Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
Sunday, January 17, 2016
Sunday, December 14, 2014
10 Major Challenges of Writing a Book
I always thought being a writer would be my ideal job, because it comes pretty naturally to me, I enjoy it, and I have a never ending imagination!
It's the toughest thing though. Here's why:
1) You are your own boss - no one is going to tell you when to write and what to write, and the deadline. It's up to you. You have to find that motivation, even when writer's block isn't an issue.
2) Creating a GOOD story is tougher than you think - so you have a plot, you have an outline, but now you have to fill in the details. Or you have the details of your characters, and the world they are in but you have to create a good story, that includes growth of the character and change. Etc. etc. etc. It's amazing what Jane Austen, and the Bronte sister's did. Oh goodness! We still have material - social issues in our world to base our stories on, but their characters development was so well done!
3) Its gonna take time, a whole lot precious time - to do it, to do it, do it right! yeah, so as we grow older we find we have less time. Time begins to slip away so easily. Yet when we are children a day seems to take forever. I wish I had that type of time now. Oh and then there are random chores, obligations that need to be taken care of like an oil change, or cleaning! So making time, and committing time to writing is tough as a grown up adult. Like the saying goes- "health is wasted on the young" so is time!
4) Remembering what you wrote yesterday - few chapters in and you forgot the deets from chapter one, and then 30 chapters in you forgot the details from chapter 15! Creating a timeline, or some sort of organization of characters is important. For instance, I know the world well, and I know my characters, but sometimes I forget what I put in her bag. At the time i put the things in her bag I knew what they were and why they were, but then 4 chapters later, I forget. Kind of like, you have a list of things to tell your significant other at the end of the day, and then you see them and you forget half of it. Then you remember it just when you are both about to fall asleep!
5) Setting deadlines and goals - these are hard to stick to, because of all of the above. So kick it out the window. You'll find that once you do that, you'll be able to write more, and then you'll set a goal, 'I want to finish it by the 20th of Jan'. Then once you set it, it get's tough again.
6) Thinking of Publishing? - these thought or worries rather, come and go; for me, more often than not. Self publish, or find an agent, or approach a publisher? Which one is right for you. I say finish writing, have a manuscript. Edit it twice and then worry about publishing. Maybe do some research in your free time, yes that time which is so hard to come by. I will be posting information on that soon! So stay tuned!
7) Worries of failure - you could be the next JRR Tolkien of JK Rowling or George RR Martin, but it's such a competitive world, and you're better off making video games honestly, cause I rather play video games than write cause it's easier :-P kids today rather play video games than read. There are those who read, but I fear those numbers are decreasing rapidly. Then there are those who write for Movies... aaah! Worries of failing will plague the author, but to write knowing the chance of success is very low, is quite comforting. Accept that and write.
8) Atmosphere from noisy to quiet, finding a balance for writing - so I've always dreamt of writing a novel at a cafe, where there's a fire sizzling, and I got me some hot chocolate. I am brandishing my wonderful ink pen, and writing on some wonderful parchment... scratch that. Over full Starbucks, noisy, Christmas music, no fireplace, and yeah the baristas shouting about. Nope, need to find that ideal setting, yet. It's hard to find a perfect atmosphere or ambiance that nurtures writers. The right amount of noise, as to not being distracting, as well as not to quiet to be creepy. Yes silence can distract me, so I find playlists that inspire but also help keep me focused (so different from my running play list, or driving play list!). Then there's the internet, def don't connect to the WIFI, and if you need to look something up use your phone, keep it to the minimum!
9) Prioritizing writing, life, friends, balancing? Maybe not balanced but being smart about it - writing is important, but if you have a different job that sustains you while you are writing, that should take priority. Then there are life things, as in a friend needs you, friendship is very important, don't ditch your friend, then again a good friend would understand. So setting these priorities and working around them. Sometimes you might prioritize and set up a schedule, that schedule will change! Be flexible. I set time to write, but sometimes it doesn't flow well, until my head hit's the pillow at 11:30 pm and then I get mega-inspired. I have to teach at 8 am the next morning, but I go with the flow and deal with it. Its the only way it's going to get done, sometimes I just write it on note-cards, and try to pick it up later. When I do stay up late to write, I suck it up although i am tired, and I deal with it the next morning, and drink tea and look awesome (somehow) and make sure I teach well (tea does the job for me).
10) Word count goals - so publishers have set an average word count for various genres. Fantasy / sci-fi fiction lands at about 80,000 - 100,000 words. So with length in mind, and matter of course, it's good to pace yourself, and build. Setting a word goal per day/ week is good but eventually I've found that difficult to work with.
Lastly: editing, but since I'm not there yet, I'll leave it for the next blog entry. So stay tuned!
And yes I have not really edited this blog!
:-P
Breathe
(always remember to breathe while writing!)
It's the toughest thing though. Here's why:
1) You are your own boss - no one is going to tell you when to write and what to write, and the deadline. It's up to you. You have to find that motivation, even when writer's block isn't an issue.
2) Creating a GOOD story is tougher than you think - so you have a plot, you have an outline, but now you have to fill in the details. Or you have the details of your characters, and the world they are in but you have to create a good story, that includes growth of the character and change. Etc. etc. etc. It's amazing what Jane Austen, and the Bronte sister's did. Oh goodness! We still have material - social issues in our world to base our stories on, but their characters development was so well done!
3) Its gonna take time, a whole lot precious time - to do it, to do it, do it right! yeah, so as we grow older we find we have less time. Time begins to slip away so easily. Yet when we are children a day seems to take forever. I wish I had that type of time now. Oh and then there are random chores, obligations that need to be taken care of like an oil change, or cleaning! So making time, and committing time to writing is tough as a grown up adult. Like the saying goes- "health is wasted on the young" so is time!
4) Remembering what you wrote yesterday - few chapters in and you forgot the deets from chapter one, and then 30 chapters in you forgot the details from chapter 15! Creating a timeline, or some sort of organization of characters is important. For instance, I know the world well, and I know my characters, but sometimes I forget what I put in her bag. At the time i put the things in her bag I knew what they were and why they were, but then 4 chapters later, I forget. Kind of like, you have a list of things to tell your significant other at the end of the day, and then you see them and you forget half of it. Then you remember it just when you are both about to fall asleep!
5) Setting deadlines and goals - these are hard to stick to, because of all of the above. So kick it out the window. You'll find that once you do that, you'll be able to write more, and then you'll set a goal, 'I want to finish it by the 20th of Jan'. Then once you set it, it get's tough again.
6) Thinking of Publishing? - these thought or worries rather, come and go; for me, more often than not. Self publish, or find an agent, or approach a publisher? Which one is right for you. I say finish writing, have a manuscript. Edit it twice and then worry about publishing. Maybe do some research in your free time, yes that time which is so hard to come by. I will be posting information on that soon! So stay tuned!
7) Worries of failure - you could be the next JRR Tolkien of JK Rowling or George RR Martin, but it's such a competitive world, and you're better off making video games honestly, cause I rather play video games than write cause it's easier :-P kids today rather play video games than read. There are those who read, but I fear those numbers are decreasing rapidly. Then there are those who write for Movies... aaah! Worries of failing will plague the author, but to write knowing the chance of success is very low, is quite comforting. Accept that and write.
8) Atmosphere from noisy to quiet, finding a balance for writing - so I've always dreamt of writing a novel at a cafe, where there's a fire sizzling, and I got me some hot chocolate. I am brandishing my wonderful ink pen, and writing on some wonderful parchment... scratch that. Over full Starbucks, noisy, Christmas music, no fireplace, and yeah the baristas shouting about. Nope, need to find that ideal setting, yet. It's hard to find a perfect atmosphere or ambiance that nurtures writers. The right amount of noise, as to not being distracting, as well as not to quiet to be creepy. Yes silence can distract me, so I find playlists that inspire but also help keep me focused (so different from my running play list, or driving play list!). Then there's the internet, def don't connect to the WIFI, and if you need to look something up use your phone, keep it to the minimum!
9) Prioritizing writing, life, friends, balancing? Maybe not balanced but being smart about it - writing is important, but if you have a different job that sustains you while you are writing, that should take priority. Then there are life things, as in a friend needs you, friendship is very important, don't ditch your friend, then again a good friend would understand. So setting these priorities and working around them. Sometimes you might prioritize and set up a schedule, that schedule will change! Be flexible. I set time to write, but sometimes it doesn't flow well, until my head hit's the pillow at 11:30 pm and then I get mega-inspired. I have to teach at 8 am the next morning, but I go with the flow and deal with it. Its the only way it's going to get done, sometimes I just write it on note-cards, and try to pick it up later. When I do stay up late to write, I suck it up although i am tired, and I deal with it the next morning, and drink tea and look awesome (somehow) and make sure I teach well (tea does the job for me).
