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Thu, Sep 18, 2025

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Are You Listening???

by Charlie ~

Rated: GC · Book · Emotional · #2181458

A journey of self-improvement - or not.

Sup? I'm Char.
You may know me from timeless classics such as

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#2030442 by Not Available.

and

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I blog for things like

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FORUM

30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS

(13+)
WDC's Longest Running Blog Competition - Hiatus
#1786069 by Fivesixer

FORUM

JAFBG

(XGC)
Because real life isn't always roses and sunshine...
#2094931 by Stik to My Own Beat

[Embed For Use By Upgraded+]
Believin' all the lies that they're tellin' ya
Buyin' all the products that they're sellin' ya
They say jump and ya say "how high?"
Ya braindead, ya got a fuckin' bullet in ya head

Show Recent Comments

10 Most Recent Blog Comments:

👼intuey

Jul 22, 2023 at 8:05am
In response to "Invalid Entry"

Hey Char, It's been a while since I've touched base with you. I'm so sorry for your loss. The last thing people should say is everyone loses their grandparents eventually, or it will get better with time. It's the last thing you want to hear when you're hurting. Death sucks, long-lasting illness sucks! Having to decide to let the person go to keep them from suffering REALLY SUCKS! I think the only ones who can understand truly just how much are those who have had to make that decision. My heart breaks for you.

I'm not religious, but I do have a strong faith in God. I call myself spiritual because I don't agree with all the rules and regulations of religion. I do know I will see my family and friends again, and this is a great comfort. I can only imagine how much more painful the death of loved ones is without this belief. But you're right, it can't be faked. But it is a beautiful thing.

Having mental health issues during times like this makes it even harder to go through. I know what you mean about seeing things that aren't there. I'd walk into a room, and say, "Where's Star?" and she would be sitting right in front of me. When I looked, I swear I saw an empty chair. The mind is crazy. It gives new meaning to a mind of its own

Some time has passed since you wrote this. I don't know when you'll see this but know that you are in my thoughts and prayers, and I'm sending good energy your way. I hope you're doing better. I look forward to hearing from you.

Aiva Raine

Mar 28, 2023 at 9:40pm
In response to "Invalid Entry"

I'm sorry for your loss. I know they are shitty sounding words that don't even attempt to fill or fix, but they're meant in sincerity.

Having lost several people the best advice I was ever given was when life gets too hard- take it at your own pace. If a day is too much- cope with an hour at a time. If that's too much, take it ten minutes at a time. If that's too much- then you deal with one minute at a time. Work through life and grief at your pace. And don't ever feel guilty because you feel sad. And if you can- find one positive in each chunk of time- even if it's something as little as the beauty of sunlight on a leaf or the softness of your shirt. And ask for help if you need it.

Elle

Mar 7, 2023 at 3:29pm
In response to "Invalid Entry"

Aw, Charlie, I'm so sorry. It's a shit thing to go through whether it's sudden or not. And just because everyone goes through it, doesn't make it easier. It also doesn't take into account that you were closer to them than your parents. Nobody says 'Oh, everyone loses their parents eventually' do they? Surely not. And that's what's happened here really. I'm actually glad you've got an appointment with a professional tomorrow, because they might be able to help you with getting through that initial devastation.

When my dad lost his mother, he really struggled with his own lack of religion. As you say, there is some comfort in believing they've gone to a better place, been reunited with loved ones, that you'll see them again, and so on. For most of my life, Dad would say 'Religion is a crutch for the weak', but I definitely saw him struggle with the finality of it when he lost his mother, the person he was probably closest to.

My thoughts are with you.

1 Like

~Minja~

Mar 7, 2023 at 3:21pm
In response to "Invalid Entry"

Crazy stuff, grief. If you want to talk about it, message me always.

1 Like

QPdoll

Mar 7, 2023 at 6:21am
In response to "Invalid Entry"

I understand what you mean about wanting to tell your grandmother something. I did the same thing after my grandmother passed. I was at home and the first thing I thought was to call grandma. I picked up the phone and realized that she wouldn't answer. It's so tough losing your grandparents, especially as close as you were. I don't have any magic words, but take care of yourself. It's what they would want.

1 Like

Robert Waltz

Mar 6, 2023 at 10:31pm
In response to "Invalid Entry"

Take care of yourself during this difficult time.

