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 |   Second blog -- answers to an ocean of prompts |
 "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. |
For "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise"  Prompt: "What we believe to be the motives of our conduct are usually but the pretexts for it." Miguel de Unamuno What are your thoughts on self-deception? What do you think it is, and do you or others do it often? ----- Self-deception is when we lie to ourselves even when the evidence is to the contrary. It is a deep and complicated psychological force, and it is, in certain cases, useful, but mostly, it may prove to be harmful. I think we do it quite often, even those of us who purport to being absolutely sane and well-adjusted. From childhood on, we either have or are later given by our environment a positivity bias, which means we tend to look at ourselves from a more positive stance. Almost any lie we tell ourselves is based on this stance. For example: “My partner only has eyes for me.” “I am the best student in the whole class.” “My son/daughter wouldn’t hit another kid. He/she wasn’t brought up that way.” Etc. Surely, the opposite of this, however rare, can be true. When children are made to see themselves in a negative way, this too ends up in later self-deception. “I’ll never pass this test.” “I’ll never succeed.” “Any partner will reject me. What is there to like about me?” “I may lose my job any day, now.” Etc. For some people, self-deception is a habit out of control, which leads to more lies to cover up the earlier ones. “Of course, my partner loved and liked me. Other people tricked him into leaving me.” “My daughter was only there with the other kids, not knowing they were going to vandalize the store. It is the other kids, not her.” The way I see it, a little self-deception isn’t unhealthy since it lets us live through an unpleasant moment or two, but a lot of it is extremely unhealthy and can cause dire results. The fact is, we all deceive ourselves in tiny ways occasionally, and that may even be helpful. For example, I know someone who doesn’t like her everyday photos even if they are normal but not flattering. On the other hand, her flattering photos do make it to Facebook. If by mistake, she’s in one of my photos that is normal but not flattering, I hide that photo from her, so she doesn't get upset. Having said that, very recently, during my husband’s serious illness, I made myself believe that he’d recover and come home, even though the medical people as well as others tried to tell me it wasn’t so. He passed away and never came home again. But I think my self-deception made me live through those horrible months. Somehow, I probably sensed all along that it was the end for him but couldn’t face it emotionally. In a way, when I look back, I do appreciate my hopeful stance then. It made me live through it.  For: "Space Blog Group" From Lilith of House Martell   ’s blog "Yes, we are family, but..." /"Who really understands why two people from the same home turn out so differently?" What do you think makes people from the same family turn out so differently? ----- You’re telling me! I have two sons who are the exact opposites of each other, to the degree that one is an extreme liberal and the other is a staunch conservative. One is a loner, the other’s a people-person. One is a vegetarian, the other is a lover of all food. It is the same way with every other thing, as well. I think it is in the genes affected by later influences, but my two kids were opposites from birth on. So, to tell you the truth, I don’t really know. Only as a far-fetched speculation, I might say that maybe they each wanted to be special in their own ways; however, I sense there is a lot more to it than that because they can't help who they are, themselves. |
| For "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise" Prompt: For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven-- Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 Since it is so, spiritually speaking, why do you think our planet now has this Covid 19 pandemic? --- Some religions and spiritual thinkers have framed the pandemic as a ‘punishment from God while some scientists think nature is punishing us for our unnatural lifestyle. I think they are both singing the same song. Natural disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes, and epidemics are in the make-up of our planet. With all those, we have to be careful and vigilant. The second we lose our vigilance, we suffer. I never thought of God as a punishing deity or idea. If anything, God is the most loving teacher and the gentlest in His teaching style. Certainly, He forgives our small discretions, but when those discretions grow bigger and involve others, we’d better be very careful. As for the nature of this planet, nature is not always a benevolent entity, one we wish to believe to be kind, and by the same token, I don’t think everything natural is good for you. Try eating a poisonous mushroom. It is natural, isn’t it? Our planet’s nature has its own laws and carelessly stepping on them delivers dire results. I think this is what happened with Covid-19. It is just that we have to face the results of our missteps and always be on the alert, so we don’t become a means to the suffering of other people and this planet. For that end, God uses nature show us the results of our actions. ------- * Note—I neither like nor want to openly discuss religion or beliefs in a site where all kinds of believers and non-believers abound, but this prompt came about from what I heard from many people, in that they blamed the Creator for the pandemic; in the least, they blamed Him for not stopping it. So here's my two cents on it. For: "Space Blog Group" Prompt: From Shadow Prowler-Spreading Love  ’s "Invalid Item" "The news media are NOT your friends." Do you agree or disagree? Why? ---- First, the news media people are neither my friends, nor should they be. They are only expected to tell the truth and not interpret it. That interpretation should be left to me and to those who are willing to give the media a shot. In that, the news media in its totality has failed. Journalism is a dignified profession, one we used to look up to. Not anymore, because today’s media has contaminated it. On the other hand, what the news media does nowadays does not make it an enemy either. The news media is made up of selfish people who only watch for their ends and not the honor of the profession. Their biases and perspectives only favor their ratings and what they can glean as fame for themselves. As such, they have gathered massive power and influence that lies around like dynamite. I certainly hope, in time, as with everything, the corporate and political worlds' urging and dominating the media will eventually succumb to the law of attraction and gravitate toward the truth and integrity of clean journalism. |
