Julie Unplugged

Who Inspired YOU in 2011? I would love to know! #Reverb11 Day 26 ~

"Who inspired you in 2011?" This is the question Kat from "I Saw You Dancing" asks us today as a part of Reverb11:

I have a fourpronged response.

My children inspired me: Katherine, Emma and Samuel.

The love I have for my children borders on ridiculous. Katherine is home right now from Smith College. She is spreading her wings of adulthood and consequently seems annoyed at me much of the time. This is brand spanking new. She may have been annoyed by me in the past but she never showed it.

The second day she was here I had an enormous meltdown, primarily centered on what a terrible mother I am, what a disappointment I am, and how any other woman on the planet would be a better mother to her than I am. I got over this crash and am now telling myself, “Love unconditionally, know this is all a part of the process of her becoming an adult.”

Emma is a freshman in high school. She has blossomed this year. I am very proud of her.

Samuel, my most unique of the three, has grown incredibly this year.

I want to make them pleased to have me as their mother. I attempt, above all to show them love. Have I failed during 2011? Yes. One enormous fail. And the more important thing is I keep getting up again. I keep learning lessons and most importantly, I keep loving.

My dear best friend on the planet inspired me: Cameron.

Cameron has been my friend for over two years now. There were times I wanted to call off our friendship but for the last few months our friendship has only gotten stronger. He grounds me. He is patient with me. He teaches me new ways of seeing as I show him new ways of seeing. Is our friendship absolutely perfection? Hell, no. It would be boring if it was perfection.

What I need to work on: Not worrying about his approval on my creative endeavors. Just let it go, Julie, just let it go.

A bunch of women writers inspired me, including Margaret Fuller, Kate Chopin, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Emily Dickinson, Mary Oliver, May Sarton, Denise Levertov and More....

(About the house image: this is the home in Pasadena where Charlotte Perkins Gilman spent her final few years of life. She lived in a different house in Pasadena while she wrote "The Yellow Wallpaper". I searched out this home & the present owners invited me inside.)

Only one of these women is still living: Mary Oliver.

The last four of these women are poets.

Most of them write across genre, as I do. Margaret Fuller was a critic, a poet, a speaker, a journalist and on and on. She was a world changer. Kate Chopin primarily wrote short stories. Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote novels, novellas, poetry, plays, essays and changed the way women with depression are treated. She, of all, has become something of my patron saint of women writerdom.

My students inspire me:

I am so grateful for my writing campers. If it wasn’t for them, I may have ditched teaching AGAIN! I didn’t, I haven’t, and I only expect to have it be bigger and better in 2012.

 

I am Julie Jordan Scott ~ and this is one of my Reverb11 posts. This year, the Reverb Community is taking an individualized approach to this life changing initiative. I am answering several prompts a day in short snippets during either a 30 minute or 60 minute wordsprint. I look forward to reading other Reverb11ers writing & if you are unfamiliar, just use the prompt and use the #reverb11 hashtag on twitter. You'll have a blast!

  Follow me on Twitter: @JulieJordanScot

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© 2011
Julie Jordan Scott

What is the most important? "Remember, always, love comes first".... A photo response to #WeVerb11 #reverb11

Day 26: Weverb11:

Revive. Share a favorite photo from the past year. What was happening behind the scenes? What were you thinking or feeling? What could you smell, taste, see, hear at that moment? Contributed by Tara [twowishes.com]

I didn’t seek “favorite” because I can't imagine choosing just one so instead I sought “random”.

I went to my flickr files and moved my mouse back and forth. My archives in April was the pick and then, I almost randomly found this photo showing my three children in a loving embrace.

I dearly love my children.

I hope and pray they will continue to love one another as they show their love in this photo.

We were in Cape Cod, visiting my childhood friend Pegi Flanagan and her step son for the holiday. The beach was about 50 yards from us. I could hear its subtle road. I could feel sand gathering in my shoes. It was chilly but sunny, a combination that always sends a shiver and a bit of a thrill through me.

Pegi was crooning and saying something like, “Oh, a Christmas Card picture.”

Emotionally, I felt profound contentment.

I knew in a couple days the two younger children and I would be back on a plane to California. I knew Katherine would be in finals at Smith College. I knew things would never feel exactly this way again.

I remembered to feel the sun on my face, to feel the wind against my arms, to remember my children when they were this shape, this size, this loving toward one another.

