[here and there #17] let's fly

"the act of making

your ideas real"

After reading Dane Sanders' article about writing (Writing is the NewBlack) I couldn't help myself but nod at every sentence. He tells us that writing is one of the oldest technologies that survived through time. Writing is always here, only the medium we use is changing. First it was rocks, that evolved to papirus and paper. Then came the computer and cellphones. Where will we be writing next?

And then I realized something: writing, along with drawing, is the most minimalist creative endeavour we could have. We only need pen and paper. And imagination, if you want to do something good.

Writing can take many forms – online or offline, in books and magazines, in ads and packages, in signs and clothes, in letters and smartphones. Even in hands, when you don't have any paper/device around you. To everywhere you look, you'll see it.

Also, you write – I dare say – every single day since you learned how to do it. Grocery lists, little notes, sms to your friends and family, chats and posts in your social network of choice and many more that, surely, I'm forgetting right now.

So, here's the challenge: try NOT to write for a week. Then, tell me, what did it feel? How did you overcome the obstacles? Use the hashtag #ddnowritingweek so I can follow your progress – but just three weeks from now! - understand why in a minute.

This is a great way to realise how writing is important in our lives, but also to be creative and know new ways to record stuff or communicate when we don't have any writing supplies with us (may it be a tablet or a sheet of paper).

The second challenge would be: write without using your regular writing tools, like pen & paper or derivatives - like pencils and crayons - or your computer/electronics (tablet, phone, etc). Now, how do you see the act of writing? Can it be transformed and be innovative? Which materials and tools did you use instead? Use the hashtag #ddwritingtools and let's see how creative you are! But, remember, do it only 3 weeks from now!

I'm also meditating on this quote: Writing is simply the act of making your ideas real. How powerful does that feel? Just by put your thoughts out there you're creating something, you're constructing a path to whatever you want to achieve. So, that means you have the power to make your dreams come true by simply writing them. It doesn't seem that difficult, does it?

Writing is a way of meditating about yourself, your inner-strenghts, your doubts and fears and then to act accordingly to them. By writing you'll be defining where do you want to get and which steps you need to make.

--

Talking about dreams, I'm taking Andrea Schroeder's Give Your Dream Wings (GYDW) free e-course. It would be great to have the money for her Creative Alchemy as well, as there are a lot of great resources and also a welcoming community to be involved in. You'll see that the key here is journaling, a.ka. writing.

For the first lesson, I had to answer three thought-provoking questions that made me take a step back and look at my life as a whole.

What's happening in my life right now?

A lot of things, a lot of happiness, a lot of fears, a lot of learning and a lot of doubts. First things first, I'll be a mother of a boy – my first child. I'm five months and a half pregnant, so my body and my mood suffered a lot of changes already. I'm excited, nervous, anxious and thrilled at the same time. I think about how much my life will change, how wonderful it will be, what I'll miss and what I'll gain, how kind of a person I will turn, what kind of a mother I will be. I fear that others will see me only as a mother, I fear to fail too much at this new role of mine, as well!

I'm loving to see this little creature develop inside of me, I can't wait to feel it and share that joy with R. I'm taking photos of my belly every month so I can watch it grow. I'm receiving wonderful gifts from family and friends. And I never know how to thank them or repay – I don't like this word at all, we can't pay (for) love! - their love.

I'm also making new friends, going out more, having more fun. I'm discovering myself in others and feeling inspired. I'm learning new things with them. My love circle is expanding: I give it more and I receive it more, too. I'm learning to be more open and let my true self come out. I'm learning to me more honest and frontal. I'm learning to fight for myself.

But most of all, I'm happy!

- Update: almost 6 months now and feeling my baby, every knick is, to me, an act of love.

What feels stuck or uncomfortable?

I don't remember feeling comfortable, ever! And I take it as a good thing, as I'm always willing/trying to change.

There are a few things that are making me a bit uncomfortable right now. The very first one is how to achieve my dreams accordingly to the lifestyle I want to have. Let's put it into context:

I'm sure I already said it a few times but: 1) I don't want a regular job – I prefer to be a freelancer and work at my own pace, with my own schedule; 2) While doing it, I want to travel – possibly in an autocaravan – without route plans or for how much time I'll stay in one place; and 3) I want a minimalist, and sustainable, lifestyle.

However, right now, I don't have any kind of job or paid activity. So, I'm uncomfortable for not providing for my family and to not putting my talents into a productive/useful way. I feel like I'm waisting my own resources.