Prompt: from Robert Waltz  ’s "The Sky Was Never the Limit" Do you think today's science fiction ▼ is tomorrow's science facts? ---- In the somewhat distant past of our world, several imagined fiction stories have become realities; on the other hand, countless other such stories have been proven to be false. Among those that came to be true, off the top of my head, I can think of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (submarines and other undersea vehicles), Space Odyssey (I-Pad and cellphones), and The Land Ironclads (tanks), plus a few more by H.G. Wells, Jules Verne, and other authors. When I look at the ones that came true, however, I find that almost all of them had to do with our planet earth. It is easier to imagine stuff about a place or thing one somewhat has an inkling of; therefore, I am not so sure about fiction that deals with parallel universes or other galaxies or even blackholes that are not really known to us. Then, some of that fiction may come true because the human imagination is boundless like the universe. I think, however, most of it will be only entertainment or just plain absurdity because too much of today's science fiction tends to be outlandish. On the other hand, science fiction--because it shapes the public’s understanding--can become the most important genre if it were to concentrate on ideas that might change our lives, such as bio-technology and other technologies. After all, to the best of today's knowledge, none of us can live long enough to witness the life in other galaxies and universes. |
| For "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise" "Imagination is not something we merely do in our spare moments, an idle act but the very faculty that makes us who we are. Think about people that deny the existence of dragons are often eaten by dragons. From Within."`~ David Naimon Discuss this quote. --- I am not sure I agree with this quote 100%; although, I may be misinterpreting it. To me reality is more important if we are wise enough to see it. As far as dragons go, that may be paranoia. If the dragon is a reality, its existence cannot be denied, can it? On the other hand, imagination should not be taken as being an unreality, as it only points to a distant possibility that hasn't taken form, yet. Still, the result of taking imagination as reality would fill up millions more asylums than that are already in existence. On the plus side, if imagination has the power that may allow us to deal with harsh realities, such as trauma or abuse, then it has a place in our lives. It also has a place in all arts. Without imagination, most genres of literature wouldn’t exist, as imagination opens up the thinking to new experiences and fantasies and calms down our worries. Imagination has an unquestionable role in teaching and entertainment. If it didn’t, there would be neither inventions that benefit us nor fiction, poetry, or stage arts. Through such media, we see our hidden sides, feelings, and emotions acted out to be observed and hopefully accepted. Imagination can be very useful that way, in digging out the ideas, feelings, and emotions buried within our deeper selves. For: "Space Blog Group" From Steve adding writing to ntbk.  ’s "Invalid Item" He said "Give me a wall and I'll write on it." What would you write on a blank wall? --- This made me grin as I pictured myself writing on a wall and getting arrested for defacing and adding graffiti to a purported to be a pristine city. It also reminded me of my kids--when they were little--, crayons, and the walls in our house. Taking the prompt seriously, though, what would I write on a wall? Let me see: “World peace!” “Clean after yourselves in every way possible.” “Be kind to others; that is all living and non-living things.” “Laugh a lot! Don’t ever be like the drama queens and kings! They are annoying to no end.” “Take time each day to evaluate yourself. Seeing the wrong in yourself may prevent the resurfacing of that wrong.” Although I said “you” in most of those items, which I wrote on my imaginary wall, they mostly point to me, except that of the drama queens, which I hope I am not one. There exists a lot more that I could tell myself, but right now, I needed moments to write, not centuries. It is a good thing, at least, that I wrote these; after all, who needs to feel like Belshazzar after his feast! I doubt there will ever be a Daniel around to point to me my downfall with a prediction of a calamity. |