I pray that as they grow and become adults or more adult they remember, always, love comes first.

 

I am Julie Jordan Scott ~ and this is one of my Reverb11 posts. This year, the Reverb Community is taking an individualized approach to this life changing initiative. I am answering several prompts a day in short snippets during either a 30 minute or 60 minute wordsprint. I look forward to reading other Reverb11ers writing & if you are unfamiliar, just use the prompt and use the #reverb11 hashtag on twitter. You'll have a blast!

  Follow me on Twitter: @JulieJordanScot

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© 2011
Julie Jordan Scott

Trying in 2012 ~ That is "Try" as in Play, Experiment, "Be willing to slog through a rough draft" try #resound11 #reverb11

This morning I was fluttering around #Reverb11 land, looking for a just-right-for-this-moment prompt. This one brought an immediate visceral response. It may be a couple days old for the rest of you, but for me it is extremely cutting edge!

#resound11 Prompt 24: Try

What is one thing (activity, food, career, event, travel, etc.) that you’d like to try in 2012? Why haven’t you tried it yet? What makes 2012 the year to try it?

It borders on crazy that I have never done this.

Some of my fellow reverbers have an extreme distaste for the word "Try". As for me, I look at it in the same was as "I am going to play with" or "I am going to do a grand experiment in..." or "I am going to duck my head and go for it with as much glee and laser like passion as possible!"

Just felt it was necessary to clear that out of the way.

I have stopped trying to figure out or find the root of why I haven’t, instead I am just determined, open to, excited to begin my own publishing company in 2012.

This is my year: I turn 50 in January. I just finished reading Writing a Woman’s Life by Carolyn Heinbrun. It is a celebration of literature written by women and definitely a feminist classic. I fell in love.

I started reading this book because of an online writing challenge called ROW80 – A Round of Words in 80 Days ~ The Writing Challenge for People Who Have a Life. It is such an encouraging group the participants can’t help but get jazzed up about our goals.

The more I write this, the more I know it will come to fruition sooner rather than later.

Perhaps, no… no perhaps… I will unveil this at my birthday.

My smile is widening across my face.

Chiarascuoro ~ how does that best translate into English.

Claire = Chiara, who was to be my first daughter or my final daughter. She didn’t live outside my womb and then the baby I thought was Chiara was actually Samuel that daughter named Chiara was actually never to be.

Whenever I have considered a publishing adventure (outside the E-realm which I have done quite a bit before) I knew I would name “This baby” for my “other baby that never was.”

As I was driving around today with my children, I heard Molta Bella (again, Italian) and a nick name of mine from an old friend. Perhaps my business will be

Clara Bella or Molta Bella or Claire Bella or Molta Claire Bella.

Something like that, anyway. It is becoming more real to me as I write.

Wow. I have said it. And so be it.

I am Julie Jordan Scott ~ and this is one of my Reverb11 posts. This year, the Reverb Community is taking an individualized approach to this life changing initiative. I am answering several prompts a day in short snippets during either a 30 minute or 60 minute wordsprint. I look forward to reading other Reverb11ers writing & if you are unfamiliar, just use the prompt and use the #reverb11 hashtag on twitter. You'll have a blast!

  Follow me on Twitter: @JulieJordanScot

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© 2011
Julie Jordan Scott

Planning for 2012 & Beyond ~ The Secret of Passionate Detachment Paves the Path #reverb11 via @diana_prichard

From Diana Pritchard in Cultivating 2012 ~ “Do you feel clarity when you look towards your future goals? Or are they clouded?”

Diana continues:

“I knew when I wrote those prompts what my answer to this one would be. My goals and aspirations are clouded; incredibly so. But I also knew I had — and have — every intention of changing that going forward. This is why I included these two as well:

“Make a 1 year plan for 2012. Break it down into monthly, weekly, daily baby steps.

“Do you have a 5 year plan? A 20 year plan? Does the 1 year plan you made fit in.”

= = = = =

I had an a-ha with a different #reverb11 prompt:

What will I try in 2012? I didn’t get offended by the “try” word like some people do: I see it as “playing” or “experimenting” or “walking toward” when “try” sounds like a cop out.

It isn’t a cop out unless when you try, you don’t take any action.

I am looking at what I will try as a practice in Passionate Detachment.

