Thank You!
This is my first time participating in the "Oh, How Pinteresting" event at The Vintage Apple. I hope you'll come along, join the fun and do some pinning, repinning and following.
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It’s #FiveMinuteFriday free write time! <—click to tweet this!
Where a flash mob of folks spend five minutes all writing on the same topic and then share ‘em at LisaJoBaker.com.
Words from my five minutes on....
STAY:
Stay.
My eyes fill with tears. Stay. I have been struggling for the last roughly thirty hours. Do I stay or do I go? Do I forgive and build again or do I say, “Enough is enough, you have proven repeatedly you will hurt me over and over and over again. This has been my pattern and if I don’t stop it now, with you, I am afraid I will never be able to stop it. What sort of a model is this for my daughters?”
I think about forgiveness, all those number sevens. I think about turning the other cheek but I think, I don’t have more than two cheeks unless you start counting my butt and I really don’t want to be slapped on my ass any more than absolutely necessary.
Stay.
I had said to myself after this five minute write was over, I would take my sleep helper and lull myself to sleep alongside my children. Send a quick “Goodnight” text and be done with it.
Stay.
How much compassion do I carry?
Does this mean I lay out the carpet of compassion and “let’s be clear about our expectations and not waffle once we are absolutely certain of causes and effects.”
I told him, “I can’t keep getting up and then getting knocked down again. I just can’t do it.”
Stay.
What is God wanting me to “get” from all this?
Last night there were torrents of awful words pouring through my thoughts. I couldn’t say the worst of them because they were too risky to speak. I stayed silent. Stay. Silent?
Stay compassionate?
Stay forgiving?
Stay loving?
“Become a role model for my children in what exact way, God? Would you help me out here, please?”
Stay.
The guidelines for Five Minute Friday -
1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. And
then absolutely, no ifs, ands or buts about it, you need to visit the
person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments.
Seriously. That is, like, the rule. And the fun. And the heart of this
community..
Follow me on Twitter: @juliejordanscot
Be sure to "Like" WritingCampwithJJS on Facebook (THANK YOU!)
© 2012 by Julie Jordan Scott
Julie Jordan Scott has been a Life & Creativity Coach, Writer, Facilitator and Teleclass Leader since 1999. She is also an award winning Actor, Director, Artist and Mother Extraordinaire. She was twice the StoryTelling Slam champion in Bakersfield. She leads Writing Camp with JJS & this Summer will be traveling throughout the US to bring this unique, fun filled creative experience to the people wherever she finds the passion & the interest.
Did you enjoyed this essay? Receive emails directly to your inbox for Free from Julie Jordan Scott via the Daily Passion Activator. One inspirational essay and poem (almost) every week day. Subscribe here now -
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This post is Day Two of the Thanktober Blog Hop. Even if you
are not a part of that experience (and there is still plenty of time to join!)
the power of gratitude changes things, no matter how you practice it.
Today I am so grateful for Dagny’s expansion from a smallish coffee house to a larger coffee house. The extra room made it that much more do-able yesterday… grading papers, papers and more papers but at least I was not alone in the task!
Today I am so grateful for my new Colette necklace-hand created by me! Even though it is temporarily on the *wrong* chain, I still love the outcome. Now I just need to get more supplies now that I know how it is done!
Today I am so grateful for last night’s poetry performance. It was lovely and low key and with my first band-aid free performance in nearly three months due to my melanoma (skin cancer) surgery, I felt truly content the entire time. This is a big shift. I feel it all over my being.
Today I am so grateful I got to spend time with Cameron yesterday.
Today I am so grateful it is Friday. I will get the morning
to myself to create, to write,
to dream, to consider and do some business
planning for the upcoming year. I love Fridays ALMOST as much as I love
Mondays!
What are you grateful for today, beloveds?
Follow me on Twitter: @juliejordanscotBe sure to "Like" WritingCampwithJJS on Facebook (THANK YOU!)
Julie Jordan Scott has been a Life & Creativity Coach, Writer, Facilitator and Teleclass Leader since 1999. She is also an award winning Actor, Director, Artist and Mother Extraordinaire. She was twice the StoryTelling Slam champion in Bakersfield.
Did you enjoy this essay? Receive emails directly to your inbox for Free from Julie Jordan Scott via the Daily Passion Activator. One inspirational essay and poem (almost) every week day. Subscribe here now -
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Today I wanted to go to Los Angeles for a Poetry event that
sounds so
breathtakingly wonderful. I had debated back and forth as I couldn’t
seem to rally any friends here in Bakersfield to go with me, but then I
realized I would probably enjoy it more alone.