1 Like

Anni Pon

Mar 6, 2023 at 9:06pm
In response to "Invalid Entry"

I know it doesn't help any, but I'm so sorry for your loss. I can't imagine much worse than losing a parent or parental figure. They represent stability and safety, you grew up with them, and you've relied on them for most, if not all, of your life. You're right, the initial devastation will fade and things won't feel so fresh. But, as you know, grief never really goes away. It just becomes a permanent part of you.

It's horrible that you only got a couple days worth of bereavement! That's not even long enough for the shock to wear off enough to START grieving. I hope you have the support of someone else in your life to help you through this dark time. Take it easy on yourself in the mean time, that's all you really can do. Taking care of your physical self, eating and sleeping, is critical. Sleep deprivation and hunger will make things feel a million times worse than they actually are (which, for the record, is already pretty bad).

1 Like

Harlow Flick, Right Fielder

Mar 6, 2023 at 8:56pm
In response to "Invalid Entry"

This is such a very human thing, isn't it.

“I think there is nearly an overwhelming sadness to the human predicament.” - Skinny Boy Hill

BOOM! This ain’t no whipped cream pie I’m tossing.

1 Like

Cinn

Feb 20, 2023 at 9:34pm
In response to "Invalid Entry"

I actually pretty much love this one. Nice, man...

Cinn

Feb 19, 2023 at 11:07am
In response to "Invalid Entry"

I'd say that more freedom for participants would attract more people. One obvious example that I've never understood is fiction vs poetry. If it's an activity, not a contest, why not allow people to explore whatever the theme of your activity is with whatever type of writing that want to do?

I've actually written for countless contests/activities over the years but never entered... because they inspired me, but I don't fit within the guidelines. Max rating too low, items required (book entries only over here), no poetry accepted, etc.

I know well why people restrict writers' freedom, but they're also restricting the number of participants they'll get. I still just take the inspiration where I can get it.

July 17, 2020 at 12:04am

#988363

Say something meaningful please

Artist: Ceschi
Song: Say Something
[Embed For Use By Upgraded+]

"30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" Prompt: How important is the role of music in your life and in your creative process? Do you write to music? If so, what kind and why do you think it helps?

I'm feeling super not great today. Feels like I'm getting sick which makes me very paranoid in the current, um, climate... But I'm also working way too much and not sleeping or eating or whatever else you're supposed to do to take care of yourself. It just gives me a lot of anxiety to have those kind of symptoms. The weekend can't be here soon enough.

Music... Yeah, I'm definitely going to need to read entries on this one.

In case it isn't clear from the music in all of my entries... music is quite important to my life. I listen to music all day while working. I used to have a last.fm when that was a popular thing. I had like 40,000 song plays in a year, which is around 110 songs a day or around 7-8 hours of music a day.

I listen to a lot of music and a lot of different genres of music. Occasionally someone will try to argue with me that something I'm listening to isn't 'real' music. Biggest eye roll ever.

It's always funny because I inevitably also listen to what they consider to be real music. Gotta keep an open mind, especially when you listen to that much music every day.

I think music can build a certain mood that helps you write. Even for my blogs, I usually post whatever I'm listening to at the time and pull out some lyrics for the bottom of my entry that reflects my mood or the mood of the entry. Sometimes the music is on-topic with the prompt, often it's not.

Lyrics are great prompts for any type of writing too. Poetry, creative short stories, blog entries, whatever... I think lyric prompts are the same as quote prompts, really. I think SM has done a good job of getting people to write along to music with his newsfeed challenges. I've written for a few of them myself, just vibing off the music and letting it lead my writing.

Working to music is apparently not the most common thing. I just found that out this year when people were like, "How can you work with music blaring in your headphones all day? I'd never be able to concentrate!"

It actually helps me focus somehow. The constant noise is much less distracting than the random office laughter, conversations, and various printer and computer noises. Oh, not to mention the people who have loud conference call conversations with their office door open.

I also will listen to the same song repeatedly when I'm trying to focus on something. Just looping the same noises helps me keep the auditory distractions to a minimum. I like instrumentals for that a lot. I don't know if anyone here knows about the lofi beats to study/relax to, but that was my jam

in college.

And not just me, but like, everyone else too. It's a 24/7 stream of super chill songs that aren't distracting at all. Really nice if you're working on a big project or writing on a deadline or whatever. For group projects we used to rent a study room in the library and inevitably someone would put this stream on their computer so we could all focus and get stuff done.

I'm already nostalgic about university and I just finished 6 months ago.

Life is all monotony
Sprinkled with some moments of unforeseen extremes
In between more sleeping

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