| For "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise" Prompt: Give us a taste of summer – either through a recipe, or a memory or story that expresses summer to you. --- I first went to Maine in the middle of the winter when the snow was probably twenty feet high and we drove into a college through snow tunnels. If I am recalling correctly it was the Colby College, near which we stayed less than a week in a small motel where the people had a very difficult time heating the place. I recall the housemaid complaining and me staying inside the room in my NY coat. Then, we went to Maine several years later for a midsummer vacation. The story was so totally different. Although we drove around Maine and I adored the vast distances and the beautiful vista, we stayed more in Portland. Not to mention the great weather, the waterfront, lobsters, boutiques, lighthouses, ferry boats running to islands, and believe it or not, several Irish pubs. Then, there were the museums and a couple of military forts from World War II. Most of all, I recall the freshness of the air, and somewhat easier summer temperatures. Although I now live in Florida, where it is summer--mostly scorching--practically year-round, when I think of a best summer location, Maine takes the top place on the front row. For: "Space Blog Group" Prompt: From Adeline ’s "Jessica's Gift" ."In the final analysis, having a dream is often more pleasurable than attaining it." What do you think? Do you agree? Why or why not? --- I am not sure about this. Although having a dream means all excitement and a boost for life in the beginning, when it is over either with winning or, worse yet, with losing, I am not the kind of person who can take it well. Maybe I don’t like to get excited for nothing, but then, I can’t talk for anyone else either. The positive in having a dream is that it gives a person something to live for, especially if that person is depressed or not feeling quite himself or herself at the moment. The negative is when the dream ends, especially with an undesirable result. Then, it may be damaging and harmful to the person. The best, I think, is having a dream but with injecting our reservations into it. Such as, my utmost dream is world peace, but I can also see the impossibility of it, given all the present data. When and if world peace should happen, I’d die or live happily. If it doesn’t, then I am still in status quo, although nothing’s gained. In short, I think dreams are okay, but only if a safety valve is attached to them. |
| For "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise" Prompt: "Books are the bees which carry the pollen from one mind to another." James Russell Lowe Use this quote in your Blog entry today. ---- I would probably start this entry by saying, “Watch what you are reading for you may be getting influenced by it,” but who knows what’s in a book unless one reads it? Even in our day when we find introductions, excerpts, and reviews of books online, there may still be things left out. Still, it is up to us to heed or not what it is we are reading, if we are careful, especially in this day and age when fake news abounds everywhere, no matter whose side we may be on. Then, from the positive point of view, reading books is the most effective way of learning something and expanding our minds, which means the books have an impact on the way we see things. I think ignorance can cost us more than we can ever imagine. Some books entertain; others give us a deepened view of the human psyche; and still others raise our cultural intelligence. A caveat here: not all books will do that. We need to be on the alert with what we read and to what we expose our minds. After all, we are social animals and we are influenced in a good or bad way with what we put ourselves in contact with. Since we are human beings, we usually have zero understanding of the intrinsic values and we are influence by contextual clues that hide in what we read. As in everything, with books too, the wisdom in choosing and the external influences that may affect our choices are things we must be careful with. As the quote says, books are like bees carrying pollen, and some of that pollen can give us allergies and make us sick. For: "Space Blog Group" Prompt: Write about a conversation you had with a person on a plane or on a train. ----- I can’t recall any one conversation on a plane, (I usually fly or used to, considering the constrictions of these times), and in the past, I had many conversations with other travelers but a big bulk of it was just chit-chat, nothing to recall. Usually, the person sitting next to me started that chitchat complaining or commenting about something like the service or the entertainment system. Also, I always had a book with me even before e-readers surfaced. I am neither interested in the in-flight entertainment system nor in any movies. Yet, one unusual event comes to mind, which happened probably more than 25 years ago. We were being flown by the company that hired my husband, and they graciously put us in first class. On the take-off, sitting next to my right, of all people, was Paul Simon. Of course, I recognized him, but I only smiled and nodded and he returned the same compliment to me. That was it between us, but the hostess, as soon as we took flight, went undeniably nuts. She was so excited and was so full of the praise of the man that, I bet, she made him absolutely uncomfortable. Then, she said to me, “Isn’t he the most wonderful, the most talented? You know that, don’t you?” “Yes, of course,” I said. My husband just looked and didn't say anything. I bet he, too, was uncomfortable, inside his mind siding with Paul Simon. I would say more in the composer's defense, but I was worried that she might poison my drink or something. So, I smiled a fake smile and shut up. When we landed in Atlanta, the singer left the plane to continue on to wherever he was going and we stayed inside until we reached the West Palm Beach airport. Now, I am a big fan of Paul Simon, and Sounds of Silence is my all-time favorite song, but although singers and artists appreciate the applause when they are on stage, they mostly like to be left alone in a private situation. I guess some people just can’t leave the famous and the gifted alone while they are living their personal lives How did I recognize Paul Simon? When we were first sitting down, I first saw the loafers he wore, like the ones he usually wore on stage. I said to myself, “I know those shoes.” Funny, isn’t it! |
