Julie Unplugged

What has been your inspiration in 2013 - This is My Inspiration in 2013 - and Beyond

My Children and Grandbaby - Inspired by All 5!

Prompting from Reverb13 and the dear KatMcNally.

Who inspired me in 2013?

What gifts were given?

How will I carry these into 2014?

 I feel I should warn you before I actually write what I want to write:

Cliché is something that gets on my nerves almost as much as people speaking loudly using bad language in public.

So with that, I confess my children were my #1 inspirers in 2013. Each one was miraculous and each one challenged me to not only be the best mother I am able to be from moment to moment, but each one also inspired me to be the best human being I can be from moment to moment. My new grandbaby, Jaxon, is a delight and I’m meddling even now (thanks to facebook and stalking his Mom’s page)I comment on Beyunca’s photos  “Put socks on that baby!” and felt very brave to meddle when I had a more serious conversation on Friday. I don’t mess around with worrying about upsetting anyone if it feels that important to me.

Katherine does not let anything stop her: she has her eyes on her goals and is constantly moving forward.

Emma asks the tough questions and is truly a no-holds-barred young woman. She has also been a tireless advocate for the underdog, even when that underdog is herself.

Samuel is allowing his curiosity out and continues to regale me with the most detailed facts I have ever thought about and is always hungry to learn more as he follows his fascinations down his life’s stream.

 

This was less than 100 years ago. The work still isn't done.

Outside of those four wondrous people, I was very inspired by the suffragists, especially the ones who were jailed repeatedly for standing peacefully signs simply asking questions, simply wanting a dialogue. The Workhouse Prison where many of these women were sent is now an art center: I visited the Workhouse Arts Center this Summer in Northern Virginia where women were subjected to beatings, forced feedings, tortures – unspeakable conditions and some of them for nine months, including women in their seventies.

I didn’t realize how bad it was for these women until this year, and visiting the Workhouse and talking to the artists who have studios there now was very inspiring for me.

How do these gifts move me forward into and through 2014?

All of these individuals – my children and the suffragists – stayed the course through the thick and thin. They didn’t stop moving forward. They didn’t spend a lot of time whining, blaming or arguing about where they happened to land in life, they simply took stock of their situations, worked with what they had and spread the word.  They put their heads down and ran with it, a football analogy from a long ago friend.

I plan to do a lot of putting my head down and running in 2014. I plan on building up with whatever I have and not whining to others (or to myself!) about the conditions I am in or any “woe is me” kind of verbal clamoring.

This will be a year of centered change, conscious growth and renewal. I’m excited for it and standing, centered and reaching up and out and through.

I’m glad you’re here, with me now, so I may tell you.

Now, tell me - what has your inspiration been in 2013?

How will that continue in 2014?

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Check out the prompt today for the specific wording and ways to connect by visiting KatMcNally.com.

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 Julie Jordan Scott is a writer, performance poet, Mommy and mixed-media artist. Her word-love themed art will be for sale at a First Friday soon, when it is warmer than it was in December!, in Downtown Bakersfield. Check out the links below to follow her on a bunch of different social media channels, especially if you find the idea of a Word-Love Party bus particularly enticing.

 Please stay in touch: Follow me on Twitter: @JulieJordanScot     

  Be sure to "Like" WritingCampwithJJS on Facebook. (Thank you!)

  Follow on Instagram

  And naturally, on Pinterest, too!

   © 2013 - Julie Jordan Scott - all rights reserved.

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Victory Laps: "Sometimes the biggest victories are also the shyest victories." Julie Jordan Scott

Prompt for December 7 from Project Reverb:

We oftentimes think our big moments need to be mountain top experiences or blue ribbons. Think differently, instead.

 Victory Laps: What was your biggest accomplishment of 2013?

I haven't won any awards this year.

No standing ovations.

The jury is still out on any parenting or educational victories.

In fact, I haven't performed a single poem in 2013.

What a bizarre turn of events for me!

Here's a big victory, though:

I moved forward, anyway.

I stood up for myself and am now practicing standing up for myself.

I am walking toward being completely content in all circumstances, but especially in the stuff I have direct control over, or my actions have an impact upon them. In the last twenty-four hours I have made some pretty radical, for me, decisions about 2014 which I think will take me in the right direction for my long term goals.

THIS is victory.

It might not look like much, but believe me, it is huge.

Oh, and an another exciting one for me? Writing Camp with Julie Jordan Scott just got our 1,000th like on facebook. If you haven't liked us yet, come on it and try it out!