10) Word count goals - so publishers have set an average word count for various genres. Fantasy / sci-fi fiction lands at about 80,000 - 100,000 words. So with length in mind, and matter of course, it's good to pace yourself, and build. Setting a word goal per day/ week is good but eventually I've found that difficult to work with.
Lastly: editing, but since I'm not there yet, I'll leave it for the next blog entry. So stay tuned!
And yes I have not really edited this blog!
:-P
Breathe
(always remember to breathe while writing!)
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
The Best Year Yet!
Two weeks ago it was the 1st day of the New Year, and I realized a lot of things. On social media everyone was saying Happy New Year, this will be the best year yet, but I couldn't feel that excitement or joy. Why are people so excited for the New Year? Or are they just happy to be at a party? Life flows, I never really see any clear demarcations, some events stand out more than others. From a financial stand point, sure the Newish fical year begins, but hey we still have to pay bills from last year, etc. So what are we really celebrating?
My boyfriend, Ryan, and I had a quiet New Years Eve together, and we watched Space Balls. In the middle we watched the ball drop in Times Square, New York City. It was another year beginning for sure. He played Auld Lang Syne for me on the guitar, which was lovely, as I felt the frenzy and rush to text everyone I know. Highly overrated. I felt the need to drink copious amounts of liquor, cause that just seems the thing to do on holidays.
I was trying to help me feel excited but deep in my heart I knew the truth. If I thought 2013 was tough, 2014 will be tougher still, it maybe my toughest year ever! There are decisions to make, big changes and let's not forget taking risks. So, here I am trying to feel excited like everyone else, but it was not going to happen. I have this enormous task at hand, which is my path, my life, it's no one else's, and it seems really daunting, if not overwhelming. I have so many goals set forth this year- improving my health, losing weight, running more, climbing more, yoga-ing more, writing more, maybe changing my job, maybe starting a business, maybe switching careers...
This year I turn 31; So far I've gathered I'm not a normal human being. Yep, I'm 31 and haven't "settled down", at all, not even in life. Let's say normal is the net in a tennis court, I'm a little past the service court boxes, the weird and outlandish are at the baseline and the crazies are like where Nadal hits his awesome shots from with those grunts, way back near back-screen where the ball boys await. (anyway in tennis, Olympics and football mode since the Australian open is upon us, and World Cup and Olympics soon to be!) Anyway, I dunno why I can't just settle down, maybe cause there's still so much to see, learn, do, experience, live, explore...
So far I think I've been dealing with what this tough year has thrown at me pretty well, I had to give up drinking, cause it was a major downer, and I need me to pick me up! I was overwhelmed, anxious about this new year, I felt bad that I could not say this will be the best year yet. All I thought to myself was this will be a tough year, and I found myself facing the Moguls skiing; hitting each bumps, gaining speed rapidly heading down hill, obstacle after obstacle looming, and me losing control. I should quit right now, I thought, but it was no solution, I knew, and as I tried to take a turn I crashed. Yep no more drinking for me, I picked up the pieces and realized if I don't flip my attitude it would be the worst year yet, if not just the toughest.
This year has been challenging and will continue to be so, and I am ready for it, although I did shed a tear or two, I know I can handle it. I will drive forward into midfield, maneuver through the defense and kick that goal! It will be a long game, so need to build my stamina, strength, and willpower, not to forget motivation and determination, and I know I will see myself through. And tough does not necessarily mean worst, flip that negativity to positivity. Flip that attitude, kinda like a flip in Aerial skiing, always landing on your feet! Bring it!
I hope everyone else has a lovely year! And I know I will too, now, I know I will.
Breathe!
My boyfriend, Ryan, and I had a quiet New Years Eve together, and we watched Space Balls. In the middle we watched the ball drop in Times Square, New York City. It was another year beginning for sure. He played Auld Lang Syne for me on the guitar, which was lovely, as I felt the frenzy and rush to text everyone I know. Highly overrated. I felt the need to drink copious amounts of liquor, cause that just seems the thing to do on holidays.
I was trying to help me feel excited but deep in my heart I knew the truth. If I thought 2013 was tough, 2014 will be tougher still, it maybe my toughest year ever! There are decisions to make, big changes and let's not forget taking risks. So, here I am trying to feel excited like everyone else, but it was not going to happen. I have this enormous task at hand, which is my path, my life, it's no one else's, and it seems really daunting, if not overwhelming. I have so many goals set forth this year- improving my health, losing weight, running more, climbing more, yoga-ing more, writing more, maybe changing my job, maybe starting a business, maybe switching careers...
This year I turn 31; So far I've gathered I'm not a normal human being. Yep, I'm 31 and haven't "settled down", at all, not even in life. Let's say normal is the net in a tennis court, I'm a little past the service court boxes, the weird and outlandish are at the baseline and the crazies are like where Nadal hits his awesome shots from with those grunts, way back near back-screen where the ball boys await. (anyway in tennis, Olympics and football mode since the Australian open is upon us, and World Cup and Olympics soon to be!) Anyway, I dunno why I can't just settle down, maybe cause there's still so much to see, learn, do, experience, live, explore...
So far I think I've been dealing with what this tough year has thrown at me pretty well, I had to give up drinking, cause it was a major downer, and I need me to pick me up! I was overwhelmed, anxious about this new year, I felt bad that I could not say this will be the best year yet. All I thought to myself was this will be a tough year, and I found myself facing the Moguls skiing; hitting each bumps, gaining speed rapidly heading down hill, obstacle after obstacle looming, and me losing control. I should quit right now, I thought, but it was no solution, I knew, and as I tried to take a turn I crashed. Yep no more drinking for me, I picked up the pieces and realized if I don't flip my attitude it would be the worst year yet, if not just the toughest.
This year has been challenging and will continue to be so, and I am ready for it, although I did shed a tear or two, I know I can handle it. I will drive forward into midfield, maneuver through the defense and kick that goal! It will be a long game, so need to build my stamina, strength, and willpower, not to forget motivation and determination, and I know I will see myself through. And tough does not necessarily mean worst, flip that negativity to positivity. Flip that attitude, kinda like a flip in Aerial skiing, always landing on your feet! Bring it!
I hope everyone else has a lovely year! And I know I will too, now, I know I will.
Breathe!
Monday, January 06, 2014
Half Way Through At The End Of The Year
I like Capitalizing the first letter of all the words in my headings, I don't know why.
Ok let me get
Ok let me get
I am writing a fictional novel. It's a supernatural thriller, for young adults or grown ups not sure yet. It's more work than I thought it would be, and it's funny how the book grows as I grow as a person. I don't think it will be my best work, but I am pouring my heart and mind into this. I feel like i am writing it in a rush, because i gave myself a deadline, but because of Teacher Training, holidays, and my new boost for getting back in shape, I have fallen behind. I do hope to make hedgeway as I thought it was called, but then Ryan corrected me, and I know it is headway. It's going to be a fun book to read, creative and imaginative.
This book takes me places in my mind, and makes me people I am not! Can't wait to share it with you all eventually! Writing this blog, makes me feel like I've finally come clean, in regards to my absence from blogging. I mean I have blogged, but its not as incessant as it was. In fact am proud to say last year I published 137 blogs posts. My blogger stats tell me the most number of views were in July and Nov 2013. USA rules with most readership, followed by Russia! India follows in at third, and European countries including UK follow after that. I just have to say thanks for reading to all my readers! I hope you all will like my book!
Most people view it from a Windows computer; 28% from a Mac. Oooh! 48% view from firefox, and only 20% from Chrome, (chrome is personally my preferred browser. It's fast and better all round). 15% of readers still use IE, whyyy!!!! There's so much other info from the stats, but this was supposed to be about the book I'm writing, how I got carried away!
I'm half way through writing this book. YA(young adult books are usually 55k to 60k long, and I am (a grandmother figure in my life, told me to never measure/ count progress but to get through it), 26k in. Which is half way for the 50k goal, ok plus there will be more added. However for sci-fi fantasy "they" say a 6 figure range is better... really?
Trudging along then!
I can do this!
Breathe!
This book takes me places in my mind, and makes me people I am not! Can't wait to share it with you all eventually! Writing this blog, makes me feel like I've finally come clean, in regards to my absence from blogging. I mean I have blogged, but its not as incessant as it was. In fact am proud to say last year I published 137 blogs posts. My blogger stats tell me the most number of views were in July and Nov 2013. USA rules with most readership, followed by Russia! India follows in at third, and European countries including UK follow after that. I just have to say thanks for reading to all my readers! I hope you all will like my book!
Most people view it from a Windows computer; 28% from a Mac. Oooh! 48% view from firefox, and only 20% from Chrome, (chrome is personally my preferred browser. It's fast and better all round). 15% of readers still use IE, whyyy!!!! There's so much other info from the stats, but this was supposed to be about the book I'm writing, how I got carried away!