I look at Passionate Detachment like this: I go for my aim with full force and I also don’t concern myself with any particular outcome. So, my aim is to begin my publishing company this year. I will put my head down and run toward that aim, taking small steps along the way and experimenting from an “and” space rather than an “either/or” space. I am less likely to “give up and not try” if I am attached to “publishing bestselling poetry books” or “reignite cultural love for poetry via my publishing company.”

If that happens I will leap for joy AND it is not the sole reason for my endeavor. I want to share my poetry and writing with others and give opportunities to other writers who may not have had opportunities otherwise.

I love, love, love that idea.

As far as my one year, five year, fifty year plan ~ I prefer to let things simmer. I will work on these in creative ways over the five days. I want to have a ritual on New Year’s Eve to give this big project my passionate and detached energy.

This makes me excited in just the reading of my words here. I am beyond words excited to play with the planning now.

Thank you, Diana, for a fantabulous prompt. YOU ROCK!

 

 

.

 

I am Julie Jordan Scott ~ and this is one of my Reverb11 posts. This year, the Reverb Community is taking an individualized approach to this life changing initiative. I am answering several prompts a day in short snippets during either a 30 minute or 60 minute wordsprint. I look forward to reading other Reverb11ers writing & if you are unfamiliar, just use the prompt and use the #reverb11 hashtag on twitter. You'll have a blast!

  Follow me on Twitter: @JulieJordanScot

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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© 2011
Julie Jordan Scott

Somebody Has to Say It.... #reverb11 from @Geekinhard ~ I dare you to just SAY IT!

Yesterday’s Reverb11 prompt from Geekin’ Hard was simple and went like this: “Somebody Has to Say It…” I feel like this is just a start. I was tweeting them separately before I thought, "Making a collection will be fun!" 

Besides, who knows how far I may go with this?

~ Pain is an important part of your process. Deny it, run from it & you miss out. Love & integrate the pain instead. Learn from it.

~ the world will not spontaneously combust if you try something and you *gasp* fail.

~ Loving yourself is Biblical. ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these." (NIV, Mark 12:28-31).

~ Psalm 139 applies to every sentient being. Each one of us is beautifully & wonderfully made. No matter whether YOU like how he/she was made or not. P.S. ~ Stop the Hate Now.

~ Sticks and stones will break bones that are easily reset and healed. Names WILL permanently harm many AND may require some attention from you or loved ones.

~ A favorite from my Granny: The hurrier you go, the behinder you get. (I need to remember this. Thanks, Granny!) Stop rushing. Remember the tortoise.

~ When you are yelled at our met with verbal aggression, never yell back.  Speak softly instead.Fight hatred & meanness with the unexpected. Kindness, unconditional loving & modeling behavior for others.

And who knows, I may continue to add as time goes along. You may leave YOURS in the comments if you would like, or if you are on twitter, we're using the hashtag #reverb11. Share what you have to say because someone has to, afterall. May as well be one of us!

I am Julie Jordan Scott ~ and this is one of my Reverb11 posts. This year, the Reverb Community is taking an individualized approach to this life changing initiative. I am answering several prompts a day in short snippets during either a 30 minute or 60 minute wordsprint. I look forward to reading other Reverb11ers writing & if you are unfamiliar, just use the prompt and use the #reverb11 hashtag on twitter. You'll have a blast!

  Follow me on Twitter: @JulieJordanScot

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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© 2011
Julie Jordan Scott

#Reverb11 ~ Day 25 ~ What was one thing that surprised you in 2011? I wonder if my surprise will surprise you? Read it here

Today's Reverb11 question from Carolyn Rubenstein:

Surprises: What was one thing that surprised you in 2011?

At first I was insistent nothing surprised me, which surprised me, and then I remembered.

I have always been interested in storytelling, so I decided to attend a storytelling slam which was a part of our Third Thursday art activities in Downtown Bakersfield’s Museum of Art. Because it was Summer, and Summer in Bakersfield is notoriously hot, it wasn’t particularly crowded.

I listened to several folks tell their stories and decided, “What the heck?” The woman who sat beside me had seen me in plays, she urged me on so I just got up and began. I had sort of composed an outline in my head. My goal was to be less winded and long as the others and attempt to be funny. I am usually funny just being myself, without trying.

The story I told was something like this:

Local theater actors are primarily volunteers who are constantly on the lookout for paying gigs. Sometimes I wander around Craig’s List looking for Acting jobs that are not of the Adult variety. One day I saw the band Korn, the members are local to Bakersfield, were shooting a video. They needed “odd characters, including a middle aged man and woman.”