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Check the ProjectReverb folks out on Twitter @Project_reverb and with the hashtag #reverb13

 

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 Julie Jordan Scott is a writer, performance poet, Mommy and mixed-media artist. Her word-love themed art will be for sale at First Friday each month in Downtown Bakersfield. Check out the links below to follow her on a bunch of different social media channels, especially if you find the idea of a Word-Love Party bus particularly enticing.

 

  Please stay in touch: Follow me on Twitter: @JulieJordanScot     

 

  Be sure to "Like" WritingCampwithJJS on Facebook. (Thank you!)

   Follow on Instagram

   And naturally, on Pinterest, too!

    © 2013 - Julie Jordan Scott - all rights reserved.

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Stay Unstuck: "Today and Onwards..." Quote, Questions & Prompts to Stir Your Blogging, Writing & Creative Inspiration

STAY UNSTUCK:

A practical way to stay unstuck with your blogging, writing and creativity as well as "out of the box" thinking.

Each day, a quote, an image, several questions and a writing prompt are offered to you to use for  Your Blogging, Writing & Creative Inspiration in order to increase your creative thinking as well as your personal and soulful  development.

 Quote:

“Today and onwards, I stand proud, for the bridges I've climbed, for the battles I've won, and for the examples I've set, but most importantly, for the person I have become. I like who I am now, finally, at peace with me...”
― Heather James

Questions:

Using “bridge” as a metaphor, write a paragraph responding to this question: What bridge(s) are you most proud of climbing or crossing?

In what ways have the bridges you have crossed impacted the person you have become?

If you are writing for business, insert your business as the subject of “the bridge” and the impact is upon your business.

Lists:

Make a list of 5 - 10 bridges  you have tried to cross and haven’t quite succeeded.  Bonus: Make a second list with concrete reasons why you haven’t quite succeeded.

Make a list of 5 – 10 bridges you have successfully climbed or crossed. Bonus: Make a second list of concrete reasons why you were successful.

Traditional Writing Prompts:

Some people may only count successes as positive. I find my less successful bridge crossings to be…

In looking to the future, the bridges I would like to cross include….. (bonus: include why you would like to include them.)

 # #  # #

 There are no rights and wrongs as to following the prompts here. There is only showing up for your life and your creativity and using what inspires you to fulfill your dreams, passion and purpose.

Brava for being here!!

 This Blog Series was created to increase your creative thinking process as well as inspire writing and ideas to take form that may not have taken form without these specific quotes, questions and prompts. If you find them helpful, I hope you will pass them along to friends as well.

 I’m so glad you are here, reading and creating.

 

Julie Jordan Scott is a writer, performance poet, Mommy and mixed-media artist. Her word-love themed art will be for sale at First Friday each month in Downtown Bakersfield. Check out the links below to follow her on a bunch of different social media channels, especially if you find the idea of a Word-Love Party bus particularly enticing.

 

Follow me on Twitter: @JulieJordanScot

 

 Be sure to "Like" WritingCampwithJJS on Facebook. (Thank you!)

  Follow on Instagram 

 And naturally, on Pinterest, too!

  © 2013 - Julie Jordan Scott - all rights reserved.

 

 

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"It takes courage to love..." Eleanor Roosevelt's Inspiration for Your Blogging, Writing, Personal Application & Creativity: -

  Each day, a quote, an image, several questions and a writing prompt are offered to you to use for  Your Blogging, Writing & Creative Inspiration in order to increase your creative thinking as well as your personal and soulful  development.

 

In this edition, I also included some business applications as well as an everyday bonus application so that you may more easily integrate and use this inspiration in a blend of your life areas.

 

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"It takes courage to love, but pain through love is the purifying fire which those who love generously know.”

Eleanor Roosevelt

Questions:

What does it mean to you to “love generously?” For business, how do you love your clients or customers generously? Describe this in writing.

Has there been a time in your life when you didn’t have enough courage to love someone or something completely?

Lists:

Make a list of 5 to 10 people you know who “love generously”.

Make a list of 5 to 10 ways you want to improve your own “love generosity.”

Make a list of 3 to 10 times you demonstrated courage.

Use these lists, then, to create personalized writing prompts. You may start with the words I remember, I see, I hear, I know, I feel, I felt… etc.

Traditional Writing Prompts:

When I think of loving generously, I…

Courage means…..

It takes courage to…. (use a business or life work example.)