I'm half way through writing this book. YA(young adult books are usually 55k to 60k long, and I am (a grandmother figure in my life, told me to never measure/ count progress but to get through it), 26k in. Which is half way for the 50k goal, ok plus there will be more added. However for sci-fi fantasy "they" say a 6 figure range is better... really?
Trudging along then!
I can do this!
Breathe!
Monday, November 25, 2013
The Liebster Award... blog sharing
So I was reading through all the blogs I follow and found that I had been nominated by Stephannie and her blog for something called the 'Liebster award'. Thanks so much chica!
According to Stephannie this is what she found out:
The Liebster Award
* It is for Bloggers with 1000 followers or less
* The word 'Liebster' is German and stands for things like Lovely, Kind, caring and Beloved.
* The Award helps bloggers get out there.
Here are the simple rules:
1. You have to link back the person who nominated you
2. You have to answer the 11 questions set by the person who nominated you
3. You have to nominate 11 bloggers with 1000 followers or less and notify them of the nomination (not the person who nominated you)
4. You have to ask 11 questions to the people you nominate.
5. Then list 11 random facts about yourself. 6. And lastly inform the people you have nominated (see #3)
My take on it: So basically it seems like a chain email thingy... however it seems nice to get other blogs out there via your own blog. Def visit Stephannie's blog. I've listed my nominees and written a bit about their blog. I am so grateful for all these amazing writers!
11 Questions from Steph to answer:
1. why do you blog? I blog because it 1 helps me practice my writing, 2 gives me confidence about my writing and letting it be public 3 I enjoy writing, and 4 it is fun, and can be informative, and sharing knowledge, ideas, with the world.
2. what is your favorite blog to read? I have a few blogs I like to follow, especially blogs with photography, travel blogs, food recipes, health information, meditation blogs and random articles.
3. what are you most thankful for? So thankful for the amazing people in my life!
4. what is your favorite product? I love my peace and serenity which is the product of my meditation and yoga practice!
5. what is your biggest achievement? having the guts to write.
6. what is your biggest fear/phobia? Heights
7. what will you never understand? Twerking
8. what is your favorite outfit? Jeans and a T-shirt... or anything comfortable!
9. do you think you'll blog for a long time? Yeah! it's awesome been blogging for a while now!
10. where would you like to travel in the world? Everywhere really, maybe England, and Australia next.
11. what is your secret to happiness? Meditation, yoga, healthy lifestyle and eating. Sleep, loving selflessly and endlessly!!!
11 random facts about me:
1- I love animals and nature
2- I love yoga
3- recently became a vegetarian in august
4- writing fiction has been a hobby, skill since I was a child
5- I did my masters in Geographic Information Science... it's really cool but tough to find the "perfect" job. 6- Working on my first novel, it will be a 3 book series- supernatural thriller
7- I'm a 3rd generation Indian-American
8- I love writing to people (Yes!letters and snail-mail, send me your address!)
9- I had sinus issues since I was a child
10- I love eating meat, but i am so happy giving it up, and have a deeper love for veggies
11- I also have a meditation blog
My Nominees:
1- Akosmopolite By my friend and soul sister Trina she writes about life, love, journeys, spirituality, and so much more. She is an awesome writer!
2- All Mix Fruit Juice a lovely blog by my friend Madhumita, she is an awesome photographer and travel blogger at Aadab Hyderabad
3- My friend Gargi's blog! I am Awake once an avid blogger, is now coming back to the blogging and writing world!
4- My friend Shaki's blog on random stuff, food, pictures, life in India... it's nostalgic, and makes me hungry all at the same time!
5- Aneesha's blog Where the Wierd Fish Wanders it's always a very eye opening and uplifting read. She is sucha budding and inspiring writer.
6- Chinelo's blog Dark Matters A fellow writer, and friend, she writes about writing, being a woman, and life in a different country. She poses some awesome questions and brings up relevant issues. Def check her blog out!
7- My buddy and fellow yogi/ meditation friend's blog - Cave Drawings from the iAge truly creative and fun as he explains life through drawings! He also has this other awesome blog where he posts, pictures, poetry and thoughts: The Rambling of a Wandering Mind
8- Deepti's Travel Blog: Backpacks and Bootstraps about when she traveled and hopefully she will post more travel stories.
9- Another friend, Shakti's blog Awakening the Lotus Eater she ponders life, thoughts and it gives one a different perspective
10- Swagata's foodie blog - Foodie's World She writes about food, sometiems recipes, or just how eating is different in different places!
11- A spirituality blog on eastern philosophy and literature I like to follow - Spirituality and Us
11 Questions for these lovely writers:
1- Why do you blog?
2- If you could reincarnate as anyone in the history of this world including present times, who would it be and why?
3- What is one vegetarian dish you like and please share the recipe?
4- What are your thoughts on non-violence, impermanence, health and love?
5- What is your biggest/ greatest accomplishment till date and why?
6- What are your top 5 favorite books and why you recommend reading them?
7- How or what would you suggest to help enhance/ improve education in your country and why?
8- Do you think Yoga and meditation is something that should be taught more widespread?
9- What advice would you give me - writer to writer regarding this blog, or fiction writing?
10- If you could change one thing about yourself whether it is physical, personality, mental, what would it be and why?
11- If you could change one thing about the world what would it be, and why?
Thanks so much everyone!
Breathe
According to Stephannie this is what she found out:
The Liebster Award
* It is for Bloggers with 1000 followers or less
* The word 'Liebster' is German and stands for things like Lovely, Kind, caring and Beloved.
* The Award helps bloggers get out there.
Here are the simple rules:
1. You have to link back the person who nominated you
2. You have to answer the 11 questions set by the person who nominated you
3. You have to nominate 11 bloggers with 1000 followers or less and notify them of the nomination (not the person who nominated you)
4. You have to ask 11 questions to the people you nominate.
5. Then list 11 random facts about yourself. 6. And lastly inform the people you have nominated (see #3)
My take on it: So basically it seems like a chain email thingy... however it seems nice to get other blogs out there via your own blog. Def visit Stephannie's blog. I've listed my nominees and written a bit about their blog. I am so grateful for all these amazing writers!
11 Questions from Steph to answer:
1. why do you blog? I blog because it 1 helps me practice my writing, 2 gives me confidence about my writing and letting it be public 3 I enjoy writing, and 4 it is fun, and can be informative, and sharing knowledge, ideas, with the world.
2. what is your favorite blog to read? I have a few blogs I like to follow, especially blogs with photography, travel blogs, food recipes, health information, meditation blogs and random articles.
3. what are you most thankful for? So thankful for the amazing people in my life!
4. what is your favorite product? I love my peace and serenity which is the product of my meditation and yoga practice!
5. what is your biggest achievement? having the guts to write.
6. what is your biggest fear/phobia? Heights
7. what will you never understand? Twerking
8. what is your favorite outfit? Jeans and a T-shirt... or anything comfortable!
9. do you think you'll blog for a long time? Yeah! it's awesome been blogging for a while now!
10. where would you like to travel in the world? Everywhere really, maybe England, and Australia next.
11. what is your secret to happiness? Meditation, yoga, healthy lifestyle and eating. Sleep, loving selflessly and endlessly!!!
11 random facts about me:
1- I love animals and nature
2- I love yoga
3- recently became a vegetarian in august
4- writing fiction has been a hobby, skill since I was a child
5- I did my masters in Geographic Information Science... it's really cool but tough to find the "perfect" job. 6- Working on my first novel, it will be a 3 book series- supernatural thriller
7- I'm a 3rd generation Indian-American
8- I love writing to people (Yes!letters and snail-mail, send me your address!)
9- I had sinus issues since I was a child
10- I love eating meat, but i am so happy giving it up, and have a deeper love for veggies
11- I also have a meditation blog
My Nominees:
1- Akosmopolite By my friend and soul sister Trina she writes about life, love, journeys, spirituality, and so much more. She is an awesome writer!
2- All Mix Fruit Juice a lovely blog by my friend Madhumita, she is an awesome photographer and travel blogger at Aadab Hyderabad
3- My friend Gargi's blog! I am Awake once an avid blogger, is now coming back to the blogging and writing world!
4- My friend Shaki's blog on random stuff, food, pictures, life in India... it's nostalgic, and makes me hungry all at the same time!
5- Aneesha's blog Where the Wierd Fish Wanders it's always a very eye opening and uplifting read. She is sucha budding and inspiring writer.
6- Chinelo's blog Dark Matters A fellow writer, and friend, she writes about writing, being a woman, and life in a different country. She poses some awesome questions and brings up relevant issues. Def check her blog out!
7- My buddy and fellow yogi/ meditation friend's blog - Cave Drawings from the iAge truly creative and fun as he explains life through drawings! He also has this other awesome blog where he posts, pictures, poetry and thoughts: The Rambling of a Wandering Mind
8- Deepti's Travel Blog: Backpacks and Bootstraps about when she traveled and hopefully she will post more travel stories.
