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Tue, Jul 8, 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 4, 2020 at 12:04am

#987174

Get back here so I can talk to you for 40 minutes!!

Artist: From First To Last
Song: Note to Self
[Embed For Use By Upgraded+]

"30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" Prompt: What could you give a 40-minute presentation on with absolutely no preparation?

I've actually thought about this before... for 4 months straight. So, when I was in university I had a semester-long speech class. Between the normal speeches we had to do, each week random students would be called on to deliver an impromptu speech. It was guaranteed that throughout the 4-month semester, each student would be called on at least once.

The caveat was that you were given a topic when you were called on. A couple of the topics I remember from these impromptu speeches were things like are tests a good indicator of knowledge, worst job experience, what you'd take to a deserted island, best methods of learning, positives and negatives of technology... Just totally random stuff.

Twice a week for two months I sat in this class thinking, Ugh, just call on me for the impromptu speech already... But of course, it didn't happen until the week before the final speech.

The point is that I had a lot of time to think about which topics I could easily tackle and which would be an utter nightmare. Here's what I came up with...

Things I should talk about never.
First category is topics I was silently and telepathically begging to not be given.

Sports. I have nothing against them. I just don’t care at all. There was one topic in class related to how effective school sports are at building teamwork skills.

Pop culture. I didn’t feel like I knew enough pop culture at the time to do a speech on things like “Which celebrities today are good role models for children?”

History. I have a big gap in my knowledge when it comes to history. I would look super dumb trying to give a history-related speech. In recent years, I’ve tried to read more about history and educate myself a little. But still, no.

Things I could talk about for 40 minutes.
Okay, first of all, 40 minutes is a really long time. I think our speeches were 10-15 minutes total in class. I'm honestly not sure if I could stutter my way through 40 minutes of anything. But if I had to, these are the topics I'd choose for myself.

Mental health. From disorders to medications to treatment options to the history of mental illness, I could easily talk this subject into the ground at a moment’s notice. For all of my planned speeches in that class, I did mental health topics. I’m obviously a big advocate for mental health wellness.

Finance/Accounting. This is what I went to school for and it’s what I do for work, so hopefully I’d be able to come up with 40 minutes of material on it after all these years. I’ve posted about personal finance before in my blog, but kept it very surface level as to not bore people to tears.

Books/Writing. That’s what brought us all together in the first place, right? Surely we could all talk about our favorite authors and poets for 40 minutes. Personally, when I read a really good book I can just rave about it for days.

The topic I was actually given.
In case anyone's curious, the impromptu speech topic I had to given in class was...

Do you agree or disagree with the death penalty and why? If I could, I'd put this with the things I should never talk about, because apparently I have not formed a full opinion on this topic. I'm obviously blessed to have never had a serious reason to consider whether I'm for or against the death penalty. I tried to say that I didn't know enough about the topic to make a definitive statement on it, but that didn't fly. In the end, I ended up saying that I'm for it only in the case of the most heinous crimes with irrefutable 100% concrete scientific evidence. I talked about cases of people on death row who were found to be innocent and then I talked about some of the worst crimes in history that were clear cut cases. Luckily, that took up my 10 minutes.

Note to self, I miss you terribly

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