Bonus Every Day Application:

For the next week, do something every day that scares you. It doesn’t have to be a huge amount of fright, but even just breaking your routine may sometimes take courage.

Write about the experience.

   >> ---<<

One helpful strategy is to read the quote, questions, prompt and list and not to "take them on" all at once, but to allow them to simmer in the back of your mind throughout the day. Sure, you may "write" one immediately, but don't call it "done" until you have allowed your powerful subconscious mind to bring up some unexpected responses for your conscious mind to create within.

Remember, though - there are no rights and wrongs, there is only showing up for your life and your creativity. Brava for being here!! 

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Julie Jordan Scott is a writer, performance poet, Mommy and mixed-media artist. Her word-love themed art will be for sale at First Friday each month in Downtown Bakersfield. Check out the links below to follow her on a bunch of different social media channels, especially if you find the idea of a Word-Love Party bus particularly enticing.

Please stay in touch: Follow me on Twitter: @JulieJordanScot    

  Be sure to "Like" WritingCampwithJJS on Facebook. (Thank you!)

Follow on Instagram

And naturally, on Pinterest, too!

 

© 2013

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Teresa of Avila and Me: A Wise Woman from the 15th Century Advises an Everyday Woman from the 21st Century

I always hope to gain wisdom from women such as Teresa of Avila. People keep asking me if I'm going to become a Catholic. No, I'm not. God and I talked about it and the answer was no. :-)

My dogs are in my backyard barking. Barking. And wait a moment is there quie…. no, more woofs and high pitched Beth barking.

A neighbor on one side is working on his rental property so I can hopefully have some nice new neighbors and on the other side, new air conditioning is being installed. I never saw a crane, so I am not sure if they’ve actually brought the big machine in or not.

All I want to do is install some interesting words on my blog, please and thank you.

The incessant barking and oh yes, I’ve also been prepping Emma’s room for new furniture. This means emptying the room of everything and vacuuming the carpet and mopping the wood floor. This definitely interferes with my plans.

These things aren’t supposed to bother me. How could I forget?

I am supposed to sit here and tap tap tap away, saintly, like Teresa of Avila kneeling next to the three legged stool in her convent tiny room as she scribed the words of God. She was in pain but she just kept writing.

“Let nothing perturb you, nothing frighten you. All things pass. God does not change. Patience achieves everything.”

“Love turns work into rest.”

“God withholds Himself from no one who perseveres.”

Oh, to be more like Teresa of Avila. I suppose the least I can do is to continue persevering.

I read the words of Simone Weil earlier this morning. She wrote this:

“Affliction is a marvel of divine technique. It is a simple and ingenious device to introduce into the soul of a finite creature that immensity of force, blind, brutal, and cold.”

Is not being able to write with too much noise and affliction of that level? I think I may be exaggerating. Now my brain is fighting an inner dialogue about the pain of not being able to create and the desire to use divine gifts in my everyday life and on and on and on.

Teresa knocks on my right shoulder and whispers into my ear, “To have courage for whatever comes in life
– everything lies in that” I feel a smile cross my face. “Trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be,” she continues. I feel my shoulders relax.

The dogs are still barking and my fingers continue to move across the page. The furniture delivery truck will be here in an hour. I feel blessed, blessed, blessed or am at least on my way there.

What is as important to me, though, is that you are able to step into the same relaxation I am in right now.

Read those words from Teresa of Avila to me. They are to you, too.

Blessings: rain gently.

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Julie Jordan Scott is a writer, performance poet, Mommy and mixed-media artist. Her word-love themed art will be for sale at First Friday each month in Downtown Bakersfield. Check out the links below to follow her on a bunch of different social media channels, especially if you find the idea of a Word-Love Party bus particularly enticing.

Please stay in touch: Follow me on Twitter: @JulieJordanScot    

  Be sure to "Like" WritingCampwithJJS on Facebook. (Thank you!)

Follow on Instagram

And naturally, on Pinterest, too!

© 2013

5 Ways to Guarantee a Memorable Vacation or Trip: For the Love of Travel Mishaps

Here I am, Hanging out with Literary Granny Anne Morrow Lindbergh and her husband at the Smithsonian's Air and Science Museum

I love to travel so much more than I ever confessed in the past. The week I spent in the DC area for the past seven days cemented I am heavily addicted to visiting new to me places, especially those with a women’s history, literary history or social justice flavor. In fact, I can go nearly anyplace and discover the women’s history, literary history or social justice flavor that no one else had uncovered yet.