9- Another friend, Shakti's blog Awakening the Lotus Eater she ponders life, thoughts and it gives one a different perspective
10- Swagata's foodie blog - Foodie's World She writes about food, sometiems recipes, or just how eating is different in different places!
11- A spirituality blog on eastern philosophy and literature I like to follow - Spirituality and Us
11 Questions for these lovely writers:
1- Why do you blog?
2- If you could reincarnate as anyone in the history of this world including present times, who would it be and why?
3- What is one vegetarian dish you like and please share the recipe?
4- What are your thoughts on non-violence, impermanence, health and love?
5- What is your biggest/ greatest accomplishment till date and why?
6- What are your top 5 favorite books and why you recommend reading them?
7- How or what would you suggest to help enhance/ improve education in your country and why?
8- Do you think Yoga and meditation is something that should be taught more widespread?
9- What advice would you give me - writer to writer regarding this blog, or fiction writing?
10- If you could change one thing about yourself whether it is physical, personality, mental, what would it be and why?
11- If you could change one thing about the world what would it be, and why?
Thanks so much everyone!
Breathe
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Painting with My Fingers
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| Pick up a book! |
The spark of creativity
Thus unfolds
The innocence and naivete
That imagination often holds.
To frolic and dance,
To paint trees and mountains,
To play with unicorns perchance,
And to swim under magical fountains...
From my mind
To the paper or screen,
Do my fingers tap dance, in kind,
To make what never was, to have always been.
That spark of creativity,
Awakens my mind,
In my heart an raging energy,
With words giving vision to the blind.
Tingles in my fingers
Longing to paint and dance on paper with a pen,
Creating amazing imagery, and stories that linger,
Tales of fantasy, fright, women warriors and loyal men...
This spark of creative energy
What will I create today?
Where will I travel?
Who will I meet? What adventures will I embark on?
Will you share them with me...?
-Breathe-
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| Falling Water's reading room... |
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Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Re-post: The Importance of Reading
A sweet friend of mine re-posted this article, which of course I loved It emphasizes the importance of reading fiction in a world of cell phones, movies and video games. My favorite line "Albert Einstein was asked once how we could make our children intelligent. His reply was both simple and wise. "If you want your children to be intelligent," he said, "read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales." He understood the value of reading, and of imagining. I hope we can give our children a world in which they will read, and be read to, and imagine, and understand."
Neil Gaiman: Why our future depends on libraries, reading and daydreamingA lecture explaining why using our imaginations, and providing for others to use theirs, is an obligation for all citizens
It's important for people to tell you what side they are on and why, and whether they might be biased. A declaration of members' interests, of a sort. So, I am going to be talking to you about reading. I'm going to tell you that libraries are important. I'm going to suggest that reading fiction, that reading for pleasure, is one of the most important things one can do. I'm going to make an impassioned plea for people to understand what libraries and librarians are, and to preserve both of these things.
And I am biased, obviously and enormously: I'm an author, often an author of fiction. I write for children and for adults. For about 30 years I have been earning my living though my words, mostly by making things up and writing them down. It is obviously in my interest for people to read, for them to read fiction, for libraries and librarians to exist and help foster a love of reading and places in which reading can occur.
So I'm biased as a writer. But I am much, much more biased as a reader. And I am even more biased as a British citizen. And I'm here giving this talk tonight, under the auspices of the Reading Agency: a charity whose mission is to give everyone an equal chance in life by helping people become confident and enthusiastic readers. Which supports literacy programs, and libraries and individuals and nakedly and wantonly encourages the act of reading. Because, they tell us, everything changes when we read. And it's that change, and that act of reading that I'm here to talk about tonight. I want to talk about what reading does.
What it's good for. I was once in New York, and I listened to a talk about the building of private prisons – a huge growth industry in America. The prison industry needs to plan its future growth – how many cells are they going to need? How many prisoners are there going to be, 15 years from now? And they found they could predict it very easily, using a pretty simple algorithm, based on asking what percentage of 10 and 11-year-olds couldn't read. And certainly couldn't read for pleasure. It's not one to one: you can't say that a literate society has no criminality. But there are very real correlations. And I think some of those correlations, the simplest, come from something very simple.
Literate people read fiction. Fiction has two uses. Firstly, it's a gateway drug to reading. The drive to know what happens next, to want to turn the page, the need to keep going, even if it's hard, because someone's in trouble and you have to know how it's all going to end … that's a very real drive. And it forces you to learn new words, to think new thoughts, to keep going. To discover that reading per se is pleasurable. Once you learn that, you're on the road to reading everything. And reading is key.
There were noises made briefly, a few years ago, about the idea that we were living in a post-literate world, in which the ability to make sense out of written words was somehow redundant, but those days are gone: words are more important than they ever were: we navigate the world with words, and as the world slips onto the web, we need to follow, to communicate and to comprehend what we are reading. People who cannot understand each other cannot exchange ideas, cannot communicate, and translation programs only go so far. The simplest way to make sure that we raise literate children is to teach them to read, and to show them that reading is a pleasurable activity. And that means, at its simplest, finding books that they enjoy, giving them access to those books, and letting them read them.
I don't think there is such a thing as a bad book for children. Every now and again it becomes fashionable among some adults to point at a subset of children's books, a genre, perhaps, or an author, and to declare them bad books, books that children should be stopped from reading. I've seen it happen over and over; Enid Blyton was declared a bad author, so was RL Stine, so were dozens of others. Comics have been decried as fostering illiteracy. It's tosh. It's snobbery and it's foolishness. There are no bad authors for children, that children like and want to read and seek out, because every child is different. They can find the stories they need to, and they bring themselves to stories. A hackneyed, worn-out idea isn't hackneyed and worn out to them. This is the first time the child has encountered it. Do not discourage children from reading because you feel they are reading the wrong thing. Fiction you do not like is a route to other books you may prefer. And not everyone has the same taste as you. Well-meaning adults can easily destroy a child's love of reading: stop them reading what they enjoy, or give them worthy-but-dull books that you like, the 21st-century equivalents of Victorian "improving" literature. You'll wind up with a generation convinced that reading is uncool and worse, unpleasant.
We need our children to get onto the reading ladder: anything that they enjoy reading will move them up, rung by rung, into literacy. (Also, do not do what this author did when his 11-year-old daughter was into RL Stine, which is to go and get a copy of Stephen King's Carrie, saying if you liked those you'll love this! Holly read nothing but safe stories of settlers on prairies for the rest of her teenage years, and still glares at me when Stephen King's name is mentioned.) And the second thing fiction does is to build empathy. When you watch TV or see a film, you are looking at things happening to other people. Prose fiction is something you build up from 26 letters and a handful of punctuation marks, and you, and you alone, using your imagination, create a world and people it and look out through other eyes. You get to feel things, visit places and worlds you would never otherwise know. You learn that everyone else out there is a me, as well. You're being someone else, and when you return to your own world, you're going to be slightly changed. Empathy is a tool for building people into groups, for allowing us to function as more than self-obsessed individuals. You're also finding out something as you read vitally important for making your way in the world. And it's this: The world doesn't have to be like this. Things can be different.
I was in China in 2007, at the first party-approved science fiction and fantasy convention in Chinese history. And at one point I took a top official aside and asked him Why? SF had been disapproved of for a long time. What had changed? It's simple, he told me. The Chinese were brilliant at making things if other people brought them the plans. But they did not innovate and they did not invent. They did not imagine. So they sent a delegation to the US, to Apple, to Microsoft, to Google, and they asked the people there who were inventing the future about themselves. And they found that all of them had read science fiction when they were boys or girls.
Fiction can show you a different world. It can take you somewhere you've never been. Once you've visited other worlds, like those who ate fairy fruit, you can never be entirely content with the world that you grew up in. Discontent is a good thing: discontented people can modify and improve their worlds, leave them better, leave them different. And while we're on the subject, I'd like to say a few words about escapism. I hear the term bandied about as if it's a bad thing. As if "escapist" fiction is a cheap opiate used by the muddled and the foolish and the deluded, and the only fiction that is worthy, for adults or for children, is mimetic fiction, mirroring the worst of the world the reader finds herself in. If you were trapped in an impossible situation, in an unpleasant place, with people who meant you ill, and someone offered you a temporary escape, why wouldn't you take it? And escapist fiction is just that: fiction that opens a door, shows the sunlight outside, gives you a place to go where you are in control, are with people you want to be with(and books are real places, make no mistake about that); and more importantly, during your escape, books can also give you knowledge about the world and your predicament, give you weapons, give you armour: real things you can take back into your prison. Skills and knowledge and tools you can use to escape for real. As JRR Tolkien reminded us, the only people who inveigh against escape are jailers.