I mapped out my plan: a labyrinth at a garden in Pasadena, followed by a Used Book Store Adventure on Spring Street culminating in a two hour poetry/art/music fest in a museum I’ve always wanted to visit including a poet I have admired for years. Read her books, heard about her performances from other well respected poets – I finally convinced myself I was worth making the 120 mile each way journey on my own when I woke up to a car that wouldn’t start.
I pulled my soul collage card – it is one of my favorites: a
clown fish leaping out of a box from what appears to be a high rise filled with
cookie cutter people.
The expression on her face says, “What the hell is going on and how the hell did I get here?” A loan sunflower is attempting to fly up rather than down from her box.
I wrote:
I am one who enjoys making plans and is, most of the time, resilient to the plans breaking up and finding myself free falling into whatever otherness happens to be there.
I am one who is tenacious no matter what the circumstances, and although my face doesn’t necessarily show it, I am perpetually optimistic AND I deserve to admit to disappointment.
I am one who is not like the cookie-cutter masses or even like my closest friends. I am getting better at realizing just because they love me it doesn’t mean they don’t love all my varied activities and even because they don’t love those activities it doesn’t mean they don’t love me.
I am one who is familiar with disappointment and while not excited when it happens, I can leave my box behind… most of the time.
I am one who prefers to hang out with flowers and empty boxes than people who don’t get it. While I enjoy inspiring those “close to breaking free” there are times like these when it is perfectly ok not to want to hang out with people who look at me as if I missed the bus back to whatever institution has charge of me. For those in the know, picture a nineteenth century asylum.
Now I am smiling. I am making plans for a differently shaped day. I am definitely doing coffee at my favorite hang out with a friend who has been out-of-town for the past few seasons. Perhaps I will do some sunset chasing, maybe a ride to somewhere on the outskirts of town to lie on a blanket and look at the stars. Maybe I’ll happily chisel some moments for creative time and maybe even memorizing my monologues in time for my Thursday performance.
What moved me from melancholy to “hey, this isn’t so bad after all”?
It took me to remember who I am underneath the disappointment. I am not the disappointment nor am I the disappointer. I am just me. I sometimes see me better when I stare at my art – in this case a soul collage card, and pull out the trueness of who I am that things like disappointment briefly mask.
It is like Trent Zelazny says, “Life goes different ways for different people. Some people’s lives are formed by a cookie cutter and some are immediately tossed from the kitchen.”
How will you deal with disappointment today, tomorrow and next week?
Follow me on Twitter: @juliejordanscot
Be sure to "Like" WritingCampwithJJS on Facebook (THANK YOU!)
© 2012 by Julie Jordan Scott
This is my seventeenth post (of 31!) for the October Ultimate Blog Challenge.
Watch here for challenge posts which will include Writing Prompts, Writing
Tips and General Life Tips and Essays.
Julie Jordan Scott has been a Life & Creativity Coach, Writer, Facilitator and Teleclass Leader since 1999. She is also an award winning Actor, Director, Artist and Mother Extraordinaire. She was twice the StoryTelling Slam champion in Bakersfield. She leads Writing Camp with JJS & this Summer will be traveling throughout the US to bring this unique, fun filled creative experience to the people wherever she finds the passion & the interest.
Did you enjoyed this essay? Receive emails directly to your inbox for Free from Julie Jordan Scott via the Daily Passion Activator. One inspirational essay and poem (almost) every week day. Subscribe here now -
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I have attempted to sit in my seat and write for an hour
now.
I have written roughly five hundred words which for me is the usual for thirty minutes.
I have been wandering away consistently, though, taking on what I call “short attention span keyboard” and I’m not exactly certain why.
The why doesn’t even matter of course, what matters is what will I do about it with multiple writing projects hanging in the balance, how can I sustain them and my overall happiness with the craft if I don’t stay put and write?
I look up from my desk and see Anais Nin looking down at me.
I see photos of Alice Eastwood, a woman naturalist who was so passionate about her work she astonishes me. Plus I need a hat like she is wearing in the circa 1900 photo. Susan Glaspell is up there as is the work of Charlotte Perkins Gilman and a postcard of a woman levitating above her lawn which my friend sent me because she said it reminded her of me when I write on my porch.
What should I do, wise women, when I am having trouble sitting still to write?
Anais says, “Do something that honors the hunger of your senses,” as she takes a puff on the end of her very long cigarette holder.
Alice says succinctly, “Climb a tree.”
Susan says even more succinctly , “Improvise.”
Charlotte Perkins Gilman says, “Don’t be too rough on yourself. Do what you feel the urge, right now, to do the most.”