| For "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise" Prompt: Do you think a novel influences change in society? Do you think Harper Lee’s, To Kill A Mockingbird,or any other novel you know of ever achieved such a change? --- I do, although not every novel can initiate a change. To see a novel’s influence on society, one only needs to view the past. Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beacher Stowe did transform views on slavery as did the Animal Farm by George Orwell about government and politics. The same can be said for Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front for influencing our perspective on wars. When the readers feel empathy and understanding for the characters in a story, they identify with them and begin consciously or subconsciously to apply their situation to the present-day’s events and problems. Novels also let us connect with other people and cultures. Although some of those may not be life-changing in terms of their content, they may entertain or humor us and let us see the other cultures through their dramas and stories, and thus, make them acceptable and familiar to us. Although we can’t quantify or even qualify the degree the novels influence us, just the reading evolution that is going on today says something about their significance. The fact is, fiction like all arts is important, and it should be acknowledged as an entity tattooing its print on society. For: "Space Blog Group" Todays star is: bobturn from planet:"Invalid Item" "Sometimes the loneliest place is in a crowd." Do you get lonely in crowds? Why or why not? --- It depends on the crowd. However rare, there were crowds that made me feel lonely. Usually, I am fine with any crowd, and I may even flourish in a crowd I am not much familiar with. But then, I also am never lonely when alone, either. It is normal to feel lonely or as if not belonging within a crowd if the people in it have formed a clique and do not, honestly, welcome me among them. Worse yet, I not only feel lonely but also annoyed and angry if the members of the crowd like to pick on me for anything, like for being a brunette (yes, that has happened), or for not being rich or as poor as them, or for being too tall, too short, too thin, too fat, or for my beliefs and their difference with their belief systems—the list may be endless. Many years ago, I made friends with a group of women from another culture whose language I didn’t know. When we met in someone’s home, these wonderful women took it upon themselves to designate a person to sit with me and to translate what they were saying, should they by mistake forget to talk in English. Now, this was one crowd I never felt lonely in. In fact, in hindsight, I think they were much better than the crowd I grew up in. To wrap it up, I believe that it is not me who feels lonely in a crowd, but a certain crowd itself that makes me feel lonely. I think, for anyone, feeling lonely in all kinds of crowds and without a good reason may point to an unmet emotional need or a psychological problem, in which case that need or problem needs addressing immediately. |
| For "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise" : Prompt: Taking off from the saying, ““you only get one chance to make a first impression” logic, why, do you think, a first impression, a first line in an article, or the first paragraph of chapter in a book can be the most important? === In everyday life, I am wary of first impressions, since they may provide a basis for relationships. It is a good idea to wait in forming opinions about a person or a relationship before arriving at a strict opinion, sometimes due to a pre-formed concept, such as, “He has blue eyes. Blue-eyed people are said to be shifty.” Yet, life proves the opposite. Most people depend on first impressions. That is why counselors tell people to dress up properly for interviews. This is because people who hire people or let them into viewing important work, due to their time constraints, have to rely on their first impressions. The same goes for a first line in an article or the first chapter of paragraph of a book. If non-fiction, in a first chapter, I look for how focused the writing is, and if it’s easy to understand. I stopped reading a few books because, throughout a whole first chapter or several pages, the authors tried to boast about their competence and experience in writing about that subject (which shows lack of self-confidence, btw), instead of talking about the subject right away. In fiction, it is how enticing the opening is and how memorable yet sincere it sounds. Is the first sentence or first paragraph awaken a curiosity to see what will come next? Do actions fit the scene? Is there a word or words that define a character’s motive? These questions and similar others do define if the book will be bought, borrowed, or given any attention. Then, as a personal quirk, I don’t like to see a badly formed sentence as to the grammar and usage, right away. If the story is good and I am enjoying it, I don’t mind a little something amiss later on, although any error anywhere can be annoying and can disturb my concentration. For: "Space Blog Group" Today's prompt comes from the star Samberine Everose  The sample is "a mother knows best" The prompt: Do you think a mother knows best? --- No, because mothers are human like everyone else, and that idea depends on who the mother is. There are truly rotten mothers in life. Then, there are those mothers, although meaning well and loving their children, they push them toward actions that clash with their children’s personalities, sometimes with dire results. A truly good mother will let her children, especially adult children, decide for themselves, at least, most of the time. Even on instances when mother “knows best” due to her knowledge, experience, and good sense, letting her children make their own mistakes is the best way of mothering, with the exception that if a child is about to jump off a cliff--literally or metaphorically--, a mother’s intervention is vital. |