Another way to destroy a child's love of reading, of course, is to make sure there are no books of any kind around. And to give them nowhere to read those books. I was lucky. I had an excellent local library growing up. I had the kind of parents who could be persuaded to drop me off in the library on their way to work in summer holidays, and the kind of librarians who did not mind a small, unaccompanied boy heading back into the children's library every morning and working his way through the card catalogue, looking for books with ghosts or magic or rockets in them, looking for vampires or detectives or witches or wonders. And when I had finished reading the children's' library I began on the adult books. They were good librarians. They liked books and they liked the books being read. They taught me how to order books from other libraries on inter-library loans. They had no snobbery about anything I read. They just seemed to like that there was this wide-eyed little boy who loved to read, and would talk to me about the books I was reading, they would find me other books in a series, they would help. They treated me as another reader – nothing less or more – which meant they treated me with respect. I was not used to being treated with respect as an eight-year-old. But libraries are about freedom.
Freedom to read, freedom of ideas, freedom of communication. They are about education (which is not a process that finishes the day we leave school or university), about entertainment, about making safe spaces, and about access to information. I worry that here in the 21st century people misunderstand what libraries are and the purpose of them. If you perceive a library as a shelf of books, it may seem antiquated or outdated in a world in which most, but not all, books in print exist digitally. But that is to miss the point fundamentally. I think it has to do with nature of information. Information has value, and the right information has enormous value.
For all of human history, we have lived in a time of information scarcity, and having the needed information was always important, and always worth something: when to plant crops, where to find things, maps and histories and stories – they were always good for a meal and company. Information was a valuable thing, and those who had it or could obtain it could charge for that service. In the last few years, we've moved from an information-scarce economy to one driven by an information glut. According to Eric Schmidt of Google, every two days now the human race creates as much information as we did from the dawn of civilisation until 2003. That's about five exobytes of data a day, for those of you keeping score. The challenge becomes, not finding that scarce plant growing in the desert, but finding a specific plant growing in a jungle. We are going to need help navigating that information to find the thing we actually need. Libraries are places that people go to for information. Books are only the tip of the information iceberg: they are there, and libraries can provide you freely and legally with books.
More children are borrowing books from libraries than ever before – books of all kinds: paper and digital and audio. But libraries are also, for example, places that people, who may not have computers, who may not have internet connections, can go online without paying anything: hugely important when the way you find out about jobs, apply for jobs or apply for benefits is increasingly migrating exclusively online. Librarians can help these people navigate that world. I do not believe that all books will or should migrate onto screens: as Douglas Adams once pointed out to me, more than 20 years before the Kindle turned up, a physical book is like a shark.
Sharks are old: there were sharks in the ocean before the dinosaurs. And the reason there are still sharks around is that sharks are better at being sharks than anything else is. Physical books are tough, hard to destroy, bath-resistant, solar-operated, feel good in your hand: they are good at being books, and there will always be a place for them. They belong in libraries, just as libraries have already become places you can go to get access to ebooks, and audiobooks and DVDs and web content.
A library is a place that is a repository of information and gives every citizen equal access to it.
That includes health information. And mental health information.
It's a community space. It's a place of safety, a haven from the world.
It's a place with librarians in it.
What the libraries of the future will be like is something we should be imagining now. Literacy is more important than ever it was, in this world of text and email, a world of written information. We need to read and write, we need global citizens who can read comfortably, comprehend what they are reading, understand nuance, and make themselves understood.
Libraries really are the gates to the future. So it is unfortunate that, round the world, we observe local authorities seizing the opportunity to close libraries as an easy way to save money, without realising that they are stealing from the future to pay for today. They are closing the gates that should be open. According to a recent study by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, England is the "only country where the oldest age group has higher proficiency in both literacy and numeracy than the youngest group, after other factors, such as gender, socio-economic backgrounds and type of occupations are taken into account". Or to put it another way, our children and our grandchildren are less literate and less numerate than we are. They are less able to navigate the world, to understand it to solve problems. They can be more easily lied to and misled, will be less able to change the world in which they find themselves, be less employable. All of these things. And as a country, England will fall behind other developed nations because it will lack a skilled workforce. Books are the way that we communicate with the dead. The way that we learn lessons from those who are no longer with us, that humanity has built on itself, progressed, made knowledge incremental rather than something that has to be relearned, over and over.
There are tales that are older than most countries, tales that have long outlasted the cultures and the buildings in which they were first told. I think we have responsibilities to the future. Responsibilities and obligations to children, to the adults those children will become, to the world they will find themselves inhabiting. All of us – as readers, as writers, as citizens – have obligations. I thought I'd try and spell out some of these obligations here. I believe we have an obligation to read for pleasure, in private and in public places. If we read for pleasure, if others see us reading, then we learn, we exercise our imaginations. We show others that reading is a good thing. We have an obligation to support libraries. To use libraries, to encourage others to use libraries, to protest the closure of libraries. If you do not value libraries then you do not value information or culture or wisdom. You are silencing the voices of the past and you are damaging the future. We have an obligation to read aloud to our children. To read them things they enjoy. To read to them stories we are already tired of. To do the voices, to make it interesting, and not to stop reading to them just because they learn to read to themselves. Use reading-aloud time as bonding time, as time when no phones are being checked, when the distractions of the world are put aside.
We have an obligation to use the language.
To push ourselves: to find out what words mean and how to deploy them, to communicate clearly, to say what we mean.
We must not to attempt to freeze language, or to pretend it is a dead thing that must be revered, but we should use it as a living thing, that flows, that borrows words, that allows meanings and pronunciations to change with time. We writers – and especially writers for children, but all writers – have an obligation to our readers: it's the obligation to write true things, especially important when we are creating tales of people who do not exist in places that never were – to understand that truth is not in what happens but what it tells us about who we are.
Fiction is the lie that tells the truth, after all. We have an obligation not to bore our readers, but to make them need to turn the pages. One of the best cures for a reluctant reader, after all, is a tale they cannot stop themselves from reading. And while we must tell our readers true things and give them weapons and give them armour and pass on whatever wisdom we have gleaned from our short stay on this green world, we have an obligation not to preach, not to lecture, not to force predigested morals and messages down our readers' throats like adult birds feeding their babies pre-masticated maggots; and we have an obligation never, ever, under any circumstances, to write anything for children that we would not want to read ourselves. We have an obligation to understand and to acknowledge that as writers for children we are doing important work, because if we mess it up and write dull books that turn children away from reading and from books, we 've lessened our own future and diminished theirs. We all – adults and children, writers and readers – have an obligation to daydream. We have an obligation to imagine. It is easy to pretend that nobody can change anything, that we are in a world in which society is huge and the individual is less than nothing: an atom in a wall, a grain of rice in a rice field. But the truth is, individuals change their world over and over, individuals make the future, and they do it by imagining that things can be different.
Look around you: I mean it. Pause, for a moment and look around the room that you are in. I'm going to point out something so obvious that it tends to be forgotten. It's this: that everything you can see, including the walls, was, at some point, imagined. Someone decided it was easier to sit on a chair than on the ground and imagined the chair. Someone had to imagine a way that I could talk to you in London right now without us all getting rained on.This room and the things in it, and all the other things in this building, this city, exist because, over and over and over, people imagined things. We have an obligation to make things beautiful. Not to leave the world uglier than we found it, not to empty the oceans, not to leave our problems for the next generation. We have an obligation to clean up after ourselves, and not leave our children with a world we've shortsightedly messed up, shortchanged, and crippled. We have an obligation to tell our politicians what we want, to vote against politicians of whatever party who do not understand the value of reading in creating worthwhile citizens, who do not want to act to preserve and protect knowledge and encourage literacy.
This is not a matter of party politics. This is a matter of common humanity.
Albert Einstein was asked once how we could make our children intelligent. His reply was both simple and wise. "If you want your children to be intelligent," he said, "read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales." He understood the value of reading, and of imagining. I hope we can give our children a world in which they will read, and be read to, and imagine, and understand.
Found In A Raincoat
You are a Goddess!
The best conversations happen where cell phones have no power.
The outdoors can soothe a cranky mood, a hectic day, a restless heart.
Stars, Maps, Instincts... What do you follow?
The answer to "Ready"? Is always "yes".
Journeys are more interesting than destinations.
Thank you awesome raincoat making company for giving me more than just a raincoat, but something to have adventures in and inspiration.
Breathe
The best conversations happen where cell phones have no power.
The outdoors can soothe a cranky mood, a hectic day, a restless heart.
Stars, Maps, Instincts... What do you follow?
The answer to "Ready"? Is always "yes".
Journeys are more interesting than destinations.
Thank you awesome raincoat making company for giving me more than just a raincoat, but something to have adventures in and inspiration.
Breathe
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| My Raincoat fits into it's own pocket! |
Hiatus
I am giving my time and energy to writing my novel, so it's really sucking up my creative energies.
However I will definitely post something new every now and then!
lots of love and sunshine
Breathe!
