poetry

All The Happy Little Trees

/ Ajmorse / Leave a comment

I am appreciating the outdoors today and the sunshine, even though it’s pretty cold outside! It’s as if Bob Ross were here painting all his happy little trees…

Mike took this picture on our walk today. This up and down weather is taking its toll on the small streams and canals in the area. There’s been some flooding from blockages from ice floes.

I somehow caught pink-eye over the weekend; and the handle to my driver’s side door snapped off when I tried to open my frozen car door last night, but I am choosing to remain positive. Was actually a great triumph for me to laugh about it, instead of let my anxiety take over.

Plus, I’m inside and warm, and that always helps, too. Hope everyone has a great Sunday and keep safe out there!

Happy Writing all!

Here I am Trying to Stay Motivated

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I have this story that I’ve been trying to write a draft for. But after working all day sitting at a desk for 8 hours, do I want to come home and sit at my desk to write? No. It’s so frustrating. My notes/drafts/brainstorms are all on my computer, so it’s just so much easier to type out my draft for my story. Buut…I’ve been doing everything else tonight.

Here’s some things I’ve been trying to keep motivated:

Listening to Music ~ This has been doing a great job in keeping me relaxed, and I’ve switched to the Pop/Hip Hop workout station on Pandora, which makes me want to get up and dance, of course.

Stumbleupon.com ~ Mike’s really the reason why I know about www.stumbleupon.com. You basically create an account, edit your interests and click stumble. Next thing you know you’re surfing the web based on your interests. Can be very inspiring for writers.

Looked at Vacation destinations ~ This is really because Mike and I are shopping around for a place to go this coming summer, but this might be a good way to trigger a location for a story.

Also came upon this ~ 33 Ways to Stay Motivated. This was a stumbleupon result.

I’m jamming away, relaxed (now maybe a little sleepier) and trying to get that passion for writing. So funny how when writing becomes work, I suddenly am not inspired at all. Except when it’s like 10PM on a Sunday, and then suddenly all hell breaks loose. So typical.

What are you guys up to tonight? How do you stay motivated? Any tips?

Happy Writing!

5 New Year’s Resolutions for 2018

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Happy New Year!!! Got any New Year’s Resolutions this year?

This New Year’s was kind of pathetic for Mike and I. It was too cold to go anywhere, so we just hung out with a friend, watched the ball drop and then went to bed. We didn’t even drink!! How lame.

Anyway, it was nice and relaxing, though. And it was kind of fun to see all the announcers on ABC, (people who we don’t really like that much anyway) freeze their asses off in the New York weather. Bahahaha!

I think New Year’s Resolutions are kind of hokey, but it is basically a list here like any other; and for us anxious types, lists are great for organizing thoughts, chores, goals, work, etc.

Here are my New Year’s Resolutions for 2018:

1. Write More

This goes without saying, really. If I’m going to get something published, I need to write. Even when I am feeling down and tired from work. No, note to self: YOU SHOULD WRITE when you are tired from work. This is where I find my purpose. When I feel like I am truly doing what I’m supposed to be doing.

2. Read More, especially some new books!

I have several books on my bookcase that I haven’t read. And yet, I will still buy something new at the bookstore. I can’t seem to help myself. I will let books fill my life until I am drowning in them. I will breathe in the pages and choke on the words and I will never be satisfied that it is enough, even when they’re piled around me and I get anxiety about deciding what to read next. Huh…do I have a problem? Maybe. Just maybe.

3. Exercise, Eat Healthy, Take Care of Yourself

Tomorrow it’ll be in the negatives. No, I will not be going outside for a jog. But still, I need to remember to drink TONS of water, I never drink enough when it’s cold outside. I’ll also bundle up like a burrito in front of the TV. But I don’t need to eat cookies every night. Even though I want them…and they want me.

4. Make New Friends

It’s hard to put yourself out there when you spend all day being customer-servicey and you just want to shut yourself away from the world for a while after work. I need to find a writer’s group.

5. Find Writer’s Group

This isn’t the last because it’s the least important. Really it’s the last because I just thought of it…but this could be what I need to keep motivated, make new friends, AND get some writing done. So, really this is an essential part of getting a few things on this list done. I think I could be brave enough? Eee…baby steps! I know I can. This would be a good thing for me.

Anyway, that’s it…what about yours? Got any New Year’s Resolutions of your own that you want to share?

Happy Writing!

Poem: Saying Goodbye

/ Ajmorse / Leave a comment

About a week ago, Mike and I had to say goodbye to his dog, Marley. He had Lyme disease that went to his kidneys and after a few trips to the vet we were saying goodbye sooner than we ever thought possible.

Although he wasn’t mine, I loved him. He was our family and now he’s gone. We are dealing with it as best we can. But it’s never easy saying goodbye.

Saying Goodbye

I didn’t want to say the words, “put down”
Like he was some shiny toy
We had picked up and lost interest

too cold to think of leaving
Such a treasure behind
to think of all the tail wags, the last sniffs in the snow

the moment before the final moment the worst
a deep sleep that hurts
One final pin-prick, back leg trembles.