I plant my face in my palm.
Charlotte continues, “Obviously in this precise moment, writing isn’t it. You are excused for the next hour. Make some good.”
And with that, I shut down my computer, grabbed my dogs’ leashes and headed out to one of my favorite outdoor haunts very close to my house.
It was a tremendous choice.
The next time you feel completely stuck behind a brick wall of words and think what you SHOULD do is chain yourself to your key board, consult some of the writers you admire the most.
I did use my senses to see, to smell, to feel textures. I took photos, I talked to people I met along the path. I enjoyed my dogs.
I didn’t climb a tree, but I honored and greeted several.
I definitely improvised.
I took a break.
I came back and I wrote.
Try it.
PS – If you are unfamiliar with the writers I mention here, use your favorite search engine and seek information about them. Each is a fantastic woman writer who could teach each of us a lot.
Follow me on Twitter: @juliejordanscot
Be sure to "Like" WritingCampwithJJS on Facebook (THANK YOU!)
© 2012 by Julie Jordan Scott
Julie Jordan Scott has been a Life & Creativity Coach, Writer, Facilitator and Teleclass Leader since 1999. She is also an award winning Actor, Director, Artist and Mother Extraordinaire. She was twice the StoryTelling Slam champion in Bakersfield. She leads Writing Camp with JJS & this Summer will be traveling throughout the US to bring this unique, fun filled creative experience to the people wherever she finds the passion & the interest.
Did you enjoyed this essay? Receive emails directly to your inbox for Free from Julie Jordan Scott via the Daily Passion Activator. One inspirational essay and poem (almost) every week day. Subscribe here now -
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Today's BlogFest2012 prompt comes from Jenny at SoVeryMe. She asked us to write about Autumn Joy. It turned into an awesome growth moment for me. Thank you, Jenny & BlogFest 2012~
Last Summer I had the divine experience of visiting Zion National Park in Southern Utah. Oh, how I wanted to return quickly – in Autumn – to attend a writing and photography workshop. I checked out prices and dates. Everything seemed to click together until that darned biopsy whispered “Melanoma”.
Just this morning, before I read the Blogfest Prompt, I was thinking “How about Yosemite in a couple weeks?” There aren’t any writing courses offered right now, but I could explore on my own, write on my own, and possibly develop some autumn writing courses for next year.
I wanted to go where Autumn lives not with a quiet whispering of sounds but with great gusts of color and passion and shouts of “The season is turning. Enjoy the silence as I change right before your eyes!”
Last year I was able to be in New England in October so I
got my fill. Just last weekend a group of us
ventured to Tehachapi, about 45 minutes away, to pick apples and pumpkins. This was a bit of adventure but again, like a dry creek bed compared to a mighty river of autumn. I appreciated it whole heartedly and gave my "be appreciative of what we DO have" speech as we picked apples in a deserty looking orchard instead of lush, rolling, green hills with tall apple trees.
Bakersfield’s autumn arrives in early December usually and the show isn’t so great, so I think this has clinched it. I am going to go to either Yosemite, Kings or Sequoia National Park on my own, private retreat.
I need it, badly, especially with my surgery and the slower
recovery than I expected, probably because I have consistently pushed myself
even in the early stages and because my energy tends toward the “high, full
steam ahead” my friends haven’t slowed me down, either.
I want to smell the scent of firewood, burning, as I walk outside.
I want to hear the crunch of leaves under my feet as they are cuddled by cushy socks and sturdy walking shoes.
I want to feel the comfort of several layers, including a scarf and hat, to protect me from the cool dusk and night, as I collect some autumn images when the ray of slanted autumnal light hits the Earth, just… like… that.
I want to enjoy silence, allow myself to float into the sacred connection with the planet and with everyone else here, on it, as we share this reflective time together. Even if you aren’t with me, I will send you love and trust you will feel the oranges, reds, crackling ray of gentle light.
Follow me on Twitter: @juliejordanscot
Be sure to "Like" WritingCampwithJJS on Facebook (THANK YOU!)
© 2012 by Julie Jordan Scott
Julie Jordan Scott has been a Life & Creativity Coach, Writer, Facilitator and Teleclass Leader since 1999. She is also an award winning Actor, Director, Artist and Mother Extraordinaire. She was twice the StoryTelling Slam champion in Bakersfield. She leads Writing Camp with JJS & this Summer will be traveling throughout the US to bring this unique, fun filled creative experience to the people wherever she finds the passion & the interest.