| For: "Space Blog Group" Prompt: Memories are good to have whether they are good or bad. Let's write about memories. ==== The word ‘memories’ brings back to my mind the song from Cats and the day we took our ten and thirteen-year-old children to see it on Broadway because it was the rage of the day. The play had already been a hit in England and had just started showing on Broadway . The year was, if I remember correctly, 1982. Now, all of that was a long time ago, wasn’t it? The play was mesmerizing, and the actress who sang memories, her acting, voice, and singing, were out of this world. “Midnight. Not a sound from the pavement.” On the stage comes the flashing lights, and the Jellicle cats emerge singing to celebrate themselves, some bragging, others playful. Old and wise Deuteronomy is their leader and Macavity is the villain who scares every cat. Grizabella is the outcast cat who wants to be a part of the clan and who sings memories for the first time. But she has left once and is not being let back in because she is old, poor, and scraggly now. The other cats treat her badly and none of them touch her. She disappears into the dark of the night. Macavity comes in with the idea of kidnapping Deutoronomy, then causes an electrical short, letting the place go dark, and there’s a fight between the Jellicle cats and Macavity’s gang. Toward the end of the show, Deutoronomy shows up with his magic as it is the time to make a choice of a cat for him among all cats, as that chosen cat can be reborn into a new Jellicle life. Grizabella appears and sings her song “memories” again about how things used to be for her. Now the cats accept her as she is the one to go to heaven and come back to be reborn. The play, which meant to be a fun thing originally, meant more than that to the New York audiences. We treated it as if it were a spiritual manifesto, which later caused one of my kids to sign up for voice lessons. The other one took to guitar playing and eventually became a fan of Heavy Metal, although nowadays he has given that up and is into Spanish guitar and sometimes listens to elevator music with his wife. My husband shook it off immediately, saying, “It is only a show,” but it made me attend and take in all the way into my heart every Andrew Lloyd Weber musical. That is what true art does to a person who may be highly liable to be impressed by sweet sounds...and cats, too. |
| For "Blog City Prompt Forum" Prompt: What are your plans for the weekend? ---- I don’t have specific plans for anything. I have usually a general idea, though. This weekend, it will be a little of this and a little of that. Those little things mean reading, probably writing a review, a book review, fooling around on the web--on WdC and possibly on YouTube, some housework, a bit of cooking and gardening, and maybe a trip to buy groceries. I can’t do much else with this Covid19 thing going on. Our governor is opening up stuff a bit prematurely, I think, because the cases are rising and not ebbing in our area. So, I try to go out as few times as I can. Plus, who wants to look like a bandit with the mask on, meaning to hold up people and stores? But my not making extensive plans is not only for this situation, though. It is my lifetime habit. I usually have an inkling of what I’ll do, but that is not cut in stone, either. This is because anytime I made a decent plan in my life, all those plans were aborted by the “fickle finger of fate.” Being wary of that finger, I am trying to keep my old self free from disappointment.  For: "Space Blog Group" Today’s prompt comes from lezismore-moreislez  The planet is "Invalid Item" The prompt is “Twice upon a time?” I exclaimed. ---- Twice upon a time? Well, I think that is what God or Creation or Fate does when we don’t learn what we need to learn. It is like repeating a year in school, which Thank God, never happened to me. I think if it did, I’d die of self-recrimination. On the other hand, there is one twice-upon-a-time puzzle in my life that I am unable to solve. I live in the hurricane zone; in fact, in an area which is most likely to get hit according to those who study the weather stuff. In 2004, our city was hit twice by two hurricanes, named Frances and Jeanne. Actually, in that year, our state was hit by four hurricanes: Charley, Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne. But the two that came directly on us took us by two weeks apart. Frances was the worst because it lasted 36 hours. Then, two weeks later we got Jeanne, a much stronger hurricane, but it lasted about six hours and grounded what was left standing, which in our case, meant the porch area and an out building. Luckily, nothing happened to the main house except some surface getting dirtied up. Now, what was it that those two hurricanes were trying to teach us? I still haven’t figured that one out, yet. All of us who went through those hurricanes never left the area, and each summer with the end of June, the hurricane season starts to end in mid-November. Maybe we Floridians are all daredevils, and maybe the entire humankind is a fearless one since more and more people are migrating here from all over the country. Go figure! |
| "Blog City Prompt Forum" Prompt: Discuss this quote “There are wounds that never show on the body that are deeper and more hurtful than anything that bleeds.” ― Laurell K. Hamilton --- Emotional wounds are similar to physical wounds, in that they look like they’ve healed but they scar over. They leave their mark. If we don’t treat them properly and with the care that they deserve, they continue causing problems for us, or worse, they may reopen just like a deep cut that was never stitched right. Such wounds come from the past, and they have the strength to glue themselves inside our subconscious, so they can pop up with the least hint of a trigger. A majority of these wounds have to do with our self-esteem. The others have to do with our suppressed independence or lack of affection. Especially those ones dragged into the present from our childhood can cause tricky and negative situations, so much so that healing them may require professional help. We can, however, help ourselves to some degree by discovering and accepting the pain through some kind of a grieving process. We can also omit long periods of isolation, so we don’t embrace our victimhood, self-blame, and bitterness. Delving into some kind of a creative activity to take a break from the pain can help by giving us temporary respite. Then, those