 

I also love scooting around in the ordinary, the mundane “oh, that’s no big deal” places in the neighborhoods where the locals go and the tourists usually don’t.

I have started a top ten list of surprisingly wonderful places to go in the DC area that might be a new spot for you as well as a list of places to visit with children and/or how to approach such places with special needs children.

What surprised and delighted me the most, though, was my own ability to roll with the punches during this trip. I didn’t have a single melt down or need to stand up for myself, most likely because I was primarily on my own. There were several times my plans were thwarted because my primary responsibility was to be the almost invisible support for Emma who was attending a high school leadership forum which was the reason we went at all.

My daughter, Katherine, stayed home to be with Samuel all week.

One of her comments to me has continued to resound through me: “That’s one of the qualities that is so good about you. When things don’t go your way, you just pick another way and manage to enjoy it as much as what you wanted to do in the first place.”

It is a beneficial quality whose origins were not necessarily the best. I became one of the best “lemonade maker from lemons” I know because I never expect things to work out in my favor.

What I was reminded this week that while things may not work out in my favor or according to my plan, when I nestle myself deeply into the moment, the moment was what I wanted in the first place – not the activity that filled the moment.

An example: I tried to get to Baltimore on three separate occasions. I was so excited to go on the afternoon Emma and her group were taking a field trip away from the conference center. I bought a bunch of snacks for them earlier and put them in a purple, polka dot bag for her to share with her friends and within moments realized my rental car keys were on their way to Emma’s field trip in the purple bag.

I could have stomped my feet and shaken my fist at the sky and barked at the

You just don't see this in the desert I live in here in California: seedings growing from the hollow of a fallen tree......

housekeeping staff to just go away instead of waking me from a nice, deep, restorative nap “because I am trapped here at the hotel!” Instead, I thought, “What a gift. A chance to take a break instead of rush, rush, rush.”

 

I did things like nap. I took a bubble bath. I wrote a blog post. I went to the hotel restaurant and had some chicken noodle soup better than I’ve ever had and a seasonal beer. I sat on the patio and wrote the sunset.

When you travel next, please remember this:

• 1.       Make a wild, crazy, absolutely out of this world list of things you would like to do on your vacation or trip.

• 2.       Start doing those items one at a time without concerning yourself with the ‘what’s next’ on your list.

• 3.       Stay alert to the surprising places that call to you. I found my favorite new park and a very intriguing, hidden cemetery this way.

• 4.       Take some time off intentionally in the middle of your trip and treat yourself to a “spa day.” Not with a ridiculous price tag or anything, simply take a day of rest where you can take a bath or drink a glass of wine or simply let the kids play on the lawn at sunset while you sit on a picnic basket and eat fresh fruit, veggies and maybe one sweet craving and call it dinner.

• 5.       Document with images on your camera and bits and pieces of writing on the way without worrying about telling the whole story “now”. It will ripen as you go. It always has and it always will, as long as you are willing to allow it to be so.

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Please stay in touch: Follow me on Twitter: @JulieJordanScot    

 Be sure to "Like" WritingCampwithJJS on Facebook. (Thank you!)

Follow on Instagram

And naturally, on Pinterest, too!

© 2013

Literary Granny Julia Ward Howe: I'm Not Exactly Her Namesake AND I'll Claim Her

It would be very obvious to say I was named for my Aunt Julie, but that is not exactly directly the truth. She was actually named Juliet and my parents almost didn’t name me Julie for fear I would get teased because of the character Julie Jordan in the musical Carousel.  I didn’t get teased as a child, but when I was younger I regularly got sung to by teachers with the opening line of the song.

Historically and literarily speaking, most Julies were Julia or Juliette or Juliet I suppose.

I am glad to claim Julia Ward Howe as a Julie in my literary lineage.

She was known mostly for her song, The Battle Hymn of the Republic, but besides this

Literary Granny Julia Ward Howe

accomplishment she was a poet, abolitionist, and activist. She also wrote plays and creative non-fiction, including a work about Margaret Fuller, another woman I claim in my literary lineage.

The story of Battle Hymn of the Republic goes like this: Mrs. Howe was visiting, along with the Secretary of War for the Union, some of the army camps. The soldiers were busily singing “John Brown’s Body” and that tune must have entered into her poet’s mind because she was awakened with the first stanza of the famous poem written and complete in her mind.

By the time dawn arrived, the entire poem had been written by candlelightand started its life as a song sung to the tune of John Brown’s Body.