Did you enjoyed this essay? Receive emails directly to your inbox for Free from Julie Jordan Scott via the Daily Passion Activator. One inspirational essay and poem (almost) every week day. Subscribe here now -
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Today’s BlogFest2012 Prompt comes from Daphne Palmer Romero of My Distant Husband in the form of a photo.
I chose to put myself into the boy’s skin. I have always felt God’s presence in the ocean. I was blessed because I went to high school only a mile or so from the beach so I spent a lot of time with the ocean. To me, it is an extension or “physical form” God takes to comfort me, if that makes any sense.
I also write this in the context of being without a church right now and missing worship very much. The church I went to before made some choices I could not stand alongside, so now, I feel on the outside of a church family. Seeing how much I love community worship and being of service via other people in a “body of Christ” for lack of other terminology, this has been a rough period for me.
I do, however, still have a great relationship with God. Sometimes he speaks loudest to me via nature. In this case, he came to me, again, via this photo of a little boy at the beach.
I need to hear you, God.
I need to know there is a reason.
You know, a reason for all this.
All the stuff I don’t know what to do with, God.
Do you know what to do with it?
I’m feeling more and more confused lately.
I want to help others but I feel like
I can barely help myself.
If I was to climb into your ocean,
I am afraid I would be swept away.
One thing I know is being swept away is not the solution.
Not even by you, right now, dear God.
I need to hear you.
Follow me on Twitter: @juliejordanscot
Be sure to "Like" WritingCampwithJJS on Facebook (THANK YOU!)
© 2012 by Julie Jordan Scott
Julie Jordan Scott has been a Life & Creativity Coach, Writer, Facilitator and Teleclass Leader since 1999. She is also an award winning Actor, Director, Artist and Mother Extraordinaire. She was twice the StoryTelling Slam champion in Bakersfield. She leads Writing Camp with JJS & this Summer will be traveling throughout the US to bring this unique, fun filled creative experience to the people wherever she finds the passion & the interest.
Did you enjoyed this essay? Receive emails directly to your inbox for Free from Julie Jordan Scott via the Daily Passion Activator. One inspirational essay and poem (almost) every week day. Subscribe here now -
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There were three of us this time: I was in Bakersfield and
my friends were in Oregon and the UK. We have met via teleconference bridge
line for years. I don’t even know how many years. There are others in our group, but we are forgiving if writers can't attend. We think of the other writers who are missing and move along with our words sending word-love in their absence.
We share leadership in this group and the only thing I cared was I did not want to be appointed leader this time. My energy is scrunched into a ball right now so I was grateful when Jan volunteered, bringing writing prompts we included or almost ignored as our words took form on our writing notebooks or computer screens.
Somewhere after our second or maybe third prompt I said, “I don’t know what it is, but I feel so connected to the river today. I read from a book about rivers this morning and it has stayed with me and I find it here, again, too.
Jan gave us latitude to create our own prompt and the words I wrote were “law of reverse effort, water, ancient, soul, backwards” and wrote:
We are together, the three of us, here along the river.
We don’t need to fish or swim or even picnic though we can and none of us would stop the other if we felt so compelled.
I can feel the healing invisible mist from the rapids as I breathe it in. It covers our skin and friendship with a quilt no others can see. We see it, though, and that’s enough. More than enough.
The tiny fragments of ancient life now comes alive again through us again. We volley words, we laugh. Tears crop up in corners of our eyes and no one thinks to chat them away.
Together we let the salt join the fossils, the water, the sounds.
We surrender to the holy moment with near silence as we each offer more life now from our pens.
Reflections on an inner tube, no. There isn’t a raft to separate us from the flow, if one of us falls of course the others allow her to flail a bit, either waiting for a plaintive appeal or gently, with grace, offering our hand, a word, an image on a handkerchief, embroidered, grateful for this chance to be here, today, resting by the river, together.”
This is why we continue to write together.
This is why I facilitate writing groups.
To grow and to witness growth of other writers. Writing groups need to be places we may learn, develop and feel safe with bringing our writing to life.
This is why I attend writing groups.
Yes, I teach/facilitate-whatever-you-want-to-call-it and I also believe leaders need to not always lead. Leaders need to honor others leadership, too. It is what makes a more powerful leader, after all.
Shared ownership of the group means shared intention to protect, create, nourish and nurture unforgettable moments and beloved writers who love words, too.
Follow me on Twitter: @juliejordanscot
Be sure to "Like" WritingCampwithJJS on Facebook (THANK YOU!)
