneself idea. You have to lose something to find it. Or you come across something that you didn’t know existed. Most of us are aware of ourselves from birth on.
Creating or even re-creating oneself may be better but not exact either because, really, who created us is God or Nature or Universe--choose your pick. I honestly don’t think I created myself in any shape or form.
Growing into oneself or maybe cultivating oneself, as far as the concept goes, is a more preferable term to me since we amass experiences and mind our trials and errors, we learn from them, and we grow internally. Age may have something to do with it, but I think, not as much, as I have seen some grown-up young people who are emotionally and mentally more stable and mature than sixty or seventy-year-olds.
Not that I am blaming anyone who is late in growing or anyone who is acting immaturely. They may well be suffering from the side effects of living in an imperfect world with imperfect people. Because of that and possibly other factors, too, for some people, true adulthood is a faraway destination.
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Prompt: Which is better, never leaving or coming back to where you started? This may mean anything and it is up to your interpretation, could be a place, a goal, a person you love, a vocation, or a hobby.
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When starting out, right after college, I didn’t want to leave, but it so happened that I had to. I have this thing about me; I settle easily. I settle into any situation and I am happy. I don’t want to be disturbed further. Although I am not too sure about it, I think this may be a negative trait.
Still, I left for good when I was quite young. A situation made me leave, and since I felt I had to leave to avoid some ugliness, I did. Then, the experiences granted to me by fate or karma, whichever way you look at it, were priceless. Looking back now, I am glad I did leave.
As to coming back where I started, that place or situation is not the same as when I lived in it. When I visit it, I find it changed to the degree of becoming an alien situation or place for me. Returning means re-tuning, which may prove to be quite impossible. This might happen with professions, people, or old loves…depending.
Then, if it is a hobby or an avocation, if you had to drop it, you must pick it up again early enough, for the desire or the talent or know-how may leave you for good. One of my cousins, who was a very talented painter and who won the first place in several art shows, left her art totally to devote herself to married life, raising kids, working at odd jobs to make ends meet, etc. Then in old age, she wanted to paint again. She can still paint quite well, but she has no drive and no enthusiasm left for she painted three or four paintings and let it go again. She says it is not the same thing for her anymore.
I think the ideal would be leaving because you want to and you feel you are open to new experiences but coming back soon enough, without waiting for several decades. That way, what didn’t work earlier and what needed improvement could be taken care of without the alienation problem.
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Prompt: In his book The Club Dumas, Arturo Perez-Réverte says, “Even if there is foul play, without the rule there is no game.”
What does this quote mean, and how does its meaning reflect in your life?
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The Club Dumas is about the antique-book dealing with all its shadiness and the rules of that shadiness as adhered to or stepped away from by the dealers. Come to think of it, even the organized crime has its rules. Without rules, no one would be successful, even though human nature is adept at adapting any rule to its advantage.
Every society, even a not very pleasant one, needs rules that may be enforced according to who breaks them or if the rule-breaker changes the rules somewhat. Still society needs rules, even if there is often a motivation to break rules for power exertion or financial gains. In addition, some rules are on the books, while others are just understood by a group or a society.
The thing is, be it in life or in a game, no one cheats 100 %. Some cheat in disguise, others openly, and not all cheaters are given the heaviest punishments. Although we all think rules should be obeyed, when someone--who is on the side that we are partial to--breaks a rule, we are usually more forgiving, whether we are aware of this or not. This is only human nature.
Then, sometimes we cheat a bit to survive and make new rules to our advantage. The best cheaters are the ones who silence those who notice that the game is changing. I tend to think all new-rule-makers are cheaters. They are the cheaters of the original rules.
Think of any online site. Don’t they keep changing their rules to adapt to societal or technical needs? Still, this is a smaller scale. Think of the marriage vows or religions in general. Think of their rules. Don’t they change with the times? We’ve come a long way since the inquisitions, I dare think.
From my life, I’ll give an insignificant example. Did you know during the 1950s and early 60s, women were not allowed in fancy restaurants in Manhattan if they wore slacks? Later in the decade, women in trousers were only tolerated. As for me, I was always in skirts and dresses even while attending school. But possibly since the 1980s or so, I have been walking around mostly in slacks and shorts. I think my great-grandmother must be turning in her grave.