Mine eyes have seen the glory
of the coming of the lord,
He is trampling out the vintage
where the grapes of wrath are stored,
He hath loosed his fateful lightning
of His terrible swift sword,
His truth is marching on

Glory! Glory ! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah
Glory! Glory ! Hallelujah! His truth is marching on

I have seen Him in the watch fires
of a hundred circling camps,
They have builded Him an altar
in the evening dews and damps,
I can read his righteous sentence
in the dim and daring lamps,
His day is marching on

Glory! Glory ! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah
Glory! Glory ! Hallelujah! His truth is marching on

I have read a fiery Gospel
writ in burnished rows of steel,
"As ye deal with My contemners
so with you My grace shall deal,"
Let the Hero born of woman
crush the serpent with His heel,
Since God is marching on

Glory! Glory ! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah
Glory! Glory ! Hallelujah! His truth is marching on

He has sounded forth the trumpet
that shall never call retreat,
He is sitting out the hearts of men
before His judgment seat,
Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him!
Be jubilant, my feet,
Our God is marching on

Glory! Glory ! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah
Glory! Glory ! Hallelujah! His truth is marching on


The following stanzas are presented
as sung by The Mormon Tabernacle Choir in 1960

In the beauty of the lilies
Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in his bosom
that transfigures you and me,
As He died to make men holy
let us live to make men free,
His truth is marching on

Glory! Glory ! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah
Glory! Glory ! Hallelujah! His truth is marching on

He is coming like the glory
of the morning on the wave,
He is wisdom to the mighty
He is honor to the brave,
So the world shall be His footstool
and the soul of wrong His slave,
Our God is marching on

Glory! Glory ! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah
Glory! Glory ! Hallelujah! His truth is marching on

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  Please stay in touch: Follow me on Twitter: @JulieJordanScot    

 Be sure to "Like" WritingCampwithJJS on Facebook. (Thank you!)

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And naturally, on Pinterest, too!

© 2013

Thank you, Florence & Annie - Women Standing Together for a Cause

Three women are in this photo, each with a definitive purpose.

Florence & Annie: Women Standing Together for a Cause

The woman in the center was Annie. She was jailed more than nine times for such things as picketing – as she was doing here – and demonstrating on our behalf. She spent an incredible sixty days in Occoquan Workhouse in August-September 1917 for picketing.

In other words, she held up a “propaganda sign” reading something like these did:

The woman on the left, whose unseen face appears to be reassuring and confirming to Annie to know what they are standing for was right and worthy, is Florence Youmans of Minnesota.

 The woman wearing white is a policewoman. She is arresting the other two woman, sending them to jail sentences of unknown length at the time. She was doing, I suppose, what she felt was write.

In July of 2013  I participated in the Ultimate Blog Challenge.

I continued with my Literary Grannies series as well as focusing on the history of Women – Standing Together for a Cause. There are many causes women have stood together for over time, but the Suffragists have been exceptionally compelling to me recently.

I hope you enjoy this series and please note, I will still be writing my usual pieces as well.

I hope you’ll continue to appreciate these special series of articles and essays. I appreciate each and every visit.

Please stay in touch: Follow me on Twitter: @JulieJordanScot    

 Be sure to "Like" WritingCampwithJJS on Facebook. (Thank you!)

Follow on Instagram

And naturally, on Pinterest, too!

Our Literary Grannies from A to Z: K is for Katharine Lee Bates

Today’s literary granny has not one, but TWO statues I found honoring her when I did my image searches. This is rare – so I wanted to include them here. She is also one of the few songwriters I have featured. If you are American, you may know her song.

Katharine Lee Bates statue in Colorado Springs + A photo from Harvard

If you are in my age group or before and are American, I am sure you know her song.

 

Beyond that, she was an educator who advocated quality education for girls and women, again at a time when this wasn’t necessarily standard for us.

So – without more waggling to the point – I introduce today’s Literary Granny – Katharine lee Bates, the lyricist for "America, the Beautiful."

She wrote this song after adventuring to Pikes Peak in Colorado Springs in 1893, so one of her statues is of her gazing upon the glorious view… that is until some unthinking, unaware developers put a building up right in her way. Why does this not surprise me? Nobody thought about it, I suppose. The song started its life as a poem published in The Congregationalist two years after she wrote it. The Boston Evening Transcript   followed it with a revised version in 1904. It was revered immediately and then, turned into the song we continue to love.

Sadly, sometimes thoughtfulness trumps America, the Beautiful… this American sadly says.