I don't need much money to be happy, I do have a somewhat comfortable life with the money R. already provides but... there's something missing. I can't buy him a nice thing and say: this is my gift for you, made of love and effort. Sure I can write him a letter or a poem, design something, create something with my hands. But it doesn't feel enough - not after, almost ,11 years together! I've to found out what is that something missing. Not knowing it makes me uncomfortable too.

Last but not the least, I don't know which of – or how - my talents can be used to solve all the above problems. The answer is within me and yet I can't find it.

What do you wish for?

I wish my son to be happy. I also want him to have the most fun and educational environment possible (can I do it without money? The free resources/tools I'm aknowledge of will be enough? Will my creativity will be enough?). I wish us to be a loving family, the less disfunctional as it can be. I wish to travel with them. I wish to be more of myself. I wish to find a way to give as much as I receive. I wish for my dreams to come true - but that I know it will happen.

I can see that some of my dreams aren't included in my wishlist. And why is that? From this I realise my life goes around happiness and love. I don't seem to need nothing more besides that. Now what makes me happy is a different story: little things are the key. And love, well, I just need to find more and more ways to show it.

On the second lesson, we're invited to describe how it feels to visit the field of the Creative Soul Alchemy.

I felt calm, inspired, curious. I experienced innovative images in my mind that I wanted to come out of me as a product. I was anxious for the meditation to end so I could put all the ideas into paper. I was afraid to forget them as soon as the exercise ended, as they were popping up and shiffting too fast. I forgot all about my body needs, all of the pain and all of the problems and just focused on the situation itself, without judgement. I forgot I am myself or anything really. I was just being.

After analising the whole experience, I realised three things: 1) I want to experience this once again, so I can have more cool ideas; 2) I want to feel more this way – non-judgemental, focusing on what I'm living and just being – during my day; and 3) my mind works, at the same time, in a metaphorical and literal way, mixing the two of them to create something new.

How does it feel to be energetically supported in bringing your wildest dreams to life?

I have only one answer to this: it feels natural. It seems an awkward answer as we're used to not see our dreams come true. Mine always had: I found my soulmate, I've pursuited my dream course, I'm creating a family, I'm becoming a better person and meeting wonderful people along the way. I never thought I'd be happy; now I can't imagine how could I be happier.

Also, I don't have wild dreams. Or easy-peasy dreams. I don't judge it that way. I just work on it until I get it, sometimes I don't even know how I did it. So yes, it feels natural.

On lesson three we have to explore our dream and answer the following questions:

What feels uncomfortable about naming and claiming your dream? Write out all the things that come to mind.

What do you need to do about it to feel comfortable? What needs to change?

Those were the most difficult questions I had to answer until now. The first question I had to pose myself was: why would my dream feel uncomfortable? In our guts we know it shouldn't, but the fact is that EVERY dream we have is uncomfortable to us, or it wouldn't be a dream but a reality. So, what is holding me back? That's the real question. Why isn't my dream a reality already? Because I feel uncomfortable with it, because there are things I still have to deal with before I put one step in front of the other.

The first thing that came to my mind was my family – well, a small but important part of it. I feel judged at every action, and not in a good way. I understand they have their own vision of what life should be, but I don't know why they can't realise we can't all be put in the same bag. The solution I came up to deal with this was: 1) not to tell them about my decisions until I get a final, and optimal, result; or 2) not to do it at all. None of them are making me any good: I shouldn't have to hide myself from them or act accordingly their measurements/principles. What I need to do is to distance myself from what they'll think and/or say and have the courage to speak for myself, to take responsibility for myself. This was always a big issue in my life that I need to take care of right NOW. I know I can't change them, but I can change my (re)actions and the way I look and think about myself.

Also, it feels uncomfortable to doubt if I can put my knowledge into words, specially in a form people will enjoy and understand. I know I'm good at writing, but I never tried to teach anything with my stories and poems: I just spoke from the heart. Maybe that's what I need to do now as well.

It feels uncomfortable to know that, probably, even with the knowledge in their hands, people won't make an effort towards their happiness.

Now that I let it all out: what do I need to do for this to change? I already mention some points, however I need to add that I have to work on my confidence. I also need to be more disciplined and work on my dream everyday – this means writing everyday, my dream - one of them - is to publish a novel. I have to have in mind that I can't control everything.

People will know what to do with the knowledge they have.

here and there #7 [good morning]

via pinterest

I woke up in the morning with a mug of hot coffee beside me, a sweet kiss and promises of eternity. It's like this every day, for almost ten years now, and I still don't know a better way to wake up.

However, for a long time, I wasted these first hours between sleepiness and awaking, between dreams and reality ...? Between the heat of sheets and the freshness of mind.