Thursday, August 15, 2013
Story of a Blogger Blogging
5 years of blogging, and this year is the year I have written the most number of blogs. The year isn't even done yet. I began this blog for many reasons, mostly to encourage myself to write, write often, make writing a habit, and not to be afraid of criticism. It inspired and led to much more.
Now I am looking to make a change... rename the blog maybe, change the design. I love using blogger though... it's nice. I'd love ideas and suggestions. It would take place over a period of time though, so much going on. Also I plan to start writing my book soon, so my blogging will slow down a lot. At least that's the plan.
Stitch, Shudder, and the A song of Ice and Fire series has really helped motivate and inspire me to do my own work. Take that leap of faith, stop all other distractions, do my thing and write. I am very excited about this. My world is transforming to bring everyone this story... and I am excited to take all my readers there.
A little bit about my book idea: based in Ohio, strong female lead,and a very mysterious, supernatural, horror/thriller and dark plot! Maybe even a bit macabre. That's all I can say right now!
I am excited, because fall and fall adventures, will help inspire and set the tone.
Remember:
Winter is coming!
Breathe
Now I am looking to make a change... rename the blog maybe, change the design. I love using blogger though... it's nice. I'd love ideas and suggestions. It would take place over a period of time though, so much going on. Also I plan to start writing my book soon, so my blogging will slow down a lot. At least that's the plan.
Stitch, Shudder, and the A song of Ice and Fire series has really helped motivate and inspire me to do my own work. Take that leap of faith, stop all other distractions, do my thing and write. I am very excited about this. My world is transforming to bring everyone this story... and I am excited to take all my readers there.
A little bit about my book idea: based in Ohio, strong female lead,and a very mysterious, supernatural, horror/thriller and dark plot! Maybe even a bit macabre. That's all I can say right now!
I am excited, because fall and fall adventures, will help inspire and set the tone.
Remember:
Winter is coming!
Breathe
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Meaningful Snail Mail
2013 hmm... Facebook... hmm... Social networking... emails... friendships....
Checking my inbox and I see spam. Checking my mailbox I see spam fliers! Once upon a time I would get letters from friends, and then later when times changed, I did receive actual emails from friends. Recently this has become very rare. I mostly use email for work, or for buying stuff. When was the last time a friend sent you a long meaningful email? My sis and I have a gratitude email we send out each day. Everyone adds a short list of what they are grateful for that moment, that day. It keeps us focused on the positive.
Another thing I do is, I try to spark some meaningful emails among few friends, but with texting, facebook, twitter, whatsapp, email, etc. etc. No meaningful interactions are really made, or it is more rare. This just saddens me because I love meaningful conversations, I love good laughs with friends near and far. I treat each day like not a moment has past since we last met. Sometimes I get a reply, sometimes a few follow up emails... but then it dies down from one-side or the other.
This year many of my friends listed "keeping in touch with friends, better/ more often" as their new year's resolution. Does this mean you touch base with them once a year? Twice a year? Quarterly? Monthly? Weekly? I'm not saying we must all have a meaningful dialogue every second... but truly what IS the meaning of life without good friends to connect or re-connect with? I will be crude here: you are doing the same shit on a different day, day after day, whether it is work, partying, drinking, gym-ing, reading, watching t.v., doing hobbies... Or maybe you do not seek meaning in life. :-P Maybe you are already connected with friends in a meaningful way and in that case this isn't for you.
I have a dear friend here in Ohio. We live 20-30 minutes apart, however work, schedules, and sometimes weather keep us from hanging out. When we do hang out, it is deep, connecting, bonding time. We are honest with each other when we cancel plans; whether it is low on cash, or 'Hey i am sorry i double booked, please forgive me! but I planned with Becky before you' or 'something else came up' or 'I'm going to blow off our yoga time cause the guy I had a crush on finally asked me out!' or 'I just don't feel like driving', or 'I really just don't feel like it, can we reschedule?'. Being honest works, because you are being honest to yourself and to your friend. It brings you closer, plus friends are understanding and supportive of each other. Most of us can tell when a friend is being flaky, or when their excuse is really a "white lie" covering up for their 'I just don't feel like it'. Honesty increases respect for each other. try it sometimes! My point was that although being in the same state, neighboring cities, should not be an excuse for not hanging out. Same thing, don't forget to try to give your friend a call, or shoot them an email, or reply to their text. Sometimes life happens, it can get in the way, but like my friend and I, we make it a point to hang out, and make things we do together memorable, meaningful and most of all a type of fun we both enjoy! I wish we did it more often.
So, when you make that new years resolution to keep in touch with your friends, set some goals out, just like you would do if you were going to lose weight by eating healthy and working out more. Take this as serious. Who are your good friends? Who are friends that consider you a good friend but you haven't given them a shot at friendship, maybe try this time? How often will you keep in touch? Method of communication which is good for both of you? What are the new major developments in the person's life to keep track of? Remember to pace yourself because you can get stretched too thin.
Honestly, being a good friend comes naturally to some, but not to all. I noticed when reconnecting with friends they had significant others, husbands/wives/partners, and some even have children now! It's hard to keep track of names. So I try to remember by writing their names down together. I feel bad when I call a dear friend and I say "oh and how's the husband?" I want to be able to say their names. I don't know about some of you, but I do take friendship seriously.
Another facebook trend is a status message that says - 'this year I am practicing giving (or something to that effect), and the first 5 to comment on my status will receive something from me. Now please post this on your wall.' Last year I started writing letters to people I hadn't talked to in a long while. I reflected on our friendship, and wrote to them short notes, a card, a drawing, a long letter... It was one of the tasks to be done in the book/ course 'The Artist's Way'. So a bunch of people got letters, some replied, some emailed, some texted or called. I actually did not expect anything! However remember getting a letter in the mail from a friend? It's better than getting something from Amazon in the mail. It's a part of your friend, but on paper, just for you... written from the heart.
Now we type emails, it's faster, but how many do we really put effort into? Is the heart of your email inbox empty? Is it craving meaningful connection?
Let's catch up!
Breathe!
Checking my inbox and I see spam. Checking my mailbox I see spam fliers! Once upon a time I would get letters from friends, and then later when times changed, I did receive actual emails from friends. Recently this has become very rare. I mostly use email for work, or for buying stuff. When was the last time a friend sent you a long meaningful email? My sis and I have a gratitude email we send out each day. Everyone adds a short list of what they are grateful for that moment, that day. It keeps us focused on the positive.
Another thing I do is, I try to spark some meaningful emails among few friends, but with texting, facebook, twitter, whatsapp, email, etc. etc. No meaningful interactions are really made, or it is more rare. This just saddens me because I love meaningful conversations, I love good laughs with friends near and far. I treat each day like not a moment has past since we last met. Sometimes I get a reply, sometimes a few follow up emails... but then it dies down from one-side or the other.
This year many of my friends listed "keeping in touch with friends, better/ more often" as their new year's resolution. Does this mean you touch base with them once a year? Twice a year? Quarterly? Monthly? Weekly? I'm not saying we must all have a meaningful dialogue every second... but truly what IS the meaning of life without good friends to connect or re-connect with? I will be crude here: you are doing the same shit on a different day, day after day, whether it is work, partying, drinking, gym-ing, reading, watching t.v., doing hobbies... Or maybe you do not seek meaning in life. :-P Maybe you are already connected with friends in a meaningful way and in that case this isn't for you.
I have a dear friend here in Ohio. We live 20-30 minutes apart, however work, schedules, and sometimes weather keep us from hanging out. When we do hang out, it is deep, connecting, bonding time. We are honest with each other when we cancel plans; whether it is low on cash, or 'Hey i am sorry i double booked, please forgive me! but I planned with Becky before you' or 'something else came up' or 'I'm going to blow off our yoga time cause the guy I had a crush on finally asked me out!' or 'I just don't feel like driving', or 'I really just don't feel like it, can we reschedule?'. Being honest works, because you are being honest to yourself and to your friend. It brings you closer, plus friends are understanding and supportive of each other. Most of us can tell when a friend is being flaky, or when their excuse is really a "white lie" covering up for their 'I just don't feel like it'. Honesty increases respect for each other. try it sometimes! My point was that although being in the same state, neighboring cities, should not be an excuse for not hanging out. Same thing, don't forget to try to give your friend a call, or shoot them an email, or reply to their text. Sometimes life happens, it can get in the way, but like my friend and I, we make it a point to hang out, and make things we do together memorable, meaningful and most of all a type of fun we both enjoy! I wish we did it more often.
So, when you make that new years resolution to keep in touch with your friends, set some goals out, just like you would do if you were going to lose weight by eating healthy and working out more. Take this as serious. Who are your good friends? Who are friends that consider you a good friend but you haven't given them a shot at friendship, maybe try this time? How often will you keep in touch? Method of communication which is good for both of you? What are the new major developments in the person's life to keep track of? Remember to pace yourself because you can get stretched too thin.