Katharine Bates was educated at one of the leading colleges for women: Wellesley

This statue of Katharine Lee Bates is in Cape Cod (at a younger age)

College. This campus is where she chose to have her career in academia. Sometimes this career overshadowed her many poems and essays. Her first poem, “Sleep” was published in the Atlantic while she was still an undergraduate.

 

What I especially love about her poetry is how she takes something fairly mundane – a simple wildflower – and writes it a love poem.  See what I mean, in this excerpt?

So it began,
This vagabond, unvalued yellow clover,
To be our tenderest language. All the years
It lent a new zest to the summer hours,
As each of us went scheming to surprise
The other with our homely, laureate flowers,
Sonnets and odes,
Fringing our daily roads.

Today, when you are out doing your own version of adventuring, consider the beauty in whatever you see – even and especially that which may not appear beautiful to the ordinary eye. Remember, you aren’t ordinary. You are reading this, aren’t you?

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Tomorrow’s Literary Granny:Katharine Lee Bates

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This post is a part of my series Our Literary Grannies from A t0 Z which was inspired by the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. Find out more about the Challenge by clicking here.

 

Please stay in touch: Follow me on Twitter: @JulieJordanScot    

 Be sure to "Like" WritingCampwithJJS on Facebook. (Thank you!)

Follow on Instagram

And naturally, on Pinterest, too!

Julie Jordan Scott is available to speak to your group (or in your teleconference) about the creative process, writing and will create a session individually according to your wants and needs. Contact her at 661.444.2735 for more information.

 

I is for Isabelle Eberhardt: Our Literary Grannies from A to Z

Isabelle Eberhardt: A Woman Beyond Her Time

Isabelle Eberhardt, today’s literary granny, is one of the most eccentric women in entire roster of twenty six. Actually, I am safe to say she is the most eccentric.

 

What I love about her the most is she is a woman who lived on her terms, not anyone else’s. She followed her heart, she studied a lot and she was absolutely fearless. Just the other day I was sticking up for my friend, Emily Dickinson, saying basically the same thing. “She just lived on her own terms. So she liked staying at home. Big deal! There are times when I don’t want to be bothered with the fluff and funk of everyday life, either.”

Isabelle Eberhardt’s short life was anything but everyday.

What else could describe a French female journalist who masqueraded as a man, was the first European to be admitted as a member of a Sufi brotherhood who died during a flash flood because her clay home basically fell to the ground upon her?

She was born in Geneva, a child conceived outside of marriage. This not only lead to a life of emotional instability, but also financial instability because she could not gain access to her inheritance. She was a very smart woman, multilingual, and enjoyed spiritual study with her father. They poured over the Koran together and had lively discussion about what they read.

Isabelle as Si Mahmoud Essadi

Her choosing to dress as a man started as a young age, primarily because she knew men had more freedom than women. She could move about freely as a man. She could travel alone.  When her brother joined the French Foreign legion and moved to his post in Algeria, Isabelle and her mother joined him. What no one could have known is not only would Isabelle convert to Islam and become a part of a Sufi Brotherhood, she became known as Si Mahmoud Essadi and fought against the foreign legion. She is reported to have used hashish and before her marriage she enjoyed a lusty and fulfilling sex life with a variety of men.

 

Meanwhile, she was reporting back to France via daily newspapers and journals and wrote several books – very near to her life works of fiction – and she even survived an assassination attempt.

Isabelle and the people she traveled with were vagabonds above all whose quest was not so familiar as ours: achievement financially or in business, the arts or perhaps in academia. Her characters in her books and Eberhardt herself chose to live an unstructured life while seeking enlightenment. They experienced poverty and spent time in the “darkest” places.

She wrote of herself, “As a nomad who has no country besides Islam and neither family nor close friends, I shall went my way through life until it is time for everlasting sleep inside the grave.

It is a shame she died so young. I can only imagine who the legendary Isabelle Eberhardt may have become.

 

Tomorrow’s Literary Granny: Judith Sargeant Murray 

This post is a part of my series Our Literary Grannies from A t0 Z which was inspired by the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. Find out more about the Challenge by clicking here.

 

Please stay in touch: Follow me on Twitter: @JulieJordanScot    

 Be sure to "Like" WritingCampwithJJS on Facebook. (Thank you!)

Follow on Instagram

And naturally, on Pinterest, too!

Julie Jordan Scott is available to speak to your group (or in your teleconference) about the creative process, writing and will create a session individually according to your wants and needs. Contact her at 661.444.2735 for more information.