So many times I complained about the lack of inspiration, or having nothing to tell. Even when thoughts fought each other in order to have a bit of my attention. The constant fear of "losing my way" prevented me from facing the paper.

Many writers, famous or not, told me to write every day, when waking up. I, just now, decided to follow their advice, and, after three texts, I consider it to be an excellent practice.

Ideas jiggle around like popcorn, images arise spontaneously*. The unconscious invades my conscious part of the mind. I don't even need to think. Themes and approaches that in normal days (as if I had them) I do not remember pointing out are written in impermanent ink.

Patterns. It was the first word that I remembered when I look to my coffee. We seek them everywhere. In stars, in dregs of some drink, on the palms of every hand. And so we think we bring meaning to life. Wouldn't we'll be also usurping it, creating stereotypes? To what extent patterns even exist and to what extent can we analyze them? (Someone skilled in this matter please stand up.)

Is life pure mathematics? An organized chaos? How often will you need to test that A + B = C? Could we then live by formulas? Would self-help books become the next textbooks?

I never believed in absolute free will. We are always constrained by the books we read, the movies we envision, the music we listen to, the people around us, the places we attend, and by those other people we idolize. And even these may be indirectly chosen by us.

But I also do not trust in pre-determined solutions. In a world in black and white. At the boundary between right and wrong. If there is a formula, there is a god. And who does not want to be god?

* When you remember a story, do they also appear you in images? As if instead you had read them, it seemed you have seen a movie?

Originally posted at pingos de tinta.

inner-view #9 [life is a big joke]

My dear dreamers,

After a big delay, I present you a ironic, dark but very funny writer: SCFrankles. She's an UK girl after all! I want to thank her for having the patience to answer all my questions. Let's read her inspiring words:

1. Tell us a little about yourself. What was your biggest conquest? What’s your most treasured

dream?

I've always enjoyed reading and writing but I've only been writing fiction regularly for about six years. A couple of years ago I entered my first writing competition and came third in my category. It was just a small local contest but it was the first time I truly thought of myself as being a writer. Psychologically it was a big step. I’m not naturally outgoing but I felt able to stand up in front of an audience and read my story out to them. Some months later one of my stories took first prize in another local competition, which convinced me that the first time hadn't been a fluke.

I do sometimes wonder about earning a living from writing, which would be wonderful, but I think that’s probably unlikely.

Comedy: an instruction manual

Avoid lamppost.

Then fall down manhole.  

© SCFrankles

2. What do you find more difficult to write: short-stories or six word stories?

Short stories, definitely. I appear to have a natural aptitude for six word stories and flash fiction. Rules and restrictive word-counts inspire me. Writing a six word story feels like solving a puzzle. I find it very satisfying.

The longest short story I've ever written has only been 2,500 words long. My heart belongs to flash fiction but I would like to be able to produce 5,000 word stories and novels too. It’s something I’m going to have to work on.

Close to the Edge 

"Crikey, that's a steep drop! Karen..?" 

© SCFrankles

3. Do you use the same strategies to both of them? What are they?

I do use the same strategies for writing, no matter how long the piece is. I turn ideas around in my head until I can see what the shape of the story is – what the story should be. Then there’s just the small problem of finding the right words…  With six word stories it’s vital to make every word count but I think that’s something you have to attempt with all literature anyway. Obviously, the longer the story is, the longer on average it will take to write, but I can spend several days even on a six word story. I sometimes do research for six word stories too - I take them as seriously as longer pieces.  I truly believe in the artistic worth of the six word story.

Having said all that, some stories – of every length -  just pop into my head almost completely fully formed. That’s the way the very best ones generally come.

Musical Chairs 

Three women. 

Three bladders. 

Two toilets.

© SCFrankles

4. You have a dark humour, sometimes gore, sometimes surreal. Is it something that born with you or that you had to work on?

My sense of humour has always been there – I certainly have never consciously worked on it – but it’s developed and got darker as I’ve got older. It’s probably the same for everyone – in middle-age you suddenly understand the great universal joke and start using humour to cope with life.

I do love comedy – I watch sitcoms, sketch shows, films, read humorous fiction, listen to radio comedies. Other people’s work inspires me to try and create my own. Not all my pieces are humorous but I think I produce my best work when I’m trying to make people laugh.

The Zombie's (Ex-)Wife 

Your lips taste sweet. 

Eyeballs next. 

© SCFrankles

5. What was the best, and the worst critique, you received until today?

I think in general the worst critiques are when no-one comments on my work at all. This must mean the piece hasn’t moved anyone enough for them even to say they don’t like it.