Honestly, being a good friend comes naturally to some, but not to all. I noticed when reconnecting with friends they had significant others, husbands/wives/partners, and some even have children now! It's hard to keep track of names. So I try to remember by writing their names down together. I feel bad when I call a dear friend and I say "oh and how's the husband?" I want to be able to say their names. I don't know about some of you, but I do take friendship seriously.
Another facebook trend is a status message that says - 'this year I am practicing giving (or something to that effect), and the first 5 to comment on my status will receive something from me. Now please post this on your wall.' Last year I started writing letters to people I hadn't talked to in a long while. I reflected on our friendship, and wrote to them short notes, a card, a drawing, a long letter... It was one of the tasks to be done in the book/ course 'The Artist's Way'. So a bunch of people got letters, some replied, some emailed, some texted or called. I actually did not expect anything! However remember getting a letter in the mail from a friend? It's better than getting something from Amazon in the mail. It's a part of your friend, but on paper, just for you... written from the heart.
Now we type emails, it's faster, but how many do we really put effort into? Is the heart of your email inbox empty? Is it craving meaningful connection?
Let's catch up!
Breathe!
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| Lovely Letter from my friend Trina |
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| Other letters I received from friends! |
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| Wrote one to Ryan! |
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| A letter to my sister! |
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| A card for a friend! |
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| A picture card from Mandy and David! |
Wednesday, October 03, 2012
Power of Fiction
Have you ever want to escape from your reality and go somewhere else, where what you do makes a difference? Where you are on an epic adventure in far off lands battling a beast that threatens all of your kind? Ever wish this mundane life was more than it is?
I have.
...and I wish it were all so more often than not. Someone once said to me "you're an escapist".
So I am! I can go to lovely places just by closing my eyes. I go on amazing adventures, I save the world from epic disasters, I can fly, I can travel between universes, I have met the creator.
I'm driving down the road, and suddenly I hear "May it Be" by Enya. I am immediately transported to Middle Earth, the gas station turns into an evil base camp of the orcs of Mordor, the trees are the sign that there are ent kind and the Lorien elves near by. I am safe for now. I journey on, and I reach a destination, only to find Urukhai have invaded my camp site and my friends are all missing. The Misty Mountains are far off in the distance, and the Shire, far beyond that. It's too late to think of turning back and going home. I lose hope. What would Samwise do? What would Gandalf say? How would Aragorn approach this situation? They are all a part of me and I learn through their characters, their stories.
Since the Hobbit is being released soon, Ryan and I have been listening to "The Hobbit" on audiobook. Every time we drive somewhere we are transported to the Shire; the tunnels beneath the Misty Mountains where we faced nasty goblins and riddled with Golem; The Mirkwood forest where we battled large gross spiders; The mountain top on which Smaug lives... We're almost near the end of our adventures, but deep inside we don't want it to end. Luckily for us, there are three more audiobooks, the Silmarillion and other works by JRR Tolkien. After reading the book, we will hope the movie can live up to this amazing adventure we just experienced!
Perhaps my ability to imagine fiction and make it so real to me is an skill only I have? I really hope more people can imagine like I do. It's an awesome thing. For a while I stopped, I felt ashamed of being an escapist, embarrassed that my mind could go from being a 30 year old to a 5 year old in less than a second. I enjoy being able to see things no one else can see, I am glad I can still experience books like children can. The Wind in the Willows, Last Fairy, Charlotte's Web, The Incredible Journey, Where the Red Ferns Grow, Call of the Wild, The tale of Benjamin Bunny, Enid Blyton Books, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Xanth series ... there are just some of these took me on adventures, met lovely people, and went to different lands.
Maybe I should do book reviews for those of you that like to escape, that enjoy the occasional fantasy world, the epic adventure, interactions with talking animals! Join me in these world's and let us play there for a while, and bring that experience to the real world.
Breathe... Imagine!
I have.
...and I wish it were all so more often than not. Someone once said to me "you're an escapist".
So I am! I can go to lovely places just by closing my eyes. I go on amazing adventures, I save the world from epic disasters, I can fly, I can travel between universes, I have met the creator.
I'm driving down the road, and suddenly I hear "May it Be" by Enya. I am immediately transported to Middle Earth, the gas station turns into an evil base camp of the orcs of Mordor, the trees are the sign that there are ent kind and the Lorien elves near by. I am safe for now. I journey on, and I reach a destination, only to find Urukhai have invaded my camp site and my friends are all missing. The Misty Mountains are far off in the distance, and the Shire, far beyond that. It's too late to think of turning back and going home. I lose hope. What would Samwise do? What would Gandalf say? How would Aragorn approach this situation? They are all a part of me and I learn through their characters, their stories.
Since the Hobbit is being released soon, Ryan and I have been listening to "The Hobbit" on audiobook. Every time we drive somewhere we are transported to the Shire; the tunnels beneath the Misty Mountains where we faced nasty goblins and riddled with Golem; The Mirkwood forest where we battled large gross spiders; The mountain top on which Smaug lives... We're almost near the end of our adventures, but deep inside we don't want it to end. Luckily for us, there are three more audiobooks, the Silmarillion and other works by JRR Tolkien. After reading the book, we will hope the movie can live up to this amazing adventure we just experienced!
Perhaps my ability to imagine fiction and make it so real to me is an skill only I have? I really hope more people can imagine like I do. It's an awesome thing. For a while I stopped, I felt ashamed of being an escapist, embarrassed that my mind could go from being a 30 year old to a 5 year old in less than a second. I enjoy being able to see things no one else can see, I am glad I can still experience books like children can. The Wind in the Willows, Last Fairy, Charlotte's Web, The Incredible Journey, Where the Red Ferns Grow, Call of the Wild, The tale of Benjamin Bunny, Enid Blyton Books, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Xanth series ... there are just some of these took me on adventures, met lovely people, and went to different lands.
Maybe I should do book reviews for those of you that like to escape, that enjoy the occasional fantasy world, the epic adventure, interactions with talking animals! Join me in these world's and let us play there for a while, and bring that experience to the real world.
Breathe... Imagine!
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| My sis and I could never figure out the hat |
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| What did the house which was tucked into the roots of a tree look like! |
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| Caras Galadhon |
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| Caras Galadhon in Lothlorien |
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| This was a lovely depiction of Caras Galadhon as well |
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| Ivy Bush inn in the Shire, in Lord of the Rings Online (the MMORPG) |
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| The Last Fairy by Fred Hancock |
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| I love maps in books! Even maps / layouts of ships! |
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| I remember reading this exact copy... Javis (the queen) looks so manly! |
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| Love these books! |
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| almost forgot about Nancy Drew and the Hardy boys! |
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| My sister would remember this story we heard over and over again! |
Monday, September 17, 2012
I am a Writer
I write. I have always written. In fact perhaps writing is my best form of communication. It is the only time my brain slows down and my fingers can keep up. So I am a writer, it is in my blood. My family is full of writers, musicians... artists in general. Somewhere a long the line the values were misplaced and we began focusing on the other art of science, law, business and such. I am a writer and will write.
I am writing a book and it is harder than I ever imagined... just as much as any work is, creating takes a lot of energy. It's giving birth to an idea, image, concept, a story...
The reason I write this short note, is to say your comments and feedback are what have kept me going. It has helped me realize and appreciate my own talent and helped me act upon my calling. Finally. So thank you, and keep the comments coming. Thank you so much. I hope my writing pleases you as much as it heals me!
Breathe
I am writing a book and it is harder than I ever imagined... just as much as any work is, creating takes a lot of energy. It's giving birth to an idea, image, concept, a story...
The reason I write this short note, is to say your comments and feedback are what have kept me going. It has helped me realize and appreciate my own talent and helped me act upon my calling. Finally. So thank you, and keep the comments coming. Thank you so much. I hope my writing pleases you as much as it heals me!
Breathe
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Creating: Music, Lyrics, Writing
Once the fire of creativity makes its way through your veins and nerves and senses...
it's hard to make it stop. It is hard to go back to being a machine.
You're on bursting with ideas, potential, and it flows through you.
You can feel more, hear more, sense more, taste more...
Appreciate more
And then you meet the brick in the wall.
You can't make them see your light, your spirit; they are stuck.
Once you set a spark of creativity and imagination on to them, however you do it might be tricky...
It will slowly carve it's way through them... if left un-nourished it may diminish once again. So keep the fire of life, imagination, creativity burning.
Some of us get jaded, and like a smoothed rock we sit. We have become passive and complacent. We forget how to fight. Life threw too many difficult hurdles our way, too many loses, too many defeats. The bar was set too high, or the road was too long and winded. The task was too complex and difficult, we lost the battle of the wits. We gave up. Where did the fire go?
Like the Olympic flame, like the Olympians, we can not let that hope fade away.... If we fall, we get up, in time. We must learn from these creatures... and keep trying till we perfect ourselves. Not get distracted by the shiny objects that are there to throw us off the balance beam, not slow down to give into some temptation, not err just because we made a small mistake previously.