I couldn’t find the words to say
I’ll help you
I’m right here
I’m sorry

Then, sobbing in the car like I’d lost something I’ll never find again

Tail wags, brown, liquid eyes full of courage
You’re hurt and you’re dying and all you have to say is: I love you

NaNoWriMo Day 8 Update: How’s It Going Guys?

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Hi Everyone! How’s NaNoWriMo going?

I haven’t got so much of a word count in, but I have been plugging away at 30 days of world building, which I found on this blog here.

Basically you spend each day working on the different aspects of creating your world. So far, I’ve created a climate, created a rough sketch of map, and selected what races will be in my world and how they will interact, etc.

The planning is so detailed and it’s been a lot of fun so far. Some of the stuff I’ve already come up on my own, but before I started doing the exercises I hadn’t even thought as far as climate and how weather (like a bad storm) could help drive a plot point.

Kind of neat! I think tonight I will do my world building exercise, (Economy and Politics!) and get down to some actual writing for once. I tend to not want to sit at my desk, because I sit at one for work all day long, so here I am propped up in bed and it is working so far.

How is everyone doing? How do you keep yourself motivated to keep writing?

Happy Writing Everyone!

Poem: Dumb Bum

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Dum Dee Dum…

Feeling like a bum

all in bed, nightie on

feeling sleepy

energy gone

watching Netflix

making rhymes

life is exhausting

…to be creative

…sometimes

I like the new job, guys, but it’s hard to be creative sometimes when you are burnt out from work. Sometimes I work out after dinner, and that seems to give me more energy. Sometimes I read. But most of the time, I am a bum, sitting and watching Netflix and just tired, tired, tired. 

What about you guys? What keeps you motivated?

 

A Quiet Walk By The Falls

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I never get tired of these falls by my house. I write about them all the time, I know, but I can’t help it. I love the sound of the running water. So relaxing. I like the way the water smells. I like jumping from rock to rock on the edge of the shore, like I used to do as a child.But that water. There’s no other music like it in the world…this is my crack. This is the sound I fall asleep to. This is the soundtrack for many of the poems that I write.

Adventure is found along the shores of creeks, and falls and rivers. When the water just continues on and on and beckons…it teases you to follow, to discover where it ends.

How I wanted to jump in and go with it tonight, guys. There is freedom here, and longing. I wanted to see where it would take me. I wanted to go, go, go…

Is there something like this that inspires you?

Happy Writing!

Poem: Writing Mind

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Managed to spend a good four to five hours writing today! This is good news! I worked on a few projects at once, but one project I really got in to today. I realized I could probably submit it to the writer’s digest contest by June 1st, but to do that it needs some serious rewrites.

I got in the writers mindset a lot today and trying to emerge…is like waking up from a deep sleep. (At least it is for me.) I get this spacey expression on my face, and conversation is difficult, because part of me is still thinking about character’s dialogue in my head or planning which way a character is gong to go next.  It is an interesting feeling to say the least, but hey, at least I was productive today!

Pictured I snapped this weekend at the lake.

a writing sort of mood

everything sounds like poetry

blank stare

“Whaa…”

emerge from the world

like a band-aid ripped from a wound

jarred back to the present

words are like poetry

the trees are like poetry in motion

and everything is heavy, heavy, heavy

like a dark blanket

trapping the sun

in its shadows

Happy Valentine’s Day! Now, Go Love Somebody!

/ Ajmorse / 2 Comments

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I couldn’t seem to think of what to write tonight. I thought about sharing a poem that I wrote back in the college days…but nothing seems to fit the Valentine’s day/love theme that I am trying for.

It’s so weird to look back sometimes and see how different my writing was then. Back in the college days when I was writing for creative writing classes…when I was nineteen and twenty. It’s neither good or bad, just different. I wrote with a freedom then that I don’t seem to have now. I wasn’t embarrassed by my childish notions.

Life and adult-hood was so new to me, and I relished more in the freedom to create, in having a voice and the words to say. But I digress, really. No time to go down that rabbit hole…

Today is Valentine’s day and if you haven’t already, go tell your loved ones that you love them! Mike, the other half, took me out for a nice dinner and we ended the night quietly eating ice cream and both of us working on each of our projects. Me, revamping a resume that sorely needed doing, and him playing WOW, (which I’m sure if I wasn’t busy doing other things, I might be whining that he’s not paying attention to me, but whatever.) He certainly looks cute over there, sitting in his computer chair…(sigh.)

Make tonight your oyster. Be content with what you have, and if you don’t have it…go out and find it. One of the best Valentine’s nights I ever had wasn’t with a significant other. It was with my mother, my sister and my baby niece, Lilly. Us four ladies made dinner together, and watched Brave that night, and were content to be loved by sisters and mothers and babies and it was a night of togetherness that I’ll never forget.

So it doesn’t matter who you love, go out and love them.

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! And Happy Writing!