© 2012 by Julie Jordan Scott
Julie Jordan Scott has been a Life & Creativity Coach, Writer, Facilitator and Teleclass Leader since 1999. She is also an award winning Actor, Director, Artist and Mother Extraordinaire. She was twice the StoryTelling Slam champion in Bakersfield. She leads Writing Camp with JJS & this Summer will be traveling throughout the US to bring this unique, fun filled creative experience to the people wherever she finds the passion & the interest.
Did you enjoyed this essay? Receive emails directly to your inbox for Free from Julie Jordan Scott via the Daily Passion Activator. One inspirational essay and poem (almost) every week day. Subscribe here now -
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Today Lisa Jo Baker who is hosting both Five Minute Friday and 31 Days to Write Your Story asks us to write about WELCOME...
Have you ever met a person who just makes you feel as if you have known them forever? You can meet for five minutes and all of a sudden you find yourself divulging things you haven’t told anyone?
This can be bad or it can be awesome.
Now that I think about it, I tend to be that person, actually.
My beloved studies me, because he can’t understand how it works.
He tries to make friends and he does, but he doesn’t make insta-connections like I do.
Plus its one of those things I can’t put together in a
step-by-step how-to, either. I don’t know how people “get” I will love them
unconditionally right off the bat. I don’t know how people “get” that there
words are safe with me. I just say “I am me, that’s how it
works.”
I think a part of it is truly being friendly, meeting the eyes and smiling in them. Make a contact genuine and it is genuine. Don’t say hello and immediately look for the next person to talk to, say hello and take in the other person with your eyes and your heart.
My home is welcoming, too. The colors are not the average neutral colors and my furniture includes lots of family heirlooms, not stuff like everybody else has. There is art and photos on the walls, but not a Rembrandt or a Van gogh, these are local artists.
These are photos of my friends, my children’s friends,
artfully unposed, me just capturing people in the moment doing their thing, not
unlike many painters did and still do. Instead of stiff and posed they are kids
walking down a path or blowing bubbles.
They are women sitting around a table writing, or people hiking, or people hugging, or people performing on stage.
I guess what people get is they want to be a part of whatever is going on because they intuitively know it isn’t a risk they are taking it is a desire they are bringing to life.
A quick look at the guidelines from the gypsy mama - Lisa Jo Baker who is also our ringleader!
1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. And then absolutely, no ifs, ands or buts about it, you
need to visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them
in their comments. Seriously. That is, like, the rule. And the fun. And
the heart of this community..
Oh and Ahem, if you would take pity and turn off comment verification, it would make leaving some love on your post that much easier for folks!
OK, are you ready? Please give us your best five minutes on:
Be sure to "Like" WritingCampwithJJS on Facebook (THANK YOU!)
Julie Jordan Scott has been a Life & Creativity Coach, Writer, Facilitator and Teleclass Leader since 1999. She is also an award winning Actor, Director, Artist and Mother Extraordinaire. She was twice the StoryTelling Slam champion in Bakersfield.
Did you enjoy this essay? Receive emails directly to your inbox for Free from Julie Jordan Scott via the Daily Passion Activator. One inspirational essay and poem (almost) every week day. Subscribe here now -
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Which brings me to my primping this week.
When life gives you lots of old books that probably will not
be read ever again, make them into painted flower roses that will be admired by
many in the days, weeks and years to come.
Addendum: I received requests to create a how-to on these roses, so look for that next Wednesday. I'm off to dye some Laura Ingalls Wilder pages to make a bouquet for you and use to teach you the technique!
I had made other flowers, mostly flat ones, but once I saw roses I knew I had to try to make them. I call the "Word-Love Flowers"
I watched a bunch of you tube videos during my recovery and saw lots of different ways to make these and I put my own personal spin on them.
This is rough draft primping, I have to admit, but I will be back in the future to primp more! (This is my first time here!)
Follow me on Twitter: @juliejordanscot
Be sure to "Like" WritingCampwithJJS on Facebook (THANK YOU!)
© 2012 by Julie Jordan Scott
Julie Jordan Scott has been a Life & Creativity Coach, Writer, Facilitator and Teleclass Leader since 1999. She is also an award winning Actor, Director, Artist and Mother Extraordinaire. She was twice the StoryTelling Slam champion in Bakersfield. She leads Writing Camp with JJS & this Summer will be traveling throughout the US to bring this unique, fun filled creative experience to the people wherever she finds the passion & the interest.
This is my third post (of 31!) for the October Ultimate Blog Challenge.
Watch challenge posts which will include Writing Prompts, Writing
Tips and General Life Tips and Essays.
Did you enjoyed this essay? Receive emails directly to your inbox for Free from Julie Jordan Scott via the Daily Passion Activator. One inspirational essay and poem (almost) every week day. Subscribe here now -
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