I called the number and boom, I was in. With one minor detail, of course. The lead singer of the band wanted to recreate a scene he had seen while doing a ride-along with the Sheriff’s department. They had seen a woman running out of her house and down the street, well, Ian, the production assistant said, “You have to be willing to show your midriff.”

I said, “So, in order to show my midriff I am guessing I need to run with only my bra on.”

“Ummmm, Yes.” Ian said, his discomfort riddling through the cell phone wire.

“Well, sure. I will do it.”

Ian was surprised when he said, “You will?” He also asked if I had any actor friends willing to be my husband in the video. Ofcourse, I did.

They reassured me over and over it would be a closed set, that no one would see me running down the alley in a very… well, how do I say it? A very school with not very high income people who first moved to the area during the dustbowl era from Arkansas and Oklahoma. Many, even the young children born in Bakersfield have a bit of a twang in their voices.

Makeup and hair people had to make me look more like the woman I was portraying so they oiled up my hair and deep bags under my eyes. I brought bras I purchased the day before from Goodwill. They chose the least attractive one and dirtied it up. My husband-for-a-day who has been my husband in many plays, Jared, was surrounded by lovely women who were attending to messing him and his “wifebeater” shirt.

They tore the pants I brought, a pair of second hand pajama pants.

Production staff showed us the table with snacks and drinks.

They wanted to be sure I had a robe on, so I wouldn’t be uncomfortable. I kept thinking, “This is going to be on MTV or wherever, so the whole world will be able to see me running in this get up, so truly, I don’t know what you are all so uptight about!”

The time came for the shoot. I had bare feet, which I thought would be the most authentic. Production staff were waiting at the end of my running path to give me shoes and ofcourse, drape me.

I was ready.

We had one assistant director standing inside the mobile home we were using as our “location home” getting us prepared. When the other assistant director shouted, “ACTION!” I was to run out of the door and run down the street, as if running for my life. A jeep like thing with a camera would come up alongside me to get a different shot with none other than the lead singer of Korn watching the entire thing.

One thing about me as an actor: I get completely in the moment when I am working. The rest of the world evaporates. I listen to my director with the same intensity I see professional athletes listen to their coaches.

I requested a practice run so they would see the arch I would run, since I had no idea where in the road I would land when running full force.

Have I mentioned I am not in shape, I am not a small woman at all, and running was never my forte in PE when I was younger, but when the director yelled, “ACTION!”  I ran like I had never run before. As I was running and crying and scared for my life, I didn’t notice the rocks my feet were running over.

I just ran.

They loved it.

We went back in for the first take.

I ran and ran and ran so hard I didn’t hear them say “CUT!” so the closed set sort of, well, did open up when I ran right into the other place they were shooting with a whole bunch of “the real deal” folks I was portraying for the day. Wranglers, cowboy hats, chewing tobacco and perhaps worse. When I came running full force into their view they started screaming and cheering. Vaguely in the backround I heard the director yelling “CUT!”

I walked purposefully back to my director, but noticed all of a sudden this was indeed a rocky road. The assistants gave me shoes. I shrugged off the cover, I wanted direction. “Was I running fast enough?” I wanted to know. “Did it look realistic?”

They complimented my work profusely. We did the same scene three more times and then Jared and I were done, $100 dollars richer, and now whenever people look at me sort of strangely and say I look familiar and are likely to be Korn fans, I say “I have no idea where you might have seen me!”

I finished my story and noticed everyone had been laughing and clapping throughout. I wasn’t prepared for the judges tally of our scores. I won hands down. On my first story telling adventure. Without any preparation.

I left the museum  with a huge grin on my face and wanted to tell everyone, “I won a story telling contest! I won a story telling contest!” None of my friends were surprised. They said things like “Ofcourse you won a story telling contest. How could you do anything but win?”

I also won a membership to the Museum, awesome, and a couple of sandwiches from our local sandwich shop, Sequoia Sandwiches. I got a Waldorf Chicken Salad sandwich. Also awesome.

This was my biggest, happiest surprise of the year.

And you may search for the video in question on YouTube. The song is “Oildale Leave Me Alone” by Korn. I come at the end, when the video is getting very panicked feeling. I am seen twice, believe it or not. Jared is a speckle of a shadow.

I never knew I could run so well or so fast, second happiest surprise of the year.