The best indirect critique was the first time I read out a story in front of an audience. People listened attentively and laughed. (At the correct moments, happily.)

Marquis de Sade 

"Thanks for the pain."

"My pleasure."

© SCFrankles

6. What songs are in your playlist right now?

I don’t have a playlist as such but a song I’ve been playing a lot recently is “Freewheel” by Duke Special – a song about the joy of being alive, which actually does make me feel joyful and positive.

I’m not terribly musical. I tend to listen more to radio comedy programmes, both old and new: Round the Horne, Take it From Here, Hancock’s Half Hour, The Random Jottings of Hinge and Bracket, I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue, Cabin Pressure, John Finnemore’s Souvenir Programme, That Mitchell and Webb Sound.

Fan Fic 

John punched Sherlock. 

Sherlock detected animosity.

© SCFrankles

7. Do you have any writer or any other artist that gives you motivation to improve yourself? Who is it?

Every good piece of writing I come across motivates me to try harder and improve my own work, whether it’s by an amateur or a professional; by a contemporary writer or a classic writer. I do particularly admire the plays of Tom Stoppard. His talent and erudition are astounding, and he also understands the importance of silly jokes. I could never hope to reach his level of ability but you should always aim high.

Trouble in Paradise 

"Adam..." 

"Dearest?" 

"You're not my type." 

© SCFrankles

8. What do you like more about writing? What’s the most challenging part about it?

Well, it’s something I’m fairly good at: it makes me feel intelligent.  I love that sensation of having started with nothing but now a story exists. I love having readers – people who enjoy my work and tell me they’ve enjoyed it.

I would say the most challenging part is getting started – coming up with ideas; finishing a first draft.

The Power of Broccoli 

"Six foot..." 

"Pretty average."

"He's six."  

© SCFrankles

9. What is the most valuable lesson, in writing or in life, you had the chance to learn?

What I’ve learned about writing is to keep going. (Which applies to life too.) I’m constantly reading much better work than mine and sometimes I think it’s pointless for me to continue. However, though I know I’m not brilliant, I believe I do have some talent, and writing (when it goes well) does give me a lot of pleasure. I think I am improving bit by bit.

Emigrant

Spoke English.

Always thought in Italian.

© SCFrankles

10. After you die, what you would like to be written in your epigraph?

I suppose in reality it will be “beloved daughter, sister and aunt”. Which isn't bad, is it? But I have written a six word autobiography. Perhaps that would do:

Bereavement. Failure. Unemployment. 

Became comedy writer.

To read other stories by SCFrankles just look at her gallery!

love works #4 [judge by the cover]

My dear dreamers,

These last days I've been working on a cover for a friend's poetry book, Rogério Prado Mendonça. It is entitled "Sobre o Amor e Outras Coisas Amargas", which in English is something like "About Love and Other Bitter Stuff". A series of sad and touching poems, which, I believe, everyone will address to.

Here's a sample of his work:

Suddenly she moves,
then all things become silence
We hear only the music of their muscles,
the battery of her heart
the song for her steps
While she dances every gesture she makes is a kiss and a slap,
each gesture is joy and sadness,
each gesture is love and indifference (but mostly love)
When she dances the perfection of her body defies the gravity,
and the gravity surrenders
When she dances her gestures and her smile are cathedrals,
cathedrals suspended in movement and beauty
While she dances her eyes shed darkness and stars on the audience,
and her hair, taken by the movement, shoots galaxies into the void
Suddenly the music stops,
Suddenly the movement stops
The audience suffers for a moment with the end of the movement,
then bursts into applause
She smiles a powerful smile and then leaves the scene,
taking with her all those hearts 

The movement, by Rogério Prado Mendonça

Book cover_Sobre o Amor version 8 by ~BlackLuna on deviantART

Book cover_Sobre o Amor version 7 by ~BlackLuna on deviantART

Book cover_Sobre o Amor version 6 by ~BlackLuna on deviantART

Book cover_Sobre o Amor version 5 by ~BlackLuna on deviantART

Book cover_Sobre o Amor version 4 by ~BlackLuna on deviantART

Book cover_Sobre o Amor version 3 by ~BlackLuna on deviantART

Book cover_Sobre o Amor version 2 by ~BlackLuna on deviantART

Book cover_Sobre o Amor version 1 by ~BlackLuna on deviantART See also his: ♣ Deviantart page ♥ Palavrarium (blog address to English version here) -- If you need a cover, or know someone who does, for your own book/CD, leave me a comment! My portfolio can be seen here. Thank you. ♥ --
♥ Do you have a favourite poet/writer? Share them with me!