Here’s to life!

“First comes love then comes marriage, then comes…” Can you remember the taunting nursery rhyme? Aimed at teasing a sibling, friend or maybe at ourselves at that first crush.

Then the real thing hits, love blooms and if you were like me the world had no limits. Oh to be that young again.

The sixties and seventies were magical. The world seemed to be exploding with opportunities. Young and in love we left family and friends far behind for a better life. We would be different, we would not become our parents. Our children would be exposed to all the differences and the wonders we could provide. After all we had a car, and steady paycheck from Uncle Sam. My new husband just had to avoid getting shot at a few more months. After the birth of our first child we left Uncle Sam and New England for the warmth of the South.

I worked hard to become the hippest/hottest new Mom on the block. Dr. Spock was all the rage and with the help of Dr. Joyce Brothers and saran wrap things were hopping at our house. But like many stay at home moms with two kids, a hard-working husband and various pets I became bored with the Desperate Housewife way of life. I needed more.

Along came a cause in the form of religion; Tammy Faye and Jim Bakker. Unless you lived underground you know I’m talking about the 700 Club in Charlotte, N.C.  I fell hook line and sinker, found God, and set out to save the world. Soon my family and I were involved in the Assemblies of God and later an independent church that led us to Houston, TX.

We lived and worked in Houston for many years. As all things go in cycles, so did religion. Suffice it to say, our eyes were opened and our hearts broken. Along with a lot of folks we lost everything but each other.

Soon our path led us to Dallas where we’ve built a wonderful life and watched our kids become beautiful adults. Today I thought of an old Frank Sinatra song. Where the lyrics say something about being a puppet, a pauper, a poet, a something a other… Then goes on with… “That’s life.”

My life isn’t what I thought it would be, but I’m not sure how many people can say their life is going exactly as planned.

I set out to set the world afire, it doesn’t need to be ablaze.

I set out to change the world, it’s not a one person job.

I set out to make a difference, I think we all make a difference one way or another.

So here I sit attempting to do something for myself, write. I’ve dabbled at it off and on the last couple of years, as time permitted. Writing is a dream I’ve resurrected from my childhood. This is for me. I hope one day I’ll enjoy reading what I’ve written, as will others.

If not oh well, “That’s Life.”

So when my writing gets off course, like life, and I’m sure it will. I’ll pick myself up, read a good book, dust off my keyboard and try again. If you too need a little encouragement, check out some of the books/blogs below and get back in the race.

Great to get unstuck

http://rebeccatdickson.com/

 http://janefriedman.com/

http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com

Can you do it?

I’m talking about putting your thoughts and feelings down in 6 words. Not five or seven but just six. Not easy. See if you can guess my frustration today. This is what I submitted to SixWordStories.net

6 a sponge. 60 a sieve.

Check out the website for inspiration and submit your own.

Six-Word Memoir at 92YTribeca, 7/25/11

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Let me entertain you

Are you looking to entertain or win a Pultizer?

A big shout out of thanks to Kristen Lamb for reminding me of my goal. I want to entertain you, to make you my readers smile, cringe, laugh or cry. But above all be entertained. As a lover of books, I want my readers to one day love something I’ve written.

In my effort to achieve this goal I often found myself in a ditch on the side of the road, out in the middle of nowhere, wondering how I ended up so far off course. The answer was simple. I’d taken another detour. Insteading of writing I’d become distracted with “fixing“.

Detours fill my Inbox daily, many with wonderful writing tips from successful authors and some well meaning writers. But as Kristen points out so many of these tips should be held for after the first draft is finished.

So back to my drawing board, I mean my keyboard. I need to reve my engine, get my juices flowing and remind myself to go fast and faster. Should I fall off the edge it will only hurt for a short time. Failing to finish hurts longer. Fast and Furious! Maybe I’ll finish.

Happy Hour

We’ve all joked about having a stiff one at the end of the day. And I’m sure most of you know Jimmy Buffett’s popular song, “It’s five o’clock somewhere”.
Today it’s time to get drunk. Life can be hard and life can be fun, if you’re drunk it doesn’t matter. Yes, you heard me right. So, I’m gonna dust myself off and grab the gusto while I still can.
Pick a passion, grab it with both hands and hold on for dear life. The word drunk means intoxicated, and under the influence but not just on margaritas. Think of who and what influences you every day. The people, or things that put a smile on your face and help you make it through the night. Then get drunk on life.
My thanks to Flash Fiction Chronicles for reminding me to look for these things today and for the thought provoking works of Charles Baudelaire.
Be Drunk
 
translated by Louis Simpson
You have to be always drunk. That’s all there is to it—it’s the only way.
So as not to feel the horrible burden of time that breaks your back and bends you to the earth, you have to be continually drunk.
But on what? Wine, poetry or virtue, as you wish. But be drunk.
And if sometimes, on the steps of a palace or the green grass of a ditch, in the mournful solitude of your room, you wake again, drunkenness already diminishing or gone, ask the wind, the wave, the star, the bird, the clock, everything that is flying, everything that is groaning, everything that is rolling, everything that is singing, everything that is speaking. Ask what time it is and wind, wave, star, bird, clock will answer you: “It is time to be drunk! So as not to be the martyred slaves of time, be drunk, be continually drunk! On wine, on poetry or on virtue as you wish.”