What surprised you in 2011?

I am Julie Jordan Scott ~ and this is one of my Reverb11 posts. This year, the Reverb Community is taking an individualized approach to this life changing initiative. I am answering several prompts a day in short snippets during either a 30 minute or 60 minute wordsprint. I look forward to reading other Reverb11ers writing & if you are unfamiliar, just use the prompt and use the #reverb11 hashtag on twitter. You'll have a blast!

  Follow me on Twitter: @JulieJordanScot

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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© 2011
Julie Jordan Scott

#Reverb11 Day 24: What was the most creative thing you did in 2011? How do you plan to use your creativity in 2012?

Today's Prompt arrives via Carolyn Rubenstein of A Beautiful Ripple Effect.

Day 24: What was the most creative thing you did in 2011? How do you plan to use your creativity in 2012? (Note: creative doesn’t always mean artistic. Think outside of the box! Get creative!) May I add how much I love this particular prompt?

I could tell you about how many poems I wrote, or for me  as delectable is how many poetry performances I enjoyed as a participant.

I could tell you about curating my first art show, combining Poetry and Visual Art.

I could tell you about the opening night of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof which was a long awaited occurrence after I can’t remember how many months. Perhaps 18 months? Perhaps 2 years? I don’t recall.

I could tell you about the role I played in Stage Door, almost a throwaway role that I managed to create, as my Director said, “All New!” and garnished me an award nomination.

I could tell you how I am up to nearly 1500 blog posts.

Instead, I will tell you about how I have been busily, and creatively rebirthing my home.

I could focus on how nuts it is that I have lived here for nearly 22 years, yet I never fully claimed this house to reflect “me”. Some real estate professionals and house-flippers will tell you “The idea of making a home a reflection of you is foolish. You should make it middle of the road, appealing to someone on the marketplace.”

I vehemently disagree.

I have a love affair with my home: she has stuck with me when others have not. She sheltered me through several different unpleasant stages of my life. Children were conceived here. Pets have lived and died here and are now buried in the yard.

I hear echoes of parties, sobbing, announcements, fights, skinned knees and late night illnesses which included me climbing into tepid baths with each of my children at some point, in hopes of lowering fevers live within these walls.

I have done a lot with this house in recent months and there is a lot to go yet.

I am trying not to go too overboard with Julie-ness because I do share this house with others. We are sharing major decisions. We are each and all working on the process, some more than others. My friends have worked alongside me as the house transforms.

Right now, on Christmas Eve! I have a large mirror I purchased as the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood was getting rid of everything inside before they restored this classic spot from way back when. I have had it for nearly thirty years. I decided I wanted to paint it to match the rest of the room so it would fit in better. Creativity, for me, is a 365 day (or 366 days a year) activity. It is a way of life.

I won’t bore you with my “everything from scratch” Thanksgiving feast with both a ham and turkey. Maybe I will save that for another prompt.

So, what are you thinking about YOUR creativity for 2011? What about for 2012?

I plan to continue working to personalize my home as well as get at least a book or two published. Since I joined the ROW80 (a round of word in 80 days, “a writing challenge for people who have lives”) I am confident I can do it. Theater and I are on a break, though I am performing in February. It is sort of a dragging my feet sort of thing.

I know I will continue with my photography and my mixed media “Women’s Sphere” pieces.

I just feel so thrilled to breathe life into my home. It is a creative project many will feel positive when they experience it and this? Well, it moves me to create more.

I am Julie Jordan Scott ~ and this is one of my Reverb11 posts. This year, the Reverb Community is taking an individualized approach to this life changing initiative. I am answering several prompts a day in short snippets during either a 30 minute or 60 minute wordsprint. I look forward to reading other Reverb11ers writing & if you are unfamiliar, just use the prompt and use the #reverb11 hashtag on twitter. You'll have a blast!

  Follow me on Twitter: @JulieJordanScot

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Julie Jordan Scott

 

#Reverb11 Day 23 ~ "Who Did You Miss?" Turned More Poignant than I expected. ~ via @kaileenelise and @meganecollier

Prompt: Who did you miss?

 This prompt came from a mini-muse from Kaileen Elise & her mini-musing via Megan Collier at Everlasting Present.com.

Can anyone else tell me how it feels to have tear-daggers spring to life inside your eyes without any warning?

That’s what this prompt did to me. Even now, recounting the moment.  I close my eyes for temporary respite. I think I need a fresh cup of coffee to write this.