of us lucky enough who have learned from our wounds and have become wiser and more resilient can move on and continue living in a new direction. After all, it is up to us to allow or reject any emotional pain that can hold us back. For: "Space Blog Group" Prompt: from the star system Sophy  The planet is "Losing Your Voice" The prompt is "What would you do if you lost your voice? --- Losing voice can be frustrating especially when it is physical, but the medical profession probably can cure that. Since I have never lost my physical voice, I have little to fall back on when it comes to defining its terror. In the emotional and spiritual sense, losing one’s voice can be even worse. It happens when you try to express yourself and are met with punishment, ridicule, silence, or callousness. More often than not, like most emotional ills, losing this kind of a voice goes back to childhood. When someone steals your voice from you like an ignorant parent or an overly strict teacher at an early age, it is likely that you’ll either shut down totally or imitate and absorb someone else’s voice. This absorbing another’s voice is a dangerous thing to do because it may push you say or scream thoughts, ideas, and slogans that do not belong with your real thinking or moral stance. What is so important is that your true friends in life will always appreciate your true voice, rather than what you parrot. Any friend or community that encourages you to talk in your own voice and even lets you make mistakes during the process is a helpful one. You have to own your voice because it is the most important one, no matter what the present, popular voices may be saying. |
| For "Blog City Prompt Forum" Prompt: Do you like being alone or do you like being around people? ----- I don’t like being alone all the time because I like people in general. I think we are an interesting species as human beings. Sometimes I think our brains need mutation toward some nicer behavior and happier, more positive feelings. I am sometimes annoyed at drama queens and those who cry and carry on at the drop of a hat. Having said that, being around people non-stop, all the time, tires and stuns me. Eventually, I act like a zombie because I seem to absorb all their undercurrents and vibes. Even people I love, I need a breather from. I don't know why this is, but it is the truth. In short, I like to be with people but I also like to take recesses from them, too. I need to be alone and decompose at least for a little while. For: "Space Blog Group" Prompt: You have discovered a new planet. Describe what it looks like and what you found. ----- Boy! Would I love to go to another planet, especially now. I do love the planet earth, though. I don’t know about discovering one. I don’t have such grand ambitions. A new earth-like planet would be heavenly, especially if it can skip the year 2020. I think there’s a curse on 2020, and I am not saying this because of the personal loss I had to go through. Look at what’s happening to the world. Then, today, I had an appointment in the next town to which I was driving. There’s a bridge connecting the two towns. The bridge broke down, large blocks fell from it, and I had to return home. That bridge has been there for more than 25 years. It doesn’t seem that it will be fixed for weeks. Now, I have to find an alternate route, which will add at least an hour to the route that usually takes 10 minutes. As I said, a new planet would be Godsend. |
| For "Blog City Prompt Forum" Prompt: Make a list of the 10 best moments of your life. ----- 1. When I was three and a half, I read my first full sentence, and my Grandmother said it was all correct. I was so delighted that I can still feel the joy of it, as if today. 2. Whenever my cousin and I were together…We were, still are, best friends. We cried so much when separated that my uncle ended up letting her stay with us over all her vacations. 3. When all my cousins and I went walking and a sudden rainstorm drenched us thoroughly 4. When I was fourteen, a famous poet shook my hand for some poem I had written. 5. When someone I liked a lot, likened me to Edelweiss, a flower that grows on the higher elevations of the Alps. He said that in a very special way and in the middle of a large crowd of people, including my family. 6. When a whole group of profs were impressed with my thesis. 7. When I met my husband and we went places together. 8. When I had my older son 9. When I had my younger son 10.When my younger son brought his girlfriend, now his wife, to meet us for the first time. I must be so lucky because the list goes on and on, and there are other happy moments in between the ones I highlighted. For: "Space Blog Group" Prompt: Today's star system is Donkey Hoetay . This author has a story about "mistaken identity". "Invalid Item" Have you ever been the victim of mistaken identity? Tell us about it. ----- I can’t ever remember being a victim of mistaken identity. The only one thing I can think of is, when I was in third grade, a kid told the teacher, in a very convincing tone, that I was responsible for another kid falling down and hurting himself while he was fighting with yet another boy. The teacher didn’t believe him and other kids told her, although I was near the incident, I was standing with them and had nothing to do with the fight or that kid getting hurt. Funny, I should still remember this so vividly after more than six decades! There are so many ways of looking at this incident. What if the teacher believed that kid and what if the other kids didn’t tell the truth? I would get a detention and would be turned off from school for life and maybe never be able to go ahead with my education. Also, the kid who accused me would be hurt internally as well as the teacher (had she believed him and didn’t investigate further) because up to that point, she thought I was one of the best in her class. In hindsight, I think she was very astute and knew about kids. |
