Ghostly The Rain Collection

Dear Me 2018

This is my losing Dear Me Item that one of the judges did not like enough to review. I'm pretty proud of it, actually. I put it all out there and no one liked it. LoL


Dear Me,

Hooves, for the sake of this I am me and you are me, we are we, and we are all together. I am not the Walrus. You are old enough, Hooves, to get that reference to a Beatles' song lyric from the song "I am the Walrus." I am writing a letter to you, Hooves, Me, so I say Dear Me. Take some aspirin and hear me out.

Sometimes, I will say "I," but I am including you because 2018 is the year of including instead of excluding.

It has been said that the past is prologue to the future. Hooves/me, we have participated in some awesome activities here. One of the very best, so far, was Soundtrackers. The great thing about Beth's Soundtrackers activities was that everyone was welcome and treated with respect. She didn't play favorites, not once. She didn't compare and judge the writing - she welcomed it all. It was about appreciating and learning about different types of music.

Now, Hooves, you know that we are older and into Celtic music and sometimes country music. She probably thought some of our tunes weren't the greatest, but she never let us know that. Respect was the order of the day with Beth.

So in 2017 Beth told me/Hooves me that she felt she didn't fit in here anymore and left. And she is very much missed. 2017 was a sad year because of the loss of such a positive and creative member.

To carry on and enjoy writing about music, Megan and I have started doing our Record Player Campfires. We write about songs we love and that will continue into 2018 and beyond as a positive way to write about music.

We, me/Hooves (the royal we) are also looking forward to "I Write in 2018"  in 2018. Everyone is welcome and it is up to each of us to do the work, so in that way it will be good and non-judgmental like soundtrackers. As far as we know now, none of us will be picking our besties there.

We have been here a long time and heard a lot of promises and mooing.

The following applies to both you and me, Hooves.

There have been those who told me I couldn't write; all my writing was the same, my writing wasn't funny; wasn't serious enough; I didn't know what I was talking about; that I couldn't write a review without a template; that I needed to lose the template once I had it; that my reviews were too long; that my reviews were too short; that my reviews had too much humor; that my reviews had too little humor; that I needed a disclaimer in my reviews; that disclaimers are not wanted in reviews; that my reviews don't qualify; that I do too many reviews to qualify; that I do too many reviews period; that I don't do enough of the right kind of reviews; that my dog wouldn't attract any views or likes in the Newsfeed (she attracted more than all the other non-dogs combined); that I didn't know how to show instead of tell; that I head-hopped too much; that I was "disappointing" when I wouldn't put up with abusive behavior; that I should speak my mind when there is bullying; that I should shut up and hold my tongue when there is bullying; that I should give happier prompts in the writers cramp; that I shouldn't consider essays as a type of writing in the writers cramp; that I am unreasonable for not going along with the politburro's demands (my word/nickname for a particular group), and on and on. Some of these things we even repeat to ourselves, me, until we stand confused, to say the least.

Contradictory bunch of yappers are our critics, all. It is hard to fit in when you don't know where to turn, and the rules keep changing. We are not a monolith, are we. It all blurs together in one big defeating, ugly ball after a while, especially for us who try our best to be dedicated contributors and volunteers.

I want to do better (and I know you do, too, Hooves) so here is my summarized check list from above and what I want to do about it all:

1. "You can't write Hooves." I get it. I'll write and write and practice every week in 2018 until I either collapse or get better. If someone is mean to me, they'll appear fictionalized, like magic, in that writing.

2. "Your reviews are no good, Hooves." Well, I won't review YOU lot anymore unless I forget you said that. I will keep practicing until I improve. Time and effort have to pay off sooner or later. You will show up in the fiction, too.

I am what I yam, said Popeye. If you don't know me by now, you will never ever know me, says the song.

Hooves, just because I said "Hooves" in these examples, it does not follow that I am singling you out.

Okay, maybe I am singling you out, but you need to face things and move along.

I think we can only improve the writing and reviewing by practicing it and trying our best to ignore all the big giant heads who think they know better. Well, we use them in the writing, then discard them like the little presents in our dog's poopie bags. Then we ignore them. It's a process.

Believe me, Hooves me, there are know-it-alls here and we ran across a lot of them in 2016 and 2017. Great years for blowhards, I guess. Vintage blowhards. I'm even using them in my Dear Me entry, Hooves.

You don't say.

On the other hoof, there are those rare kind souls who have lifted others up (including me being lifted ) just when they need it most. People who are kind and don't have to think, or be tagged to think about it. It comes naturally.

Unconditional, no strings attached. No quid pro quo. No pay for play.

I also know what behavior I aspire to, and that would be choosing kindness and generosity of spirit. Is that a contradiction even saying all this? Maybe, but I am a bull of many facets.

And I know who I support going forward. I support Hooves/me.

As always the choice is up to each of us.

How about be kind for it's own sake, with no agenda.

Appreciated?

Maybe.

Thanked?

Don't make me laugh, Hooves. Thanking is out, Hooves. Didn't you get the pronouncement?

I saw it in a forum discussion, showed it to Mr. Hooves and he's still howling with laughter.

If I/we thank, supposedly, it means I am a loser with too much time on my hands. Well, guilty as charged there, your honor, I guess. So, now Mr. Hooves and I call each other "losers" before we log in, just to reinforce the message. Why not laugh? It's better than crying.

Maybe some would disagree with the loser part, but whatever. Call me that if it makes you feel better, you wouldn't be the first here or the last, I reckon. Interestingly, no one has ever called me a loser to my face, except Mr. Hooves when he is laughing his you-know-what off at me.

Rewarded for hard work?

Eventually?

Remembered?

Eventually.

Maybe.

I/we do not run with the herd.

I know we remember members like the Opals and Writeing, Yellow Roses, Dottie, Sherri, Beth and Yemassee for their writing, but more importantly, for their great kindness and generosity toward others. They didn't act like it was the biggest burden in the world to keep their commitments and be nice to people. They took joy in it for its own sake.

Let 2018 be the year of finding happiness in music and writing and reviewing productively, and maybe forgetting about the hurts of the past, Me. Forget them once you haul them out and use them in your writing.

Constant fund raising is a whole other can of worms to be dealt with in future writing. Plus, fund raising is so 2016. Think long and hard before digging into those coffers, Hooves/me.

And, let's work on our pronouns for next year.

Maybe it could all happen. It's a goal and that's what this is about. Return to your regularly scheduled programming, me/Hooves.

Love ya lots (just like Aunt Crystal says),

Me

Word Count = 1,399