It is one of those topics I don’t like to dive into because on some levels it is easier not to admit.

Anyway, the realization hit one day in my therapist's office.

It just came out from nowhere, deep inside me. Chances are, that is WHY it came out. My therapist is tremendously open and willing to ask questions, shepherd my thought, listen and reflect.

Through tears I announced, “I miss Kathie so much.”

My eldest daughter goes to Smith College 3,000 miles from home in Northampton, Massachusetts. I could not be more thrilled with her choice, especially since I foolishly suggested it during her  junior year. She is now a Sophomore Religion major who texted me excitedly one day in the past, “I really feel God wants me to go here!”

I am so glad she can go, I say again, knowing that under all of that, an ache in my core when she is gone sits there, dormant, a closed door that I am primarily afraid to open for fear I would waste my days crying and lamenting. Chances are my children still at home would feel neglected and second rate.

I don’t think they know that I will miss them, very deeply, as well when they leave me.

I have this push me pull you relationship with my children growing up. I don’t think I will ever stop worrying about them. I think I will always have them whispering in my ears from their babyhoods until their present selves.

I knew when Katherine was gone the vibe would be different. It is. And it is not because she was ultra responsible and helpful, it is because her presence is absent. Her calm, peaceful, loving presence isn’t here. We all go on, perfectly happy most of the time, yet that Kathie shaped void also sits in the living room, the kitchen, the dining room, the front porch ~ and in the room Emma now sleeps in.

I visited her in October. I was just coming out of a crisis, perhaps the worst four days of my life in early October. A part of me didn’t want to leave home, but I wanted to see her very badly. Then I felt guilty because my affect was so flat and I probably didn’t appear to be having much fun.

And now she is home for Winter Break. I have only shared a couple hours with her during the last three days. Having her here, close at hand, and not under my wing hurts, perhaps more even, than when she is 3,000 miles away.

Who do I want to see more in 2012?

This year I actually saw my extended family more than recent years. That felt so good! I have a tendency to feel like I am on an island here in Bakersfield, separated by more than a mountain range with my siblings in Southern California and my parents and eldest brother in Arizona.

It was great to see my two brothers and my nephew not once, but twice. It was grand to see my cousin, Chelle, and her daughter, Jesyka. They live in Dallas ~ and though Samuel had never met Jesyka, they got along splendidly. They are only two months apart. It was fantastic to watch them play. I saw my sister and her family during my nieces wedding this Summer.  At Brittany’s wedding there was at least one major a-ha for me.

When our seat assignments got lost, we were told to just find our seats. I didn’t even think of sitting with my mother, my uncle and my siblings and nephew. I just gathered my chicks and found a table full of strangers. Just like in much of my life, my separation from my family is about me, not them. I elect to be separate. I do not make an effort.

In 2012, this will change.

I also suppose I will have more practice missing Katherine. She is doing an internship this Summer so will be gone for most of it. She is also going to Europe next semester, so she will be even farther away.

I hope to move back East before too long, since she has told me she wants to stay and Emma is also more attracted to east coast colleges.

When I do that, the missing won’t be such a long distance. And I love spontaneous road trips.

Who did I miss in 2012? I missed Kathie and at times, I even missed myself.

More on that in a later reverb11 post!

I am Julie Jordan Scott ~ and this is one of my Reverb11 posts. This year, the Reverb Community is taking an individualized approach to this life changing initiative. I am answering several prompts a day in short snippets during either a 30 minute or 60 minute wordsprint. I look forward to reading other Reverb11ers writing & if you are unfamiliar, just use the prompt and use the #reverb11 hashtag on twitter. You'll have a blast!

  Follow me on Twitter: @JulieJordanScot

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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© 2011
Julie Jordan Scott

#Reverb11 ~ Everyday Magic ~ and Santa's Special "Right in the St. Nick of Time" TODAY for Samuel

Reverb Question from Carolyn Rubenstein of A Beautiful Ripple:

What do you consider every day magic in your life?

This story took place today, right at 2011 comes to an end.

I am sure if I sat with the question more, more would come to me. AND… this is what happened.

Samuel, my ten year old son who just so happens to be on the autism spectrum, won “Best Use of Materials” for his Christmas Tree Art Project. This is a big deal for him. At his new school this year, Longfellow School, he has been very happy. His mainstream teachers adore him. He can feel it from them ~ and the feeling is mutual.

