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Tue, Jul 15, 2025

5:21pm EDT

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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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#1974611 by Not Available.

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 30, 2020 at 9:34am

#989504

30-Day Reflection

Artist: System of a Down
Song: B.Y.O.B
[Embed For Use By Upgraded+]

"30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" Prompt: Congratulations on making it to the last day of the competition! What was your favorite prompt from the last month? What was the most rewarding aspect of participating in the competition?

Yay, we made it!

This is the first full round I've finished in... I don't know how long. I usually end up dropping out before the halfway point due to work/life. I tend to enjoy the prompts that are thought-provoking because it makes reading other people's entries a lot more interesting. I'm thinking prompts like "What's your favorite color" vs. prompts that delve into some philosophical, deeper thinking stuff.

So, first of all, a couple of the prompts this month were mine from past "List 3 prompts for the War Chest" prompts. For example:
Describe your sense of humor. Is it dark, sarcastic, slapstick, silly, or something else? Do you have any favorite comedians?
Have you ever boycotted a company or product? If so, tell us the story. If not, what would a company have to do for you to boycott its products? were both from "Invalid Entry"

by {suser_id:}. Of course I won't list those as my favorites for the month.

Instead, here were some of my other favorites:

Prompt: Write about an invention or technology that you wish existed that would make your life better.

I only listed this prompt because we HAVE to figure out how many of us are left-handed. Sumojo

mentioned wanting more left-handed gadgets in "Gadgets"

which led to all of us lefties jumping into the comments to agree. I can't believe how many of us are lefties???
I'm left-handed. Here's entry where I complained about people asking if I'm left-handed while I'm writing with my left hand.

"Invalid Entry"

But also, bobturn, Lostwordsmith

, tah2o, Kåre เลียม Enga

, Cappucine

, Alexi

(?)

Lefties are just running things on WDC apparently! Who would've guessed??

Prompt: When did you first start blogging? (anywhere, not necessarily on WDC) Why? What did you blog about? (subjects, topics, personal news, etc.) Has your blogging style changed since you began?

I loooooved this prompt. Here's my entry for it: "Invalid Entry"

I didn't love it because of my entry though. I loved it because it's always so interesting for me to hear about the history of people. A lot of our group members started basically an online diary when they were younger to cope with whatever was going on in their lives and that was their first foray into blogging. Other people went from handwriting in journals to blogging online in a similar style.

Whatever the story, I really enjoyed reading everyone's entries for that prompt. It was cool to see some people post their WDC blogs from like 15 or 20 years ago. I hope I still have mine here in 2040 to look back at.

Prompt: Is there such a thing as “unbiased reporting?” (Consider not just journalism, but storytelling - is it possible to tell a story without bias?)

This was another prompt that got us to dig a little deeper. I really enjoyed reading everyone's perspectives on biases in reporting. I think this is an especially important discussion in 2020 because your news source can mean everything. I mean, with the current pandemic, it can literally be the difference between life and death. If you get all of your news from stay-at-home moms on Facebook who are peddling essential oils as healing potions for COVID-19, then you could quite literally lose your life. If you listen to people who are engaged in anti-mask, anti-vaccine propaganda, you could actively be killing people. So I can't really think of a more pressing topic.

There were also a lot of unique angles at which people went at this prompt. I know a lot of people aren't comfortable getting political and I respect that. So it was interesting to see how people handled the prompt depending on their personal level of outspokenness about certain things.

Most rewarding aspect of participating in 30DBC?

For me, the most rewarding aspect of participating in 30DBC has been and always will be engaging with other bloggers. A lot of participants don't stop blogging after the 30 days are up, so I'm going to try to do a better job of staying actively engaged in their blogs even when the month is up. If you want to do the same, you should fan their blogs so you'll see when they post an entry or check out the Bloggers

page frequently.

I wouldn't entertain answering daily prompts in my blog if it weren't for the camaraderie of answering those prompts alongside other writers. My favorite part of the challenge is finishing my entry so I can go check out what other people are saying. I tried to diligently reply to people's entries this month and I think I responded to the vast majority of entries so that's rewarding for me.

Another rewarding part of completing the month is that this is the first time I've finished the challenge since November of 2019. So... that's awesome!

Thanks for the fun month, everyone.

I'll see you around in your blogs and hopefully in mine too!

You depend on our protection,
yet you feed us lies from the table cloth

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