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Prompt: What does a person mean when they say they need space?
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It means just that. It doesn’t mean that the other person or persons this is told to have done anything wrong.
If the other people are so used to amassing attention to a person, no wonder, they can feel bad. They should, however, figure out why they are crowding and overpowering the person who is needing his or her space.
Needing one’s space is the opposite of saying, “I need attention and support, today.” This is because a bit of aloneness or separation is needed for personal growth. Nothing is wrong with letting someone know when one needs his or her space while he or she works on himself or herself.
Understanding one’s reasons for needing space and respecting their request is essential in any kind of a relationship. The questions to ask oneself if one is at the receiving end could be, “Does it relate to me? Is the other person need time for his or her work? Is something difficult going on in their personal life, which they are not yet ready to disclose?”
The words that signal the need for space, however, are difficult on the person or people receiving them because they are used to sacrificing their time and pieces of themselves to spoil or support the person who now says he or she needs time alone. Yet, when a person says they need space, people have to figure out if that person wants a short-term aloneness or not too much attention. Even, Greta Garbo said, “I want to be left alone.” Later on, she corrected her words not to leave any misunderstanding. She said she didn’t mean she wanted to be totally alone, but she wanted to not be the center of attention as much.
A request for space doesn’t always mean the other person wants the relationship to end. He or she just wants some breathing space and maybe some time alone.
Speaking for me, I need some space to write, to read, and to enjoy my aloneness, but I usually make my meaning clear, so the others don’t feel bad.
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Prompt: Down by the river, it was difficult to see. The fog had rolled in and I was squeezing your hand in fear. I didn't know if ...
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Down by the river, it was difficult to see. The fog had rolled in and I was squeezing your hand in fear. I suspected this parasitic trepidation in me concerning the new routine of the weather signaled an omen about my new name and face.
But you murmured, “I’m here. Don’t worry. They don’t know me, but I know them.”
Although I battled my own mind to rationalize the time and place, the dread arose from the pit of my stomach to cause the icy twinges in my legs. “They may still find me,” I said, ”They know how to tune in to my DNA from the sequence of my nucleotides.”
“Don’t you think that way,” you said, tearing your eyes from my face. “I made sure the nucleotides in your DNA were masked and their sequence a bit altered.”
“I’m scared,” I said, almost breathless, like someone had punched me in the stomach.
“Don’t be,” you said. “The change in your genetic makeup is why the change of weather is affecting you this way. You were never fearful of anything before. This should tell you something.”
You had a point there. I used to be a daredevil earlier, and now…
“I am not sure I like the feeling of fear,” I said. “I’d rather be unafraid.”
“Once the intergalactic council suppresses the lizard humanoids’ aggressions and suspends their scientific experiments, the changes can be reversed. In the meantime, you’ll have to suffer feeling different types of terror and distress. You are too valuable for us to let you fall prey to other species.”
I nodded in agreement, and somehow, felt a certain pride. After all, who else in this expanding universe had pushed an entire star system into a black hole!
After a while, “Still, I’m scared,” I said, almost breathless, like someone had punched me in the stomach.
“It is to be expected. Just go with it,” you said, your voice barely audible.
Then I clung to you like what I am doing right now. And your warmth penetrates into me and you stroke my wet head where the hair sticks and your touch sends a scorching pulse through my body and I hear you breathing deeply and my heart races and I want to crawl under your skin.
This, too, is a new sensation. A sensation I am enjoying. Maybe, I like this change after all. Maybe, I won’t let you unmask and alter my nucleotide sequences back to where they were. So what if I become too afraid to mess with those fancy star systems!
Prompt: I bought a People Magazine with Prince Harry and Meghan's Wedding pictures in it. My husband said they don't even know you exist. I said maybe Princess Kate and Meghan may have read my published books. With that in mind, do you think celebrities could have read books or something we had published?
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Well, those of the royalty are unavoidable, aren’t they! This couple has been all over the media.
I never thought of celebrities in relation to writing, even if they have amassed degrees and such. I don’t really care if they read my work or not. I care that other writers and those who understand the writing craft read my work and tell me what they think. If such people can be among the celebrities, so be it.
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