We can get back up. We can feel renewed, stand up, and start imagining; then creating.... then actualizing, achieving.
I once asked a very famous Indian music composer and a very famous Indian lyricist, "how do you know which song to put to this tune or that tune?" It is the strangest stupidest question ever however I now know the answer. And to those of you who didn't understand my question, I meant to ask when writing lyrics, how do you figure out what tune to put it to? And when writing a piece of music how do you know what lyrics to put to it. That is for the artist to decide. I know now the secret to this special ability. I won't forget their quizzical faces, or the music producer's reaction!
Breathe!
it's hard to make it stop. It is hard to go back to being a machine.
You're on bursting with ideas, potential, and it flows through you.
You can feel more, hear more, sense more, taste more...
Appreciate more
And then you meet the brick in the wall.
You can't make them see your light, your spirit; they are stuck.
Once you set a spark of creativity and imagination on to them, however you do it might be tricky...
It will slowly carve it's way through them... if left un-nourished it may diminish once again. So keep the fire of life, imagination, creativity burning.
Some of us get jaded, and like a smoothed rock we sit. We have become passive and complacent. We forget how to fight. Life threw too many difficult hurdles our way, too many loses, too many defeats. The bar was set too high, or the road was too long and winded. The task was too complex and difficult, we lost the battle of the wits. We gave up. Where did the fire go?
Like the Olympic flame, like the Olympians, we can not let that hope fade away.... If we fall, we get up, in time. We must learn from these creatures... and keep trying till we perfect ourselves. Not get distracted by the shiny objects that are there to throw us off the balance beam, not slow down to give into some temptation, not err just because we made a small mistake previously.
We can get back up. We can feel renewed, stand up, and start imagining; then creating.... then actualizing, achieving.
I once asked a very famous Indian music composer and a very famous Indian lyricist, "how do you know which song to put to this tune or that tune?" It is the strangest stupidest question ever however I now know the answer. And to those of you who didn't understand my question, I meant to ask when writing lyrics, how do you figure out what tune to put it to? And when writing a piece of music how do you know what lyrics to put to it. That is for the artist to decide. I know now the secret to this special ability. I won't forget their quizzical faces, or the music producer's reaction!
Breathe!
The Joys of Reading Blyton
The Famous Five, Secret Seven, The Five Find-Outers, The Adventure Series, The Secret Series, The Adventurous Four, The Barney Mystery Series, St Claire, Mallory Towers, The Wishing -Chair, The Naughtiest Girl, Noddie, The Mistletoe Farm, The Magic Faraway Tree, Book of Brownies... Did this British author brighten our childhood or what!
I don't know which of her books i read first, but I do think it was The Naughtiest Girl is a Monitor and the Wishing Chair. My sister got a few Noddy, the "Book of Brownies", which she got incredibly attached to, Billy-bob Tales, Mister Meddle, Shadow the Sheep Dog, Six O' Clock Tales, The adventures of Scamp, Bimbo and Topsy, The Put-em-Rights, The Train that lost its Way, Snowbell the Pony, Bimbo the Kitten (etc)., and The Mystery that Never Was (and many more). I remember sticking more the adventure and mystery books, along with the school series. However my sis, read all these other magical stories, strangely she never let me read the Magic Faraway Tree, or the Book of Brownies. She did lend me the others, and Bimbo and Topsy led me to name the school cat, "Bimbo-Lion". We would have adventures in school with our school dogs, and plant fake mysteries for us to solve later. It never worked out as Enid did in the book, but we always sought to have such experiences as the Famous Five did!
The first famous five book I read was read out to the class by Chitra Akka. It was the most delightful experience. It was in fact The Famous Five have a Wonderful Time. Where they travel to the countryside, and happen to be camping out on the same field that the circus was camping out on with their caravans. The circus folk were strange but they made friends. Then there was a mystery to solve, a big mystery, obviously involving very important physicists or scientists. The best feeling of the adventure books, was as reading as a child, we would get involved, and the climax would prevent us from putting the book down. After we experience the adventure with the characters, they would settle down for tea and crumpets in the safety of home. The reader as well would be eased out of it, to the safe surroundings, with the sudden taste for tea and crumpets!
Most of all I loved her descriptions. They made everything seem so much more vivid in my imagination. George and Timmy of the Famous five came to life. The Secret Seven club were all well described, and seemed like a group I would be in. I would love to have been friends with Jack from the adventure series, his love for animals always inspired me to adventure and be with animals like he was. St. Claire and Mallory towers made me wish I went to boarding school, and made sleep overs, and school trips so much more fun!
Harry Potter seems to have been this great mix of Magic and these books. The warmth of these books is felt to some extent in the Harry Potter books. Enid Blyton and authors such as her, always made me wish to cozy up in a ball by the fireplace with a rug, hot chocolate in hand on cold an rainy day, to read these books. Maybe I will write such books in the future.
Now as I finally grow up I find out more about my favorite childhood author and her life, books, controversies around the time she wrote them, but these facts don't sway my adoration for her work. My love and lust for adventure, travel, and encouragement to be myself comes from her writing, her characters! I always pictured myself as George, but now I know, there's a Georgina in many of us girls!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enid_Blyton
:-)
Breathe
I don't know which of her books i read first, but I do think it was The Naughtiest Girl is a Monitor and the Wishing Chair. My sister got a few Noddy, the "Book of Brownies", which she got incredibly attached to, Billy-bob Tales, Mister Meddle, Shadow the Sheep Dog, Six O' Clock Tales, The adventures of Scamp, Bimbo and Topsy, The Put-em-Rights, The Train that lost its Way, Snowbell the Pony, Bimbo the Kitten (etc)., and The Mystery that Never Was (and many more). I remember sticking more the adventure and mystery books, along with the school series. However my sis, read all these other magical stories, strangely she never let me read the Magic Faraway Tree, or the Book of Brownies. She did lend me the others, and Bimbo and Topsy led me to name the school cat, "Bimbo-Lion". We would have adventures in school with our school dogs, and plant fake mysteries for us to solve later. It never worked out as Enid did in the book, but we always sought to have such experiences as the Famous Five did!
The first famous five book I read was read out to the class by Chitra Akka. It was the most delightful experience. It was in fact The Famous Five have a Wonderful Time. Where they travel to the countryside, and happen to be camping out on the same field that the circus was camping out on with their caravans. The circus folk were strange but they made friends. Then there was a mystery to solve, a big mystery, obviously involving very important physicists or scientists. The best feeling of the adventure books, was as reading as a child, we would get involved, and the climax would prevent us from putting the book down. After we experience the adventure with the characters, they would settle down for tea and crumpets in the safety of home. The reader as well would be eased out of it, to the safe surroundings, with the sudden taste for tea and crumpets!
Most of all I loved her descriptions. They made everything seem so much more vivid in my imagination. George and Timmy of the Famous five came to life. The Secret Seven club were all well described, and seemed like a group I would be in. I would love to have been friends with Jack from the adventure series, his love for animals always inspired me to adventure and be with animals like he was. St. Claire and Mallory towers made me wish I went to boarding school, and made sleep overs, and school trips so much more fun!
Harry Potter seems to have been this great mix of Magic and these books. The warmth of these books is felt to some extent in the Harry Potter books. Enid Blyton and authors such as her, always made me wish to cozy up in a ball by the fireplace with a rug, hot chocolate in hand on cold an rainy day, to read these books. Maybe I will write such books in the future.
Now as I finally grow up I find out more about my favorite childhood author and her life, books, controversies around the time she wrote them, but these facts don't sway my adoration for her work. My love and lust for adventure, travel, and encouragement to be myself comes from her writing, her characters! I always pictured myself as George, but now I know, there's a Georgina in many of us girls!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enid_Blyton
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| Enid Blyton |
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| The Adventure Series |
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| A rather nice TV show created out of Famous Five... i love the people that played the characters, i thought they did so well! Also the theme song was great- "We are the famous five - Julian, Dick, and Ann, George and Timmy the Dog." |
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| Cover art for the Famous Five |
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| The Books! |
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| Old cover art |
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| Julian, Anne and Dick, the three siblings. George is the cousin and she owns Timmy (the dog). |
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| Here they all are, and some other kid. On their many adventures they would often make friends with locals! |
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| We've all traveled and adventured through caves, tunnels, secret passages with them! |
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| Magic Faraway Tree |
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| this is not the cover which my sister had... but still! |
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| Right, George has her own Island! |
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| The Five Find-Outers ... Everyone loved fatty, I just found him annoying! |
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| Oh Yes! It's a great book! |
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| This was not the cover I had, but Scamp was fun! |
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| Noddy |
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| Love how Snowball is such an ironic name! |
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| I had this very book! |
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| Malory towers |
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| I had this one! |
:-)
Breathe
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