Included on his tree were chocolate candies shaped to look like stars in colorful paper.

Some of his classmates commented they would like some candy.

I bought it at the oh-so-elegant 99 cent store, and like everywhere else things are selling out. We looked and looked and LOOKED and could not find them. We did find one that had a broken box and one missing. We took it to the cashier and said, “This is the only one we could find. We’re very sad.”

And the cashier said, “Oh, there are more right here!” and behind the Chocolate Santa’s there were the stars! Not only that, but we could buy enough so each of Samuel’s classmates would get a star! He was thrilled. He went from downcast to celebration in a split second.

I said, “This lady is our hero today, isn’t she, Samuel!”

The clerk beamed and we went about our way.

Everyday Magic. Fulfilling a wish of generosity for my unique and dearly loved son.

It felt as if Santa himself were sprinkling snowflakes of wonder upon us.

May you have a Magical Holiday season, everyone!

I am Julie Jordan Scott ~ and this is one of my Reverb11 posts. This year, the Reverb Community is taking an individualized approach to this life changing initiative. I am answering several prompts a day in short snippets during either a 30 minute or 60 minute wordsprint. I look forward to reading other Reverb11ers writing & if you are unfamiliar, just use the prompt and use the #reverb11 hashtag on twitter. You'll have a blast!

  Follow me on Twitter: @JulieJordanScot

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Julie Jordan Scott

Timely (and more significant than you may think) #Reverb11 Prompt from @kaileenelise ~ Where did you spend (insert one equal amount every human shares)

Kaileen Elise asks us this reverb11 question:

 Where did you spend your time?

I love this question, perhaps because I have said over and over  you can tell a person’s priorities by how a person spends her or his time. Time is an equal commodity to every person on the planet. Each of us decide how to spend our allotment. If the year ends and we lament we didn’t get what we hoped for, my question is always, “Where did (or how did) you spend your time?”

If your time was spent pursuing the approval of others or doing things “insert specific people” want you to do, you will short change yourself in your time allotment. I guarantee it.

Reflecting on 2011, I can see in the earliest 5 months of the year I devoted many of my evenings to theater. I was in rehearsals of some sort probably 60% of the time between January and May.

I also invested moments in traveling and exploration: I went to Massachusetts twice, I went to Flagstaff, Arizona once, I took weekend trips and day trips to Los Angeles on a regular basis and more than once I found myself reveling in Dana Point. Right now I have my first trip to Dana Point scheduled for 2012 and am hoping to do Flagstaff in April. This Summer I would like to travel someplace different: perhaps a wild road trip like I did with my children in 2008 where our destination (not planned for) was South Dakota. We couch surfed our way up through California, Oregon, Washington and then over to Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and South Dakota. It was awesome, scary and even more scary. I fell in love with each place we visited. I need to renew my love with the Southwest, I am thinking. Via car. LOVE this idea!

After May and on theater sabbatical, I spent an increasing amount of time with my children. I also did quite a few hours in educational advocacy work as I served on two school district committees. My work here is significant both for Samuel and all the children in the BCSD.

I spent way too much time driving here and there in 2011. I am thinking in 2012 I will scale back on my driving, perhaps using the bicycle more, exploring the bike path which wraps through Bakersfield. Most important is the ride to downtown is rather speedy and pleasant. I could do this, with some upped intentionality.

I spent time in 2011 teaching the art and love of writing. This is incredibly fulfilling to me. In 2012 I intend to continue with leading my own program: writing camp, as well as taking on more contractual teaching. I am going to finish my application to teach ESL at a local college as an adjunct instructor. I only want to teach one writing class a semester.  I cherish my free-style, free-lance work when I want to lifestyle and I don’t want to give that up but now, a-ha, I just realized I could use that adjunct income to fund a rollicking road trip this Summer.

Right on, Write on! Word-love and Time-love to each and all! Thanks, Kaileen for the evocative prompt!

I am Julie Jordan Scott ~ and this is one of my Reverb11 posts. This year, the Reverb Community is taking an individualized approach to this life changing initiative. I am answering several prompts a day in short snippets during either a 30 minute or 60 minute wordsprint. I look forward to reading other Reverb11ers writing & if you are unfamiliar, just use the prompt and use the #reverb11 hashtag on twitter. You'll have a blast!

  Follow me on Twitter: @JulieJordanScot

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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Julie Jordan Scott