| For "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise" Prompt: “Real beauty is in the fragility of your petals. A rose that never wilts isn’t a rose at all.” Crystal Woods About roses or people, do you agree? --- When it comes beauty there is no correct answer as to what beauty is. To me beauty is the excitement one gets when viewing anything that means something to them. It can be song, a colorful sunset, rain, a baby, a kitten or a puppy…The list is endless. Then, if we give too much weight to the outer beauty of a person or a thing, rather than the inner one, we are missing in life. When we enjoy something like a flower or a tree, we enjoy it because it sends a signal to the part of us, which is a drop from the ocean of a greater being. By the same token, the outer of whatever we see as beautiful, like a rose, fades in time because fading away is the law of nature. Yet, the inner beauty or the memory of it still is there. The same will happen to our planet and even our solar system. It is in the nature of anything created to fade away. If the rose didn’t fade, it wouldn’t be a rose. It would be worse than an inanimate object. It would be something without life, without a soul. Worse yet, we would hate it for setting itself up as if in competition with God. For: "Space Blog Group" The prompt is: "Great stories are written by great people, and we each hold the power within us of writing a story." Analyze and report. Have fun! --- It is true that everyone has a story and with a little push everyone can find the power within them to write that story. Writing a story, however, is a task and an understanding that the writer must shape events in such a way as to give them meaning. All areas of human culture are subject to fading away or changing form, take science, or philosophy or even religions, for example. Yet, since the break of dawn of mankind, people have gathered around and told their stories, if not in books but in a circle or privately to one another, around a fire, on a field, inside a dwelling, at the beach or wherever. Yes, great stories are written by great people, but what makes a person great? I don’t hesitate to say that greatness is in finding meaning in events, in people, or in one’s own life. Therefore, if your life has meaning, even if only to you, then you have the power to write your stories. |
| “Loss sets its own clock. It distorts time and memory, makes days and years short and perpetual all at once.” How Fires End by Marco Rafalà How does loss, any loss, affect you? Can we ever prevent a loss? ----- As human beings we are pretty good in trying to avoid loss. The trick word here is trying. No matter how much we try, loss is unavoidable. It also leaves in its wake some pain, most of the time, acute pain. So what do we do? We change direction. In my case, I keep incredibly busy, until I can face the fact of a loss. I guess keeping busy is some form of hiding. But don’t we also hide from tornados and hurricanes, too? When the storm passes, then, it is easier to deal with the damage. On the other hand, loss is a bittersweet concoction of love and wisdom about what matters. Inside the pain, we find the opportunity to take a good look at the past and present moments of what or who we lost. This helps us to live life with more of a purpose. This is a good thing, this looking back because it helps us and settles us. Loss is not a disease. It is part of the change and the inevitability of life. When faced with a loss, we need to find our mental flexibility, maybe not right away when we are overwhelmed, but over time through watching out our thoughts and remembrances and connecting with what matters after the loss. For: "Space Blog Group" Prompt: Name ten things you would put on your bucketlist. ----- I really don't do bucket lists. Maybe because I am old and I don't want to disappoint myself by croaking before I do all that. But I do like lists. I make grocery lists when I go grocery shopping, and everyday I write down a list of things to do during that day. For anything else, I have a calendar on the wall, which is mostly for appointments and the regular things I do like paying bills at the beginning of the month or things I need to do in WdC or things I promised to do in real life. |
| Prompt: Have you ever asked someone what their favorite poem is? It's not as easy as you would think for them to name an author and a poem with the reason why. One of mine is Marge Piercy's The Moon is Always Female. I was trying to understand women in general. Please recommend a couple to us and why. ------ No, I don’t ask anyone what their favorite anything is because I am so fickle myself, especially with poetry. What I love changes all the time. I just fished these two from my notepad. There are others, and many more are elsewhere. As I said, my tastes change all the time, although not so much concerning the poets I love. One of the poets I've always loved is Emerson, and so, I’ll let the poems talk for themselves. Days by Emerson Daughters of Time, the hypocritic Days, Muffled and dumb like barefoot dervishes, And marching single in an endless file, Bring diadems and fagots in their hands. To each they offer gifts after his will, Bread, kingdoms, stars, or sky that holds them all. I, in my pleached garden, watched the pomp, Forgot my morning wishes, hastily Took a few herbs and apples, and the Day Turned and departed silent. I, too late, Under her solemn fillet saw the scorn. Another favorite poet of mine is Rumi Only Breath Not Christian or Jew or Muslim, not Hindu Buddhist, sufi, or zen. Not any religion or cultural system. I am not from the East or the West, not out of the ocean or up from the ground, not natural or ethereal, not composed of elements at all. I do not exist, am not an entity in this world or in the next, did not descend from Adam and Eve or any origin story. My place is placeless, a trace of the traceless. Neither body or soul. I belong to the beloved, have seen the two worlds as one and that one call to and know, first, last, outer, inner, only that breath breathing human being. |
