Some Quotes, Some Hymns

I've always loved those stylized quotes that you find all over pinterest and decided to try my hand at a few of my own. This first one sits in front of my computer on a small plaque that was given to me by my mom during one of the darkest stages of my depression.

The Little Prince is a book that amazes me every time I read it. As a child it was a cool adventure with a sad ending. As an adult it plumbs the depths of our souls and speaks truths that are difficult to put into words.

This is from my favorite prayer. If you are a long-time reader, you may have noticed that I admire Mother Teresa greatly.

This song just slays me. Right to the heart.

I grew up Methodist. The doxology is part of me. It may be my favorite hymn (besides "In The Garden," which I like to sing with a country twang, and "The Old Rugged Cross," which I used to sing to William when I was nursing him).

That's all I have for tonight. If you've never designed one of these, you crafty bloggers you, I encourage you to do so. It's lots of fun. What would your picture-quote say?

How Do You Deal with Writer's Block?

So yesterday I was on Twitter and one of my contacts was suffering with a huge case of writer's block. I told her that they way I deal with it is just to sit down and write anything, as long as you are writing. That's been my strategy for as long as I can remember.

And then today came. I woke up and my brain, which is usually brimming over with blog ideas, is sluggish and dry. I have writer's block, which seems somehow like some evil karma coming back to slap me in the face. So I am doing what I told my Tweep to do and writing. Anything.

When my brain freezes up like this it's like one of those natural dams. Things have been flowing along quite nicely then all of the sudden silt and dross and decaying leaves block up everything (because it usually is the silt and dross in my life that clogs me up). The pressure of the flow builds up, but though it yearns to break free, there is nothing that can break the dam. Until one day, a huge swell comes through and the ideas flow again. You never know when that swell will happen, so, like any writer, you fret and continue to claw away, begging for any spark of inspiration.

I went to several different writing prompt sites today, looking for that spark. A few prompts were, quite frankly, ridiculous, and a few informed me that it was free writing day. How's that for a slap in the face? If I could write freely, would I be looking for a prompt?

So I took my own advice, and here's the result. I can't say that it freed me in any way, but at least I've gotten some words out and the page is no longer blank.

What do you do when you have writer's block? Is there a process or a piece of advice you follow? Do you have a muse, a fail safe? Millions of writers would love to know.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.7.4

The return of my Muse

Last night I was up until around 3 am writing a flurry of words in my journal. I'm not much of a journaling person, but words and phrases and sentences kept bombarding my thoughts so much so that I had to write them down. It seems that my writing muse has returned with a vengeance. I can only attribute her return to one thing - I opened up a book and started reading.

source

I was so out of balance that I hadn't even opened a book since before Christmas. Now I realize that reading not only transports me to new places but also ambushes me with new ideas. It seems that no matter what the book, from Chick Lit to Proust, Winnie the Pooh to the Little Prince I am left with something to ponder, something that sticks with me, seemingly forever. And I don't even have to Like the book (although I gave up the idea that I hac to finish books that I didn't like a long time ago), they still fill me to the brim.

And now I am bursting at the seams.

It's no wonder we all long to put words to paper. What an amazing legacy to leave behind! I had not realized until this week how often an idea from some long ago read novel creeps into my thoughts, and again, even form books that I dreaded reading (The Red Badge of Courage pops to mind - fine book, but for me was like bamboo under the nails torture). Yes, I want to leave something like this behind.

source

So now I am in a full fledged book orgy. Reading everything I can get my hands on - 600 page thrillers getting read in 3 days, meatier tomes causing me to stop an reflect and dog ear pages that I want to return to later on. So tell me, as I'm not up on what has been recently published, what should I read? I'll read a little bit of everything (except for scary, gratuitous violence). Give me some suggestions and a reason to pay off the fine on my library card!

My Inspiration Book

If you are looking for the yarn Give Away, it's here.

I love magazines. Love them. One day a few years back, I noticed that my pile of magazines in the corner was getting unmanageable, so I came up with the idea of cutting out the pictures that I liked and recycling the rest. I've been doing it ever since.



I have fun with my Inspiration book. Sometimes I make little collages and other pages are sentimental. Mostly, it is full of images that strike me in some way.





I have this daydream about my book. It is that someday some famous designer will move to Marysville (yup, it's a daydream) and they will become great friends with me and want to decorate my house. I will be able to pull out my book and say "this is what I like" and I will have the most amazing, unique house!





I do think it's important for people who are artistic to keep something like this. It helps us to understand what our true aesthetic is. Before I started keeping this book, I really didn't know that I was such a fan of muted colors (blue in particular) and that I loved primitive pieces and things that remind me of the Heartland so much.







So that's a little look into my Inspiration Book. If you don't already have one, start one of your own. Over on Bloom there is a great post about her scrap books. Get thee a book and start to paste!