| Prompt: What was the hardest part of being a kid? -- I was an only child, and in my early childhood, although I was treated quite well by the adults, I felt terribly isolated and trapped among those beings whose motives I never quite grasped. This was partly due to my mother’s overprotectiveness. She liked to choose playmates for me from among her friends’ kids, and even with those, I was allowed to play not very often. That had to be why I taught myself to read at the age of four. Actually, I began asking my grandmother who lived with us the letters and words that I saw on the daily newspaper and the calendar that hung on the wall. Once I could read, I was much happier. Maybe because of that, later on, schoolwork came easy to me. I never complained about it like other kids. Plus, once in school, I found a whole lot of friends. Prompt: You open the last book on earth. What is the book about? --- That book will have to be the history of our mankind, and it would have to show how foolish and obtuse our species could be for ending up in a post-apocalyptic situation with only the last book. And I bet only some author with gumption would be writing it because all the others would be struggling for survival. |
| Prompt: What song tells the story of your life? It's up to you, pick a song yourself or check out the link and see what it picks. https://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/story.php?title=what-song-tells-story-your-... --- Well, there’s no exact song that I thought would tell of my life or a slight reflection of it. Maybe there is, but I haven't heard it, yet. Fact is, I have so many different twists in the plot of my life that I wonder if any song can be the reflection of it. So I took the quiz on the link, which said: “You have absolutely no qualms about the way you live your life. You will do anything. Try anything because you know you are only going to live once. To you, the rules are made to be broken. You realize you have to loosen up a bit to enjoy life, and you do, every day of your life. Bungee jumping, on your to-do list. Sky-diving, either you have done or it is on your to-do list. It's not that you hate authority, or that you have no responsibility, you just want to experience everything you can and don't like people getting in your way. After all, only the good die young.” What the quiz came up with couldn’t be farther from the truth. First, I try not to break any rules and I respect authority more than the most. Then, Bungee jumping? Sky diving? Me? In the same vein, the quiz gave me “Only the Good Die Young” by Billy Joel. Although I like Billy Joel, this song’s music and rhythm is not my thing, let alone its words. Then it came to me. Elvis, of course. Crying in the Chapel and For the Good Times kind of tell the way I feel nowadays. “Don't look so sad I know it's over But life goes on And this old world will keep on turning Let's just be glad We had some time to spend together…” And so on and so forth... |
| Prompt: What books are on your summer reading list? ==== Books do matter. More than anything. That is, they are for me. They comfort me, challenge me, instruct me, which is why I don’t have a reading list for anything or anytime, except for ~Minja~ ’s Reading Challenges.Then, I just checked my Goodreads book-reading credentials. It shows me in the process of reading 86 books at the same time. Ridiculous, right? This is because each time I open a book on Kindle and check or read a few pages just to see if I am in the mood for that book, it registers in Goodreads as if I’ve started to read it. I know the control is in my hands, but why bother? Even if it is just a click or two, it is a distraction while I am trying to figure out what to start reading at that very moment. Yet, Goodreads isn’t so far off. I have several Kindles and an old Nook, and I do buy or borrow print books, too. Still, at any given time, I am not reading more than four books concurrently. So, if I never have a summer, winter, spring, or fall reading list, it is because I am always reading whatever I wish. As to Minja’s bi-monthly reading challenge, we only have to say how many books we’ll read at the given time. As to her yearly challenge, I only entered three items. The entire novels of Charles Dickens, which I wanted to read, (yes, all 16 them), for a long time, a three-book sci-fi collection, and Goldfinch by Donna Tart, which I’ve already read in the beginning of the year. Is it the unseen and imagined world or the real world I am after? I don’t know, but I do like the real world, even these days, although what’s happening to me and the world is rather difficult to handle. Thus, in dealing with the real world, the unseen and the imagined can be a panacea. In short, the right book at the right time, for all relevant reasons, puts me in a happier place and raises my spirits. |
| Prompt: A picnic is more than just a meal. It is a pleasurable state of mind. What foods do you like to eat at a picnic? ----- I used to love picnics when I was very young. Later on, neither my husband nor I cared for them very much. Once a couple literally forced us to go to a picnic in a park with picnic tables when a whole group of people had come together. We knew everyone there and we had been invited, too, but we had declined. There were all kinds of food and tablecloths and flatware and dishes. It really wasn’t much different than a dinner party at a home. I guess it was okay, but it just wasn’t our thing. When I was little, we used to cover the ground with a large cotton blanket and we sat right on top or it, eating finger foods from baskets, which I used to love. In my old age, sitting on the ground is taboo for me because I’ll need someone to lift me up, unless I move on all fours and do some weird calisthenics to stand on my two feet again, and that can be quite a show for those who watch and an embarrassment for me. If there’s a table and a chair, a sandwich or a salad could be perfect, and I may go along with it. To tell the truth, I don’t even like to eat outside on my porch where there’s a table and chairs. I guess I am not much of a picnicking person. As they say, to each her own. |
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